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 llery Queen and his father appear in every episode of the 1975-1976 TV show Ellery Queen Sgt.Velie appears in all but two (The Chinese Dog and The Sinister Scenario), and either Simon Brimmer or Frank Flannigan serve as competition for Ellery (in the case of Simon Brimmer) or a source of information (in the case of Frank Flannigan) in many of the others.
We like to offer you the story-outlines of those episodes.
Ellery Queen Too Many Suspects US (1975)
Preoccupied sleuth Ellery helps his police inspector dad in solving a fashion designer's murder. The Ellery Queen mystery The Fourth Side of the Triangle served as the source for this entertaining, light-hearted period detective movie. Pilot film for the series that followed. The story was simplified and the most important clues significantly altered in this otherwise handsomely mounted and well-played production. Even at 96 minutes it contained hardly any padding.
A son, discovering his father has been having a secret love affair, is determined to go to the aid of his mother, and so arranges a meeting with the "other woman". But complications ensue when he falls in love with her himself.
Now Ellery Queen must track down the murderer of famous fashion designer, Monica Grey, who pulled out the plug of her clock and her TV set as a cryptic dying message.
Here we are introduced to the recurring character of Simon Brimmer; a radio mystery sleuth with an insatiable desire to best Ellery in a real murder case. His show was called "The Casebook of Simon Brimmer", sponsored by Vita-Cream.
Directed by David Greene
With: Ray Milland (Carson McKell), Monte Markham (Tom McKell), Kim Hunter (Marion McKell), Gail Strickland ( Gail Stevens), Tim O'Connor (Ben Waterson), Vic Mohica (Ramon), Franny Michel (Penny), Nancy Mehta (Monica Gray)
The Adventure of the Black Falcon
"There's nothing so sacred as true sentiment shared intimately by those who have sacrificed so much..."
"I'm sure they'd love to tell the world about it on my radio show tomorrow night."
Simon arrives at a restaurant where he will give a live-remote broadcast of his show and reveal his results of a murder investigation. To that end, he's invited the Queens so that he might gloat in person. But before he can pull it off, a murder is committed in the restaurant. One of the owners is poisoned by a bottle of wine.
Directed by Walter Doniger
With: Signe Hasso (Flora Schumann / Gretchen Schiller), Howard Duff (Eddie Morgan / Emile Morganstern), Tab Hunter (John Randall), Roddy McDowall ("The Amazing Armitage"), William Schallert (Alexander), Rosanna Huffman (Nancy McGuire), Lewis Charles (Nick Kingston / Harry Norman), Bob Basso
The Adventure of the Sinister Scenario
"I didn't know...I finessed him, Dad."
An interesting concept: the Queens go to Hollywood to watch the filming of an adaptation of an Ellery Queen novel into a movie. The good Inspector is just positive they'll be mixing with the glamorous Hollywood elite any moment now, but it never seems to happen. At the studio, they meet the fellow that will be playing Inspector Queen (Noah Beery) as well as the star, Gilbert Mallory (Troy Donahue) who'll be the "Ellery Queen" of the epic. Mallory is a real ass to everyone on the set from fellow actors to director and proves himself to be a philandering husband as well. So we aren't terribly shocked when he is murdered.
Directed by Peter H.Hunt
With: Vincent Price (Michael Raynor), Troy Donahue (Gilbert Mallory), Paul Carr (Tte. Braden), Noah Beery Jr. (Lionel Briggs), Barbara Rush (Claire Mallory), James B. Sikking (Mike Hewitt), Karl Lukas (Sgt. Harris), Susan Damante (Pamela Courtney), Don DeFore (Dave Pierce), Jack Murdoch (Al Garvin)
The Adventure of the Sunday Punch
A prizefighter is killed while training for a Championship bout and when guilt points toward his sparring partner Joe Adams, Joe's girlfriend seeks out Ellery to prove his innocence. The autopsy discovers death due to poison, but who could have done it? Was it the fiancée that he abused? Her father, the fight doctor? The mobster who needed him to take a dive? His manager who was being muscled?
