Mystery Street

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source: Mystery Street

I would truthfully give this an 8 rather than a 10, but I feel the (at current 6.9) average is way too low. It is not quite a classic, but has solid casting and performances all around, Montalban is excellent, and Elsa Lanchester truly inspired. I was only familiar with Montalban's later work, and had him pegged as a Latin smoothie who just got by on his charm. I found myself saying again and again, "this guy really CAN act!" (Montalban actually got better looking the older he got.) Excellent photography and Boston locales. SPOILERS! The last chase through the train yard has been endlessly duplicated, and I'm not for certain that it is original in this film. A MUST SEEE for every noir buff!

In Boston, the prostitute Vivian Heldon (Jan Sterling) is pressed by Mrs. Smerrling (Elsa Lanchester), who is the greedy owner of the boarding house when she lives, to pay the rent of the room that is late. She calls her wealthy lover and schedules a meeting with him at "The Grass Skirt", where she works. However he never appears and Vivian hijacks the drunken client Henry Shanway (Marshall Thompson) and drives his car to Cape Cod. She stops at a diner and calls her lover again to meet him in a spot. When Henry awakes, Vivian lures him and leaves him on the road. When Vivian meets her lover, he kills her with a 45 mm, hides her body and dumps the car in a lake. A couple of months later, her skeleton is found near the beach. Detective Peter Morales (Ricardo Montalban) is assigned to investigate the case without any clue; however the coroner Dr. McAdoo (Bruce Bennett) from Harvard gives technical support to Morales and he finds the identity of Vivian. His further investigation leads him to Henry that lied to justify the hijack of his car to his wife Grace Shanway (Sally Forrest) and to the insurance company. Now Henry becomes the prime suspect and only his wife believe in his words. Will Detective Morales proceed his investigation and find the real killer? "Mystery Street" is an engaging film-noir directed by John Sturges. Ricardo Montalban is excellent in the role of a relentless detective that finds a suspect with all the evidences pointing to him but continues seeking out the real killer. However Elsa Lanchester steals the show in the role of a greedy and despicable woman. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "A Noite de 23 de Maio" ("The Night of May 23rd)

The somewhat generic title "Mystery Street" offers no real clue as to what is contained therein, and belies the fact that this film exhibits some very contemporary themes and devices. It is partnered with "Act of Violence" on a "film noir" DVD which offers an excellent evening of entertainment from two lesser-known movies of that genre. Ricardo Montalban plays a Portuguese-American police detective trying to piece together the clues left behind by a skeleton found buried in the sand dunes near Hyannis, Massachusetts. The proceedings are a definite precursor to TV's "C.S.I." and similar series devoted to police forensics and procedures, and a crime lab run by Bruce Bennett at Harvard University features prominently. It's no secret to the audience who the skeletal remains are, but it is for earnest, hardworking Montalban to discover for himself. In the process, the youthful Montalban interacts with several potential suspects and witnesses, all the while treating us to his special brand of Latin charisma that made him so popular with female audiences. He's in fine form, confident and looking great in a trench coat and fedora, although sometimes his accent gets a tad in the way. The stellar supporting cast includes fabulous Elsa Lanchester as an avaricious and corrupt landlady who soon finds herself in over her head. Her expert dramatics are priceless, and she is allowed ample screen time to flesh-out a unique character who is both compelling and repulsive. Next mention should go to beautiful Jan Sterling in a pivotal role of a cynical but desperate dance hall girl looking to strike it rich. Marshall Thompson and Sally Forrest appear as a young married couple with their share of problems and more than a few secrets. The rest of the cast is filled with great little cameo performances, most with one scene each in rapid-fire succession. So fans of classic police drama will find much to enjoy in "Mystery Street," a movie which certainly foreshadows current trends in that genre, and gives fine actors a great showcase for their talent. **** out of *****

Though the script is B-grade, the terrific cast and cinematography make "Mystery Street" a fun movie to watch. The story lacks depth and substantive twists, and the fractured plot suggests a weak structure. Focus oscillates back and forth among a number of characters. As a result, viewers come away with a sense that the film is an ensemble piece when in fact it isn't. Jan Sterling is well cast as Vivian, a young, blonde hussy who is in trouble with the wrong people. The great Elsa Lanchester provides grotesque comic relief as the dithering but nervy Mrs. Smerrling, Vivian's smarmy, slithery landlady who's very fond of money. And Ricardo Montalban is surprisingly good as Morales, a novice Boston detective trying to solve a murder. Part of the plot provides a good account of then-current forensic science, as Morales pieces together detailed biological clues. Gorgeous B&W photography makes this film quite atmospheric. Off-kilter angles in some scenes, shadows, silhouettes, a forced perspective, along with Gothic set decoration render interesting visuals. I especially liked those scenes that contain mostly blackness punctuated with bits of light. The look and feel is very 1940s, with scenes at a seedy rooming house, a tawdry bar called the Grass Skirt, and sleazy music to match. The main reason I chose to watch this film is because of the mystery genre and the casting of wonderful Elsa Lanchester. The "mystery" was a tad disappointing, but Elsa was sheer delight. "Mystery Street" contains a story that is acceptable if not first rate. But the cast and B&W noir visuals are terrific, making this an above-average film, one I would recommend.

