Using the Ellery Queen characters, this little yarn spins a tale of a stolen stamp of great value. A murder is committed and the victim doesn't seem to fit the situation. It has that thirties silliness where all the police are a bunch of snarly knuckleheads. They couldn't find their way out of a shoebox. Anyway the young Queen, who is irreverent and extremely amorous, condescends to enter the case because he has designs on the leading lady, a feisty thing who doesn't seem to be affected by much of anything, including a corpse. There is a little crime solving of the CSI variety built in. There's lots of comedy, including a fainting hotel manager (who actually detracts from the affairs at hand. Still the plot is entertaining and fast moving and isn't as stilted and sappy than many of its genre. Queen is a bit too much for my tastes, but, then, this was another time and another place. It shows why the Thin Man series worked so well. It was the charm of their characters and they way they played off one another. Give this one a look if you can.
27 Reviews
Eddie Quillan is charming as Ellery Queen, but the film does not resemble the source novel
django-114 December 2004
The literary work on which this film was based--THE Chinese ORANGE MYSTERY--is a locked-room murder mystery that is light on characterization but heavy on the puzzle aspect of the murder, where no one knows who the victim is, the victim's clothes have all been turned inside out, and everything in the murder room has been turned backward. To do a faithful film adaptation of the book would probably be difficult, especially for a 55-minute b-movie which needs to be fast-moving and witty. In the Ellery Queen film made the year before, THE Spanish CAPE MYSTERY, which was an OK film, the filmmakers basically streamlined the plot, but were unable to give much depth or interest to any of the characters (other than Ellery and Inspector Queen). THE MANDARIN MYSTERY takes elements of the book THE Chinese ORANGE MYSTERY--a rare stamp, a murder in a locked room, some of the character names--and basically creates a new story around them. I had just re-read the novel before seeing this film, but they have little in common. If you can forget the book and just treat the film as an entity of its own, it's not that bad. Eddie Quillan is a charming screen presence, and he tries to restrain his comic mugging somewhat, but the script does not allow him to show much analytical prowess, and he spends far more effort romantically chasing the girl who is the main suspect than he does working on the crime. Wade Boteler plays Inspector Queen well--professional, but with a warm heart--and he and Ellery do show glimpses of the rapport they have in the books (and in the Jim Hutton/David Wayne TV series). On the whole, though, this film is an average 30s murder mystery, played with a light touch by a charming comic actor, but it has little to do with either the novel on which it was supposedly based or with the Ellery Queen series in general.
Charlotte Henry makes a very lovely heroine
kidboots17 September 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I haven't seen many of Eddie Quillan's movies but it wouldn't be the first time that the characters in a film fail to resemble their bookish originals.
Josephine Temple (Charlotte Henry) arrives in New York with the world's most valuable stamp - the Chinese Mandarin. For something so precious it is carelessly handled - she shows it to various people at the wharf and then carries it around in her purse. Of course it is stolen but the thief winds up dead and the stamp ends up with Josephine. This is one of those locked room mysteries. There is no end of suspects apart from Josephine. There is Donald Trent (George Walcott), who knew the dead man and owed him money. Irene (Kay Hughes) and Martha Kirk (Rita La Roy), sisters, who can't live on the allowance their uncle provides. Martha is just about to tell all she knows when she is killed by an unknown assassin. Ellery Queen (Eddie Quillan) solves the mystery with a re-creation of the crime. I quite liked him in the role. The rapport between him and his father was good. Franklin Pangborn does his turn as a harassed hotel manager.
Charlotte Henry made a very lovely heroine. Her career was scuttled in 1933 when she won the coveted role of Alice in "Alice in Wonderland". After that, she said, people could only see her in those type of roles. It is very nice to see her portray a modern young woman.
Recommended.
Josephine Temple (Charlotte Henry) arrives in New York with the world's most valuable stamp - the Chinese Mandarin. For something so precious it is carelessly handled - she shows it to various people at the wharf and then carries it around in her purse. Of course it is stolen but the thief winds up dead and the stamp ends up with Josephine. This is one of those locked room mysteries. There is no end of suspects apart from Josephine. There is Donald Trent (George Walcott), who knew the dead man and owed him money. Irene (Kay Hughes) and Martha Kirk (Rita La Roy), sisters, who can't live on the allowance their uncle provides. Martha is just about to tell all she knows when she is killed by an unknown assassin. Ellery Queen (Eddie Quillan) solves the mystery with a re-creation of the crime. I quite liked him in the role. The rapport between him and his father was good. Franklin Pangborn does his turn as a harassed hotel manager.
Charlotte Henry made a very lovely heroine. Her career was scuttled in 1933 when she won the coveted role of Alice in "Alice in Wonderland". After that, she said, people could only see her in those type of roles. It is very nice to see her portray a modern young woman.
Recommended.
Good show
dpalmer-218 April 2000
Nice little mystery, with a good deal of comedy mixed in. Eddie Quillan is not my favorite Ellery Queen, but he has an interesting twist to the character. I though Wade Boteler did a great job as Inspector Queen and Franklin Pangborn did a great job as comic relief as Mellish, the hotel manager.