Directed by Seymour Robbie
With Robert Alda (Frank Anthony), Lloyd Nolan (Dr. Sanford), Terrence O'Connor (Melinda Sanford), Janet MacLachlan (Corrine Ogden), Dane Clark (Sam Hatter), Dick Bakalyan (Maddie O'Neill), Juanita Moore (Mrs. Douglas), Otis Young (Joe Adams)
"The Adventure of Auld Lang Syne"
"124 West End Avenue"
"Hey - c'mon, I thought you were in such a hurry to go see this murder."
"Look, if I don't get to 124 West End Avenue, there's liable to be two murders tonight..."
On New Year's Eve (1946) a wealthy man is murdered after excusing himself from the posh ballroom to make a phone call to his lawyer. This just moments after revealing his plans to disinherit his companions. An ingenious use of the real Guy Lombardo lends great credibility to this episode. In addition, we see the "other side" of Ellery - the consequences of his forgetfulness when he misses his appointed date with the lovely Kitty McBride. A lady who is, quite obviously, smitten with the dashing young sleuth.
Production: Richard Levinson, William Link, Peter S. Fisher and Michael Rhodes
Production: #43606
Teleplay: Peter S. Fisher
Story by: Richard Levinson, William Link and Peter S. Fisher
Director: David Greene
With: Ray Walston (Howard Pratt), Joan Collins (Lady Daisy Frawley),Karen Machon (Kitty McBride), Thayer David (Marcus Halliday),Farley Granger (Paul Quincy), Arch Johnson (Commissioner), David Doyle (Don Becker) George Wyner (Joe Kemmelman), Herb Edelman (Taxi driver)
The Adventure of the Eccentric Engineer
When a formerly brilliant, now seemingly senile inventor is murdered in his electric train workshop, the mystery is afoot. It seems no one could have come in or gone out during the period of time when the murder must have taken place. In order to get admittance to the train room, one had to have a "ticket". This narrows the suspects down to his family and his business associates.
Meanwhile, Ellery's being shadowed by a young woman who wants help with a love story she's writing and EQ can't seem to shake her. Eventually he wants anything BUT to shake her, as once again, Ellery shows the 'lady's man' side of his personality.
Production: Richard Levinson, William Link, Peter S. Fisher and Michael Rhodes
Production: #43608
Written by: Booker Bradshaw, David P. Lewis
Directed by Peter H.Hunt
With: Ed McMahon (Lamont Franklin), Bobby Sherman (Doug Carmichael), Arthur Godfrey (Claude Sitwell), David Hedison (Roger Woods), Dorothy Malone (Carol Franklin), Ann Reinkin (Lorelei Farnsworth), Dick Van Patten (Billy Geeter), John Fujioka (Chinese Restaurant owner)
"The Adventure of the Lover's Leap"
"How do you put up with him?!"
"Practice..."
While reading an Ellery Queen book (of the same name as this episode's title), Fountain Pen Heiress Stephanie Kendrick begins having all the same experiences as the character in the book. From hearing noises to having an overwhelming urge to leap off the balcony! It isn't long till she's found dead at the bottom of that balcony, but did she really leap on her own? And if so, why?
One of the in-jokes the writers utilized here was naming all of the episode-specific characters after well-known mystery writers: Marsh, Chandler etc..
Directed: Charles Dubin
With: Anne Francis (Evelyn Chandler),Don Ameche (Dr. Norman Marsh), Craig Stevens (Jonathan Kendrick), Susan Strasberg (Cathy Kendrick), Jason Wingreen (Roy Miller), James Lydon (Radial Actor), Jack Kelly (J.T. Latimer), Ida Lupino (Stephanie Kendrick ), Joan Bennett (? )
"The Adventure of the Chinese Dog"
"You mean you forgot?"
"Dad -- I think I forgot... not sure I forgot. But I think I forgot."
"How could you forget?!"
A wealthy man - owner of a multi-million dollar galoshes factory and grandson of the town's founder - is murdered. He's been struck by an ornamental dog figurine meant as a wedding gift for his daughter and worth a half million dollars. On the scene to investigate is a Sheriff up for election, whose heels are being nipped at by rival Henry Palmer. Palmer enlists the aid of the vacationing Queens when he thinks old Sheriff Eberhart can't handle the first murder in Wrightsville in decades.
