FOOTSTEPS IN THE DARK
| (Warner Bros.)
‘THIS is not even a Hollywood version of the Georgette Heyer thriller of the same name, but appar-
ently originated as a play by two quite different authors — different from Miss Heyer, I mean, if you follow me, Errol Flynn, who stars in it, wears (as the advertisements all tell you) modern clothes for the first time in years. And he changes more than his raiment. Here he has no swashbuckling part, nor are there any fisticuffs or exciting (if improbable) swordplay. Indeed, if I remember rightly, the only blow struck in this Ovidian metamorphosis knocks the star out and leaves him no chance to retaliate. But don’t let that worry you. I nearly always enjoy a Warner Bros. thriller. I have probably expressed before my conviction that one of this studio’s greatest assets is the gang of toughs which it has on its payroll. Recall A Slight Case of Murder and I think you will agree with me. There is far from a full muster in this film, but Allen Jenkins and Roscoe Karns are well to the fore and as tough as old boots, if I may be original. And in others respects the show is a thriller with a difference, or several differences. The police inspector in this type of show, for example, is usually (if we except the ferret-faced Jimmy Gleason) a dumb and baffled individual, a dim bulb, in short. Alan Hale, however, manages to infuse a surprising amount of humanity and even humour into the part. Footsteps in the Dark naturally has its faults. The women have little to do and Brenda Marshall as the trusting wife is-so colourless that one feels she is unwise to be too trusting. And there are the usual loose ends in plot and
characterisation. But the show has its highlights. Flynn’s impersonation of a cowboy, for example, which might have been an impersonation of Gary Cooper impersonating a cowboy, who can tell? And there is a most amusing and unexpected false climax. Take it for all in all, Footsteps in the Dark is an entertaining show. It has novel twists and a discerning ingenuousness on Mr. Flynn’s part, which lift it out of the C grade class to which so many films of this kind properly belong. And if you do hear footsteps in the dark I’m sure they won’t be those of disappointed patrons clumping up the aisle,
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 7, Issue 164, 14 August 1942, Page 16
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407FOOTSTEPS IN THE DARK New Zealand Listener, Volume 7, Issue 164, 14 August 1942, Page 16
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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