Footsteps in the Dark is a 1941 American comedy mystery film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall and Ralph Bellamy.

[2] [3] Francis Warren (Errol Flynn) appears to have a normal life handling investments, but secretly he writes lurid detective novels under the pseudonym F.X.

His other career is unknown to wife Rita (Brenda Marshall) or to anyone but Inspector Mason (Alan Hale), who mocks the books, insisting that true crime is much more difficult to solve.

[5] Blondie White was about the adventures of Frank Warren, a writer of detective novels who gets involved in a real-life murder, along with his wife.

[11] Frank Cavett was assigned to write the script[12] and Joan Blondell and Claude Rains were mentioned as possible stars.

[20] Errol Flynn had just done seven period films in a row and was pestering Warner's for a change of pace so he was cast instead of Robinson.

[27] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote: "A few spots are faintly amusing, thanks to Allen Jenkins as a chauffeur-valet and William Frawley as a thick-headed cop.

But most of it is painfully dull and obvious, the pace is incredibly slow and Mr. Flynn, playing the detective, acts like a puzzled schoolboy.

"[29] Los Angeles Times wrote that "Errol Flynn becomes a modern for a change in a whodunit film and the excursion proves eminently worth-while... an exceptionally clever and amusing exhibit – a little lagging now and then in the action but nothing to bother about in that regard".

[30] Film Daily reported: "Basis for a first-rate mystery meller with plenty of laughs is contained in the plot for this yarn, but the development of the script falls short of the story possibilities.

"[33] John Mosher of The New Yorker wrote that while the burlesque performer added a "bright note", the film was otherwise a "commonplace mystery picture.

"[34] Filmink magazine argued Flynn was "not entirely comfortable as a comic actor but it's a very endearing performance, and he has that charisma and charm to compensate for his lack of technique.