Footsteps in the Dark

Everyone who knows me knows my frustration with Gone With the Wind. I can never get past Rhett Butler's lack of a Southern accent, and I would have preferred Errol Flynn in the role. How does this relate to my review about the comedy Footsteps in the Dark? Because in this wacky mystery, Errol puts on a Southern drawl in a few scenes to hide his voice. While I loved hearing it, it also saddened me to see definite proof that he would have been a better Rhett Butler. Had he been just as incapable of a Southern accent as Clark Gable, I would have lost my case.

Now, let's get to the plot: Errol stars as a respectable suburban husband who attends dinner parties, bridge games, and lunches at the club. That kind of life isn't exciting enough for him (after all, he played Robin Hood three years ago!) and on the side, he moonlights as a trashy novelist. Sometimes, he draws from real life, and when clues about some of his neighbors make appearances in his books, his identity is threatened to be exposed.

This isn't the greatest comedy to come out of the 1940s, and if Errol Flynn weren't in it, it wouldn't have been nearly as good. His comic timing is impeccable, and his charm is irresistible. Rent this one if you loved him in Never Say Goodbye and you want to see him in another comedy.