BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Leofwine_draca I thought THE MANDARIN MYSTERY was a rather middling murder mystery with a good premise and weak story progress. The film features the character of master detective Ellery Queen himself as he hunts for a priceless Chinese stamp that a murderer has got his hands on.The early parts of this thriller are a locked room murder mystery which is portrayed in an interesting way. Unfortunately, the rest of the film has a sluggish pace and a strictly ordinary denouement. Eddie Quillan can't make much of the leading role and the supporting characters are too clichéd to be really believable. The film has a lightness of touch which works in its favour but is too bogged down with romance and peripheral character play to really be entertaining.

berfedd Plot: Inspector Queen, helped by his quick-witted son, Ellery, find themselves investigating the murder of an unknown man amidst the world of stamp collecting.Review: This is a light and humorous affair, with a good set of character actors. It looked interesting from IMDb reviews and I was keen to find out what 'Ellery Queen' was all about.The Ellery Queen novels were originally written for magazine publication in the 1920s, with the idea of giving the reader all the necessary clues to solve the mystery for themselves, if they had the patience, or just enjoy them as cleverly put-together detective mysteries.The movie doesn't quite live up to that ideal, but the character acting more than makes up for this. Charlotte Henry and Eddie Quillan play the leads and give enjoyable, easy-going performances. Charlotte Henry disappeared from the screen after the early 1940s, moving to stage work. Eddie Quillan has a certain quality about him, and it wasn't a surprise to discover he was in The Grapes of Wrath playing the moody husband who abandons his pregnant wife when times get hard. Acting from the age of seven, he continued into his early 70s, his last appearance being in 1987 in the TV series Matlock.The Mandarin Mystery doesn't really merit in depth analysis, other than to say it passes an hour easily. Simply a good fun one-off, with neither the director or stars making any movie shorts in a similar vein.www.thebestmovieof.com

cutterccbaxter Eddie Quillan struck me more as a second-banana comic-relief type actor than one who can carry a film. But such is the casting in many a B film. The script and Eddie's acting sets up Ellery Queen as some kind of goof ball crime solver. Eddie pretty much grins his way through the movie. I kept expecting another actor to show up with more gravitas, push Eddie aside, and say, "Thanks for filling in Eddie, I'll take over now." As the fussy hotel manager, Franklin Pangborn was his usual reliable self as he provided the best comedic moments in a film that otherwise really struggled to be funny. The mystery aspect of the story wasn't too bad. The killer certainly made good use of a dead body.

Norm-30 As a reader of EQ mysteries, and a collector of his films, I have to say that this is the absolute WORST in the entire series!EQ, far from being a "master detective", is portrayed as a bumbling fool who continually gets in his father's way.Not only that, but the background music in this film is totally UNRELATED to the action....it's as if someone off-screen turned on a radio and let it play while the movie was being shot.Pass on this one!