Overall, a nice film, I was quite pleased with it.
Overall, a nice film, I was quite pleased with it.
Give me the 'real' Ellery!
churei17 March 2008
If one can simply forget the literary Ellery Queen, this is an OK murder mystery (locked room murder, etc. etc. ). the problem, for Ellery Queen fans is that the whole thing, on that basis, is WAY off the mark. Queen is an analytical detective, and his father and the Police are not dolts. The books are written with more twists and turns and excellence that most others on the mystery shelf (with the possible exceptions of S.S. Van Dyne (Philo Vance) and, of course, Agatha Christie.)Dropping the comparison, one must note the ridiculousness of some of the plot e.g. the whole world knows the value of the stamp - it even appears on the Times Square news bulletin - yet the girl carries the stamp in an envelope in her open pocketbook. Despite all of this, Quillan is a fun actor, definitely not Ellery but giving the film the spunk it desperately needs. Charlotte Henry does not have a 'clue' and thus cannot handle the idiocy of what her character says and does. Still, on a chilly night, with the rain on the window, and curled up on a comfortable chair, this passes the time quickly.
slightly irritating lead actor, but not all bad
didi-525 January 2009
This adaptation of an Ellery Queen mystery concerns the theft of a rare Chinese stamp (the Mandarin of the title), which takes place in a hotel with several shifty characters and an hysterical manager (the priceless Franklin Pangborn). The mystery, such as it is, concerns both the stamp theft and two murders, and shows Ellery and his father the Inspector as a team rubbing together just enough to solve the case.
As Ellery Queen, Eddie Quillan is all wrong - he was more at home in light comedy and musicals, and this is the way he plays the character. As the heroine/chief suspect, Charlotte Henry (only remembered nowadays as 'Alice in Wonderland') isn't too bad, while others who have some impact in the cast include Rita Le Roy and Kay Hughes as sisters, and Wade Boteler as Queen senior.
As Ellery Queen, Eddie Quillan is all wrong - he was more at home in light comedy and musicals, and this is the way he plays the character. As the heroine/chief suspect, Charlotte Henry (only remembered nowadays as 'Alice in Wonderland') isn't too bad, while others who have some impact in the cast include Rita Le Roy and Kay Hughes as sisters, and Wade Boteler as Queen senior.
A smart aleck Queen
bkoganbing7 June 2013
The Mandarin Mystery is the second of two Ellery Queen films done by Columbia Pictures and it features Eddie Quillan as the amateur sleuth and son of a professional one. Instead of the shy bookish Ellery as realized best by Jim Hutton on a shortlived television series, we get a Smart Aleck punk who lives to show up the police department, especially Inspector Queen played here by Wade Boteler. No wonder fans of the series were up in arms.
The Mandarin referred to here is a Chinese stamp which was a rare misprint edition because the Mandarin portrayed on the postage stamp had his clothes on backwards. Charlotte Henry is going to sell the stamp to collector George Irving, but the stamp is stolen and the thief killed.
Unfortunately several minutes were eliminated from this film by YouTube so I had to piece it together in my mind. Not a bad story, but Quillan really kills this film.
The Mandarin referred to here is a Chinese stamp which was a rare misprint edition because the Mandarin portrayed on the postage stamp had his clothes on backwards. Charlotte Henry is going to sell the stamp to collector George Irving, but the stamp is stolen and the thief killed.
Unfortunately several minutes were eliminated from this film by YouTube so I had to piece it together in my mind. Not a bad story, but Quillan really kills this film.
Really entertaining murder mystery.
Boba_Fett113820 February 2008
What are people complaining about! This is a pretty decent movie for what it is. It's a very entertaining movie to watch, thanks to its fine good old fashioned style of humor.
If this movie was made as a serious one it would had been a very bad movie. I mean, there is not really much to the story. There are too many characters (Atleast for an one hour movie.), which makes the story and the whole whodunit element of the movie quite confusing at times. The actual plot also just isn't that interesting and concentrates on the worlds most rare stamp, that appears to have been stolen.
The movie is really being saved by its fun. The movie foremost is like a comedy, rather than really a mystery movie. The actors are all entertaining in their roles and some of them are obviously deliberately over-the-top. It makes "The Mandarin Mystery" a real pleasant and light movie to watch. You know, the sort of movie that is great to watch in between.
Nothing too impressive, just some good old fashioned- and effective, simple entertainment.
7/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
If this movie was made as a serious one it would had been a very bad movie. I mean, there is not really much to the story. There are too many characters (Atleast for an one hour movie.), which makes the story and the whole whodunit element of the movie quite confusing at times. The actual plot also just isn't that interesting and concentrates on the worlds most rare stamp, that appears to have been stolen.
