Based on the 1934 Ellery Queen novel “The Chinese Orange Mystery.” Eddie Quillan is Ellery, Wade Boteler is Inspector Queen and William Newell is Detective Guffy. Character actor Franklin Pangborn does his usual turn as the prissy hotel manager Mr. Mellish.
Josephine Temple (Charlotte Henry) sails into New York with the Chinese Mandarin stamp. Due to an engraving error the Mandarin’s jacket is backwards and the stamp is worth ffity grand. Before leaving the ship she’s approached by Howard Broson from a firm who wants to buy the stamp. She says it’s already sold.
Ellery comes aboard with some flowers for his girl. He’s informed she left the ship in Panama. He tosses the flowers away and they hit Josephine. The press is around and the two pose for pictures. Ellery makes a date with her. She goes to Dr.Alexander Kirk’s hotel suite. He’s the buyer. Also there are his nieces Martha and Irene. Irene’s fiancee Donald Trent is also there. Kirk doesn’t like him but he says he has ten grand coming.
Josephine goes to her hotel room and Ellery calls. When she hangs up she leaves the room and a thief comes from behind a curtain and steals the stamp. Josephine goes back to Kirk’s suite wearing a corsage Ellery sent her. She goes into another room. Then Inspector Queen shows up.
They go into the room and there’s a dead man hanging on a door with his jacket on backwards. It’s the thief. The Inspector finds the corsage. He goes to Josephine’s room and there’s Ellery lying down. Josephine is hiding behind the shower curtain. The Inspector doesn’t find her.
Eventually the Inspector gets everyone in the same suite. Ellery sneaks Josephine out. They go to the thief’s apartment. When Josephine goes into the kitchen Bronson turns out the lights and hits Ellery over the head. On the floor Ellery finds a stamp engraving kit. The police come in and arrest Ellery and Josephine. Along the way there’s another murder.
In the early Queen books there was a piece of tissue paper attached to the rest of the pages. The readers are advised they can stop and try and figure it out since all the clues and suspects have been presented. Then you would unattach the tissue paper and read on to the end and see if you were right. That’s why I’ll stop here.
This is a light hearted adaption. It’s a fun movie but mystery fans will like the book a whole lot better.
Eddie Quillan had a fifty year career in movies and TV.
Eddie Quillan
Vintage45's Blog 