Mystery Street is a police procedural film noir mystery directed by John Sturges with cinematography by legendary lensman John Alton. It stars Ricardo Montalban, Sally Forrest, Bruce Bennett, Elsa Lanchester, Marshall Thompson & Jan Sterling. It's shot on location in Boston and Cape Cod with both Harvard Medical School in Roxbury, Massachusetts and Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, also featured. Tho a bit too aware of the vogue for semi-documentary stylings, Mystery Street is a solid mystery thriller that is expertly shot and acted with subtlety by the cast. The plot sees Sterling's blonde "bar worker" shot and killed on the roadside by a cloaked in darkness assailant. The police, led by Montalban's Hispanic detective, Pete Morales, think they have their man when it emerges that she was seen leaving the Grass Skirt bar with a drunk Henry Shanway (Thompson). However, aided by Dr. McAdoo at Harvard Medical School (Bennett), Morales starts to unravel the mystery and identity of the killer. Not the classic film noir piece that some DVD marketers want you to believe it is (strip away Alton's brilliant shades and shadow work and it's just a forensic based who done it), the film however triumphs on account of its wrong man premise and the interesting characters woven into the plot (Lanchester walks away with the movie as a devious and batty landlady). The procedural aspect of the story is given weight by the forensic angle used (the CSI film noir tag that comes with the film is an apt one), while some social awareness is deftly slotted in via Morales' immigrant background. Good writing, visually impressive and paced with no little skill, Mystery Street is recommended to the mystery thriller fan. 7/10

A grisly little entry in the police-procedural film noir sub-genre that stars a swarthy Ricardo Montalban as chief detective investigating the death of a mysterious girl (Jan Sterling) whose skeleton is found buried on a beach. Though there are a string of plot threads swirling around the true identity of the girl's murderer, this isn't a mystery (misleading title aside) and we pretty much know who the culprit is from early on. This movie is more interested in the forensics work that goes into tracking down the murderer -- think of it as a 1950s version of a CSI show. To that end, there are all sorts of little nasty details that come as a bit of a surprise in a film from this time period -- the foot of a skeleton poking out of a sand dune, a photo of a dead woman lying in a pool of blood, the tiny bones of an unborn baby being contained in an envelope -- and the film goes out of its way to emphasize the deadness of a dead human body (as Jan Sterling's body is being carried away from the car in which she was just shot, the murdered accidentally thunks her head against the car door). Sterling, despite the fact that she usually played caustic, cheap blondes, always had a winning quality for me, and I was somewhat bummed that she dies so early on. But to make up for the lack of her, there's a wonderful performance by Elsa Lanchester as an eccentric busy-body and a smaller and less showy but captivating performance by Betsy Blair (aka Mrs. Gene Kelly) as Sterling's friend and neighbor. Directed with style by John Sturges. Grade: A-

That's right! If you're a film noir fanatic as I am, you'll appreciate this obscure film! It has all of the ingredients of a noir; sex, greed, blackmail, murder - it's all here! Plus, there are also many additional surprises; pre-DNA forensic science and one of the first movies to show a skeleton used of non-horror purposes; something unheard of for it's time. The cinematography is second to none for the crime-drama films made during this era. Plus, that's not all! this movie is filmed largely on location in Boston and Cambridge. There are some great views of the city from 1950 which cannot be missed. And the plot is pure noir too. Henry Shanway (Marshall Thompson) is a victim of circumstances when he is falsely accused of murdering Vivian Heldon (Jan Sterling), a "hostess" from the seedy "Grass Skirt" cocktail lounge. This is only the top of the iceberg. As the movie progresses, Shanway, distraught over his wife's miscarriage, is drowning his sorrows at the "Grass Skirt" which is just across the street from the hospital his wife is in. Heldon is also pregnant, not by choice, from a tryst she is having with "blue blood" James Joshua Hartley (Edmon Ryan) a businessman from the lower part of Cape Cod. Heldon's attempts to see Hartley in order to confront him about her pregnancy are fruitless; Hartley is definitely giving her the brush off. Shanway is the perfect stooge for Heldon as she takes advantage of his sorrow by giving him too much to drink and then offering to drive him home in his own car. Things don't work out that way as she takes him for an unexpected ride to the Cape in order to read Hartley the riot act. Later that night, they arrive at a hamburger stand near Hartley's home. She dumps Shanway at the hamburger stop and continues up the Cape where she encounters Hartley, who, in turn, kills her, buries her in the sand dunes and dumps Shanway's car in a bog. Later on in the late fall, an ornithologist (played by a young "elfish" Walter Burke) discovers a skeleton in the sand and the investigation begins. Ricardo Montalbon and Bruce Bennett both play great roles in their attempts to find the murderer. The skeleton is brought to Harvard Medical School and the forensics begin. All this time, Elsa Lanchester, the victim's landlady gets into the act and attempts to black mail Hartley after finding his phone number scrawled by the hall phone in her home. She adds one plus one, and visits Hartley with the attempt to extort money from him. In one scene, in his office, she musters up the courage to look through his desk and finds a gun which she gingerly puts in her handbag. This plot is finely woven, moves quickly and gives the viewer an exciting experience throughout the film. My advice: see this film! It is a fine example of the noir that was so popular during this special era of film making. What puzzles me is that there is so much "junk" available on the market; low budget horror pics, dumb "girlie" movies, idiotic "bathroom humor" flicks - all available on DVD or VHS. However, a superb movie like Mystery Street remains unavailable. Why?

I really liked and respected this film a lot. There is so much to like from this Noir-esquire film about a skeleton discovered along the beach. What I really liked was the casting of Ricardo Montalban as the police investigator and the realism of the acting, writing and directing. This movie easily could have starred a different actor but I was impressed that they chose a Hispanic-American to play an ordinary role (something seldom seen in Hollywood)--a cop in Massachussets. And, the movie's twists and turns and gritty dialog lift this film well above the ordinary. In addition, the play-by-play forensic investigation was fascinating and reminiscent of an episode of Law and Order combined with a Hollywood melodrama.