Directed by Ernest Pintoff
With: Geraldine Brooks (Tilda McDonald), Orson Bean (Warren Wright), Murray Hamilton (Henry Palmer ), Robert Hogan (Gordon Wilde), Bill Quinn (Reverendo Dell), Eugene Roche (Sheriff Oscar Eberhardt), Robert F. Simon (Eben Wright), Hal Smith (Willy Bailey), Dee Wallace (Waiter),
Katherine Crawford (Julia Wright)
The Adventure of the Comic Book Crusader
This episode opens with a fiery-angry
Ellery Queen at the offices of money-grubbing Comic Mogul, Bud Armstrong. It seems they are putting out a Comic Book version of The Adventures of
Ellery Queen
in which EQ is played with heavy-handed violence. (There actually was an Ellery Queen Comic, by the way.) Ellery is even more angered to learn that Capricorn Comics is owned by his publisher's company and they can get away with this legally via some hidden small print in his contract. So it's no wonder he ends up threatening Mr. Armstrong. Needless to say, later that day Armstrong - vicious to each of his employees and unwilling to give credit for their work, nor release them from contracts - ends up quite dead.
Ellery is a suspect - especially when a dying clue seems to point to him. And worse yet, he's fingered in the media. This is thanks to Frank Flannigan, a Walter Winchell-type columnist for the New York Gazette, a recurring character we are introduced to in this episode. To save his Dad's reputation with City Hall, Ellery surrenders himself to jail where he pours over comic books until he can discover a much needed clue.
Directed by: Peter H.Hunt
With: Donald O'Connor (Kenny Freeman), Tom Bosley (Bud Armstrong),
Lynda Day George (Alma Van Dine), Eddie Firestone (Phil Collins), Herbie Faye (Moe Fletcher), George Sperdakos (Vincent Porter), Joseph Maher (Lyle Shannon), Alan Landers (Ronald Himes), Arch Johnson (Commissioner), Sandy Ward (?)
The Adventure of the 12th Floor Express
"Queen - comma - Ellery. Mystery writer of some renown. Born April 2nd. New York City 1912. Father - Queen - comma - Richard. Inspector New York City Police Department." - Arthur Van Dyke
News Mogul Henry Manners of the New York Daily Examiner is murdered in an elevator - an express elevator to the 12th Floor to be exact - with no one inside but the victim. A crafty plot that will test the mettle of the best whodunit fans. And the key clue is right up there on the screen - for a lengthy period of time with Ellery and the Inspector framing it - for anyone who can recognize it.
Directed by: Jack Arnold
With: Ruth McDevitt (Zelda Van Dyke), Paul Stewart (Thornton Johns), Dina Merrill (Harriet Manners), Tyler McVey (Henry Manners), Kristin Larkin (Dorothy), Ruth McDevitt (Zelda Van Dyke), Pat Harrington Jr. (Mitchell McCully), George Furth (Albert Klinger), John Finnegan (Fred Dumhoffer), Kip Niven (Arthur Van Dyke)
The Adventure of Miss Aggie's Farewell Performance
"Queen... Queen! He's not the fellow who writes all the whodunits?!
Oh, my dear - I thought you said he was an author!"
Radio Soap Opera diva, Vera Bethune - known to her fans as dear Miss Aggie, beloved school teacher - is poisoned during a taping of the show. She survives, and asks Ellery at the hospital to stay on the case, but in short order, Miss Aggie is found shot to death. Both Ellery and Inspector Queen feel responsible for not protecting her and dive into the sea of suspects who might have wanted her dead - but hot on their heels in Simon Brimmer, determined to beat them to it and win back his lost Vita-Cream sponsor.
Directed by: James Sheldon
With: Eve Arden (Vera Bethune, Miss Aggie), John McGiver (Mr. Pearl),
Paul Shenar (Wendell Warren), Betty White (Louise Demery), Penelope Windust (Anita Leslie), Nan Martin (Olivia Burns), Beatrice Colen (Mary Lou), Don Keefer, Sidney Miller, Nina Roman.
The Adventure of Colonel Niven's Memoirs
"Uh, Dad - Think you could take care of that for me? Now, I got that
while I was working on the case."
"Ellery! You want me to fix a parking ticket? Pay the two dollars."
Self absorbed author Colonel Alec Niven is in New York for a signing of his new book, "Memoirs of a Spy". It's a character assassination novel in which he accuses a myriad of people of war crimes and treasonous acts. It seems that Niven was with the British Intelligence during the war and got his hands on some Nazi files that they didn't burn when they evacuated Paris.
