# Film Noir ID

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-noir-id/830318>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 28, 2019, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-noir-id/830318 "2019-02-28T00:19:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-noir-id/830318/1 "2019-02-28T00:19:43Z")

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There’s a film noir from the '50s, I think, that features detectives matching a lot (hundreds?) of photographs of women with a photograph of a skull. I have an idea that Ricardo Montalban was a detective. Was it _Mystery Street_ (1950)? It’s on now, and I’ve seen it before, but I missed the beginning so I don’t know. The name does not ring a bell.

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**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-noir-id/830318/2 "2019-02-28T00:28:17Z")

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That does happen in _Mystery Street._

Google Books: _Film Noir_

> **[Film Noir](https://books.google.com/books?id=SgDcDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT138&lpg=PT138&dq=film%2Bnoir%2B1950s%2Bskulls%2Bphotographs%2B-pinterest&source=bl&ots=0p9A0vLwGR&sig=ACfU3U3DpuVtPptKw7TTcwsyPQYSlrG__A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj81r3Bld3gAhUE8IMKHRelDmYQ6AEwDHoECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=film%20noir%201950s%20skulls%20photographs%20-pinterest&f=false)**
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> What is film noir? With its archetypal femme fatale and private eye, its darkly-lit scenes and even darker narratives, the answer can seem obvious enough. But as Ian Brookes shows in this new study, the answer is a lot more complex than that. This...

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-noir-id/830318/3 "2019-02-28T01:57:47Z")

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> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#):
>
> That does happen in _Mystery Street._
> 
> Google Books: _Film Noir_  
> [Film Noir: A Critical Introduction - Ian Brookes - Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?id=SgDcDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT138&lpg=PT138&dq=film+noir+1950s+skulls+photographs+-pinterest&source=bl&ots=0p9A0vLwGR&sig=ACfU3U3DpuVtPptKw7TTcwsyPQYSlrG__A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj81r3Bld3gAhUE8IMKHRelDmYQ6AEwDHoECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=film%20noir%201950s%20skulls%20photographs%20-pinterest&f=false)

That is, indeed, it.

I just don’t remember _Mystery Street_ as the title. (Maybe I missed it the first time I saw it.)

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**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-noir-id/830318/4 "2019-02-28T02:25:20Z")

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Mystery Street was on this afternoon( Weds. Feb.27) on TCM. WOW!