Tag Archives: Kathryn Christopher

So, I Watched Perry Mason: The Case of the Fateful Framing (1992, Dir. by Christian I. Nyby II)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Truman York (David Soul), a painter who faked his death in a motorcycle accident five years earlier, reemerges because someone is selling forgeries of his work.  When York turns up dead, a photographer (Mark Moses) is arrested for the crime.  Luckily, the photographer went to college with Ken Malansky (William R. Moses) and Ken is able to convince Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) to take the case.  (If you’re going to get arrested for murder, it helps to be a friend of Ken or Perry’s.)

I was disappointed with this entry in the Perry Mason series.  It had potential but it never really reached it.  I was more interested in how the artist faked his death for five years instead of figuring out who killed him.  Raymond Burr was obviously unwell when he shot this movie and there were times when it was painful to watch him as he had to learn against a wall just to be able to stay standing while delivering his lines.  I felt bad for Burr watching this because, even though he was great in the role of Perry Mason, it was obvious that he was in pain.

Maybe because Raymond Burr couldn’t do as much as usual, Ken got to do more than usual  in this installment.  What’s strange is that the accused photographer was also interrogating people and looking for clues.  He had just been released on bail and he was on trial for murder.  He should have been laying low instead of tracking down witnesses.

I love the Perry Mason films and I have so many good memories of watching them with my aunt.  This one didn’t do it for me.

So, I Watched Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson (1989, Dir. by Christian I. Nyby II)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

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.

I Watched Perry Mason: The Case Of The Sinister Spirit (1987, Dir. by Richard Lang)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

David Hall (Matthew Faison) is an obnoxious horror writer who invites a group of associates and former friends to spend the night at a “haunted” hotel.  He’s invited them because all of them are on the verge of suing him for writing about them in his latest book, The Resort.  Over the course of the night, he plays cruel practical jokes on all of them.  Finally, someone gets fed up and tosses him over a railing.  The police arrest publisher Jordan White (Robert Stack) and charge him with the murder.  It’s a good thing that Jordan’s best friend is Perry Mason (Raymond Burr).

Perry uses a cane in this movie and is not that active outside of the courtroom.  That means that it’s up to Paul Drake, Jr. (William Katt) to do most of the investigating.  As usual, Paul falls for an attractive, younger woman, in this case the hotel’s owner, Susan Warrenfield (Kim Delaney).  Every movie features Paul falling for someone and then we never hear about them again.  Does Paul have commitment issues?

I enjoyed this Perry Mason mystery.  The hotel was a great location and I appreciated that the movie tried to add some horror elements to the story.  The Perry Mason movies can be predictable so I always like it when they at least try to do something a little bit different.  This was a fun entry in Perry Mason’s career.