Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring

The English actress wasn't very well known in America despite having appeared in several films, including the worthy 'Charlie Chan in London' entry in that series, where Barrie ably plays a socialite.

In this film her character doesn't become significant until near the end but when she steps forward she offers the only real dramatic merit in this enjoyable but otherwise pedestrian '40s romp.

While in his first appearances as 'Ellery Queen', Ralph Bellamy had been very serious (almost too serious, compared to Donald Cook and Eddie Quillan, who had played the character before him), in his last film for the series he (and all the cast with him) shows his comical side for once. And surprisingly enough, this makes a fine mix with a - literally - deadly serious murder case, providing lots of corpses, greedy relatives, shady doctors, and at the same time dumb cops, even dumber crooks, and of course more funny quarrels with his assistant Nikki than ever before.

The plot, in fact, IS a classic 'whodunit', with many twists and surprises, and a challenge for every mystery fan - at least for those who've got a good sense of humor, too... So, if you don't take murder too seriously, this movie will provide you real good entertainment, varying from quite suspenseful and even creepy sections to moments of pure comedy!

Several of the other user reviewers LIKED this film. I could hardly wait for it to finish up and it was just a little over an hour long. . The silly bad guys tried to be like the stooges but couldn't even muster their level of low humor (riding around on a gurney, switched bodies, nurses uniform with a hoop skirt that kept exposing his shorts clad bottom (yawn) ) Bellamy and Zucco and other B players were wasted on this one. Even the title is meaningless.

Give it a skip !

The fourth and final film of the Ellery Queen series that Ralph Bellamy starred in has the mystery writer checking into a hospital that grande society dame Blanche Yurka has endowed. Later on when Yurka is killed there are a lot of suspects at home and in the hospital. Her two children Leon Ames and Jean Fenwick who are about to be cut from her will for instance. Doctor in charge of the hospital George Zucco has a vested interest as does gangster Paul Hurst whom Ames is into for a lot of money. Not to mention all kinds of hospital staff and patients.

Two more deaths occur before Bellamy, girl Friday Margaret Lindsay and Inspector Queen played always by Charley Grapewin figure it all out.

There's more comedy in this Ellery Queen mystery than in any of the others I've seen, a lot of it involving Paul Hurst trying to break out of the hospital with the 'help' of his chief gunman Tom Dugan. Bellamy and Lindsay get a few laughs as well with her sneaking into the hospital disguised as a nurse.

Ellery Queen And The Murder Ring was a good farewell for Ralph Bellamy in the series.

Ralph Bellamy made his fourth and final appearance as literary sleuth Ellery Queen in Columbia's Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring. On this occasion, Ellery and his police-inspector father (Charley Grapewin) are summoned to a private hospital by its owner, philanthropist Mrs. Stack (Blanche Yurka). There've been some very weird goings-on at the hospital as of late, and Mrs. Stack wants to get to the bottom of things.

An ok-ish Ellery Queen where comedy features heavily, overriding the mystery and detecting; Margaret Lindsey and Ralph Bellamy carries things along, but it's just passable. George Zucco also stars, playing a menacing doctor.