" In he finale, the enterprising stage producer was compelled to prove himself by showcasing a triple-whammy of his ""prologue"" shows.They fled for their lives after a glimpse of the killer.Myers stabbed John in the leg - although Molly fended him off as they both ran to a locked gate outside his mother""s residence.Downstairs, David searched for food in the kitchen""s refrigerator with a flashlight, where he was stabbed with a machete in the stomach, and then beheaded(# 11 death).Miller (who was co-author ofThe Sea Hawk (1940), another Flynn swashbuckler).The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Interior Direction (Carl J.Weyl), Best Original Score (Erich Wolfgang Korngold), Best Film Editing (Ralph Dawson), and Best Picture, and lost only its Best Picture recognition to Frank Capra""sYou Can""t Take It With You (1938).It can also be seen as a powerful, allegorical indictment of the Hollywood blacklist, created during the climate of suspicion and fear of the 1950s McCarthy era.