Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime (1941) DVD-R

Starring Ralph Bellamy, Margaret Lindsay, Charley Grapewin, Spring Byington, H.B. Warner,
Douglass Dumbrille
Directed by James P. Hogan

Print: black/white
Runtime: 68 min.
Genre: mystery
Print Quality: B

Ralph Bellamy makes the third of four appearances as "master detective" Ellery Queen in
Columbia's Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime. The principal villain is crooked stockbroker
John Mathews (Douglass Dumbrille), whose Wall Street manipulations render Ray Jarden
(H. B. Warner) penniless. Mathews' chicanery seems particularly coldblooded, inasmuch as
his daughter Marian (Linda Hayes) is engaged to Jarden's son Walter (John Beal). When the
latter disappears, Mathews asks Ellery Queen to locate the young man. Shortly thereafter,
one of the principal characters is murdered, forcing Ellery to get his deductive skills into
high gear-no small task, since he's depicted in this film as a complete dunderhead.