Ellery's latest girlfriend, Jenny O'Brien worked at Gotham Bookstore where the signing was held and was invited to dinner with the Colonel that evening, but when she arrived, she found him dead - stabbed with an antique Cashmir daggar. She and Ellery spend the rest of the episode chasing down clues and suspects' true identities and motives.
Directed by: Seymour Robbie
With: Lloyd Bochner (Colonel Alec Niven), Gretchen Corbett (Jenny O'Brien), Pernell Roberts (Rosh Kaleel / Barney Groves / May. Pearson), Robert Loggia (Alexsei Dobrenskov), Peter Bromilow (Colin Esterbrook), René Auberjonois (Marcel Fourchet), Nina Van Pallandt (Sonja Dobrenskov), Jonathan Hole (Salesman), Claude Earl Jones
The Adventure of the Mad Tea Party
"The time has come, the Walrus said, to speak of many things --
Of shoes, and ships, and sealing wax; Of cabbages and kings..."
A favorite both in book and tv-series. The only series entry based on an actual Queen story, it is the finest of the episodes, and is regarded by many as the best filming of Queen ever. The script is faithful to the original story, and even surpasses it in clearing up a few logical loopholes. A classic plot makes for a classic episode.
Ellery takes a train to Greenhaven Estate in Douglaston with agent Howard Biggers (Bakus) who is arranging for Ellery's book, The Adventure of the Alabaster Apple, to be made into a play funded and produced by wealth eccentric Spencer Lockridge.
Directed by: James Sheldon
With: Jim Backus (Howard Biggers), Edward Andrews (Spencer Lockridge), Larry Hagman (Paul Gardner), Julie Sommars (Emmy Reinhardt), Rhonda Fleming (Laura Lockridge), Lew Brown (Tte. Carr ), Julius Harris (Butler), Billy Benedict (Taxi Driver), Olan Soule (Machinist), Carmen Mathews (Letetia), Patricia Smith (Diana), George Janek (Johnny)
The Adventure of Veronica's Veils
"The name is Simon Brimmer.
Surely you've heard of me, Officer nine-three-seven"
Before a new burlesque-revival show called "Take It Off" can open, its producer, Sam Packer (cameo by George Burns) is found dead of an apparent heart attack. But the dead man has left a video behind to be shown at his funeral declaring that no matter what it looks like, he was murdered. And he asks Simon Brimmer to solve the case. The widow, however, goes to Ellery for help, who realizes that the disappearance of the stripper's bird is more than a coincidence.
Directed by: Seymour Robbie
With: Julie Adams (Jennifer Packard), George Burns (Sam Packer), William Demarest (Alexander Denny), Hayden Rorke (Marcus Brady), Jack Carter (Risky Ross / Joey Flanders), John Dennis (Tolson), Don Porter (Gregory Layton), Barbara Rhoades (Veronica Vale), Joshua Shelley (Dick Bowie), Romo Vincent (Gus Banana), Peter Hobbs (Dr. Steiner)
The Adventure of the Pharaoh's Curse
Inspector Queen: "It's past your bedtime."
Margie Coopersmith: "Is is really past your bedtime?"
Ellery: "He's been trying to get me to go to bed at ten o'clock since I was 14..."
Norris Wenthworth has brought an Egyptian sarcophagus from Germany to display at the Tremane Museum, but there's a curse on it that's killed its previous six owners. Simon Brimmer is onhand to interview the new owner and ponder his fate, when lo and behold, he does indeed become the mummy's 7th victim. Or could someone else have had murder on his mind? Seems that Norris Wenthworth was a former aircraft manufacturer who had been investigated by a Select Senate Committee on charges of war profiteering
Production: Richard Levinson, William Link, Peter S. Fisher and Michael Rhodes
Production: #43603
Teleplay: Peter S. Fisher
Story by: Rudolph Borchert
Directed by Seymour Robbie
With: June Lockhart (Claudia Wentworth), Simon Oakland (Norris Wentworth), Nehemiah Persoff (Mustafa Haddid), Ross Martin (Dr. Otis Tremane), John Larroquette (Bellboy), Nancy Belle Fuller (Margie Coopersmith), Wallace Rooney (Harry), Charles Macaulay (Critic).
