The Adventures of Ellery Queen
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The Adventures of Ellery Queen is the title of a radio series and four separate television series made from the 1950s through the 1970s. They were based on the fictional detective and pseudonymous writer Ellery Queen and the cases he solved with his father, Inspector Richard Queen.
Films
- The Spanish Cape Mystery (1935) Donald Cook as Ellery Queen, Guy Usher as Inspector Queen (based on The Spanish Cape Mystery)
- The Mandarin Mystery (1936) Eddie Quillan as Ellery Queen, Wade Boteler as Inspector Queen (loosely based on The Chinese Orange Mystery); this film is now in the public domain[1]
- Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940) Ralph Bellamy as Ellery Queen, Margaret Lindsay as Nikki Porter, Charley Grapewin as Inspector Queen (very loosely based on The Door Between)[2]
- Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery (1941) Ralph Bellamy as Ellery Queen, Margaret Lindsay as Nikki Porter, Charley Grapewin as Inspector Queen
- Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime (1941) Ralph Bellamy as Ellery Queen, Margaret Lindsay as Nikki Porter, Charley Grapewin as Inspector Queen (loosely based on The Devil To Pay)[2]
- Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring (1941) Ralph Bellamy as Ellery Queen, Margaret Lindsay as Nikki Porter, Charley Grapewin as Inspector Queen (loosely based on The Dutch Shoe Mystery)[2]
- A Close Call for Ellery Queen (1942) William Gargan as Ellery Queen, Margaret Lindsay as Nikki Porter, Charley Grapewin as Inspector Queen
- A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen (1942) William Gargan as Ellery Queen, Margaret Lindsay as Nikki Porter, Charley Grapewin as Inspector Queen
- Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen (1942) Ralph Bellamy as Ellery Queen, Margaret Lindsay as Nikki Porter, Charley Grapewin as Inspector Queen
- La Décade prodigieuse (1971) (English title, Ten Days' Wonder) directed by Claude Chabrol and starring Anthony Perkins, Orson Welles. There is no character named Ellery Queen but Michel Piccoli plays "Paul Regis", the investigator. (Based on Ten Days' Wonder)
- Haitatsu sarenai santsu no tegami (1979) (English title, The Three Undelivered Letters) a Japanese movie directed by Yoshitaro Nomura (based on Calamity Town but apparently not containing Ellery Queen or any detective character)
Radio
With Hugh Marlowe in the title role, Ellery Queen was introduced in The Adventures of Ellery Queen on CBS Radio on June 18, 1939, running until September 22, 1940. In 1942, the series moved to NBC radio, airing until 1944. From 1945 to 1947, it was heard once again on CBS, returning to NBC in 1947 and then moved to ABC radio (1947–48). The premise was that a mystery would be dramatized but then interrupted when a panel of celebrities would attempt to solve it.
During the 1970s, syndicated radio fillers, Ellery Queen's Minute Mysteries, began with an announcer saying, "This is Ellery Queen..." and then outlining a case in one minute. The radio station encouraged callers to solve the mystery and win a sponsor's prize. Once they had a winner, the solution part of the spot would be played as confirmation.
Television
- The first television series, The Adventures of Ellery Queen, was produced by the DuMont Television Network. It ran on DuMont from October 14, 1950, to December 6, 1951 (50 episodes), then moved to ABC from December 16, 1951 to November 26, 1952 (43 episodes).
- The second series, Mystery Is My Business, ran for 32 episodes and was produced by ITC Entertainment. It ran from 1954 to 1956.
- The third series, The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen, ran for 33 episodes from 1958 to 1959 on NBC.
- The final series, known simply as Ellery Queen, ran from 1975 until 1976 and was a Universal Television production for NBC.
