As in, a thriller whose dramatic tension basically hinges on scientific processing? A young Ricardo Montalban was fun to watch and everything, but really, the narrative drive comes from the unfolding analysis of physical evidence.
Discuss.
There, daddy, do I get a gold star?
I don't know what the first was, but T-MEN was made 3 years earlier than MYSTERY STREET.
shareHe Walked By Night (1948).
Though Police Procedure was developing into a sub-genre by the late 'forties, it had always played some part in mystery/crime movies, going back to Sherlock Holmes' magnifying glass. Scientific police investigation often figured in the Philo Vance series, and was a strong element of the Mr. Wong series, both in the 1930's. And Charlie Chan say little bullet tell big story.
We all wish our local police departments were as good as those in Mystery Street at investigating crime, and they were not more likely to convict an innocent person than to find the real guilty party.
He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good... St. Matthew 5:45