cult film freak: elsa lanchester

Written by James M. Tate / 6/22/2026 / No comments / besty blair , bruce bennett , cop , edmon ryan , elsa lanchester , fifties , film noir or melodrama , jan sterling , marshall thompson , ricardo montalban , sally forrest , wrong man

RICARDO MONTALBAN WITH BRUCE BENNETT IN 'MYSTERY STREET'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQPxLjvir6Sq6o-SK6TtFlXAyg6AL1rdpHl7Zo5xOMnKwmBn9cTLtF2R8EwI7ghp96FLx_efNt822exRJePQntBGQTzP2KiYCEHDEnWFYmyUIyVIGTsN-PZ6j4eVMUfGFkQ28syTGj1bDxMqSFqs-WuKZJUSmOlU3kSD7YAzBg0xvaG8ozXHnRf1T2imPt/s2078/Screen%20Shot%202026-06-18%20at%201.15.28%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="2078" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQPxLjvir6Sq6o-SK6TtFlXAyg6AL1rdpHl7Zo5xOMnKwmBn9cTLtF2R8EwI7ghp96FLx_efNt822exRJePQntBGQTzP2KiYCEHDEnWFYmyUIyVIGTsN-PZ6j4eVMUfGFkQ28syTGj1bDxMqSFqs-WuKZJUSmOlU3kSD7YAzBg0xvaG8ozXHnRf1T2imPt/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-06-18%20at%201.15.28%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1950 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>When debt-ridden Jan Sterling... in an apartment complex where lovely single ladies exist under the bickering rule of middle-aged Elsa Lanchester... walks down the stairs to make an enigmatic phone call, not only does MYSTERY STREET begin, but it could have been another movie entirely...<br><br>After Sterling meets up with drunken married Marshall Thompson, driving him through rural back-roads before stealing the car and getting murdered, what follows is tighter and meticulously by-the-book...</p><p><span></span></p>

besty blair, bruce bennett, cop, edmon ryan, elsa lanchester, fifties, film noir or melodrama, jan sterling, marshall thompson, ricardo montalban, sally forrest, wrong man

RICARDO MONTALBAN WITH BRUCE BENNETT IN 'MYSTERY STREET'

Year: 1950 Rating: **** When debt-ridden Jan Sterling... in an apartment complex where lovely single ladies exist under the bickering rule o...

Written by James M. Tate / 3/01/2021 / No comments / charles laughton , courtroom drama , elsa lanchester , mystery , perfect murder , ruta lee , tyrone power

TYRONE POWER & MARLENE DIETRICH IN 'WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPPMS_i-C4IstWm33doZ9MehhOAHwiTnWY4jP67SCOnUiY4eejDksmWYaTQwNvtBKG1-AO3IK9jOJh9FnjAInk-yIMtj9a6oLEp3vFZbVPHWhGT925QZBq7HdCPhjOgX6SiW99Lx4KQgpk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-03-02+at+7.11.09+AM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1420" data-original-width="1600" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPPMS_i-C4IstWm33doZ9MehhOAHwiTnWY4jP67SCOnUiY4eejDksmWYaTQwNvtBKG1-AO3IK9jOJh9FnjAInk-yIMtj9a6oLEp3vFZbVPHWhGT925QZBq7HdCPhjOgX6SiW99Lx4KQgpk/w400-h353/Screen+Shot+2019-03-02+at+7.11.09+AM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ruta Lee & Tyrone Power WITNESS Rates: ***</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>While the often compared-to courtroom drama ANATOMY OF A MURDER is an existential courtroom drama about a man
 who's entirely guilty of murder, in WITNESS TO THE PROSECUTION it's obvious someone's not 
telling the truth. Either a horribly aged once-perfect-looking Tyrone 
Power (with a gorgeous trophy in the wings played by Ruta Lee, pictured)...<br>
<br>He's accused of killing a rich old lady befriended for need of a
 loan on an egg-beating invention (?), or the title character in Marlene
 
Dietrich...</p><p>She gives the best performance overall, especially having to 
do with a twist that really only works in repose.
Meanwhile,
 the always great acting team of Charles Laughton, as the flawed defense
 consul of the English Court, and real-life (contrived) wife Elsa 
Lanchester, 
are only pretty good here, going back and forth more like another kind 
of stage play. Comedy, perhaps. Which simply doesn't fit here, and with 
everything mounting to the last five minutes, like mysteries do, this 
isn't one for rewatching.  </p><p><span></span></p>

charles laughton, courtroom drama, elsa lanchester, mystery, perfect murder, ruta lee, tyrone power

TYRONE POWER & MARLENE DIETRICH IN 'WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION'

Ruta Lee & Tyrone Power WITNESS Rates: *** While the often compared-to courtroom drama ANATOMY OF A MURDER is an existential courtro...

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