Footsteps in the Dark Though released the same year as The Maltese Falcon, this is not Noir. You can't just take any crime/detective/mystery and slap the Noir label onto it. There's no darkness in the script or in the lighting. The Femme Fatale is goofy and the lead is Errol Flynn whose Hollywood sparkle scrubs the film clean. The Thin Man is more Noir than this.
I watched this because there are not enough mystery comedies in the world, and some of the most memorable films are mystery comedy noir like
All Through The Night and
The Mad Miss Manton, which are two titles I advise all of you to consider. The script here is lackluster, relying more on funny situations than solid jokes. That being said, the situations are charming and amusing and a few of the jokes I found hilarious.
What isn't lackluster is the cast, and if you like character actors from this era it's a buffet of familiar faces: Alan Hale, Allen Jenkins, William Frawley, Ralph Bellamy, Grant Mitchell and Roscoe Karns among them. Lee Patrick plays the brassy blonde, and it was difficult seeing her as the queen of burlesque when I know her so well as the loyal secretary in The Maltese Falcon.
This is one of Flynn's best performances. An unlikely but natural fit for mystery comedy. His charm sets the tone and his comedic skills are given full display without tipping into goofy pratfalls. In the end, they set up an entire series of potential and I was more than ready for a sequel.
RATING: * * *