The Mandarin Mystery

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.