Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery

CinemaSerf

This outing for the famed detective really did remind me of the contemporary "Charlie Chan" adventures and to be honest, it comes off the worst. When a wealthy Chinese family donate some gems to try and help alleviate the problems of their starving population. It falls to ventriloquist "Madison" (Gordon Cobb) to get them to New York when they can be converted into cash - some $300,000! He goes missing so his daughter contacts her pal "Nikki" (an on-form Margaret Lindsay) who just happens to work for our eponymous sleuth (Ralph Bellamy) - and off we go on a rather complex cloak and dragon dagger mystery that includes a body in a trunk in a penthouse and more suspects than you can shake a stick at. Can the constantly bickering "Queen" and "Nikki" get to the bottom of the mystery before the jewels are gone forever? It's quite a characterful edition of the franchise this with Bellamy competent enough, but it's let down by a pretty formulaic story and a conclusion that is too convenient and rushed. Keep an eye out for Mantan Moreland, but otherwise this is just standard detective fayre that amiably but forgettably kills an hour.