When the body is found on the beach, no one knows except us who it is. We know it's a cheap, no-good call girl named Vivian Helton because we watched her, desperate for money, meet the man who owed her, and who shot her. Now she's not only lost her looks, she's lost her flesh. Sand and waves have left nothing but bones. The cop in charge, Lieutenant Pete Morales (Ricardo Montalban), calls on Dr. McAdoo (Bruce Bennett), a forensic scientist at Harvard, to help with identification. In the process of establishing sex, age, height and occupation (possible dancer, not probable call girl), we'll get a lesson in forensics that would do credit to Kay Scarpetta or the Skeleton Detective himself, Gideon Oliver.
Then the police learn Vivian Helton was pregnant. Pete Morales, working his first case in Boston, had earlier made up his mind that Vivian was murdered before there was evidence to establish this. Now he's determined to find the murderer. Morales is a good guy...smart, ambitious, cheerful, hard working. But when he decides someone is guilty, he's not about to change his mind. Before he gets things right, he'll get things wrong.
Along the way we'll meet Henry Shanway, the poor drunk sap who met Vivian at a bar while he was feeling sorry for himself. He let her move his yellow Ford from a no-parking zone. The next thing he knew they were on the Cape, where she tricked him out of the car so she could drive off and meet the man who will shoot her. We'll meet Henry's wife, too. There's Vivian's eccentric and venal landlady (played by Elsa Lanchester), who thinks she can pick up the blackmailing where Vivian left off. And, of course, there's the killer. Most importantly, perhaps, there's McAdoo. Turns out that with his knowledge of bones, bullet angles and logic, he's a better detective than anyone else.
The movie benefits from the moody cinematography of John Alton and the efficient direction of John Sturges, Sturges moved on to direct such successes as Last Train from Gun Hill, The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape and Ice Station Zebra. Mystery Street is a solid entry. It's not an A movie, but it's interesting, unsentimental, well made and shorter.
Then the police learn Vivian Helton was pregnant. Pete Morales, working his first case in Boston, had earlier made up his mind that Vivian was murdered before there was evidence to establish this. Now he's determined to find the murderer. Morales is a good guy...smart, ambitious, cheerful, hard working. But when he decides someone is guilty, he's not about to change his mind. Before he gets things right, he'll get things wrong.
Along the way we'll meet Henry Shanway, the poor drunk sap who met Vivian at a bar while he was feeling sorry for himself. He let her move his yellow Ford from a no-parking zone. The next thing he knew they were on the Cape, where she tricked him out of the car so she could drive off and meet the man who will shoot her. We'll meet Henry's wife, too. There's Vivian's eccentric and venal landlady (played by Elsa Lanchester), who thinks she can pick up the blackmailing where Vivian left off. And, of course, there's the killer. Most importantly, perhaps, there's McAdoo. Turns out that with his knowledge of bones, bullet angles and logic, he's a better detective than anyone else.
The movie benefits from the moody cinematography of John Alton and the efficient direction of John Sturges, Sturges moved on to direct such successes as Last Train from Gun Hill, The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape and Ice Station Zebra. Mystery Street is a solid entry. It's not an A movie, but it's interesting, unsentimental, well made and shorter.