Three Steps in the Dark is a 1953

1953 in film

The year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...

 British B-movie

B-movie

A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....

 whodunit

Whodunit

A whodunit or whodunnit is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the puzzle is the main feature of interest. The reader or viewer is provided with clues from which the identity of the perpetrator of the crime may be deduced before the solution is revealed in the final...

, directed by Daniel Birt

Daniel Birt

Daniel Birt was an English film director and editor. Birt began his career as an editor in 1932 with an assistant credit on The Lucky Number, and went on to edit twelve films during the 1930s....

 and starring Greta Gynt

Greta Gynt

Greta Gynt , born Margrethe Woxholt, was a Norwegian singer, dancer and actress. -Biography:Greta Gynt was born Margrethe Woxholt in Oslo, Norway. As a child, she came with her parents to England and started dancing lessons at the age of 5. Eventually, they moved back to Norway...

 and Hugh Sinclair

Hugh Sinclair (actor)

Hugh Sinclair was a British actor born in London, England, the son of a clergyman. He was educated at Charterhouse School and a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His first marriage was to the actress Valerie Taylor...

.

Plot

A rich but disliked elderly man 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. Before he can do this, he is murdered. His niece (Gynt), a detective story writer, has to put her theories into practice by solving a real-life murder mystery.

Cast

• Greta Gynt
  Greta Gynt
  Greta Gynt , born Margrethe Woxholt, was a Norwegian singer, dancer and actress. -Biography:Greta Gynt was born Margrethe Woxholt in Oslo, Norway. As a child, she came with her parents to England and started dancing lessons at the age of 5. Eventually, they moved back to Norway...
  
   as Sophie Burgoyne
• Hugh Sinclair
  Hugh Sinclair (actor)
  Hugh Sinclair was a British actor born in London, England, the son of a clergyman. He was educated at Charterhouse School and a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His first marriage was to the actress Valerie Taylor...
  
   as Philip Burgoyne
• Sarah Lawson as Dorothy
• Elwyn Brook-Jones
  Elwyn Brook-Jones
  Elwyn Brook-Jones was a British film and television actor.-Life:Brook-Jones was born in Sarawak on the island of Borneo. After a private education, he attended Jesus College, Oxford. His public debut was in Australia, aged 11, as a concert pianist; he later made cabaret appearances in America...
  
   as Wilbraham
• John Van Eyssen
  John Van Eyssen
  John Van Eyssen was a South African born actor, agent and executive...
  
   as Henry Burgoyne
• Nicholas Hannen as Arnold Burgoyne
• Hélène Cordet as Esme
• Alastair Hunter as Inspector Forbes
• Katie Johnson
  Katie Johnson
  Katie Johnson , born Bessie Kate Johnson, was an English actress who appeared on stage from 1894 and on screen from the 1930s to the 1950s...
  
   as Mrs. Riddle

Later history

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." There is no indication that the film was ever shown publicly again in cinemas or on television following its initial run. The British Film Institute

British Film Institute

The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...

 does not hold a print in the BFI National Archive

BFI National Archive

The BFI National Archive is a department of the British Film Institute, and one of the largest film archives in the world. It was originally set up as the National Film Library in 1935; its first curator was Ernest Lindgren. In 1955 its name became the National Film Archive, and in 1992, the...

, and classes the film as "missing, believed lost". The BFI includes the film on its "75 Most Wanted

BFI 75 Most Wanted

The BFI 75 Most Wanted is a list compiled by the British Film Institute of their most sought-after British feature films not currently held in the BFI National Archive, and classified as "missing, believed lost". The films chosen range from quota quickies and B-movies to lavish prestige...

" 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.