The Adventure of the Blunt Instrument
"We're going to nip this thing in the bud. I've got the most fantastic cure-all. Hot lemonade and sassafras - mixed with the extract of a pound of calves' liver. And after a rub-down with menthol and oil of peppermint, you take a bath in scalding chicken soup - hold the noodles...."
The episode opens with an awards dinner sponsored by the "Crime Writers of America" who announce this years' recipient of their Blunt Instrument Award to be mystery writer, Edgar Manning for his book, "The Shanghai Solution".
Ellery Queen
is not in attendance, as he's at home with a head cold - a great running gag throughout this episode. At a gathering after the awards dinner, we see the story's principals at Manning's residence where each one seems to feel equal disdain for their host. After a sour toast, Manning goes into his study to call Ellery - in hopes to gloat over his win, when he is murdered while speaking to Ellery on the telephone. All Ellery hears is Manning's remark that some "rash person is there to balance the books".
Directed by: Ernest Pintoff
With: John Dehner (George Tisdale) Joanna Barnes (Camellia Justice), Dean Stockwell (Cliff Waddell), Richard Jaeckel (Nick McVey), Eva Gabor (Magda Szomony), Ellen Weston (Mary Parks), Clyde Kusatsu (Mateo) , Keene Curtis (Edgar Manning), Robert Cornthwaite (Osterwald)
The Adventure of the Wary Witness
One of the most serious episodes of the series, and one of the best. Can Ellery help the accused murderer of mobster Nick Danello find a missing witness who can prove his innocence? Ellery feels obligated and more emotionally involved than in other cases, as the defendant is his old college buddy, Lin Hagen. But things don't seem to be adding up. The missing witness (a mysterious woman in a green dress) has left her fingerprints nowhere in the apartment. And her description could match most of the women in New York.
Along for the ride is ace reporter, Frank Flannigan, who works more closely than usual with Ellery (or "Junior" as he calls him) since he sees anyone that rid the city of sleaze like Nick deserving of a medal. But he's chomping at the bit to get this story of the mysterious witness of the St. Patrick's Day Murder - who's contacted Ellery secretly - into the headlines. Sitting on a scoop is not easy for Flannigan.
Production: Richard Levinson, William Link, Peter S. Fisher and Michael Rhodes
Written by: Peter S. Fisher
Direced by Walter Doniger
With: Cesar Romero (Armand Donello), Michael Parks (Terry Purvis), Tricia O'Neil (Yvonne Donello), Sal Mineo (Jimmy Donello), Richard Young (Dr. Kemp), Dick Sargent (Tom Calabrese), Sam Gilman (Juez ), Michael Constantine (Leo Campbell), Dwayne Hickman (Linville Hagen )
The Adventure of the Judas Tree
Ellery and his Dad investigate when wealthy industrialist and former war profiteer George Sherman is stabbed to death with a Chinese ceremonial dagger and then dragged out of the house and hung from a tree. The tree is popularly known as a Judas tree, and a crown of flowers has been placed on his head. Six sets of fingerprints and plenty of motive to go around leave the Queens with much to sift through. And when they discover the victim was dying of acute lymphoma and had only months left to live, the plot thickens
Directed by Walter Doniger
With: Dana Andrews (Lewis Marshall), Clu Gulager (Father Devlin / Capt. Thomas Horton), Diana Muldaur (Paulette Sherman), George Maharis (Dr. Tony Bender), Jack Kruschen (Gunther Starr), Ted Gehring (Bufford), Bill Dana (Salvatore Mercadonte), Michael Pataki (Albert Russo), James Shigeta (Stephen Yang), Nina Roman (Grace), Peter Hobbs (Doctor)
The Adventure of the Two-Faced Woman
While visiting Simon Brimmer's radio studios, Ellery gets a call that socialite Lillian McGraw has been stabbed. Learning of this, Simon shares with Ellery the events of the day in which he was present as Mrs. McGraw purchased three hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth of paintings at the Prescott Galleries. This affords the episode the luxury of a series of flashbacks as told through Brimmer, where we get to know the murder victim a bit more than usual.
