Terry Franken (Dwight Schultz), the arrogant director of a new musical that is playing out of town tryouts on the way to Broadway, is shot and killed at the theater. Recently fired stage manager Johnny Whitcomb (Jim Metzler) is arrested for the crime but Perry knows that Johnny is innocent. At the same time that Terry was getting murdered, Perry was in a hospital room recovering from knee surgery. He looked out the hospital window and saw Johnny across the street. Despite Perry providing an alibi, Johnny is still charged with murdering Terry. Broadway legend Amanda Cody (Debbie Reynolds) asks Perry to take Johnny’s case.
This Perry Mason movie featured Perry on the stand, testifying to having seen Johnny. The District Attorney (Valerie Mahaffey) tried to humiliate Perry by suggesting that he was on too many pain killers to be sure what he saw. Never try to humiliate Perry Mason! He’ll not only beat you in court but also make you look like a fool by getting the real murderer to confess while on the stand.
The key to proving Johnny’s innocence was finding the security guard (Rick Aiello) who worked at the theater the night that Terry was killed. Ken (William R. Moses) and his annoying girlfriend Amy (Alexandra Paul) handled that part of the case. Ken is still no Paul Drake, Jr. and his bickering with Amy is like nails on a chalkboard.
I actually remember watching this movie with my aunt when it came on Hallmark one weekend. My aunt enjoyed it. She liked Debbie Reynolds. This one was better than the previous movie. Along with Debbie Reynolds, the cast includes Jerry Orbach and Lori Petty. Dwight Schultz was great as the victim. I still miss William Katt and David Ogden Stiers, though. Perry doesn’t have the same connection to Ken that he had to Paul. David Ogden Stiers was great because, even though he always lost the case, he still seemed like he was a good enough lawyer that he could have won if things had gone differently. These new district attorneys never even have a chance against Perry.
Before I get started with my review of the film ASOKA, it’s only fair that I state up front that I know nothing about Indian history. Although I have made good grades in all my prior World History courses, about all I seem to remember is the fact that King Henry VIII of England started the Anglican Church (the Episcopal Church in America) so he could divorce his wife. That’s it! Apparently, the Emperor Asoka is considered one of the most important figures in Indian history. The reason I wanted to mention these things is to cover myself if I make any ignorant and / or boneheaded remarks through the course of this review. With that being said, on with the show.
First, a summary of the plot: Young prince Asoka (Shah Rukh Khan) is pretty much an arrogant bada$$. Sensing that Asoka could realistically ascend to the throne, his brother Susima (Ajith Kumar) plots to have him killed. After easily, and quite stylishly I might add, fending off a couple of assassination attempts, Asoka is willing to fight whoever it takes to be king. Then, in concern for her son’s life, Asoka’s mom decides that she will never talk again unless he leaves town and resumes life in safety as a commoner (and I thought my mom knew how to put on a guilt trip!!!!).
While wandering the earth, and having taken on the name of his horse Pawan, he comes across a beautiful woman named Kaurwaki (Kareena Kapoor) who just happens to be singing and dancing provocatively in a beautiful stream. Thus begins a courtship between Kaurwaki (who is actually a princess in hiding after assassination attempts of her own) and Asoka / Pawan. Kaurwaki’s brother, the eight years old prince Arye, is also with them. Kaurwaki and Pawan fall in love and get married.
Just when you think life is too good, Pawan is called back home to check on his ailing mother. In a cruel twist of fate, Pawan is incorrectly told that Kaurwaki and Arye have been killed. This is where things get really rough… soon Asoka has a new wife, he’s extremely cruel towards others, and he even has some of his own family members killed. After thinking that he has lost his true love, it basically just boils down to him not giving a rip about anything. He mercilessly assumes the throne of his country, expands its territory, and kills whoever stands in his way. The movie culminates in a great battle in which Asoka tries to take over the territory of Kalinga, which happens to also be the territory that princess Kaurwaki and her brother are from. I’ll leave the rest for you to discover.
I really like ASOKA. The film is great to look at, and I’m not just talking about Kareena Kapoor’s dance sequences. I’m a fan of stylish films. That’s why directors who bring such visual style to their films, such as John Woo, Brian DePalma, and Sergio Leone are some of my favorites. Director / Cinematographer Santosh Sivan has made a very stylish film. Through his use of quick cuts, bizarre camera angles, slow motion editing, tightly choreographed action sequences, and epic battle scenes, Sivan has made a film that is extremely pleasing to the eye. This introduction to Sivan’s directorial work has stimulated my interest to explore his previous work as director and / or cinematographer. After watching this film, I noticed that he is also the cinematographer on DIL SE (1998), another beautiful movie.
