# Crime Mapping in Classic Films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 27, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crime-mapping-in-classic-films/629558 "2012-07-27T12:45:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GeneD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/da6949/32.png) [@GeneD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GeneD)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crime-mapping-in-classic-films/629558/1 "2012-07-27T12:45:04Z")
I am doing research on maps in film. Can anyone give me the name(s) of early crime films (or TV shows) that uses a map with push pins to plot crime locations as a plot device? The strait Dope is the best message board I have had the privilege to post to. The answers I have received from my previous post have been plentiful, intelligent and articulate.This is a great site. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crime-mapping-in-classic-films/629558/2 "2012-07-27T12:58:29Z")
No pushpins, but the police use a map of Berlin to track a killer in _M_ (1931). I don’t think you could get much earlier - the film was one of the first to really tell a story through images. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crime-mapping-in-classic-films/629558/3 "2012-07-27T15:26:14Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > I don’t think you could get much earlier - the film was one of the first to really tell a story through images. So silent films didn’t tell their stories through images?:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crime-mapping-in-classic-films/629558/4 "2012-07-27T15:42:31Z")
Silents mostly used human bodies and faces (images of them, doy). What most didn’t have was a visual _language._