the mandarin mystery be what happen when you take a fairly standard lock room mystery and add a little too much romance and and season the mix with an ample supply of humor . eddie quillian bring a lot to the role and really make it his own and despite the fact that his take on queen be somewhat different from the usual character we be so used to see . quillian just a bright and not a serious and and apparently have the libido of a teenage boy . queen spend as much time pursue the lovely victim of a theft which appear connect to the murder ( charlotte temple ) a he do the murderer and thief and and a long deductive chain be compress into a pithy film with an economical script . the acting talent be somewhat uneven . ms temple give a sub par performance and quillian be excellent and and wade boteler a the senior inspector queen do well double a ellery straight man and a gruff old no nonsense cop . although make in 1936 and the mandarin mystery story and pace and camera work and theme and and set have the feel of a late 1950s tv mystery show . because of the way the original novel be adapt and the logic of the deduction which lead to the resolution of the case be not a clearly spell out a it could have be . nevertheless and the film will interest mystery fan who enjoy the hardcore analytical aspect of detective work as depict in traditional mystery novel ( agatha christie and conan doyle fan for example ) and and and of course and ellery queen aficionado .