Review for Black Limelight

‘Black Limelight’ (also known as ‘Footsteps in the Sand’) is a fun period thriller which, despite its initial staginess and slightly wooden theatrical performances, delivers fairly well on thrills.



Based on a play, for the most part this is a closed room drama with very few exteriors. With a fairly slight cast it’s also very wordy – not much action but plenty of dialogue.



What saves it from being merely low budget cinema-filler, which to a degree it is, is the story itself.  A girl is murdered and the evidence points strongly toward Peter Charrington (played by Oscar nominee Raymond Massey, ‘Things to Come’, ‘East of Eden’ etc) who disappeared right after the crime.


Although his wife Mary remains convinced of his innocence, even her resolve is tested when she discovers that he has been having an affair with the murdered woman. Even worse, the police are convinced that the murder has all the tell-tale signs of other murders which are committed only under a full-moon.


Mary Charrington is ably supported by a tough housekeeper (who looks uncannily and unfortunately like comedian Peter Kay) which is just as well as her home, surrounded by a police corden, soon becomes a media circus. Indeed, public opinion against her husband becomes so strong that members of the public even take to throwing boulders through her window.


But despite this ‘iron ring’, police incompetency means that people drop into the house unnoticed at will, usually making a dramatic entrance through the veranda curtains.


Though the dialogue is unceasing and often a bit repetitive, the narrative seems to move along at a pace and as the mystery unfolds (and the real killer is identified) there is much to enjoy. Running in at a mere 64 minutes, it just about has enough energy and impetus to make it all worthwhile.


Though this is a British film, it was directed by Austrian-born Paul Stein, a jobbing director of the day.



The transfer here is really very good given its age (It was released in 1938) and apparently this is a brand new transfer from ‘original film elements’ (whatever that might mean). There are plenty of scratches and glitches but also lots of surprisingly clean looking moments too. So a good transfer from a selection of previously enjoyed prints but not much of a tidy up. Perfectly reasonable given the limited market for such lost gems.


Extras are understandably slight though a nice touch is the inclusion of the original script as a PDF. There is also an image gallery with a small selection of stills like the one above and the two below.