Based on the EQ novel The Chinese Orange Mystery, this is the second theatrical film featuring detective Ellery Queen. It follows The Spanish Cape Mystery, and like that film it basically eviscerates the novel, substituting fast action and wisecracks for perplexing detective work. This, and many of the B-programmers that followed, kept only the characters of Ellery and his father, Inspector Richard Queen, transforming both to unrecognizable stereotypes. But Ellery Queen was a hot property and I suspect the only thing that Fred Dannay and Manny Lee had to with these films was to sit back and watch the money roll in. The films really had no effect on the sales of the novels.
Ellery is played by Eddie Quinlan, a comedically charming, fast talking, wise cracking sleuth more interested in chasing the girl than in solving the puzzle. Wade Boteler plays Inspector Queen; his basic role here appears to be as a stooge for Ellery's bumbling antics. the eye candy, number one suspect, and object of Ellery's desire is Josephine Temple (played by a comely Charlotte Henry). The one standout performance in the film comes from screen veteran Frank Pangborn, who true to form plays a frustrated hotel manager.
The plot? There actually is one. A valuable Chinese stamp has gone missing. The thief is murdered in a locked room. And...a tangerine goes missing?
Innocuous, mildly pleasant, and coming in at just under an hour, it's worth considering as a harmless time waster.
https://archive.org/details/TheMandarinMystery
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