The Spanish Cape Mystery

Since a few years already, I've been deliberately delaying my viewing of "The Spanish Cape Mystery". Not because it's old and clearly low-budgeted, but merely due to my own personal wonderment if I needed yet another franchise revolving around an all-knowing, cocky, and despotic detective. After all, there's already Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Mr. Wong, Jules Maigret, Miss Marple, etc. What possible added value could Ellery Queen bring to the table? Short answer: nothing, but it was a surprisingly amusing acquaintance nonetheless!

Much more so than I expected, this little sleuth-tale is compelling, inventive, and fast enough moving to keep you glued to the screen. The super-detective character, Ellery Queen, is clever and deductive, but he's often also called upon his arrogance by the supportive characters, and this never happens to Holmes or Poirot. The denouement of the mystery is fairly easy to predict, but well built up to for a mid-30's movie. Harry Stubbs has a terrific role as the local police Sheriff who goes around accusing random people of the murders without any tangible evidence.

PS: the answer to the riddle in the review's subject line is: twelve. Helen Twelvetrees was an exquisite starlet of cinema in the 1930s. Sadly, though, her career ended rather abruptly at the end of the decade and she passed away at the (too) young age of 49.

A rich family and a houseful of squabbling guests occupy a ritzy oceanfront mansion down on Spanish Cape. Beautiful Helen Twelvetrees and her eccentric uncle step outside to talk, only to be kidnapped and driven to a strange house down the road. The kidnapper knocks the uncle unconscious, then ties Twelvetrees to a chair, leaving her alone in the dark house while he hauls off the uncle somewhere in a boat.

Meanwhile, renowned mystery writer Ellery Queen is on vacation, accompanied by the retired judge who shares his interest in crime solving. They plan to get away from sleuthing but you know how it is for these amateur detectives....When they arrive at their vacation house, the first thing they discover is Helen Twelvetrees tied up in the bedroom. Like it or not, they're soon on the case.

Donald Cook is a flashy and debonair Ellery Queen. Berton Churchill is part assistant, part comic relief as his friend the judge. Helen Twelvetrees is fine as the young woman whose charming personality and family mystery both capture Ellery's attention. "Mr. Queen," she tells him at one point, "you have the oddest way of mixing romance and murder."

There is a murder and any number of suspects down at the mansion. A bumbling local sheriff sets out to untangle things ("Sit down a minute, Mr. Queen. I'll show you how a real detective solves a case") but soon enough welcomes Ellery's help. It all builds rather nicely to a climactic gather-the-suspects scene in which Ellery presents his deductions.

Overall it's very good, with just enough humor and a rather complex plot that actually makes sense.

Wow, what fun. You might not like this if you think of detective stories as an excuse to parade a colorful detective. The guy in this case is nearly nothing at all. Flat jokes.

But what a cool mystery! Its a mystery in the old sense, where things happen and you know more than the detective does, just enough to be ahead of him. And you can easily figure it out.

A body is found by the beach at night. In wet swimming trunks not his own, wearing a woman's shawl. Its a remote house and there is inheritance involved. Very typical constraints and model of detecting. Very complex events we have to suss out. Why the trunks? Why the shawl? Another murder and trunks follows.

There isn't a character here that you'll remember. But you'll have fun if you like puzzle-stories.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

This is the only chance to see Donald Cook as Ellery Queen. I reckon he did a good job as the detective who takes a vacation on the Californian coast in this story. He flirts with Stella Godfrey whose parents own a big estate at Spanish Cape. She seems to resist him quite easily like she does her would-be suitors. She is quite a catch for fortune hunters as she is the obvious heir to the estate.

Male characters in their swimming trunks get murdered at Spanish Cape. Then the murders spread to a different type of victim. The favorite weapon of the murderer is cutting wire which is used extensively in the great amount of flower beds on the estate. There is a rivalry between the local Sheriff and Ellery Queen to solve the crimes. The Sheriff claims to have read every detective story written and is dismissive of Ellery Queen's theoretical methods of the literary world.

This is a good whodunit. Some fans of the genre don't always like such a big body count of murder victims which this story certainly has. But I reckon it works well in this case. And I didn't detect the murderer myself so I must give this one my recommendation.

1935's The Spanish Cape Mystery is an Ellery Queen story starring Donald Cook as Ellery and Helen Twelvetrees. Now, that's a name out of the past! She stopped working in 1939.

Ellery Queen goes on vacation to California with one Judge Macklin. They stay at a rented cabin, and before they know it, they are engulfed in murder and mystery. It all involves the Godfrey family who live on the Spanish Cape in a fabulous showplace.

Ellery, smitten with Stella (Twelvetrees) tries to stay out of it, but too many murders, and the police detective arresting a new person every day, means he must step in.

I have seen Ralph Bellamy do Ellery, and he's a warmer actor, more sarcastic, and more interesting than Cook, who nevertheless enjoyed a prolific career in film and on stage. Considering this film was probably made in a few days it's not bad. It's a little stagy, and the police detective yells at the top of his lungs through the whole movie, which is annoying.

I enjoyed the opportunity to see Helen Twelvetrees. I found Donald Cook on the bland side, but Ellery is a cerebral detective, and it's easy to see why he wouldn't register much personality.

I did like it, though not as much as some of the other Ellery Queen films.