The movie is really being saved by its fun. The movie foremost is like a comedy, rather than really a mystery movie. The actors are all entertaining in their roles and some of them are obviously deliberately over-the-top. It makes "The Mandarin Mystery" a real pleasant and light movie to watch. You know, the sort of movie that is great to watch in between.
Nothing too impressive, just some good old fashioned- and effective, simple entertainment.
7/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
At least it's not horrible
planktonrules10 February 2007
Eddie Quillan was an odd choice to play the lead in this detective film because he was essentially a small smart-allecky little pip-squeak--not the brilliant or studly hero you'd expect to see in this type of film. Because of this, the film certainly IS unusual. The problem is that even with this novel portrayal, the film isn't all that interesting or well-done. At best it's a mediocre time-passer and not the equal of other series detective B-films from the period. For my time, I would much rather watch a Charlie Chan, Saint or Sherlock Holmes film--they seemed to have better production values and writing as well as a leading man that was more likable. Sorry,...I just didn't particularly care for this film.
Oh, and by the way, there is no such thing as the Chinese Mandarin stamp that is worth a fortune--this was made up for the film.
Oh, and by the way, there is no such thing as the Chinese Mandarin stamp that is worth a fortune--this was made up for the film.
Ellery Stamps Out the Villains
Mike-7646 January 2005
Josephine Temple arrives in New York with a rare stamp, the Chinese Mandarin, which she has arranged to sell to stamp collector, Dr. Alexander Kirk, for $50,000, which upsets his two nieces (Martha and Irene, as well as her fiancé Donald Trent) who don't like him spending their inheritance as an investment. Soon after she arrives, Josephine finds that the stamp has been stolen, and races up to Kirk's room. Soon after Josephine leaves the room, the real crook, Craig, is found murdered in the library adjoining Dr. Kirk's room. Inspector Queen goes up to solve the case, while son Ellery's interest is in Josephine (smart boy) which he seems to be protecting. Ellery finds out that many of the stamps in Dr. Kirk's collection are counterfeit and when he goes to Craig's apartment he discovers his counterfeiting tools, but not before he is knocked unconscious by Howard Bronson, another stamp collector, who expressed a high interest in the Mandarin. The stamp is later found on an envelope sent by Martha, but when she is confronted with the evidence, she is mysteriously killed. Who is the murder of Craig and Martha Kirk. A good B mystery from the 30's, but the injection of humor and Quillan's aw shucks persona, really kill the movie at several occasions. Much of the plot and characters are not fleshed out as deeply as a Charlie Chan or Philo Vance film and the ending is rushed with explanations that would bewilder any audience member. The plot is a standard B mystery with the usual clichés and twists, which does work. Rating, based on B mysteries, 6.
Uneven B mystery with a few laughs
csteidler27 May 2019
The world's most valuable stamp is arriving in port. Reporters crowd the dock to welcome the beautiful Miss Templeton, who owns the stamp and carries it in her purse. At the same time, noted mystery writer Ellery Queen is at the dock. He accidentally tosses some flowers into Miss Templeton's lap while she is being interviewed, which is apparently a cute way to meet.
The plot develops quickly: Miss Templeton visits a hotel to meet a collector who may buy the stamp. A stranger sneaks into Miss Templeton's room, steals the stamp out of her purse...and moments later he is murdered in a side room. We don't really think Miss Templeton killed him but she did come running out of that same room with the stamp in her hand.
The murder investigation is led by Inspector Queen, with inevitable help from his son Ellery, who after all is already acquainted with the leading suspect. Other suspects include the collector, his nieces, a boyfriend....
Charlotte Henry is earnest and cute as Miss Templeton but the character doesn't offer many surprises. Eddie Quillan is a mischievous and energetic Ellery who talks nonstop. His confident banter is sometimes humorous but often merely obnoxious.
Franklin Pangborn has a moderately amusing bit as the flustered hotel manager. Wade Boteler comes across well as the irascible Inspector Queen, and this picture's best moments are probably those that feature interplay between the two Queens.
Overall, Quillan is fun in the role but not especially convincing as a master of deduction. And the mystery itself--involving counterfeit stamps, a missing tangerine, and a locked door--is hard to get too excited about.
One funny line, though: Ellery pounds on the door of a hotel room that he knows is full of cops, and says, "Open in the name of the law!"
The plot develops quickly: Miss Templeton visits a hotel to meet a collector who may buy the stamp. A stranger sneaks into Miss Templeton's room, steals the stamp out of her purse...and moments later he is murdered in a side room. We don't really think Miss Templeton killed him but she did come running out of that same room with the stamp in her hand.
The murder investigation is led by Inspector Queen, with inevitable help from his son Ellery, who after all is already acquainted with the leading suspect. Other suspects include the collector, his nieces, a boyfriend....
Charlotte Henry is earnest and cute as Miss Templeton but the character doesn't offer many surprises. Eddie Quillan is a mischievous and energetic Ellery who talks nonstop. His confident banter is sometimes humorous but often merely obnoxious.
Franklin Pangborn has a moderately amusing bit as the flustered hotel manager. Wade Boteler comes across well as the irascible Inspector Queen, and this picture's best moments are probably those that feature interplay between the two Queens.
