Author Archives: Dazzling Erin

I Watched Perry Mason: The Case Of The Telltale Talk Show Host (1993, Dir. by Christian I. Nyby II)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

 

At the end of this movie… PERRY KISSED DELLA!

On the lips!

I knew they were in love!  Obviously, Della (Barbara Hale) was also in love with Paul Drake, Sr. but with Paul gone and Paul Drake, Jr. doing his own thing, she and Perry (Raymond Burr) can finally be together.  It was about time, too.  Even though Perry comes across like he would be too work-obsessed to really be a good husband or even boyfriend, it has also been obvious that Perry and Della were in love ever since Perry Mason Returns.

As for the mystery itself, it’s a really simple one and I was able to guess who the killer was from the start.  I know that Raymond Burr was terminally ill when he shot this film (and it was the last time Perry Mason movie to ai during his life time) and maybe that’s why the plot isn’t as complicated as usual.  The guest cast is really good, though.  Regis Philbin plays the owner of a talk radio station who is murdered by one of his hosts.  Every host is a suspect and they’re all strange enough to be fun to watch.  Both Montel Williams and G. Gordon Liddy are in this thing!

Knowing this was the last of the films to air during Burr’s lifetime made watching The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host feel a little sad.  As sick as he was, Raymond Burr still dominated the courtroom.  That was one reason why the kiss made me so happy.  Perry (and Burr) didn’t have much time left but he made sure we all knew how he felt about Della.

 

We Watched Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal (1993, Dir. by Christian I. Nyby II)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Alana Westbrook (Morgan Fairchild), the ruthless owner of a cosmetics company, is murdered after she announces that she is actually 60 years old and owes her youthful appearance to a miracle skin cream.  Her husband (Patrick O’Neal) is charged with the crime but he’s lucky enough to have Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) as his attorney.  Perry thinks that the murderer is an eccentric gigolo (David Warner) but, for once, Perry might be wrong.  Meanwhile, Ken Malansky (William R. Moses) gets involved with a corporate spy (Lauren Lane) who might know more than she says.

Lisa and I watched this one earlier today.  We really enjoyed it!  It’s the most soapy of all the Perry Mason films that I’ve watched so far.  Morgan Fairchild was great as the murder victim and all of the suspects were enjoyably weird.  What I really enjoyed about this movie was that it featured people who appeared, in different roles, in other Perry Mason films.  Patrick O’Neal went from being the victim in Perry Mason Returns to being the accused here.  David Warner went from being the victim in The Case of the Poisoned Pen to being a suspect here.  This was also a second Perry Mason film for Jonathan Banks but instead of being a tough guy like he was the first time, he was a skin cream creator this time.  This movie understood that people will kill for clear skin.

This was one of the last of Raymond Burr’s Perry Mason films (it aired the same year that he died) and, with the returning actors, it feels like a tribute to Burr and the role that he made his own.

 

I Watched Perry Mason: The Case of the Heartbroken Bride (1992, Dir. by Christian I. Nyby II)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) can’t even go to a wedding without someone getting killed!  Kaitlynn Parrish (Heather McAdam) is the daughter of Max (Ronny Cox) and Diane Parrish (Diane Baker).  Diane used to work for Perry and it’s implied that they used to be more than just colleagues.  (I think that means that it is safe to assume that Kaitlynn is actually Perry’s daughter.)  At the wedding, Alonzo Hawkes (Beau Starr), the uncle of the groom, gets into an argument with Max and accuses Max of embezzlement.  Kaitlynn says she could kill Alonzo.  A few hours later, Alonzo  is found dead and Kaitlynn is arrested.

This was the 23rd Perry Mason television movie and it’s very predictable.  I didn’t care much for the mystery or the scenes of Ken (William R. Moses) looking for clues.  Once again, Ken gets in trouble with organized crime.  It’s as if the movies ran out of plot lines for Ken so he just has to keep doing the same thing over and over again.  All Ken really has to do is track down Suzy Richards (Merle Kennedy), a wedding crasher who witnessed the murder but it takes him forever to do it.  Paul Drake, Jr. would have found her in the time it takes to snap your fingers.

I still recommend this one because of the cast.  Along with Ronny Cox, the cast also includes Linda Blair, Paul Dooley, and musician Stephen Stills and they’re all really good.  Paul Dooley plays the district attorney in this one.  He really has no patience for Perry’s courtroom theatrics and Perry has a lot of them in this movie.  It’s a good thing Perry was always able to get people to confess on the stand because otherwise, he probably would have gotten in a lot of trouble.

I Watched Perry Mason: The Case of the Reckless Romeo (1992, Dir. by Christian I. Nyby II)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Sleazy talk show host Ted Mayne (Geraldo Rivera) writes a tell-all book about all of the famous women with whom he has had affairs.  One of the women, Roxanne Shields (Amy Steel), is filmed threatening to kill him with a knife.  When Ted is later found stabbed to death, Roxanne is arrested.  Luckily, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is willing to take the case and reveal the true killer of the reckless Romeo.

This was one of the last of the Perry Mason movies.  (Burr only did four more after this before he died.)  The plot is okay, even if this is the third movie to feature Ken (William R. Moses) getting in trouble with the mob while investigating the the murder.  It didn’t take me long to guess who the murderer was but the scene where Perry got his courtroom confession was still really well-done.  Not surprisingly, the main pleasure of this film was seeing Geraldo Rivera as the victim.  Geraldo may have been a terrible actor but he was still totally believable as a sleazy talk show host who went out of his way to embarrass every woman that he had ever had sex with.  Geraldo is in the film long enough for you to get sick of him and then he goes away and isn’t seen again.  That’s the way it should always be with Geraldo Rivera.

Perry does a few more courtroom tricks than usual in this movie.  As the hapless district attorney, Kenneth Kimmins is no David Ogden Stiers.  He’s not even Scott Baio.  It’s really enjoyable to watch him get continually outsmarted by Perry.  Raymond Burr was obviously not doing well physically when he made this movie but it’s still fun to watch him trick witness after witness into identifying the wrong woman.