First TV Series (DuMont and ABC)
The first series was telecast on the DuMont Television Network from October 19, 1950 to December 6, 1951[3] and then on ABC from December 16, 1951 to November 26, 1952. This series starred Richard Hart as Ellery Queen in the first season and Lee Bowman in the role in later seasons. (Hart died suddenly of a heart attack in January 1951.) Florenz Ames played Inspector Richard Queen. Irving Pincus did his first work as a producer in two segments of this version of Ellery Queen. Guest stars included Anne Bancroft, John Carradine, and Eva Gabor. The series, produced by Irving and Norman Pincus and directed by Donald Richardson, featured writing by Helene Hanff, later famous as the author of 84, Charing Cross Road (Bancroft later played Hanff in the film version of 84 Charing Cross Road).
Episode List
First Season - DuMont Network
- The Bad Boy
- The Mad Tea Party
- The Invisible Lover
- The Long Count
- The Three Lame Men
- The Human Weapon
- The Crooked Man
- The Adventure of the Blind Bullet
- Two Pieces of Silver
- The Hanging Acrobat (A film clip episode aired on December 21, 1950 is available at the Internet Archive)
- The Star of India
- The Adventures of the Survivors' Club
- Prescription For Treason
- The House of Terror
- Murder in Hollywood
- The Adventure of the Man who Killed Cops
- The Hanging Patient
- The Adventure of the Jewel-Handled Knife
- The Case of the Falling Corpse
- The Adventure of the Strange Voyage
- The Madcap Robbery
- The Adventure of the Manhunt
- Murder at the Museum
- The Adventures of the Man who Enjoyed Death
- The Case of the Frightened Lady
- The Baseball Murder Case
- Murder for Twelve Cents
- The Key to Murder
- Death Spins a Wheel
- Dissolve to Death
- The Frame-Up
- The Happiness Club
- The Chinese Mummer Mystery
- Murder in the Zoo
- Death in a Capsule
- The Case of the Upright Man
- The Adventure of the Frightened Child
- The Adventure of the Ballet Murder
Second Season - Dumont Network
- The Adventure of the Twilight Zone
- The Dead Man who Walked
- Murder in the Death House
- The Garden of Death
- The Gridiron Murder
- The Coffee House Murder
- Death in a Ghost Town
- Murder to Music
- The Inside Man
- Pavanne for a Dead Princess
- The Adventure of the Shape-Up
- Death at the Opera
Second Season - ABC Network
- Ticket to Nowhere
- A Christmas Story
- The Long Shot
- The Unhung Jury
- Death In the Sorority House
- The Feminine Touch
- Dance of Death
- One Week to Live
- Mr. Big
- Left-Cross
- The Red Hook Murder
- King Size Death
- The File of Death
- The Bar Peaceful Murder
- Doodle of Death
- The Men Without Faces
- Death of a Wax Doll
- Cat and Mouse
- Coroner's Inquest
- The Not So Private Eye
- Rehearsal for Murder
- Prize Catch
- The Case of the Heartbroken Men
- The Third Room
- The Pool of Death
- Dead Secret
- Case of the Canvas Shroud
- A Frame for a Chair
- The Winner was Death
- Confidential Agent
Third Season - ABC Network
- The Ten Dollar Bill
- The Case of the Wise Man
- Ready For Hanging
- Legacy of Death
- Buck Fever
- Custom Made
- The Case of the Two-Faced Man
- A Touch of Death
- A Close-Up of Murder
- The Destructive Angel
- The High Executioner
- Companion to a Killer
- Double Exposure
Second TV Series
ITC's series Mystery Is My Business starred Hugh Marlowe as Ellery (reprising his role from the radio series) but returned Florenz Ames to the role of Richard Queen. Guest stars included Celia Lovsky.
