Ellery Queen’s Penthouse Mystery ** (1941, Ralph Bellamy, Margaret Lindsay, Charley Grapewin, Anna May Wong, James Burke, Eduardo Ciannelli) – Classic Movie Review 10,502

The 1941 crime thriller sequel Ellery Queen’s Penthouse Mystery again stars Ralph Bellamy as Ellery Queen, Margaret Lindsay as Nikki Porter and Charley Grapewin as Inspector Queen, and is directed by James P Hogan. It is based on the 1939 play The Three Scratches by Ellery Queen. Columbia Pictures released the film on 24 March 1941.

Ellery Queen’s Penthouse Mystery is a very modest mystery with Ellery (Bellamy) and his cop dad (Grapewin) sleuthing after a Chinese gem smuggler’s killer.

The successful star team returns from Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940) and the character actor cast helps too, especially Grapewin, James Burke, Anna May Wong, Eduardo Ciannelli and Frank Albertson. But poor pacing and a derivative script drags the film down.

It follows The Spanish Cape Mystery (1935) with Donald Cook and The Mandarin Mystery (1936) with Eddie Quillan and Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940) with Ralph Bellamy.

It is followed by Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime (1941) with the same stars.

Also in the cast are Anna May Wong as Lois Ling, James Burke as Sergeant Velie, Eduardo Ciannelli as Count Brett, Frank Albertson as Sanders, Ann Doran as Sheila Cobb, Noel Madison as Gordon Cobb, Charles Lane as Doc Prouty, Russell Hicks as Walsh, Tom Dugan as McGrath, Mantan Moreland as Roy, Jimmy Aubrey as Expressman, and Theodore von Eltz as Jim Ritter.

Ellery Queen, Master Detective is directed by James P Hogan, runs 69 minutes, is made by Larry Darmour Productions, is released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Eric Taylor, based on the 1939 play The Three Scratches by Ellery Queen [Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee], is shot in black and white by James S Brown Jr, is produced by Larry Darmour and is scored by Lee Zahler.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,502

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