In the lead role, I found myself mesmerized by the screen presence of Shah Rukh Khan. His character goes from arrogant youth, to love-struck suitor, to cruel emperor, to heartbroken victor. Although these transitions sometimes seemed somewhat abrupt, Khan’s performance was quite believable. I can see why he has been the top box office star of India over the last several decades. In the same way that a person can immediately sense the star power of Hong Kong actors like Chow Yun-fat and Lau Ching-wan, Shah Rukh Khan sticks out like a sore thumb. As Kaurwaki, Kareena Kapoor is very attractive and gives a good performance. By the way, did I mention her dance sequences (3 times at last count)? The other performance that really stood out to me was that of Danny Denzongpa. He plays a guy who seems to have more brawn than brains, is initially somewhat of an annoyance to Asoka’s character, and who eventually becomes one of his most loyal allies and friends. Their initial interactions are quite funny, and their growing friendship adds another level of emotional depth to the film.
I have one minor complaint with this film. My understanding is that after witnessing the extreme brutality and horrors of war, Emperor Asoka became a man of peace, embracing Buddhism, and spreading his beliefs across his nation. I can’t believe I’m saying this about a film that lasted close to three hours, but I wish the filmmakers would have included more about this phase of Asoka’s reign. I think this would have left a better taste in my mouth at the conclusion of the film, compared to ending the film right after the brutal battle of Kalinga.
All in all, ASOKA is a good place to spend a few hours. In the tradition of historical epics such as BRAVEHEART (1995), the experience may leave you emotionally drained, but you will not have wasted your time.
(FYI: for those interested, the film is streaming on Netflix at the time this review is being published!)
Someone is holding up stages and making off with a fortune of gold bullion. The government decides to send in a gun packer. Jack Denton (Jack Randall), the son of a legendary lawman, is sent to investigate, along with his sidekick Pinkie (Ray Turner) and Rusty the Wonder Horse. Jack goes undercover, telling an elderly ex-con (Barlowe Borland) that he’s a former partner of his, which leads Jack to the leader of the robbers, Chance Moore (Charles King).
There are a lot of familiar faces in this western. Not only does Charles King play yet another villain but Glenn Strange shows up in his customary role as the town sheriff. Lloyd Ingraham, Forrest Taylor, Victor Adamson, George Hazel, Dave O’Brien, and Tex Palmer all have roles. It’s interesting that the same actors showed up in these movies and almost always seemed to be playing the same roles. The only thing that changed was the hero. In this case, it’s Jack Randall, who may not have been a great actor but who was a believable western hero. His sidekick here is Ray Turner, a black actor who began his career during the silent era and who had a long career in the westerns. While Turner plays a subordinate character, the role still avoids a lot (though not all) of the demeaning racial stereotypes that were very common in most films from the 1930s. Jack treats Pinky with respect and they’re clearly friends outside of work. That may not sound like a lot but it was a big deal for a 1938 Poverty Row western.
The real hero here is Rusty the Wonder Horse. Rusty’s best scene? Jack, needing to climb a mountain, calls for Rusty to drop his lariat. Jack grabs the rope and Rusty pulls him up. Rusty truly earns the right to be called a wonder horse.
Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) has spent a semester teaching moot court at a law school. When one of his students, Frank Wellman Jr. (John Allen Nelson), is murdered, the accused is another student named Ken Malansky (William R. Moses). Despite being a close friend of the victim’s father (Brian Keith), Perry thinks that Ken is innocent and agrees to defend him. Ken’s ex-girlfriend, Amy Hastings (Alexandra Paul), pays Ken’s bail and helps him and Perry investigate the crime, even though Ken spends the whole movie talking about how “crazy” she is.
No William Katt. No David Ogden Stiers. Barbara Hale’s barely in it. The Case of the Lethal Lesson was the start of a new era in the Mason movies and I didn’t like it. Ken and Amy are Perry’s new assistants but I didn’t like either one of them. Amy was stalkerish but Ken still cried too much about her being the one who paid his bail. Did Ken just want to stay in jail? Ken just wasn’t very likable and it bothered me that the movie never explained why Paul wasn’t available to help. Both Paul and William Katt deserved better. Meanwhile, the new prosecutor (Marlene Warfield) didn’t have the same friendly rivalry that her predecessor did. The mystery element was okay until some cartoonish gangsters showed up. I didn’t buy any of it.
