Le Mystère de la plage perdue

This is an unusually-well-photographed detective film, starring Ricardo Montalban as a handsome and improbable young Boston detective. It has a first-rate villain, an interesting investigational format, some very good actors in minor parts and very fine B/W production values. The script was by Leonard Spigelglass, Sydney Boehm and Richard Brooks with first-rate direction by John Sturges. Rudolph G. Kopp did the music, Edwin Willis the sets with Ralph S. Hurst, Cedric Gibbons and Gabriel Scognamillo the art direction and John Alton the beautiful cinematography. In the unusually large cast besides Montalban as Pete Morales were Sally Forrest, Marshall Thompson, Elsa Lanchester, Edmon Ryan as the villain, Bruce Bennet as a forensics professor, Betsy Blair, Jan Sterling and many others. The storyline is actually fairly simple. A "B" girl being told to get lost by her rich married boyfriend has to hijack a car driven by a second man to get from Boston to Cape Cod. Months later, she turns up as a skeleton near Cape Cod. Working from clues with a forensics professor, Morales tries to free the innocent motorist she had hijacked from suspicion, prevent another killing and catch the guilty man. This is a very attractive and well-mounted production; Forrest is somewhat wasted as a housewife; but many people, Lanchester and Ryan especially, have small to large telling parts in this very good narrative. Not a great film but far-above-average in every respect.

A simple, clear plot that doesn't interfere with the power of the personal stories within. In its day it would've been shocking for showing the murder, and the discovery of the body. Good acting from a young Montalban.

This is proof that Ricardo Montalban was actually a fine actor, before he was somehow transformed into a caricature of himself by television. This movie is so well done, so tightly crafted that I am surprised I have never heard of it before. It may be the very first movie-version of "CSI"! Not as graphic and detailed as the TV show, but a forensic anthropological examination of the evidence by a Harvard doctor/professor is integral to the plot, and handled very well. The characters rise above typical stereotypes in this story, which almost plays like a docudrama as opposed to something created from whole cloth. Elsa Lanchester is particularly good too as a nasty landlady with no scruples whatsoever. Truly a hidden gem, and one worth the hour-forty or so you will spend watching it.

See it for the Boston locations, for an early gritty performance by Montalban before he became a Latin heartthrob joke, for the intricate plot, vivid characterizations and snappy editing, but see it most of all for the extraordinary cinematography of John Alton. What he does with composition, deep focus and lighting is amazing. That he often does it on locations where he did not have the control of a soundstage is astonishing.

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.