Mystery Street

In the latest (semi-season finale) episode of Leverage, they talk about the movie Mystery Street, how it is the first forensics based murder mystery. So of course I had to see it.

A young woman is trying to get in touch with a chap, and appropriates a car (and the owner) to do so. However, the meeting isn't a joyous one, and so we are over to the police when some bones turn up on a beach. What follows is a police procedural, and for a long time it looks like the truth won't be uncovered, especially when other people have their own agendas.

The forensics side of it is largely basic, it must be said, for example working out where a bullet is. However, there is one particular piece, that of matching the skull to a photograph, about which they need to know how the photograph was taken, that I find rather dubious to be done these days, let alone back then. But this is a thing, and it shows the lengths people went to back then.

The procedural itself is largely straight-forward, with the aid of a few clues, and there is still the running around and footwork that these movies have. A nice early role by Ricardo Montalban.

A nice movie, however remember this was made in the 1950s.

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