Ricardo Montalban is a police detective, Lt. Morales, who thinks he's caught a murderer in "Mystery Street," a 1950 noir-ish B with an excellent cast that includes Elsa Lanchester, Sally Forrest, Bruce Bennett, Jan Sterling and Marshall Thompson. The murder victim is played by Jan Sterling. Desperate to get to someone at the Cape, she picks up a guy at the bar where she works and maneuvers her way into his car, taking it to the Cape. Once he sobers up, she drives off without him. She meets the man she insisted on seeing, and he kills her.
By the time her body is found, she's nothing but bones. Morales gets help from a forensics expert at Harvard Medical School, Dr. McAdoo (Bruce Bennett) who describes the woman. Eventually this leads to the Thompson character, Henry Shanway, and Montalban believes he's got his man. As Grace Shanway, Henry's wife, Sally Forrest portrays the desperation of the situation, her grief over losing a baby, and her belief that her husband didn't kill anyone - but her doubt over whether or not he slept with the victim.
This is a highly interesting film with some wonderful Boston and Harvard location shots and good performances. Today, with technology, forensics has highly evolved, so it was fascinating to see Dr. McAdoo put the case together with 1950 knowledge.
As Morales, Ricardo Montalban is very young and handsome - in fact, a hunk - and effective in his role. When one of the victim's old boyfriends smirks at the fact that he's Hispanic, while his own family seems to have come over on the Mayflower, Morales stands up to him, sure of himself. Bennett is his usually solid self, and Jan Sterling had this type of role locked up in the '50s. The showy performance is that of Elsa Lanchester as the victim's landlady, who is blackmailing the real murderer. She's fantastic as a blowzy, nosy woman who obstructs the investigation.
Underrated film, very enjoyable.
By the time her body is found, she's nothing but bones. Morales gets help from a forensics expert at Harvard Medical School, Dr. McAdoo (Bruce Bennett) who describes the woman. Eventually this leads to the Thompson character, Henry Shanway, and Montalban believes he's got his man. As Grace Shanway, Henry's wife, Sally Forrest portrays the desperation of the situation, her grief over losing a baby, and her belief that her husband didn't kill anyone - but her doubt over whether or not he slept with the victim.
This is a highly interesting film with some wonderful Boston and Harvard location shots and good performances. Today, with technology, forensics has highly evolved, so it was fascinating to see Dr. McAdoo put the case together with 1950 knowledge.
As Morales, Ricardo Montalban is very young and handsome - in fact, a hunk - and effective in his role. When one of the victim's old boyfriends smirks at the fact that he's Hispanic, while his own family seems to have come over on the Mayflower, Morales stands up to him, sure of himself. Bennett is his usually solid self, and Jan Sterling had this type of role locked up in the '50s. The showy performance is that of Elsa Lanchester as the victim's landlady, who is blackmailing the real murderer. She's fantastic as a blowzy, nosy woman who obstructs the investigation.
Underrated film, very enjoyable.