Episode List
- Dark Corridor
- Custom Made
- Double Exposure
- Mission for Murder
- Comeback (also known as The Last Payoff)
- Death in a Ghost Town
- Close-up of Murder
- Star of Kashmir
- Letter from the Dead
- Once a Killer
- The Recluse
- Doodle OF Death
- The Moll
- Mask of Roselli
- Woman in the Chair
- Trigger Man
- Mardi Gras
- The Vicious Circle
- One Week to Live
- Backfire
- The Fix
- Blackjack
- Woman on the Wire
- Night Visitors
- Death of a Wax Doll
- The White Orchid
- Stranger in the Dark
- Design for Revenge
- The Golden Snow
- The Fatal Signal
- Mister Big
- Memoirs Unwritten
The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen
This version featured George Nader as Ellery Queen in twenty episodes, then Lee Philips for the remainder of the season. Les Tremayne took the role of Richard Queen. Guest appearances were made by, among numerous others, film star and Oscar-nominee Nancy Carroll and stage actress Marian Seldes.
Episode List
- The Glass Village
- The King is Dead
- Ten Days of Wonder
- The Door Between
- The 8th Mrs Bluebeard
- Cat of Many Tails
- Death Before Bedtime
- Double, Double
- So Rich, So Lovely, So Dead
- Diamond-studded Typewriter
- Four and Twenty to Live
- Paint the Town Black
- The Hollow Man
- Bury Me Deep
- The Hinnolity Story
- The Jinn City Story
- Revolution
- The Murder of Whistler's Brother
- Death likes it Hot
- Margin of Terror
- Chauffeur Disguise
- Shadow of the Past
- The Chemistry Set
- Cartel for Murder
- A Girl Named Daisy
- The Paper Tigers
- The Lecture
- Confession of Murder
- Castaway on a Nearby Island
- The Curse of Aden
- Dance into Death
- Body of the Crime
- This Murder Comes to you Live
Ellery Queen
Universal/NBC's 1970s version featured Jim Hutton as Ellery and David Wayne as Richard. The stories took place in 1947. Guest stars included Don Ameche, Eve Arden, Jim Backus, Tom Bosley, George Burns, Joan Collins, William Demarest, Howard Duff, Ida Lupino, Roddy McDowall, Vincent Price, Pernell Roberts, Cesar Romero, Rudy Vallée, Ray Walston, and Betty White. The series was cancelled after one season of 22 episodes.
Episode List
Ellery Queen two-hour pilot TV-movie, later retitled Too Many Suspects for syndication. This version also appears on the DVD.
- The Adventure of Auld Lang Syne
- The Adventure of the Lover's Leap
- The Adventure of the Chinese Dog
- The Adventure of the Comic Book Crusader
- The Adventure of the 12th Floor Express
- The Adventure of Miss Aggie's Farewell Performance
- The Adventure of Colonel Niven's Memoirs
- The Adventure of the Mad Tea Party
- The Adventure of Veronica's Veils
- The Adventure of the Pharaoh's Curse
- The Adventure of the Blunt Instrument
- The Adventure of the Black Falcon
- The Adventure of the Sunday Punch
- The Adventure of the Eccentric Engineer
- The Adventure of the Wary Witness
- The Adventure of the Judas Tree
- The Adventure of the Sinister Scenario
- The Adventure of the Two-Faced Woman
- The Adventure of the Tyrant of Tin Pan Alley
- The Adventure of Caesar's Last Sleep
- The Adventure of the Hard-Hearted Huckster
- The Adventure of the Disappearing Dagger
See also
- List of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network
- List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts
References
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/TheMandarinMystery
- 1 2 3 "Ellery Queen, a website on detection". Neptune.spaceports.com. 1937-10-02. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
- ↑ DuMont historical website
External links
- The Adventures of Ellery Queen 1950-1952 at the Internet Movie Database
- The Adventures of Ellery Queen 1954-1957 at the Internet Movie Database
- DuMont historical website
- The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen at the Internet Movie Database
- Ellery Queen at the Internet Movie Database
- Public-domain episodes of The Adventures of Ellery Queen radio program
- Public-domain episodes of Ellery Queen Minute Mysteries radio program
- A film clip episode aired on December 21, 1950 is available at the Internet Archive