Enjoyable comedy mystery with Errol Flynn as a man who, unknown to his wife and mother-in-law, leads a double life as an amateur sleuth and writer of murder mysteries. I like this one a lot, which appears to place me in the minority here, judging by a quick glance at some of the reviews. Errol Flynn shows how well he can do with comedy in a nice change of pace for him that still plays to his strengths as a charming ladies man. Unlike some other reviewers, I don't see any reason for comparisons (positive or negative) to William Powell's Nick Charles from the Thin Man series, beyond the most superficial similarities. The great supporting cast includes Allen Jenkins, Ralph Bellamy, Lee Patrick, William Frawley, Roscoe Karns, Grant Mitchell, Lucille Watson, and Alan Hale. Nice seeing Hale in a slightly different role than usual as the police inspector frustrated by Flynn but relying on his help. It's what I would call the James Gleason role because he played those kinds of parts perfectly. Lovely Brenda Marshall plays Flynn's wife and, like Flynn, proves she can handle comedy quite well. It's a fun picture. It doesn't bring to the table anything particularly innovative for either the comedy or mystery genres but it gets the job done as lightweight entertainment. Flynn had a great run from about 1935 to 1945 where he made most of his classics. I've seen all of his films from this period and, in my opinion, there wasn't a stinker among them.
Review of Footsteps in the Dark
