Mystery Street (Murder at Harvard) (1950)

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(328 ratings)

Blonde good-time girl Vivian Heldon (Jan Sterling), who lives in a cheap rooming house in a working-class section of Boston, run by the inquisitive and neurotic Mrs. Smerrling (Elsa Lanchester), goes out one night after a phone conversation with her boyfriend, proclaiming that she's got big plans… More Blonde good-time girl Vivian Heldon (Jan Sterling), who lives in a cheap rooming house in a working-class section of Boston, run by the inquisitive and neurotic Mrs. Smerrling (Elsa Lanchester), goes out one night after a phone conversation with her boyfriend, proclaiming that she's got big plans and might even move to a nicer place. After putting in her shift as a waitress at a cheap dive called The Grass Skirt, she latches onto Henry Shanway (Marshall Thompson), an innocently drunk patron, who's trying to wash away his sadness over his wife's stillborn child. She uses Henry's car with him in tow to drive out to Cape Cod, then strands him on foot and meets her boyfriend -- but when she arrives, he puts a bullet into her, then strips the body, throws it into the sea, and drops the clothes and the car into a lake. Six months later, an ornithologist from the cape spots the skeleton of a human foot sticking up through the sand. Enter Lt. Peter Morales (Ricardo Montalban) of the Boston PD; he and his partner on this case, Det. Sharkey (Wally Maher), bring the bones to Dr. McAdoo (Bruce Bennett), of Harvard University's forensic medical laboratory. Over the next few days, McAdoo and his staff are able to determine the gender, age, and general appearance of the person to whom the bones belonged, and that this is a case of murder -- and that the victim was pregnant. Morales and Sharkey, combing through what they know about the victim and the missing persons records of six nearby states, eventually tie the skeleton up with Vivian Heldon, who disappeared on just about the same day the victim was killed, and also to Shanway's car, which he reported stolen that day. The poor slob, who is merely trying to cover up a drunken lapse from his wife (Sally Forrest), acts guilty enough and lies about just enough so that Morales is certain that he's the murderer. His investigation isn't helped by the interference of Mrs. Smerrling, who sold Vivian's belongings when she didn't return to her room, and now seems fixated, even obsessed with the details of the case and its connection to her rooming house. While the police tighten the screws on Shanway, she backtracks Vivian's phone calls and makes contact with the woman's boyfriend, James Joshua Harkley (Edmon Ryan), member of a wealthy Boston family, and a married man; she also manages to steal a vital piece of evidence. But instead of turning it over to the police, she uses it to blackmail Harkley. Meanwhile, the district attorney sets an early trial date for Shanway, but with the opening arguments only a week away, Morales begins to develop doubts about Shanway's guilt, in addition to harboring his own sympathy for Grace Shanway, whose life is being gradually destroyed by the prosecution on her husband -- not that Morales thinks he's innocent, but there's enough that's not right about the case, including the missing murder weapon, that he's not 100-percent sure. And that's when Vivian's friend and neighbor, Jackie Elcott (Betsy Blair) reports how strangely Mrs. Smerrling is acting, and the fact that she's got a gun. But before they can question her, Harkley kills Mrs. Smerrling -- now it's a race between Morales and Harkley to see who can get to the murder weapon first. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 33 min.
Directed By: John Sturges
Genres: Drama, Mystery & Suspense

In Theaters: Jul 27, 1950 Wide

Critic Reviews

Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
An engaging film noir.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Bruce B

Outstanding film from a Film Noir collection. Ricardo Montaiban plays an detective in trying to solve the murder of a toe dancer outside of Boston. A Man is arrested for her murder but is he the right man, after some time Ricardo Montaiban doesn't think so, he seeks the help of… More
Outstanding film from a Film Noir collection. Ricardo Montaiban plays an detective in trying to solve the murder of a toe dancer outside of Boston. A Man is arrested for her murder but is he the right man, after some time Ricardo Montaiban doesn't think so, he seeks the help of Harvard University to help find real killer. This is an excellent story line for the time period 4 1/2 stars
jay n

Solid noir, Elsa Lanchester is a hoot as the seedy landlady.
Michael G

A pretty weak example of film noir as it really doesn't have many noir themes to it with the exception of the wrongly accused man. It's more like a 60 year-old episode of CSI with a generally boring cast, minus Elsa Lanchester. More of a forgettable, run of the mill murder… More
A pretty weak example of film noir as it really doesn't have many noir themes to it with the exception of the wrongly accused man. It's more like a 60 year-old episode of CSI with a generally boring cast, minus Elsa Lanchester. More of a forgettable, run of the mill murder mystery than film noir. Although in the plus column it's wonderfully photographed.

Cast

            Ricardo Montalban as Lt. Peter Morales

            Sally Forrest as Grace Shanway

            Bruce Bennett as Dr. McAdoo

            Elsa Lanchester as Mrs. Smerrling

            Marshall Thompson as Henry Shanway

            Jan Sterling as Vivian Heldon

            Edmon Ryan as James Joshua Harkley

            Betsy Blair as Jackie Elcott

            Wally Maher as Tim Sharkey

            Ralph Dumke as Tattooist Jim Black

            Willard Waterman as Mortician

            Walter Burke as Ornithologist

            Don Shelton as District Attorney

            Elsie Baker as Elderly Lady

            Ralph Brooks as Reporter

            Douglas Carter Beane as Counterman

            Mack Chandler as Doorman

            Lucille Curtis as Mrs. Harkley

            Robert Foulk as Det. O'Hara

            Jim Frasher as High School Boy

            Ned Glass as Dr. Levy

            Eula Guy as Mrs. Fischer

            Sherry Hall as Clerk

            Brad Hatton as Bartender

            Jim Hayward as Constable Fischer

            Perry Ivins as Alienist

            William Leicester as Doctor

            Louise Lorimer as Mrs. Shanway

            Arthur Lowe as Sailor

            May McAvoy as Nurse

            David McMahon as Det. Garrity

            Ralph Montgomery as Waiter

            Matt Moore as Dr. Rockton

            Virginia Mullen as Neighbor

            Frank Overton as Guard

            Juanita Quigley as Daughter

            Maurice Samuels as Tailor

            Fred Santley as Pawnbroker

            Fred E. Sherman as Photographer

            George Sherwood as Reporter

            Charles Wagenheim as Clerk

            Napoleon Whiting as Redcap

            King Donovan as Reporter

            John Maxwell as Det. Kilrain

            Jack Shea as Policeman

            Peter Thompson as Law Student

            George Brand as Man in Bedroom

            Bert Davidson as Dr. Thorpe

            Ernesto Morelli as Portuguese Fisherman

            Robert Strong as Policeman

            John Crawford as Reporter

            Allen O'Locklin as Photographer

            Mary Jane Smith
            
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