Overall, Quillan is fun in the role but not especially convincing as a master of deduction. And the mystery itself--involving counterfeit stamps, a missing tangerine, and a locked door--is hard to get too excited about.
One funny line, though: Ellery pounds on the door of a hotel room that he knows is full of cops, and says, "Open in the name of the law!"
Over before it starts
Bernie444426 December 2023
There is a news announcement that soon Josephine Temple (Charlotte Henry) will be coming to this country to sell an extremely valuable stamp called the Mandarin (bet you thought it was an "orange"). At the dock, Josephine shows off her stamp to anyone that asks to see it. The stamp is just loose in her purse and everyone knows it. Ellery (Eddie Quillan) accidentally introduces himself to her. She gets a counteroffer from another collector but turns it down due to ethics. So a sneaky third party plans to pilfer the stamp. He ends up dead with his cote on backward. Ellery points out the obvious; the stamp has a mandarin on it with his coat on backward. Is this a clue?
As with most mysteries, everyone had access to the body and no one could have retreated through a locked soundproof door. Will the most obvious suspect die before spilling the beans? Will Ellery get a date with the stamp owner or go to jail himself?
This is a fast-paced story with only 52 minutes it has to pose the problem and hopefully the solution all while Ellery whose Josephine and outguesses his detective father Inspector Queen (Wade Boteler.) Can we keep up?
As with most mysteries, everyone had access to the body and no one could have retreated through a locked soundproof door. Will the most obvious suspect die before spilling the beans? Will Ellery get a date with the stamp owner or go to jail himself?
This is a fast-paced story with only 52 minutes it has to pose the problem and hopefully the solution all while Ellery whose Josephine and outguesses his detective father Inspector Queen (Wade Boteler.) Can we keep up?
A nice performance by Eddie Quillan
bensonmum28 March 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Josephine Temple (Charlotte Henry) arrives in New York with a very valuable stamp known as the Chinese Mandarin. Her intention is to sell the stamp to Dr. Alexander Kirk (George Irving), a noted stamp collector. But before she can go through with the sale, the stamp is stolen and the thief is found dead in a locked room. The police, including Inspector Queen (Wade Boteler), naturally suspect Miss Temple of having committed the murder. Fortunately for Miss Temple, however, the Inspector's son, Ellery Queen (Eddie Quillan), has taken a liking to her and will prove she couldn't possibly be guilty.
I can think of far worse ways to spend an hour than watching The Mandarin Mystery. I'm sure that movie fans more accustomed to modern, thrill-a-minute movies would find it all so dull and boring (even I'll admit that at times it can be creaky), but it worked pretty well for me. The Mandarin Mystery is one of those mystery/comedies that seem to have been popular in the 30s. The mystery elements were interesting and even the comedy bits generally hit their mark. It wasn't uproariously funny or anything, but it was amusing. I've seen Eddie Quillan in a few other movies and he's honestly never impressed me much. He's seemed capable enough, but not really noteworthy. With The Mandarin Mystery, he makes the movie work. The on-screen relationship with Wade Boteler, who played his father, is very entertaining. Finally, I enjoyed the final reveal. I won't give it away other than to say it works.
I can think of far worse ways to spend an hour than watching The Mandarin Mystery. I'm sure that movie fans more accustomed to modern, thrill-a-minute movies would find it all so dull and boring (even I'll admit that at times it can be creaky), but it worked pretty well for me. The Mandarin Mystery is one of those mystery/comedies that seem to have been popular in the 30s. The mystery elements were interesting and even the comedy bits generally hit their mark. It wasn't uproariously funny or anything, but it was amusing. I've seen Eddie Quillan in a few other movies and he's honestly never impressed me much. He's seemed capable enough, but not really noteworthy. With The Mandarin Mystery, he makes the movie work. The on-screen relationship with Wade Boteler, who played his father, is very entertaining. Finally, I enjoyed the final reveal. I won't give it away other than to say it works.
One of the worst mysteries ever put on film
dbborroughs5 April 2006
Eddie Quillan gives one of his worst performances as Ellery Queen.
The plot involves the theft of a rare stamp and the murders that occur in its wake. Quillan, as Queen gets involved with the mystery after he meets the owner when she arrives in New York by boat.
The mystery itself is fine. I can even live with the cheapness of the production (nothing looks real). What I can't stand are the performances, no one in this cast with the exception of Frank Pangborn gives anything remotely like a performance. Can't anyone on screen act? I guess not. The worst offender is Quillan who turns Ellery Queen into an insufferable twit. I wanted to smack him. Charming or disarming he's not. He ruins what could have been an okay bad movie.
I hate this movie, I hate it a great deal.
The plot involves the theft of a rare stamp and the murders that occur in its wake. Quillan, as Queen gets involved with the mystery after he meets the owner when she arrives in New York by boat.
