Ralph Bellamy stars as Ellery Queen in Ellery Queen, Master Detective, from 1940. Margaret Lindsay plays Nikki Porter, here a competitor and a potential love interest of Ellery's. Charles Grapwin plays Inspector Queen.
John Braun, who owns a fitness company and is a perfect specimen, finds out from his doctor that he's terminally ill. The next day, he changes his will, disinheriting his family and putting everything in the hands of the company.
His daughter (Marsha Hunt) is estranged from him, and Nikki goes to talk to him about the situation. He's signed the will and locked himself in his study.
Nikki waits a while and then finds out that she can't leave as the other door is locked. When she and Ellery finally get the door open, they find Braun dead from stabbing. The will and the murder weapon are gone. Ellery tells Nikki that as of now, she's the only one who could have done it.
I haven't seen all the actors who have played Ellery Queen by any means - I remember George Nader when I was a child and Jim Hutton later on. The Jim Hutton series was marvelous. The George Nader version may have been live TV -- for some reason I distinctly remember him saying murtel and then correcting himself and saying murder.
Bellamy is excellent, giving a spirited, light performance. He has good chemistry with Lindsay and with Charles Grapwin. His Ellery is super-smart and on the sarcastic side. "There's a door," Nikki says. "Oh, thank you," Ellery says. "I never would have found it."
Margaret Lindsay is marvelous as Nikki, who goes after a plot that Ellery wanted to use in his next book, that of this locked room mystery. He hides her in his house, and the next day introduces her as their new cook. She can't even boil water and incurs the ire of Inspector Queen.
I liked it - director Kurt Neumann keeps this 65-minute film moving. The plot is clever, and the film is enjoyable. Look for Charles Lane, who died in 2007 at the age of 102.
