The best James Burke’s mystery movies
We present our ranking of the best James Burke’s movies. Do you love cinema? Or are you looking for a movie of your favorite actor to watch tonight? Surely you have some to see or that you did not know yet about James Burke.
The Maltese Falcon
8/10
A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.
The Kennel Murder Case
6.9/10
Philo Vance, accompanied by his prize-losing Scottish terrier, investigates the locked-room murder of a prominent and much-hated collector whose broken Chinese vase provides an important clue.
Song of the Thin Man
6.9/10
Society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles investigate a murder in a jazz club.
Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise
7.1/10
On a cruise ship from Honolulu to San Francisco, the famous Chinese detective encounters four more murders while trying to figure out the murder of a Scotland Yard friend.
Gambling Lady
6.5/10
A businesslike syndicate runs all the gambling joints in town; least profitable is honest Mike Lee's. Under pressure to allow cheating, Mike "walks out," leaving tough-minded daughter Lady Lee to earn a living the only way she knows. She soon becomes a success gambling among the rich, but, falling out with the syndicate, she considers the marriage proposal of blueblood Garry Madison. Can such a match work despite snobbery and old associations?
The Mad Miss Manton
6.7/10
When the murdered body discovered by beautiful, vivacious socialite Melsa Manton disappears, police and press label her a prankster until she proves them wrong.
The Saint Strikes Back
6.2/10
Suave private detective Simon "The Saint" Templar arrives in San Francisco and meets Val, a woman whose police inspector father killed himself after being accused of corruption and dismissed from the force. Convinced of the man's innocence, Templar takes it upon himself to vindicate the memory of Val's father. To do so he must take on the city's most dangerous criminal gang, while also battling hostile members of the police department.
The Mystery Man
5.5/10
Hard-boiled newspaper reporter Larry Doyle (Robert Armstrong) goes a bit too far in celebrating a work bonus and wakes up on a train bound for St. Louis with only a buck on his person. To remedy the problem, Doyle pawns the revolver he's carrying. When the gun is subsequently used in a murder, Doyle's problems only multiply. In the meantime, he's also fallen in love with a comely stranger (Maxine Doyle) he convinced to impersonate his wife.
Double Alibi
6.2/10
A man's ex-wife is found murdered, and he finds himself to be the prime suspect.
Great Guy
6.3/10
A meat inspector sets out to rid his town of payoff deals affecting the quality of meat being sold to the public.
The Saint Takes Over
6.5/10
The Saint Takes Over, released in 1940 by RKO Pictures, was the fifth motion picture featuring the adventures of Simon Templar, a.k.a. "The Saint" the Robin Hood-inspired crimefighter created by Leslie Charteris. George Sanders returned as Templar, with Wendy Barrie playing his latest romantic conquest in her second of three appearances in the Saint film series (playing a different role each time). This film focuses on the character of Inspector Henry Farnack (Jonathan Hale), who appeared in several of the Saint series. When Farnack is framed by a gang he is investigating, it is up to The Saint to clear his name.
A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen
5.6/10
A man is framed for embezzlement and runs off to San Francisco. His wife hires Queen to try and track him down before the police get to him.
Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring
5.9/10
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.
A Night to Remember
6.6/10
A woman rents a gloomy basement apartment in Greenwich Village thinking it will provide the perfect atmosphere for her mystery writer husband to create his next book. They soon find themselves in the middle of a real-life mystery when a corpse turns up in their apartment.
Ellery Queen, Master Detective
6.1/10
The mysteriously ill John Braun makes a new will, leaving out his daughter Barbara, over the protests of his wife. The trouble began when the daughter wanted to marry Mr. Braun's doctor, James Rogers. Mrs. Braun asks Inspector Queen to help find the long-missing Barbara. The inspector's son, Ellery, works on the case. He goes to a home frequently visited by Dr. Rogers where the bell is answered by Nikki Porter who Ellery mistakes for Barbara and insists she return to the Braun home. Nikki does, to protect Barbara, and a short time later finds herself alone in a room outside Braun's bedroom. She finds him dead - his throat cut. No weapons are found and the door to the room where Nikki had been is locked, and she is suspected. Ellery hides Nikki in his apartment. Braun's body, sent for an autopsy, disappears and in its place is a life-sized statue of the dead man.
Fast and Furious
6.1/10
Joel and Garda Sloan, a husband and wife detective team, who also sell rare books in New York, take a vacation to Seaside City. At Seaside, Joel's pal, Mike Stevens is managing and preparing for their beauty pageant. Joel is made one of the judges plus he has invested $5,000 in it, to Garda's dismay. Eric Bartell, promoter, arrives to dupe Stevens. When Ed Connors, New York racketeer arrives, Bartell is mysteriously murdered. Joel and Garda set out to investigate the murder.
Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime
6/10
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.
Philo Vance's Gamble
5.8/10
One of two Philo Vance mystery movies released by PRC.
Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
5.6/10
Like the first entry in Columbia's "Ellery Queen" series, Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery depicts its amateur-criminologist hero as an oafish ignoramus. This time around, Chinese ventriloquist Gordon Cobb (Noel Madison), is murdered by a gang of jewel thieves. Baffled by the contradictory clues, Inspector Queen (Charles Grapewin) asks his son Ellery (Ralph Bellamy) to help out.
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
6.7/10
Harriet O'Malley tries to solve a murder aboard a train en route to New York.