The mystery itself is fine. I can even live with the cheapness of the production (nothing looks real). What I can't stand are the performances, no one in this cast with the exception of Frank Pangborn gives anything remotely like a performance. Can't anyone on screen act? I guess not. The worst offender is Quillan who turns Ellery Queen into an insufferable twit. I wanted to smack him. Charming or disarming he's not. He ruins what could have been an okay bad movie.
I hate this movie, I hate it a great deal.
Charming performances in a lightweight tale
berfedd10 October 2014
Plot: Inspector Queen, helped by his quick-witted son, Ellery, find themselves investigating the murder of an unknown man amidst the world of stamp collecting.
Review: This is a light and humorous affair, with a good set of character actors. It looked interesting from IMDb reviews and I was keen to find out what 'Ellery Queen' was all about.
The Ellery Queen novels were originally written for magazine publication in the 1920s, with the idea of giving the reader all the necessary clues to solve the mystery for themselves, if they had the patience, or just enjoy them as cleverly put-together detective mysteries.
The movie doesn't quite live up to that ideal, but the character acting more than makes up for this. Charlotte Henry and Eddie Quillan play the leads and give enjoyable, easy-going performances. Charlotte Henry disappeared from the screen after the early 1940s, moving to stage work. Eddie Quillan has a certain quality about him, and it wasn't a surprise to discover he was in The Grapes of Wrath playing the moody husband who abandons his pregnant wife when times get hard. Acting from the age of seven, he continued into his early 70s, his last appearance being in 1987 in the TV series Matlock.
The Mandarin Mystery doesn't really merit in depth analysis, other than to say it passes an hour easily. Simply a good fun one-off, with neither the director or stars making any movie shorts in a similar vein.
www.thebestmovieof.com
Review: This is a light and humorous affair, with a good set of character actors. It looked interesting from IMDb reviews and I was keen to find out what 'Ellery Queen' was all about.
The Ellery Queen novels were originally written for magazine publication in the 1920s, with the idea of giving the reader all the necessary clues to solve the mystery for themselves, if they had the patience, or just enjoy them as cleverly put-together detective mysteries.
The movie doesn't quite live up to that ideal, but the character acting more than makes up for this. Charlotte Henry and Eddie Quillan play the leads and give enjoyable, easy-going performances. Charlotte Henry disappeared from the screen after the early 1940s, moving to stage work. Eddie Quillan has a certain quality about him, and it wasn't a surprise to discover he was in The Grapes of Wrath playing the moody husband who abandons his pregnant wife when times get hard. Acting from the age of seven, he continued into his early 70s, his last appearance being in 1987 in the TV series Matlock.
The Mandarin Mystery doesn't really merit in depth analysis, other than to say it passes an hour easily. Simply a good fun one-off, with neither the director or stars making any movie shorts in a similar vein.
www.thebestmovieof.com
Eddie Plays A Queen
cutterccbaxter6 April 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Eddie Quillan struck me more as a second-banana comic-relief type actor than one who can carry a film. But such is the casting in many a B film. The script and Eddie's acting sets up Ellery Queen as some kind of goof ball crime solver. Eddie pretty much grins his way through the movie. I kept expecting another actor to show up with more gravitas, push Eddie aside, and say, "Thanks for filling in Eddie, I'll take over now." As the fussy hotel manager, Franklin Pangborn was his usual reliable self as he provided the best comedic moments in a film that otherwise really struggled to be funny. The mystery aspect of the story wasn't too bad. The killer certainly made good use of a dead body.
A reverse-clothed murder victim
greenbudgie4 March 2021
This is a very boyish Ellery Queen played by the elfin-looking Eddie Quillan. I notice that character and actor have the same initials EQ which is a good touch and I reckon Quillan does a fair job as Ellery. He can operate his phone hands-free while taking a bath as he chats up Josephine Temple. She has imported a very valuable postage stamp called the Chinese Mandarin for sale to Dr Kirk who has a rare stamp collection. But we see the hand of an unknown figure take the stamp from her handbag while she is on the phone.
The standout scene is the discovery of the murder victim tied closely to a bolted door. The dead man has had his jacket put back on his body in a backwards position. This seems to have been done to replicate the Mandarin on the valuable stamp who also has his clothes on backwards. So copies of the design were called in which makes the Chinese Mandarin stamp such a rarity. I always thought that clothes always appear to be in reverse on Chinese nobility anyway. I once tied a yellow and black silky dressing gown in reverse on myself to look like Christopher Lee's Fu Manchu character and it worked. But getting back to the film Ellery Queen later re-enacts the reverse-clothed murder victim scenario by using Detective Guffy as the victim to prove a valuable point.
Twelve minutes seemed to have been lopped off the original running time in the available copies of this. It would have been more satisfying to have seen the full original but even so this truncated mystery involving a stamp counterfeiting racket is re-watchable.
