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Redundant and unnecessary.

Good concept, poorly executed.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

The growing importance of forensic science in criminal investigations was effectively signalled in William Keighley's "The Street With No Name" (1948) but "Mystery Street" (1950) goes much further in illustrating how scientific methods can be used to learn everything about a crime that's already been committed and also a great deal about the probable culprit. The result is a fascinating police procedural in which an initially sceptical Boston cop comes to appreciate how helpful the new methods can be in solving even the most challenging of cases.Interestingly, the well-written plot doesn't try to entertain by providing a mystery to be worked out or a series of outrageous twists to be enjoyed but instead, begins by revealing absolutely everything about a cold-blooded murder and then following up with an absorbing account of the methods by which the killer is identified and brought to justice. Surprisingly, this unorthodox approach, which probably wouldn't be successful for most crime dramas, works really well in this case because of the nature of its story and the strength of its characters.Vivian Heldon (Jan Sterling) who works as a B-Girl in a Boston dive called "The Grass Skirt" has become increasingly desperate because she's broke, pregnant and two weeks in arrears with her rent. So when her wealthy lover, who has continuously been giving her the brush-off, fails to turn up for a date, she takes advantage of a very drunk young man who's sitting at the bar and offers to drive him home.Henry Shanaway (Marshall Thompson), whose wife is recuperating in hospital after having suffered a miscarriage, had been trying to drown his sorrows and in his confused state doesn't realise that he's actually being driven to Cape Cod. En route, Vivian telephones her lover to arrange a meeting near his home and when Henry sobers up enough to realise what's happened, Vivian tricks him into getting out of his car and leaves him stranded in the middle of the night in a very remote location. When she meets up with James Joshua Harkley (Edmon Ryan), he simply shoots her at point blank range, dumps her body in the ocean and her car in a nearby lake and then promptly leaves.Some months later, when part of a human skeleton is found on a beach at Cape Cod, Boston Police Lieutenant Peter Moralas (Ricardo Montalban) is assigned to the case and instructed to liaise with Dr McAdoo (Bruce Bennett) who works at Harvard's Department of Legal Medicine. The forensics expert is soon able to identify who the victim was and enquiries that Moralas makes enable him to establish that the car she left "The Grass Skirt" in, belonged to Henry. The evasive answers that Henry gives when he's interviewed by Moralas convince the detective, who's working on his first murder case, that he's found the killer and Henry is subsequently arrested and an early date is set for his trial.Further complications arise, however, when Dr McAdoo discovers how Vivian was killed and it becomes apparent that the murder weapon will have to be found in order to have any chance of convicting Henry.The quality of the acting is consistently good with Ricardo Montalban conveying Moralas' enthusiasm for his assignment after having been frustrated for so long by only being allowed to work on "small stuff". His character, who doesn't always display sound judgement, is likeable and shows commendable dignity when he's racially insulted or patronised and the scenes he shares with Bruce Bennett work particularly well. The real showstopper, however, is the wonderfully eccentric Elsa Lanchester as Vivian's landlady, Mrs Smerrling. This despicable, money-grabbing interfering alcoholic, not only steals Vivian's belongings but also twice attempts to blackmail the killer and disrupts the police investigation in various ways, including by stealing the murder weapon!"Mystery Street" provides a good account of how a combination of traditional police work and the work of scientists can achieve impressive results and also realistically highlights the differing natures of the types of men who work in each of these disciplines. The quality of the screenplay ensures that the drama remains entertaining and fast-moving throughout and John Alton's cinematography is exquisite right from the start with some striking scenes set in Vivian's rooming house where the shadow compositions on the staircase and in the hall are magnificent.

I can really appreciate a film I've never heard of when it delivers an intriguing story with compelling characters. Elsa Lanchester is positively off the rails here as a scheming, money obsessed landlady who has the temerity to attempt blackmail on a guy who's already killed someone, and she knows it! How she couldn't figure out that he might try to kill her just as handily kind of escapes me, but I guess she only saw the dollar signs. Funny, but I had the same impression of the pharmacist in "The Two Mrs. Carroll's" when he tried to put the screws to Humphrey Bogart. Not a smart move.If you didn't know who Detective Moralas was starting out, his familiar appearance might have driven you crazy while the story progressed. This is probably the earliest film I've seen Ricardo Montalban in and he did a nice job here as the Boston homicide cop. If nothing else, the story line reveals the excruciating detail that forensic investigation requires to catch a murderer. I don't really watch TV shows like CSI so maybe I'm not in tune to modern police methods much, but for an early story dealing with the science, it took one through a lot of twists and turns to find the killer.There was one remarkable element in the story that I got a bit of a chuckle out of having nothing to do with the movie per se, but with Mrs. Shanway's (Sally Forrest) stay at the hospital when she had the miscarriage. One of the receipts she produced for Moralas was a forty eight dollar hospital bill. I was born the same year this film came out, and believe it or not, my mother saved the hospital bill as well. Lest you think the amount they came up with here was made up for the movie, I can confirm that my own delivery was a bargain at sixty dollars!

This one really knocked me out. The screenplay is so tight. There is nothing unbelievable. The characters are all interesting and then there is Elsa Lanchester perfectly understanding how to make the most of every second. Ricardo Montalban was such a fine actor. He deserved a much better movie career. Then to see people like Jan Sterling and Betsy Blair in such good roles and offering such solid performances is such a pleasure. We kept saying, "This is Law and Order!" And what complement could be greater only this came about 40 years earlier. Of course you know it will have a satisfying ending but you won't believe the roller coaster ride you are given first. And Boston!!! When has that city ever been given such prominence. The movie is a knockout. Not a wasted second. How did this one get away? Masterpiece is overused but this is one.

'Mystery Street' is a solid drama, with some nice little 'film noir' touches. The script is knowingly cynical. "She called everybody 'honey'. I wonder if that meant she liked them," muses the detective.It's nice to see Montalban so young and in a good early role. Jan Sterling nails 'trashy blonde' down in this role, as she would in the later 'Ace in the Hole' by Billy Wilder.A truly bizarre moment occurs when the killer is caught carrying the lifeless body of the Sterling character out of her car by a passing motorist. For a moment, he must feign making love to the lifeless corpse to allay the onlooker's suspicions. I think even the great Sir Alfred Hitchcock would have appreciated a moment like that.The forensics scenes are quite good for a 1950 movie, and rather graphic. The skull image superimposed over the face of Jan Sterling is unsettling, disturbing. Although never an exact science, the process of facial recognition to a skull goes on today and remains fascinating.This movie is well worth a view.