Take One False Step

An entertaining and humorous yarn about a respectable man who through no fault of his own is drawn into a series of adventures to clear his name with a climatic conclusion on a ledge.

A bit like North by Northwest...isn't it, though maybe I am reading too much into the story.

Good acting all around with super stars of this era doing their best to entertain.

A clever script and smart direction.

No matter how much trouble they are in all the performers are immaculately attired, especial the lead players.

Pity about the tobacco intake but hey this was a different time period.

Anyone looking for an escapist film noir from the past need look no further:

7/10.

In order to finance his new college, Professor Andrew Gentling (William Powell) and a pair of colleagues travel to Los Angeles to secure funding from curmudgeonly tycoon (Paul Harvey). Things go awry after Powell runs into his now married, former girlfriend (Shelly Winters) at his hotel bar. Powell, now happily married himself, reluctantly accepts an offer to go with Winters to a small get-together that evening to meet another old friend (Marsha Hunt). After dropping Winters off in front of her house later that night, Powell learns from a newspaper article the next morning that Winters has been reported missing and that foul play is suspected. Rather than reporting what he knows about the incident to the police, Powell, fearing losing financing for his new university from stuff-shirt benefactor Harvey, (who as a plot convenience hates any hint of scandal), decides to play detective and solve the disappearance himself.

'False Step' is part Hitchcock suspense thriller, part old school detective, a smattering of Powell's witty 'Thin Man' and topped off with a few dashes of 1930's screwball comedy. The casting and characters are also an unusual lot from Shelly Winters as the dapper Powell's floozy ex-girlfriend to James Gleason and Sheldon Leonard as a couple of wise cracking Runyonesque type cops. The results, like the styles, are mixed. The movie never really gets into a flow. Like a screwdriver in the bicycle spokes, what could have worked as a suspense mystery is thrown off the tracks by invasive injections of unneeded comedic relief. The script itself, in addition to lacking a cohesive direction, is just generally confusing as to the suspects' relationships and motivations. As such the urbane Powell is largely wasted as he steps through the disjointed scenes in a workman-like manner.

'Take One False Step' does have it's moments mainly due to Powell and cast mates who manage to pull it across the finish line. All-in-all it's a competent but forgettable film.

William Powell doesn't just take one false step in this thriller, he takes several. But the point of the story is that it only takes one step in the wrong direction for you to tumble completely down the hill and crash. As is often the case in Hollywood oldies, the false step comes in the form of a morally loose woman. There's nothing worse than a floozie who likes booze and men, in the eyes of the Hays Code.

Bill is happily married to Dorothy Hart, and has a good job as a college professor. Temptation comes in the form of Shelley Winters, an old girlfriend who wants to have another fling. She's sizzling in this movie and gets to wear some gorgeous gowns that leave nothing to the imagination. However, if Bill is happy and has moved on, why does he agree to go to her apartment for drinks? One false step leads to another, and the next thing he knows, he's being accused of Shelley's murder. . .

The oddest part of this movie is that when Bill gets into trouble, he doesn't turn to his wife. He turns to his gal pal Marsha Hunt, and the two of them seem to have a better relationship than he and his wife. The script could have made Marsha his wife and cut out the friend's character altogether. You'll also see James Gleason, Sheldon Leonard, and Felix Bressart in the supporting cast. It's a bit sad to see Felix in his last movie, because he was very thin and very sick. He's often filmed from behind or at a distance, and I wonder if a double was used. Still, if you're a Shelley Winters fan, you might want to check this one out to see her looking so pretty.

William Powell is always worth watching. The rest of TAKE ONE FALSE STEP is rather harder to appreciate, because logic is not its strongest suit. Freddie, the top villain, never shows his mug - makes no difference to the story, anyway.

Shelley Winters is clearly wasted in her role as potential femme fatale who seems ready to go with any man, Powell most of all, and turns out to be more suicidal than fatal. Other than her apparently nymphomaniacal tendencies, I still have no idea what crime she may have committed.

Direction and cinematography are OK, script has more holes than the proverbial Swiss cheese. Generally immediately forgettable - and yet, TAKE ONE FALSE STEP has its moments, especially when Prof Gentling (Powell) learns that he has been bitten by a possibly rabid dog.

I could not grasp why Prof Gentling kept deflecting comely, ready for action Winters' advances... his wife is played by the stunningly beautiful Dorothy Hart!

This rather unusual noir has a strange intro - It's almost comical, like the beginning of a 1950 TV comedy. It shows the views of a series of people - shoes and legs only - about to make "one false step". They are about to step into a manhole, or into traffic, etc. The "one false step" that Andrew Gentling (William Powell) is about to make is to step into a bar where an old girlfriend (Shelley Winters as Catherine Sykes) from the war years is having a drink. Andrew is in LA on business. She obviously wants to pick things up from where they left off, and he tells her that he is married now and that "the war is over". But this annoying cloying dame is not about to take no for an answer.

Later that evening she calls him and insists that he come to her house for a party. If not she says she will come to his hotel and make a scene. So he comes over only to find that there is no party. He drives around with her for awhile, and at the end she won't get out of the car. So he does and walks awhile until he sees her out of the car and walking down the street, he then goes back to his hotel room. The next day the headlines scream "Housewife missing - foul play suspected". The police have the scarf she took off of Andrew's neck and various people saw them arguing. He is suspect number one in this, except the police don't know who he is yet.

So Gentling decides to go to the police - but wait. Somebody else from his past, Martha Wier (Marsha Hunt) calls him and says - don't be a dope! And then encourages him to not go to the police but instead to take all kinds of shady illegal actions that just get him in deeper. With female friends like these I'm surprised Andrew Gentling is not a confirmed bachelor and member of the Three Stooges Women Haters Club, but I digress. Let's just say complications ensue.

And the reason Gentling was in town in the first place - to talk a millionaire into contributing to a university he is trying to found - is in jeopardy as the millionaire does not tolerate even a whiff of scandal in anyone with which he is associated. So that is all in jeopardy too at this point.

I rated this higher than other folks did, and that's probably because I'm such a big William Powell fan that I enjoy watching just about anything in which he has a significant role. I can't think of any of his films that I would not recommend. I certainly would say if you are introducing yourself to William Powell's talents that I wouldn't put this one among the first of his films I would watch. Save it for later.