While this is a familiar and formulaic murder-mystery tale (discussion of a Will with all relatives seated around a long table), so too is the easy dismissal of it formulaic - and rather lazy. These are rubber-stamp reviews, rather like "quota-quickie" rubber stamp as if to give something a familiar label is to properly describe it.Yes one wonders if the studios ever broke the old house dark wood panelled set, it seemed to appear so regularly. Did the elderly butler ever change out of costume, or merely have a cigarette and coffee during the short break between the same role in films from the '30s - '50s? But this is a murder mystery and while the setting was by this time thoroughly hackneyed, there is some intelligence and creativity in the plot. Audiences for this type of film did not come for the cinematography or the exotic locations, they came to follow the plot and see if they could guess who dunnit. Rather than sit at home reading an Agatha Christie, they chose to go out Saturday night and sit in their local cinema watching the same stuff as they read at home. The clues and plot details are what interest them and there are plenty here.The lovely Greta Gynt is her usual intelligent cool self, displaying this time a pretty full range of emotions. Mrs Lop-Sided from the Lady Killers (Katie Johnson) is her demure self.But who really did fire the final shot - we don't actual see who did - or who died, or if they died. All we see is a horrified/saddened expression. My money's on Mrs Lop-Sided, after all she dun the East Castle Street job. I'm sticking with Ma.

Dear old Katie Johnson is going to serve the drinks to her master.She puts the tray on the sideboard,goes to open the door and hears two shots.Instead of rushing straight in she picks up the drinks tray enters the room,sees her dead master,screams and drops the drinks tray.Anyway little surprise that Uncle Arnold is bumped off,bearing in mind that he has decided to change his will and gathered all his family to give them the happy news.Everyone seems to have been doing something suspicious so of course they are all suspects.So the police have a lot of detecting to do.There is also a gun room just to make it easier for any potential killer. The end when it comes is over in a flash.Rather a bit anti climactic.

THREE STEPS IN THE DARK is a low budget British mystery film that was presumed lost for years until a copy finally surfaced. It's nowadays readily available on DVD, but was the wait worth it? The answer is a resounding no. Despite being written by the prolific mystery writer Brock Williams and having an Agatha Christie style to it, this is a very dull movie.It's an entirely predictable reading of the will type murder mystery in which an elderly man invites a number of relatives and associates to his ancestral home before dying as a result of a mysterious gunshot which seems to have come from outside his window. The assembled investigate and try to pinpoint the identity of the murder, but what it all amounts to is a whole lot of nothing. This is the type of film that makes you wait for the ending, only to end on the most ordinary note imaginable, no twists or anything like that. What a letdown! The film is only really of interest for its supporting cast, a couple of whom appeared in Hammer films. John Van Eysson (Jonathan Harker in Dracula) is present, as is a youthful Sarah Lawson from THE DEVIL RIDES OUT. Watch out for Katie Johnson (THE LADYKILLERS) who has one of the best parts as the delightfully-named maid, Mrs Riddle; it's a shame she didn't have a bigger role. The main actress, Greta Gynt, is very wooden. My favourite performer was Elwyn Brook-Jones (ROGUES YARN) who once again takes what could have been an ordinary role and injects it with character.

The plot of this murder mystery was already a cliché when the film was made. An elderly, wealthy, and disagreeable bachelor summons his nephews and nieces, for whom he has no affection, to his large country house, other residents being his solicitor, an impassive butler, and a neurotic housekeeper. Over dinner the host informs his guests that he intends to change his will, but before he is able to do so he is found shot dead.Fans of the genre will be familiar with the devices that detective fiction writers use to invent original solutions – the butler did it, they all did it, the victim did it, the detective did it – and in watching this film may well be anticipating an unusual twist which will add interest to the otherwise humdrum story. If so, they will be disappointed. The ending is abrupt, unsurprising, and anticlimactic.The small part of the housekeeper is played by Katie Johnson, who two years later would win a BAFTA award as best actress for her performance as the old lady in The Ladykillers. The rest of the cast are all competent performers, many of whom went on to have busy TV careers in supporting roles without achieving star status.This film, previously thought to be lost, is now published on DVD by the Odeon Entertainment Group.