Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen
Cast & Crew
James Hogan
William Gargan
Margaret Lindsay
Gale Sondergaard
Gilbert Roland
Sig Ruman
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
An Egyptian mummy of Queen Tetisheri, which arrived in Connecticut on the S.S. San Capeador , is sent to New York on the same train bearing master sleuth Ellery Queen and his secretary, Nikki Porter. Also aboard the train are Ellery's friend, New York police sergeant Velie, who has a convicted murderer, Mr Reece, handcuffed to him; a sinister-looking man named Heinrich; and Paul Gillette, a handsome foreigner. As the train nears New York, Heinrich and his thugs knock Velie unconscious and release Reece. After questioning Reece about Mr Van Dorn, the jeweler he murdered, Heinrich's men throw him off the train to his death. The incident so infuriates Ellery's father, Inspector Queen, who is Velie's superior, that he suspends Velie. Vowing to get his friend reinstated, Ellery begins an investigation into Reece's murder with a visit to Van Dorn's jewelry shop. While Ellery is unsuccessful in his attempt to speak with Mrs. Van Dorn, Nikki follows Gillette to the art gallery where the Egyptian mummy has been sent. Gillette, sensing that he is being trailed, abducts Nikki and accuses her of being a Nazi agent. Later that night, Ellery finds Nikki by following clues that she left behind. Soon after the Egyptian mummy is discovered stolen from the art gallery, Ellery and Nikki find it in a nearby cemetery. When they open the mummy case, they are shocked to discover Gillette's dead body. Nikki goes to call Velie and Queen, but when she and the policemen return, they find Ellery unconscious and Gillette missing. The following day, Mrs. Van Dorn tells Ellery that the mummy case contained diamonds smuggled out of Holland, and that the money from their sale was to benefit the Dutch resistance movement. Mrs. Van Dorn does not know who has taken the diamonds, but she sends Ellery to the Lido Club with a lead. At the club, Ellery discovers that Heinrich is behind the Nazi plot to thwart the resistance movement's efforts and ship the diamonds to Germany. Heinrich, aware that Ellery and Nikki suspect him, abducts the two and holds them prisoners at the club. Ellery, however, manages to escape long enough to get reinforcements from the street, and returns with some tough sailors. The sailors and Ellery overpower the Nazi agents and recover the stolen diamonds. Velie is reinstated after Ellery lets him take the credit for wiping out the Nazi operation.
Director
James Hogan
Cast
William Gargan
Margaret Lindsay
Gale Sondergaard
Gilbert Roland
Sig Ruman
James Burke
Ernest Dorian
Felix Basch
Minor Watson
John Hamilton
James Seay
Louis Donath
Crew
James S. Brown Jr.
Dwight Caldwell
Ralph Cohn
Rudolph Flothow
Carl Hiecke
Richard Irvine
Emile Kuri
Tom Lambert
Ellery Queen
Arthur Strawn
Eric Taylor
Lee Zahler
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title for this film was Ellery Queen Across the Atlantic. It was the last film in Columbia's "Ellery Queen" series. For more information on the series, consult the Series Index and see the entry for Ellery Queen, Master Detective in AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.1186.