Directed by Jack Arnold
With: Vera Miles (Celeste Wakefield), Joyce Brothers (Lillian McGraw), Theodore Bikel (Sergio Vargo), Woodrow Parfey (Dr. Saltzman), Edward Mulhare (Myles Prescott), Victor Buono (Dr. Friedland), James Andronica (Eddie Hummel), Alfred Ryder (Claude Gravette), Forrest Tucker (Clint McGraw), Ben Wright (Anton Luchek).
The Adventure of the Tyrant of Tin Pan Alley
A popular songwriter is murdered during the musical interlude on a radio interview show, and Ellery tries to clear a friend who has just publicly accused the victim (a songwriter at a radio station) of stealing a hit tune from him.
Simon Brimmer appears once again - a bit pompous as always - as is usual in episodes with radio-themed storylines. The solution will be more obvious to veteran readers of Queen than it was to Simon. So it will be no surprise to fans when Ellery once again out-trumps Mr. Brimmer.
Directed by Seymour Robbie
With: Albert Salmi (Herbie Morrow), Polly Bergen (Dina Carroll-Wyner), Michael Callan (Gary Swift), Vince Howard (Charlie), Norman Fell (Errol Keyes), Brad David (Dan Murphy), Ken Berry (Paul Parker), Dori Brenner (Laura Schramm), Rudy Vallee (Alvin Winer)
The Adventure of Caesar's Last Sleep
A mobster who is going to be the star witness for an ambitious prosecutor is killed. Trouble is, Inspector Queen's office was in charge of guarding the witness who has yet to complete his testimony about organized crime, so the crusading prosecutor goes after IQ's scalp. Before you know it, the finger of suspicion points to Inspector Queen's right hand man, Sgt. Velie, whose brother-in-law owns a restaurant that mobster Benny Franks frequents. When things get publicly hot Inspector Queen is told he's too old for the job and relies too much on his son. In fact, this time Dad spots the crucial clue (although it's clear Ellery sees it first) and gets to do the final "exposure of the killer" scene.
Directed by Richard Michaels
With: Stuart Whitman (Erwin Murphy), Michael V. Gazzo (Benny Franks), Timothy Carey (Jay Bonner), Bibi Besch (Edie Allen), Edward Albert (Lee Marx), Arch Johnson (Commissioner), Stanley Ralph (Ross Gabe),
Kevin Tighe (Jim Millay),
Jan Murray (Ralph Caesar).
The Adventure of the Hard-Hearted Huckster
The then-new world of television is the backdrop for this yarn. When the marketing exec for Quick Silver Tobacco Company is off'd while alone in his office having lunch, it's a lucky thing both Ellery Queen and Frank Flanagan are on the scene. Ellery is there to get some research information for a new book, and Frank has just been offered his own radio show to be sponsored by Quick Silver Cigars. But when James Blevin Long is murdered, his disdain for television is out of the way and Flannigan's offer is switched to a TV show
Script: Robert Swanson
Directed by Edward Abroms
With: Juliet Mills (Florence Ames), Eddie Bracken (Horace Manley), Bob Crane (Jerry Crabtree), Herb Edelman (Max Sheldon), Carolyn Jones (Rita Radcliffe), Fred Beir (James Bevin Long)
The Adventure of the Disappearing Dagger
Ellery and his father investigate the murder of a Hamilton Drew, a retired detective who was a mentor of Richard's. Drew was setting a trap to uncover the true killer in a five-year-old case homicide case when he was murdered. The old homicide case involved the murder of Stu Hendricks, president of a company who was being blackmailed for stolen rifle plans during WWII. Ellery uncovers clues to solve both cases.
Producers: Peter S. Fischer and Michael Rhodes
Executive producers: Richard Levinson and William Link
Director: Jack Arnold
Teleplay by: Stephen Lord and Robert Van Scoyk
Story by: Stephen Lord
With: Gary Burghoff (Jerry Hacker), Walter Pidgeon (Hamilton Drew), Mel Ferrer (Brandon Childs), Dana Wynter (Alyssa Childs), Ronny Cox (Buck Nolan), Michele Marsh (Norma Lee Burke), R.G. Armstrong (Sam Buffo) , Tom Reese (Sgt. Velie), Tom Lacy (Ray Vogel), Tom Brown (the Broadcaster), Kristin Larkin (the assistant)
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