I Watched Perry Mason: The Case of the Notorious Nun (1986, Dir. by Ron Satlof)


In the second Perry Mason movie, Perry (Raymond Burr) defends Sister Margaret (Michele Greene), who has been accused of murdering Father Thomas O’Neil (Timothy Bottoms).  The D.A. (David Ogden Stiers) says that Sister Margaret was having an affair with Father O’Neil and she killed him when he tried to break it off.  However, the movie shows us that, just like in the last movie, Father O’Neil was actually killed by a hitman (Hagan Beggs).  Perry, Della (Barbara Hale), and Paul Drake, Jr. (William Katt) have to figure out who ordered the priest’s murder.

I enjoyed the Case of the Notorious Nun, even if it wasn’t as good as the previous film.  It was still entertaining and I loved watching Perry constantly give Paul a hard time about every little thing but this time, it was really obvious who the actual killer was.  Paul, of course, had romantic feelings for Sister Margaret but nothing came from them, other than a chaste kiss on the cheek.  Sorry, Paul.  You’re charming but you’re not that charming.

Father O’Neil was far more sympathetic than the previous movie’s victim.  Father O’Neil was trying to make the world a better place and his death with was a real tragedy.  That made it all the more satisfying when Perry was able to get his cross-examination confession.  There was an alarming scene early on in the movie where Perry checked into a hospital because he was feeling faint and I get the feeling that they framed the scene to make Raymond Burr look even heavier than he was.  (This movie justified Paul Drake doing all the leg work while Perry stayed at the office.)  But even if he moves a little slower than he used to, Perry Mason is still the best lawyer out there.