The standout scene is the discovery of the murder victim tied closely to a bolted door. The dead man has had his jacket put back on his body in a backwards position. This seems to have been done to replicate the Mandarin on the valuable stamp who also has his clothes on backwards. So copies of the design were called in which makes the Chinese Mandarin stamp such a rarity. I always thought that clothes always appear to be in reverse on Chinese nobility anyway. I once tied a yellow and black silky dressing gown in reverse on myself to look like Christopher Lee's Fu Manchu character and it worked. But getting back to the film Ellery Queen later re-enacts the reverse-clothed murder victim scenario by using Detective Guffy as the victim to prove a valuable point.
Twelve minutes seemed to have been lopped off the original running time in the available copies of this. It would have been more satisfying to have seen the full original but even so this truncated mystery involving a stamp counterfeiting racket is re-watchable.
"There's something mysterious going on here, that man's dead".
classicsoncall5 February 2006
Warning: Spoilers
"The Mandarin Mystery" plays out as an interesting balance between mystery and comedy, with Eddie Quillan portraying a young Ellery Queen, casually following up hunches and clues to solve a couple of murders. That he's simultaneously romancing a possible suspect doesn't seem to bother him much, though he does express his reservations to Josephine Temple (Charlotte Henry) when she shows up with the murder weapon. No matter, the self assured detective will come through with a detailed explanation of the killer's modus operandi at film's end that even Charlie Chan would admire.
The story involves a rare stolen stamp with a picture of an Oriental with his clothes on backwards. Quite coincidentally, the first dead body is found the same way in complementary fashion. It's a neat twist to a story that relies on some manufactured elements to solve a locked room murder mystery, but that's OK as getting there is much of the fun. The film has some great one liners and comedic banter between Queen and Temple, with Franklin Pangborn dropping by (literally) as the squeamish hotel manager.
The film is peppered with it's share of red herrings as well. The Kirk sisters Martha and Irene (Rita LaRoy and Kay Hughes) rail at their father (George Irving) for squandering his fortune and their inheritance on his stamp collection. Irene's fiancée Donald (George Walcott) has a connection to murder victim Craig (Walter Merrill), and then there's the shady Howard Bronson (Edwin Stanley), operator of an auction house that would just love to get his hands on the Mandarin stamp. At least one of the above is removed as a suspect when they become a victim as well.
With it's mix of fast paced crime solving and snappy dialog, the movie keeps the viewer slightly off balance wondering how it might end. Ellery Queen's demonstration of how the killer did it was quite ingenious, for that you'll have to watch the film. Pay attention though, as the story breezes by in just about an hour before ending with a kiss - was there ever any doubt?
The story involves a rare stolen stamp with a picture of an Oriental with his clothes on backwards. Quite coincidentally, the first dead body is found the same way in complementary fashion. It's a neat twist to a story that relies on some manufactured elements to solve a locked room murder mystery, but that's OK as getting there is much of the fun. The film has some great one liners and comedic banter between Queen and Temple, with Franklin Pangborn dropping by (literally) as the squeamish hotel manager.
The film is peppered with it's share of red herrings as well. The Kirk sisters Martha and Irene (Rita LaRoy and Kay Hughes) rail at their father (George Irving) for squandering his fortune and their inheritance on his stamp collection. Irene's fiancée Donald (George Walcott) has a connection to murder victim Craig (Walter Merrill), and then there's the shady Howard Bronson (Edwin Stanley), operator of an auction house that would just love to get his hands on the Mandarin stamp. At least one of the above is removed as a suspect when they become a victim as well.
With it's mix of fast paced crime solving and snappy dialog, the movie keeps the viewer slightly off balance wondering how it might end. Ellery Queen's demonstration of how the killer did it was quite ingenious, for that you'll have to watch the film. Pay attention though, as the story breezes by in just about an hour before ending with a kiss - was there ever any doubt?
A clever idea that misfires as often as it clicks!
JohnHowardReid25 January 2014
Warning: Spoilers
NOTES: As a general rule, picturegoers and TV viewers don't like spoofs unless they are warned beforehand – in which case they probably won't watch the movie at all. The 1934 novel depends upon "Alice in Wonderland" for some of its scenes and characters, but the 1936 movie version goes the whole way. Republic made the mistake of publicizing the "Alice" connection in their initial pressbook. As a result, the movie was subsequently blackballed by most of the trade. It had no New York release and had to wait six months for a spot in Los Angeles.
COMMENT: Not so much a picturization of Ellery Queen's 1934 "The Chinese Orange Mystery", this flick is a take on Paramount's 1933 "Alice in Wonderland", with Miss Henry snugly and smugly repeating her part as the innocent abroad, while Eddie Quillan makes impotent if cheeky woo as the bungling knight. Alas, although the knight's role is little more than a cameo in "Alice", the writers here have mercilessly expanded the part, even though it meant treading on the lines of more capable players like break-your-heart Rita La Roy (a most engaging and super-attractively regal young duchess) and Kay Hughes' pleasing Cheshire Cat who, as we might expect, disappears from the action, alas, for long spells. We are left too often with Wade Boteler's far too bellicose Queen (which although rather cleverly based on the "Alice" Queen becomes rather monotonous when played on the one note for this length of time), and are also forced to suffer far too much tiresome comic relief from Tweedledum's Franklin Pangborn, although admittedly William Newell's occasional input as Tweedledee is just about right.
