Film number one in the Dark Crimes collection is The Mandarin Mystery, a 1936 adaptation of an Ellery Queen murder mystery novel of a similar name. The plot centers on young, amateur detective Ellery Queen (Eddie Quillan) trying to piece together the clues surrounding a stolen stamp and a double homicide.
The first thing that stands out about this film is the tone. I realize that the 1930s march to the beat of their own drum, but it really sends mixed signals when the first 10 minutes of your movie plays out like an overblown, rom-com meet-cute. Queen finds himself smitten with the beauty and charm of Miss Josephine Temple (Charlotte Henry), and much of the film focuses on his attempts to win her over. Queen is a walking one-liner generator, and the rest of the characters follow suit (particularly Queen's long-suffering father, the police investigator originally summoned to look into the case of the missing stamp).
Suffice it to say, this film is as much an oddball comedy as it is a murder mystery. Just about every line of dialog culminates in a quip. There's a particularly amusing exchange about midway through the movie in which Ellery Queen glibly makes requests about which penitentiary he would prefer to be incarcerated in. Nothing says sticking it to the man like requesting a stint at Sing Sing with a grin on your face and a bounce in your step. There's also a smattering of slapstick early on, and later a soundproof room is put to the test via WACKY SHENANIGANS.
The picture and sound quality is what you might expect from a collection of films that are extremely old and more than likely in the public domain. The film stock is trashed, there are dropped frames all over the place, and the dialog is muddy. But in a way this sort of adds a certain of-the-time charm to the whole thing.
The Mandarin Mystery isn't a bad little movie -- it runs 52 minutes, which is odd given the film's original run time was closer to 64 minutes -- but as the first film in a set titled "Dark Crimes", the tone is just bizarre. The mystery itself is only serviceable, but Ellery Queen and Miss Temple have a likeable rapport, and the humor still plays well when you consider that the film was shot 78 years ago. It's kind of a shame that there were no follow-up Queen films utilizing the same cast and tone. I'd have gladly watched more of them.
Star Rating: 4/5
The first thing that stands out about this film is the tone. I realize that the 1930s march to the beat of their own drum, but it really sends mixed signals when the first 10 minutes of your movie plays out like an overblown, rom-com meet-cute. Queen finds himself smitten with the beauty and charm of Miss Josephine Temple (Charlotte Henry), and much of the film focuses on his attempts to win her over. Queen is a walking one-liner generator, and the rest of the characters follow suit (particularly Queen's long-suffering father, the police investigator originally summoned to look into the case of the missing stamp).
Suffice it to say, this film is as much an oddball comedy as it is a murder mystery. Just about every line of dialog culminates in a quip. There's a particularly amusing exchange about midway through the movie in which Ellery Queen glibly makes requests about which penitentiary he would prefer to be incarcerated in. Nothing says sticking it to the man like requesting a stint at Sing Sing with a grin on your face and a bounce in your step. There's also a smattering of slapstick early on, and later a soundproof room is put to the test via WACKY SHENANIGANS.
The picture and sound quality is what you might expect from a collection of films that are extremely old and more than likely in the public domain. The film stock is trashed, there are dropped frames all over the place, and the dialog is muddy. But in a way this sort of adds a certain of-the-time charm to the whole thing.
The Mandarin Mystery isn't a bad little movie -- it runs 52 minutes, which is odd given the film's original run time was closer to 64 minutes -- but as the first film in a set titled "Dark Crimes", the tone is just bizarre. The mystery itself is only serviceable, but Ellery Queen and Miss Temple have a likeable rapport, and the humor still plays well when you consider that the film was shot 78 years ago. It's kind of a shame that there were no follow-up Queen films utilizing the same cast and tone. I'd have gladly watched more of them.
Star Rating: 4/5
The tonal anomaly reminds me of *The 300 Spartans* (1962). It tells of the battle at Thermopylae between the Persians and Spartans, but it shoehorns in a teenage romance subplot with some oddly placed humor. One wonders if having a romantic/comedic subplot was a trope during a certain timeframe or with certain directors.
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