It is a performances centric movie

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

A Brilliant Conflict

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Raymond Massey (Peter Charrington), Joan Marion (Mary Charrington), Walter Hudd (Lawrence Crawford), Henry Oscar (Inspector Tanner), Elliot Mason (Jemima), Dan Tobin (reporter), Coral Browne (Lily James), Leslie Bradley (detective), Diana Beaumont (Gwen).Director: PAUL L. STEIN. Screenplay: Dudley Leslie, Walter Summers. Based on the stage play by Gordon Sherry. Photography: Claude Friese-Greene. Film editor: Lionel Tomlinson. Settings: Cedric Dawe. Ambiphone Sound System. Producer: Walter C. Mycroft. Produced and released in the U.K. (9 January 1939) and copyright in the U.S.A. (17 June 1938) by Associated British Pictures Corp., in Australia by Universal. Filmed at Elstree Studios. Registered: 21 June 1938. 6,432 feet. 71 minutes. "A" certificate. New York opening at the Globe: 25 June 1939. U.S. release: 15 August 1939. Cut to 63 minutes in the U.S.A.SYNOPSIS: An innocent man is accused and hunted down for the notorious Dorset murders.COMMENT: The women's picture here invades the male sanctum of the detective thriller - with not particularly happy results either way. The screenplay reveals its stage origins all too clearly. The direction is competent, even a trifle imaginative, but it is hard put to make much headway against the female-weighted script. Still, Walter Hudd gives an engrossing portrayal, despite the fact that his character is poorly written. Production credits are A-1, and the absence of an original music score is very cleverly disguised.

This inferior film is a filmed version of an inferior stage play by Gordon Sherry (not the modern Scottish golfer of that name, nor do I believe him to be any relation to the man with the extraordinary name of Valentine Sherry, whom I used to know in New York long ago, and who was the first person to introduce me to sliced sturgeon with cream cheese on a bagel). The film certainly creaks at the seams. Raymond Massey is billed as the star but he spends far less time on screen than most of the other characters, and when we see him he is so wooden we cannot be sure he is not a rather large and looming marionette on wires. The story is about how Massey's mistress (played by a very cheeky young Coral Browne) has been murdered at a beach cottage. This old film has been released on DVD under an alternative title of BLACK LIMELIGHT. Its other title of FOOTSTEPS IN THE SAND is certainly inappropriate, since the close-ups we see of the murderer's feet fleeing the beach cottage are not on sand at all, but on good old British shingle. Joan Marion plays Massey's heroic and devoted wife, who tries to defend him against charges of murder, of which she knows he is incapable. Marion's voice is so high-pitched, verging on shrillness, that it is rather hard on the ears. The best performance is by Elliot Mason, who despite her name was a woman, and who plays the Scottish maid. She also has the best lines, constantly making excellent and witty put-downs and wisecracks. If only the rest of the dialogue had not been utterly appalling and had a fraction of the wit of her lines. The other excellent performance is by Walter Hudd as the family lawyer who is also a psychopathic murderer. (As so many lawyers are thieves and liars, it comes as no surprise to find one who is a psychopathic murderer as well.) Hudd's performance is wonderfully under-stated and extraordinarily effective and creepy. He is what is called a nyctalope, which means someone who can see in the dark but who is uncomfortable in the light. This ingenious use of the device of a nyctalope (yes, that word is actually mentioned in the film dialogue) is the one redeeming feature of this tedious tale. That is why Hudd kills people in the dark, preferring nights of the full moon. It could have been good, if done properly, but it was not and is not. A Bulgarian film came out in 2010 the English title of which is also FOOTSTEPS IN THE SAND (also called NEVER LOSE HOPE), but it is no connection whatever with this one (lucky for it; however, as it is unavailable for sale anywhere that I can find, perhaps the Curse of Sherry has fallen upon it and it has been abducted by a nyctalope).

The synopsis of this film does not give a true précis of the plot.The point is that the murdered woman,played by a very young Coral Browne,is in fact the mistress of Raymond Massey.That explains why the police are after him.Massey's wife seems in the circumstances to be an awfully forgiving woman.The plot though is pretty dim.The murderer,Hudd,only strikes when there is a full moon because he cannot see very well at night.Since he is by his own admission a serial murderer it is surprising that this is not mentioned by the police.Also that this is not taken into account before Massey is arrested.Massey's performance is strange to say the least.He rather overdoes the acting,and gives possibly his worst film performance.Compare this with his performance as Abe Lincoln a couple of years later and you wouldn't know it was the same actor.

Very talky murder mystery is a film which shows its stage bound origins in endless talk.The plot of the film has the police searching for a husband who had rented a cottage while on a business trip. The man (played by Raymond Massey) is missing and there is the body of a dead woman inside. The police begin to hound the man's wife, who feels he's innocent. When the husband shows up she hides him and tries to find the killer...of course there is tons of talky soul searching.A kind of bland film that is done in by the talk and inaction. Its compelling if you want to know who did it- but otherwise it's not all that great. Part of the problem is a horrible performance by Raymond Massey (who is more in support than lead) and part of the problem is the script seems to want to keep all of the dialog from the play. Once the play drives to the conclusion in the final 15 minutes it picks up but its a tough slog to get there.Kind of worth a look if you run across it....