Worse still, Ralph Staub (who squeezed maybe a dozen feature assignments in between his excruciating "Screen Snapshots" series) has handled "TMM" in a mercilessly heavy-handed and thoroughly routine style that almost totally smothers every latent spark of wit in a screenplay that was none too promising to begin with. Photographer Jack Marta also follows the "Alice" line by smothering the sets with far too much light. Routine "B" production values don't help either. (Available in Mill Creek's 250 Mystery Movies Collection).
COMMENT: Not so much a picturization of Ellery Queen's 1934 "The Chinese Orange Mystery", this flick is a take on Paramount's 1933 "Alice in Wonderland", with Miss Henry snugly and smugly repeating her part as the innocent abroad, while Eddie Quillan makes impotent if cheeky woo as the bungling knight. Alas, although the knight's role is little more than a cameo in "Alice", the writers here have mercilessly expanded the part, even though it meant treading on the lines of more capable players like break-your-heart Rita La Roy (a most engaging and super-attractively regal young duchess) and Kay Hughes' pleasing Cheshire Cat who, as we might expect, disappears from the action, alas, for long spells. We are left too often with Wade Boteler's far too bellicose Queen (which although rather cleverly based on the "Alice" Queen becomes rather monotonous when played on the one note for this length of time), and are also forced to suffer far too much tiresome comic relief from Tweedledum's Franklin Pangborn, although admittedly William Newell's occasional input as Tweedledee is just about right.
Worse still, Ralph Staub (who squeezed maybe a dozen feature assignments in between his excruciating "Screen Snapshots" series) has handled "TMM" in a mercilessly heavy-handed and thoroughly routine style that almost totally smothers every latent spark of wit in a screenplay that was none too promising to begin with. Photographer Jack Marta also follows the "Alice" line by smothering the sets with far too much light. Routine "B" production values don't help either. (Available in Mill Creek's 250 Mystery Movies Collection).
Middling hunt for a stolen stamp
Leofwine_draca11 March 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I thought THE MANDARIN MYSTERY was a rather middling murder mystery with a good premise and weak story progress. The film features the character of master detective Ellery Queen himself as he hunts for a priceless Chinese stamp that a murderer has got his hands on.
The early parts of this thriller are a locked room murder mystery which is portrayed in an interesting way. Unfortunately, the rest of the film has a sluggish pace and a strictly ordinary denouement. Eddie Quillan can't make much of the leading role and the supporting characters are too clichéd to be really believable. The film has a lightness of touch which works in its favour but is too bogged down with romance and peripheral character play to really be entertaining.
The early parts of this thriller are a locked room murder mystery which is portrayed in an interesting way. Unfortunately, the rest of the film has a sluggish pace and a strictly ordinary denouement. Eddie Quillan can't make much of the leading role and the supporting characters are too clichéd to be really believable. The film has a lightness of touch which works in its favour but is too bogged down with romance and peripheral character play to really be entertaining.
Awful!
Norm-3024 April 2000
As a reader of EQ mysteries, and a collector of his films, I have to say that this is the absolute WORST in the entire series!
EQ, far from being a "master detective", is portrayed as a bumbling fool who continually gets in his father's way.
Not only that, but the background music in this film is totally UNRELATED to the action....it's as if someone off-screen turned on a radio and let it play while the movie was being shot.
Pass on this one!
EQ, far from being a "master detective", is portrayed as a bumbling fool who continually gets in his father's way.
Not only that, but the background music in this film is totally UNRELATED to the action....it's as if someone off-screen turned on a radio and let it play while the movie was being shot.
Pass on this one!
Quillian's Quirky Queen
mstomaso29 February 2008
The Mandarin Mystery is what happens when you take a fairly standard locked room mystery, add a little too much romance, and season the mix with an ample supply of humor. Eddie Quillian brings a lot to the role and really makes it his own, despite the fact that his take on Queen is somewhat different from the usual character we are so used to seeing. Quillian's just as bright, not as serious, and apparently has the libido of a teenage boy.
Queen spends as much time pursuing the lovely victim of a theft which appears connected to the murder (Charlotte Temple) as he does the murderer and thieves, and a long deductive chain is compressed into a pithy film with an economical script. The acting talent is somewhat uneven. Ms Temple gives a sub-par performance, Quillian is excellent, and Wade Boteler as the senior inspector Queen does well doubling as Ellery's straight man and a gruff old no-nonsense cop.
Although made in 1936, The Mandarin Mystery's story, pace, camera work, themes, and sets have the feel of a late 1950s TV mystery show.
Because of the way the original novel was adapted, the logic of the deduction which leads to the resolution of the case is not as clearly spelled out as it could have been. Nevertheless, the film will interest mystery fans who enjoy the hardcore analytical aspects of detective work as depicted in traditional mystery novels (Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle fans for example), and, of course, Ellery Queen aficionados.