Give it up for my sister, though. A few minutes into the movie, Lisa said, “I bet that’s the murderer,” and she was right! If Perry Mason had her helping him instead of Ken and Amy, he could have solved this case a lot quicker.
When his innocent son, Ted (David Sharpe), is accused of committing a murder, Lex Crane (Walter Long) turns him over to Texas Ranger Jack Haile (Jack Randall) because he knows that Jack will make sure that Ted gets a fair trial. Lex says that he and his men are accused of every crime that happens in the area, even though they’re always innocent. Jack understand and respects Lex as a man and a father. But when someone shoots and kills Ted, Lex and his men set out for revenge. The twist? Lex has a twin brother named Buck (also played by Walter Long) and the two brothers hate each other.
Most poverty row westerns blend into each other but Man’s Country stands out as an intelligent and well-acted western. Even though the twin twist is undoubtedly an overdone one, Man’s Country does a good job with it and Walter Long gives such a good performance that both Lex and Buck emerge as individual, identifiable characters. Jack Randall may not have been the greatest of the old western actors but he’s believable as the tough but fair Texas Ranger. There’s enough western action for fans of the genre but, for once, the plot is interesting enough that it might hold the attention of other watchers as well.
Of course, this is a Poverty Row western so Charles King does appear as one of the bad guys. He gets into a fist fight, like he almost always did. I wonder how many onscreen punches Charles King actually threw over the course of his career in the westerns. It had to have been a lot.
Happy 52nd Birthday to Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan!
Around the turn of the century, I first became aware of the films being made in Bollywood, India’s Hindi-language film industry. It was then I noticed that the film MISSION KASHMIR was for sale at the Best Buy in Little Rock, AR. I figured that this must be a pretty good film to find itself manufactured, packaged, and being sold all the way over here in Central Arkansas. That was also around the time that I first signed up for Netflix. Not yet a streaming giant, Netflix was just a service for renting movies through the mail. I immediately put MISSION KASHMIR in my queue so I could check it out. This was only my third Bollywood experience, behind the very good films DIL SE (1998) and ASOKA (2001). I remember being fired up about the chance to see some new actors and discover a Hindi action film. Although not completely satisfying, I did find MISSION KASHMIR to be an enjoyable experience.
The plot finds Inspector Khan (Sanjay Dutt) living the good life. He has a beautiful wife (Sonali Kulkarni), a good son, lives in a beautiful house, and gets paid to periodically kick the posteriors of some bad Indians. Unfortunately, his success in his professional life has had some bad side effects. One particularly bad guy has put out the word that any doctor who treats Inspector Khan, or his family, will be killed, and as one scene proves, this guy is a man of his word. Next thing you know, Khan’s son falls and hits his head. Tragically, the boy dies because all of the doctors refuse to help him until it is already too late.
Seeking revenge, his face covered by a black ski mask, Khan tracks down the men responsible and viciously kills them all, including the innocent father, mother, and daughter of a family being held captive by the bad guys. The only survivor is the young son of the slaughtered family, Altaaf, who has terrifying dreams of the black-masked killer of his family. Inspector Khan, who feels extreme guilt over what he has done, allows his wife to talk him into bringing the boy to their house rather than allowing him to spend his childhood in an orphanage.
Life is just starting to get good again when Altaaf figures out that the killer of his family was actually his new father, Khan. After first pausing to try to kill Khan unsuccessfully, Altaaf takes off, not to be heard from again for 10 years. When Altaaf finally shows back up, he has turned into heartthrob Hrithik Roshan, is under the control of a psycho terrorist (played by Jackie Shroff) who has a plan to bomb the heck out of Kashmir, and has a new laundry list of goals in life:
Use childhood sweetheart for terror purposes even though I still love her – check!
Use kung fu training to good action effect – check!
DESTROY INSPECTOR KHAN AT ALL COSTS!!! – ??????
I’ll let you discover the results of goal number four.
Before I go into my thoughts on MISSION KASHMIR, I want to note that while the film is set against the backdrop of the Kashmir conflict, it mostly uses that setting for its story of personal melodrama and high-octane action. I am no expert on the region’s complex politics, so this review focuses only on what I think of the movie itself, with no added political commentary.
As a movie, MISSION KASHMIR has a lot of good things going for it. First and foremost, I am a fan of action films, and I was looking for some good action scenes. This film did not disappoint in that department. From the MATRIX-like introduction to Altaaf’s adult persona to the final attempts to thwart the master terrorist’s plot, the action is presented in a highly stylized manner. Wirework kung fu, slow-motion carnage, and a hero wielding a massive missile launcher aimed at bad guys make for a pleasant viewing experience in my book.
