Ellery Queen: The Complete Series, 7 DVD Set, (Madman Entertainment)
By Rama Gaind
What an amazing way to interact – by matching wits with a great detective from the past – Ellery Queen!
Set in 1946-47 New York, Jim Hutton takes on the title role of the mystery writer and helps his Police Inspector father Richard (David Wayne) to untangle the clues and solve the cleverest of crimes. Ellery has astonishing powers of observation, dwelling on minute details and a brilliant mind.
In recent years we’ve seen similar mystery formats unfold in such television series as Murder, She Wrote and Columbo. A long list of clues follow a mysterious murder and, in these cases, many suspects from an array of weekly guest stars, not to mention some red-herrings to challenge viewers to guess whodunnit!
Hutton makes a decent Ellery Queen, convincingly lost in his own thoughts, matter-of-fact in his pronouncements and he’s a likeable man who’s also modest.
David Wayne is perfect as the proud father who manipulates his son so he can be king of the crime division. Wayne appeared in The Adventures of Ellery Queen (1951-54) and The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen (1959). Their relationship isn’t full of banter or as intricate as the 1970s team of Jim and Rocky Rockford, but the running gags about Ellery’s poor driving for one help lighten the mood.
The attention to period detail is impressive from long sedans to the taxi cabs. There are certain charms around Ellery, but it will appeal only to those who look at murder mysteries as a puzzle to be solved and not a crime-based reality show to appreciate. Some may say it’s an old fashioned way, too tedious, of solving a crime.
It was a wholesome period series that that put the focus on investigation and deduction, not chasing suspects, hip action and interrogations as seen in Starsky and Hutch.
However, there are some interesting guest stars, some of them suspects and others victims. Look for people like Betty White, Larry Hagman, Ed McMahon, Sal Mineo, Cesar Romero, Dick Sargent, Bill Dana, Troy Donahue, Vincent Price, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Victor Buono, Norman Fell, Bob Crane, Carolyn Jones, Tom Bosley, Eve Arden, Tab Hunter and Gary Burghoff.
Never before available on DVD, this seven-disc collection of the complete 1975-76 television series presents all 22 episodes of the classic mysteries including the rarely seen feature-length pilot movie Too Many Suspects. Another bonus is the original 1971 Peter Lawford TV movie Ellery Queen: Don’t Look Behind You.
Each episode begins with a voiceover from a radio-style announcer who invites viewers to “Match wits with Ellery Queen and see if you can guess . . . who done it!” Then, we’re introduced to the victim (still alive) and the suspects, as the voiceover proceeds to ask several questions about the killer. Before the big revelation at the end of every episode, Ellery Queen asks, “Have you figured it out? Do you know who the murderer is?”
The pilot offers Magnum, P.I. regular John Hillerman as radio star Simon Brimmer, who writes the mystery scripts that he and a cast perform for a popular radio serial.
Twenty-three episodes are included on six single-sided discs, which are housed overlapping in a fold-out cardboard-and-plastic case that tucks inside a cardboard slipcase with a ‘viewing notes’ booklet.
Here’s a brief summary of the first six episodes:
1) ‘Too Many Suspects’: Ellery Queen tracks down the killer of noted fashion designer Monica Gay.
2) ‘The Adventure of Auld Lang Syne’: Marcus Halliday is murdered at the Hotel Astor on New Year’s Eve, 1946.
3) ‘The Adventure of the Lover’s Leap’: Wealthy heiress Stephanie Kendrick is dead . . . but was it murder or suicide?
4) ‘The Adventure of the Chinese Dog’: While trying to enjoy their fishing trip, Ellery and Inspector Queen are enlisted to solve a small-town murder.
5) ‘The Adventure of the Comic Book Crusader’: Ellery Queen finds himself among the suspects in the murder of a comic book publisher.
6) ‘The Adventure of the 12th Floor Express’: News mogul Henry Manners has been found murdered in the express elevator to the 12th floor of his building.
