Wise Watch: Mystery In Mexico (1948)

Watched:  02/17/2026

Format:  Sketchy Russian streaming site

Viewing:  First

Director:  Robert Wise

I have no idea what happened here.  It's totally fine, but a major step down from Born to Kill.  But Mystery in Mexico (1948) is also a lot lighter - frothy, really.  It feels like a B movie at 65 minutes, with a mystery that is mostly an excuse to go to Mexico.  Which - I can blame no one for that.

Insurance company detective Steve Hastings (William Lundigan) has a colleague that has disappeared with a $250K necklace (that's 1948 dollars).  He follows the guy's singer sister, Victoria (Jacqueline White) down to Mexico City - and he relentlessly pursues her as a sex pest which means he's also there to help her when she gets into trouble.  

The film is a co-production with a Mexican studio, and has plenty of Mexican talent.  It does its bit to show off Mexico and Mexico City as a place of class and adventure.  But it feels super slight.  I get the feeling they were on a vacation and occasionally took breaks to make a movie.  

It's totally fine.  For some reason I thought Ricardo Montalban was in it, but with a 65 minute run time, at 30 minutes and no Montalban, I realized I was very wrong and a bit cross.  Montalban in this era was awesome.  Well, in all eras.

There's a few decent scenes.  Nothing to write home about.  

But Jacqueline White is in two of my favorite movies (Crossfire and The Narrow Margin), so it was nice to see her here as well.  (late edit:  White is apparently still with us at 103 years old!)

No real notes on Wise here other than that this is emotional whiplash after Born to Kill and really marks what I think of when it comes to Wise - he's a chameleon.  He gets what is needed, no matter the genre.  And this one mixes genres with the light-hearted detective and some real threats of violence.