Secondly, the film features some good performances. Sanjay Dutt’s portrayal of Inspector Khan is commanding, and I found myself really pulling for his character. It is hard not to be sympathetic to a guy who endures as much as he does here. This was the first time I had seen Hrithik Roshan in a film. With his matinee idol good looks, Roshan was emerging as a major star of Hindi cinema, even challenging Shah Rukh Khan, the reigning megastar of Bollywood. Roshan gives a solid performance as the grown-up Altaaf and is especially strong in the action scenes. The other major performance comes from Preity Zinta, who plays the girl Altaaf loved as a child and still loves as a man. I had seen her before in DIL SE and really like the naturalistic, best-friend, girl-next-door vibe she brings to her roles, albeit a very beautiful girl next door. It is easy to see why Altaaf has always loved her. Finally, as with the other Bollywood films I have seen, this movie is just beautiful to look at. I think the greatest cinematography of landscapes in the world is being done in India.
I do have a couple of complaints with MISSION KASHMIR. First, clocking in at over two and a half hours, the movie is too long. The story could have been made into a very exciting ninety-minute film. As it is, the movie seems to drag in places, with the insertion of songs and sequences that do not add much to the proceedings. There were times I found myself thinking, “OK, I get it. He really loves her. Now let’s move on with it,” or “Not another song…” Secondly, I felt that some of the songs were simply not appropriate for what was happening on the screen. For example, there is one peppy little dance number that leads directly into a horrific tragedy. Granted, the scene is effective for the surprise element, but when the film should have been building action and suspense, it instead throws in this routine, which took me out of the movie for a bit. These are the only real complaints I had.
Overall, I did enjoy MISSION KASHMIR. The movie is filled with strong action sequences, along with good performances from a talented cast. Although it overstays its welcome in certain areas, I still recommend this film and give it a 7 out of 10.
Fifteen years ago, the sister of Sara Wingate (Doran Clark) was murdered at a lake near the family home. Traumatized, Sara had a nervous breakdown. It was only when she married Billy Travis (David Hasselhoff), a former tennis player, that Sara started to get over her fear of the lake. When Sara disappears while walking along the lake, Billy is arrested and charged with murdering her. Because Perry’s is an old friend of Sara’s uncle (John Ireland), he takes the case. If you’re going to get arrested for murder, you better hope one of your relatives knows Perry Mason.
This movie wasn’t bad. It had a twist at the end, which I saw coming but which was still unique for the Perry Mason movies. The actual guilty party is pretty obvious but the mystery wasn’t as important as usual in this one. The supporting cast was pretty good, though David Hasselhoff seemed to be too calm for someone accused of murder. As Perry, Raymond Burr uses his cane again and leans against something whenever he has to stand up. Della jokes that Perry won’t be skiing anymore. Most of the action falls to Paul Drake, Jr. (William Katt), who gets beaten up even more than usual but who also gets to be the big hero in the end.
This was the last Perry Mason film for both William Katt and David Ogder Stiers, who played the district attorney. I’m going to miss both of them. William Katt’s hair was huge in this one and I was really looking forward to seeing how much bigger it could get.
Boss Cowboy takes place in the 30s but it’s very much a western. One car shows up and telephone poles dot the countryside but almost everyone in the movie rides a horse. The Nolans and the Rosses are two ranching families. Both families are losing cattle. Nolan foreman Dick Taylor (Buddy Roosevelt) suspects that the culprit is the Ross foreman, Jack Kearns (George Cheseboro) and he’s right. Kearns is ripping off both families. Complicating Taylor’s effort to stop Kearns are his romantic feelings towards Mary Ross (Frances Morris), who is visiting from “back east.” Sally Nolan (Fay McKenzie) is also visiting and running joke is her handing off her small dog to a ranch hand named Slim (Alan Holbrook).
No apparent relation to either Teddy or FDR, Buddy Roosevelt was a respected stunt man who tried his hand at starring in a few westerns, Unfortunately, Buddy Roosevelt wasn’t much of an actor, which is painfully apparent while watching him in Boss Cowboy. He’s fine when he’s riding a horse and pulling a gun but when he has to speak, it’s difficult to watch. As bad as Buddy Roosevelt’s acting was, he was not the worst actor in Boss Cowboy. That honor was split between Frances Morris and Fay McKenzie. Boss Cowboy is pretty dull. Every scene drags and there are plenty of awkward silences while the cast tries to remember their lines.