Queen spends as much time pursuing the lovely victim of a theft which appears connected to the murder (Charlotte Temple) as he does the murderer and thieves, and a long deductive chain is compressed into a pithy film with an economical script. The acting talent is somewhat uneven. Ms Temple gives a sub-par performance, Quillian is excellent, and Wade Boteler as the senior inspector Queen does well doubling as Ellery's straight man and a gruff old no-nonsense cop.
Although made in 1936, The Mandarin Mystery's story, pace, camera work, themes, and sets have the feel of a late 1950s TV mystery show.
Because of the way the original novel was adapted, the logic of the deduction which leads to the resolution of the case is not as clearly spelled out as it could have been. Nevertheless, the film will interest mystery fans who enjoy the hardcore analytical aspects of detective work as depicted in traditional mystery novels (Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle fans for example), and, of course, Ellery Queen aficionados.
Youth must have its fling.
mark.waltz6 January 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This has to be the most juvenile version of a private detective I've ever seen on screen. Imagine younger versions of Philo Vance, Nick Charles, Boston Blackie, Nick Carter or Dick Tracy, chasing girls and gangsters at the same time, and stopping off to ogle some innocent beauty while en route. That's what happens here, with Ellery Queen at his most collegiate. As played by Eddie Quillan, he's a far cry from what Ralph Bellamy or Jim Hutton would later play.
Like those later incarnations of the famous detective, Ellery Queen has his king, and that's his dad Wade Boteler who is tough on him, not just because that's dad's personality (as was the case in the later film and TV series) but because Ellery's got a lot to learn and a lot of toning down to do. That weakens this entry which concerns two murders and a theft, with Charlotte Henry as the heroine whose finances are at risk and who is tied to the murders and the theft.
As juvenile as he seems, the methods Ellery uses are smart, more thanks to the script than reality. Franklin Pangborn is amusing as the continuously fainting hotel clerk who can't bear all the dead bodies. Bad editing (over 10 minutes cut out for TV viewing) makes this choppy, but that's the fault of whoever over at Republic pictures decides that their films needed a reel chopped out for TV viewing.
Like those later incarnations of the famous detective, Ellery Queen has his king, and that's his dad Wade Boteler who is tough on him, not just because that's dad's personality (as was the case in the later film and TV series) but because Ellery's got a lot to learn and a lot of toning down to do. That weakens this entry which concerns two murders and a theft, with Charlotte Henry as the heroine whose finances are at risk and who is tied to the murders and the theft.
As juvenile as he seems, the methods Ellery uses are smart, more thanks to the script than reality. Franklin Pangborn is amusing as the continuously fainting hotel clerk who can't bear all the dead bodies. Bad editing (over 10 minutes cut out for TV viewing) makes this choppy, but that's the fault of whoever over at Republic pictures decides that their films needed a reel chopped out for TV viewing.
Mostly Okay
boblipton16 April 2020
The most annoying thing about The Mandarin Mystery (1936) is the music score, which comes up whenever no one speaks for four seconds, and then offers a drop-needle score of irrelevance that produces a bizarre effect.
Otherwise, this is a cheap but adequate version of an early Ellery Queen story, with some interesting talent. Wade Boteler is fine as Inspector Queen and Charlotte Henry has finally been permitted to grow up for the ingenue role. Franklin Pangborn plays a hotel manager, of course, and Eddie Quillan plays Ellery Queen himself; so if you ignore all the production values, both their cheapness and ham-handedness, you are left with a script that is tritely arch.
Otherwise, this is a cheap but adequate version of an early Ellery Queen story, with some interesting talent. Wade Boteler is fine as Inspector Queen and Charlotte Henry has finally been permitted to grow up for the ingenue role. Franklin Pangborn plays a hotel manager, of course, and Eddie Quillan plays Ellery Queen himself; so if you ignore all the production values, both their cheapness and ham-handedness, you are left with a script that is tritely arch.
A Light Comedy Crime Drama
Rainey-Dawn10 May 2016
I acquired this film in the Dark Crimes 50-Pack. It's NOT a Dark Crime film but rather a light comedy crime drama. It involves a mystery: a stolen $50,000 Chinese Mandari stamp and murder - all in a hotel. Who is the murderer? Inspector Queen & Ellery Queen must find out (a father and son team).
This particular Ellery Queen is just weird. He's young and bizarre. Loves a certain young lady that had her stamp stolen, bubble baths, a strange relationship with his father, weird gestures & expressions on his face and lame humor.
This film is not bad - it's mediocre. Not a film I would care to watch again but fun enough for a one time watch.
4.5 /10
This particular Ellery Queen is just weird. He's young and bizarre. Loves a certain young lady that had her stamp stolen, bubble baths, a strange relationship with his father, weird gestures & expressions on his face and lame humor.
This film is not bad - it's mediocre. Not a film I would care to watch again but fun enough for a one time watch.
4.5 /10
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