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Three Steps in the Dark

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Three Steps in the Dark
DVD cover
Directed byDaniel Birt
Written byRoger East
Brock Williams
Produced byHarold Richmond
StarringGreta Gynt
Hugh Sinclair
Sarah Lawson
CinematographyHone Glendinning
Edited byAnne Barker
Music byGilbert Vinter
Production
company
Corsair Pictures
Distributed byAssociated British-Pathé
Release date
  • 10 August 1953 (1953-08-10)
Running time
61 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Three Steps in the Dark (also known as 3 Steps in the Dark) is a 1953 British second feature ('B')[1] mystery film directed by Daniel Birt and starring Greta Gynt, Hugh Sinclair and Sarah Lawson.[2] It was written by Roger East and Brock Williams.

Plot

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A rich but disliked uncle invites his relatives to a family reunion at his home. Once the gathering is complete, he announces enigmatically that he intends to change his will before he dies, should not one of the heirs fulfill a condition. Before he can do this, he is murdered. His niece, a detective story writer, has to put her theories into practice by solving a real-life murder mystery.

Cast

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Production

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The film was shot at the Kensington Studios in London with sets were designed by the art director Bernard Robinson.

Reception

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The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The limitations of this low budget thriller, filmed within a four-week schedule, quickly make themselves apparent. With the exception of one brief location shot, the action is confined to interior sets (which gives the film rather the look of a television production) ; there is over-much talk and the plot, though stereotyped, seems unnecessarily involved. The French television actress Helene Cordet gives an attractive performance in her first screen part."[3]

In Picturegoer, the reviewer "R.H.B." wrote: "Indifferently acted and directed, this fim, instead of scaring me to death, just bored me."[4] In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Boring, very low-budget 'thriller'."[5]

Later history

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Three Steps in the Dark appears to have been a programmer closely following the standard whodunit template, with Today's Cinema offering the analysis: "The film has a measure of well tried appeal in the matter of 'spotting the killer' and in anticipating the surprise revelation of his identity in the climax. There is the usual touch of romance to complete the formula."[citation needed] There is no indication that the film was ever shown publicly again in cinemas or on television following its initial run.[citation needed]

The British Film Institute included the film on its "75 Most Wanted" list of missing British feature films, due in large part to interest from film historians in Birt's relatively brief directorial career, which was cut short by his death at the age of 47 in 1955.[6] The National Film and Sound Archive in Australia subsequently informed the BFI it has the film.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 149. ISBN 978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ^ "Three Steps in the Dark". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  3. ^ "Three Steps in the Dark". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 20 (228): 136. 1 January 1953 – via ProQuest.
  4. ^ "Three Steps in the Dark". Picturegoer. 26: 17. 3 August 1953 – via ProQuest.
  5. ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 387. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
  6. ^ "Three Steps in the Dark / BFI Most Wanted". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  7. ^ Josephine Botting (29 November 2012). "BFI Most Wanted: our discoveries so far". British Film Institute. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
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