Though he wasn’t much of an actor, Buddy Roosevelt remained in a demand as a stunt man throughout the 40s. In the 50s and 60s, he was kept busy playing townsmen in shows like The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. In 1962, he made his final film appearance in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. He then retired to Colorado, where he did at age of 75 in 1973. In all, his Hollywood career spanned 46 years, from 1916 to 1962.
There is a point in every Arnold Schwarzenegger fan’s journey where they eventually circle back to Raw Deal and go, “Wait, how did this one slip through the cracks?” Set between Commando and Predator, this 1986 action vehicle often feels like the red-headed stepchild of Arnold’s golden era: a half-forgotten mob thriller dressed up as a one-man-army shoot-’em-up, with an undercover plot that keeps tripping over itself. Before Arnold was secret agent Harry Tasker in True Lies, he was already workshopping that whole undercover persona as former FBI man Mark Kaminski in Raw Deal. There is something strangely compelling about watching him play at being slick, whether he is posing as “Joseph Brenner” in mob circles or later reinventing himself as a suburban-family-man-turned-super-spy. Yet for all its clumsiness, tonal whiplash, and baffling choices, Raw Deal settles into that sweet, trashy groove where “this is bad” and “this is kind of awesome” blissfully merge. It is, in the purest sense, a guilty pleasure.
The setup is straightforward on paper. Arnold plays Mark Kaminski, a former FBI agent pushed out of the bureau for beating a suspect who assaulted and murdered a child, now stuck as a small-town sheriff in North Carolina with an unhappy, alcoholic wife and a life that feels like exile. His shot at redemption comes when his old FBI buddy Harry Shannon (Darren McGavin) recruits him for an off-the-books vendetta: infiltrate the Chicago mafia responsible for Shannon’s son’s death and tear them apart from the inside, in exchange for a possible path back into the bureau. Kaminski fakes his death, rebrands himself as “Joseph Brenner,” and sets out to worm his way into the organization run by boss Luigi Patrovita (Sam Wanamaker), while juggling mob politics, double-crosses, and a steady escalation of gunfire.
What makes the Kaminski era so weirdly fascinating is how hard the film leans on Arnold as a suave operator when his natural screen charisma is more brute-force than smooth-talking. In Raw Deal, he stalks through nightclubs and mob hangouts as an “undercover” tough guy, and you can almost see the movie trying to stretch him into a more traditional cool-gangster mode even as his sheer physicality keeps breaking the illusion. That tension carries right into True Lies, where the humor finally acknowledges how absurd it is to treat this gigantic Austrian bodybuilder as a low-key spy. The seeds of Harry Tasker’s double life are there in Kaminski: the awkward attempts at suave posturing, the undercover role-play, and the sense that the film is constantly asking the audience to accept him as something more than just the gun-toting tank he so effortlessly embodies. That tonal tug-of-war is kind of a mess, yet it’s also exactly why the movie is weirdly fun to revisit.
As an action piece, Raw Deal is very hit-or-miss, but when it hits, it goes all in on 80s excess. Director John Irvin stages a number of shootouts, but the standout sequence is the gravel pit massacre where Kaminski tears through mob soldiers with Mick Jagger’s “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” blaring on the soundtrack, turning what should be a grim set piece into something closer to a music video about vengeance. The climactic assault on Patrovita’s casino base is another high point, with Kaminski stalking room to room, methodically mowing down henchmen in suits as the film abandons any pretense of undercover subtlety and embraces straight-up carnage. These moments are absurdly over the top, but they’re the reason the film lingers in the memory more than some “better” constructed movies from the same era.
The problem is that the film around those set pieces often feels oddly slack. For a movie with such a simple premise—ex-cop goes undercover in the mob—Raw Deal somehow manages to tangle itself in muddled plotting and underdeveloped subplots. Roger Ebert complained that the story is so basic it should be impossible to screw up, yet the movie still finds ways to make motivations cloudy and relationships confusing, especially when it comes to FBI leaks and why certain hits are happening. There are scenes, like the cemetery assassination setup, that should be loaded with emotional and narrative clarity but instead play as strangely opaque, leaving viewers wondering less “What will happen next?” and more “What exactly is going on?”
Despite the narrative wobbling, the cast gives the film more personality than it probably deserves. Schwarzenegger is still in that phase where his acting is limited but his screen presence is undeniable, and Raw Deal leans into that presence by letting him oscillate between stoic enforcer and deadpan comedian. He is not as effortlessly iconic here as he is in The Terminator or Predator, but he has a grounded gruffness in the early scenes as the weary small-town sheriff, and a playful swagger once he shifts into mob-infiltrator mode. The movie’s tonal confusion sometimes works in his favor: when he drops a ridiculous line in the middle of a supposedly serious undercover situation, it breaks the film’s self-seriousness in a way that oddly makes it more enjoyable.
On the supporting side, Darren McGavin brings a welcome dose of worn-out moral anguish as Harry Shannon, a man consumed by grief and desperate enough to go rogue, while Sam Wanamaker’s Patrovita and Paul Shenar’s lieutenant Max Keller give the mob side just enough theatrical menace to keep things lively. Kathryn Harrold’s Monique—Patrovita’s associate and Kaminski’s sort-of ally—is more underwritten than she should be, but she adds a smoky, world-weary charm to an otherwise thin role, bringing a touch of noir-vibe melancholy to a film that mostly cares about bullets. The dynamic between Kaminski and Monique hints at a more emotionally grounded movie lurking underneath, one that never fully arrives but peeks through in their quieter moments.
Visually and stylistically, Raw Deal fits comfortably into the mid-80s action aesthetic: slightly grimy urban backdrops, neon-lit nightclubs, smoky gambling dens, and anonymous industrial sites where bad guys go to die. John Irvin, better known for dramas and war films, occasionally tries to inject a more grounded tone, but the movie keeps undercutting that with comic-book logic and stylized violence, making it feel as if two different films are wrestling for control. On one level, that is a flaw; on another, that disjointed energy is part of what gives Raw Deal its “so off it becomes its own thing” quality, especially when watched now with decades of ironic distance.
Critically, the film was not well-loved on release, and its reputation has never really recovered in a mainstream sense. It holds a low Rotten Tomatoes score and only middling numbers on Metacritic, with reviewers at the time describing it as muddled, clichéd, and cheap compared to other action fare. Yet audience reactions have always skewed a bit warmer, with CinemaScore polling showing a respectable “B” grade and plenty of fans over the years framing it as an uneven but entertaining entry in Schwarzenegger’s catalog. The distance of time has turned Raw Deal into one of those movies where people admit its flaws freely but still find themselves rewatching it, chuckling at its corniness and vibing with its shootouts.
As a guilty pleasure, Raw Deal works because it is simultaneously too serious and not serious enough. It wants to be a gritty mob infiltration story but keeps indulging in gleefully excessive violence and dumb jokes; it dreams of being a tight cop thriller but never quite musters the narrative discipline. Yet that tension gives it a peculiar charm: it is a film that fails to be the sleek genre picture it might have been, but succeeds as a scrappy time capsule of 80s action sensibilities, carried by Arnold’s charisma and a few standout set pieces.
Viewed today, Raw Deal is hard to defend as “good” in any conventional sense, especially when measured against Commando’s pure cartoon energy or Predator’s lean genre perfection. But as a late-night watch, beer in hand, half-laughing at the dialogue while leaning forward during the gravel pit and casino shootouts, it absolutely delivers the specific pleasure it promises. The system may have given Mark Kaminski a raw deal, but for Arnold fans willing to embrace something messy, loud, and gloriously dated, this film still feels like a trashy little win
Back when Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) was a judge, he rejected the appeal of Kevin Parks (Larry Wilcox), an Air Force colonel who was accused of stalking and killing Amy Beth Sawyer (Dotty Coloroso). Even though Perry had his doubts, he did not find any legal grounds for an appeal. In the present day, when Parks is accused of killing a new witness who could have provided him with an alibi, Perry agrees to represent Parks in court and tries to prove that Parks was not guilty of either murder.
This movie was much more complicated than the typical Perry Mason movie but it was a good change of pace and the mystery itself kept me guessing. I was sure I knew who the murderer was and I turned out I was wrong. Perry’s guilt about turning down Kevin Parks’s original appeal added a new dimension to the movie and it was interesting to see Perry doubting himself, even if it was just for a few minutes.
Again, Raymond Burr spent most of this movie either sitting or leaning against something. Even unwell, he still gave a good performance and his chemistry with Barbara Hale was as charming as ever. Paul Drake, Jr. (William Katt) did the leg work and got involved in a few good chases. The only thing more interesting than the mystery was Paul’s hair, which gets bigger and bigger each movie.
Through the Shattered Lens 