Tag Archives: Pat Finley

I Watched Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss (1993, Dir. by Christian I. Nyby II)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

On the set of a popular soap opera, actor Mark Stanton (Sean Kanan) dies after he films a kiss with co-star Kris Buckner (Genie Francis).  Kris is accused of intentionally poisoning Mark to get back at him for trying to force her off the show but Kris says she’s innocent.  Fortunately, Kris is the goddaughter of Perry Mason (Raymond Burr).

This movie was the last time that Raymond Burr played Perry Mason and it actually aired a few weeks after his death.  There are scenes that are hard to watch because it is clear that Burr was not doing well during filming.  He rarely stands and when he does, he still leans against the table for support.  He’s still great when he’s asking questions and making objections but physically, it’s obvious that he was struggling.  He still lights whenever he’s talking to Della, though.  The best scenes in the movie are just Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale being Perry and Della.  Their affection for each other shines through in every scene.  The mystery is routine but the guest cast is full of daytime drama royalty like Stuart Damon, Linda Dano, and Genie Francis.

As I said when I started reviewing these movies at the start of the month, my Aunt Kate loved watching these movies.  I know she watched them when they first aired and later, when they started re-airing them on Hallmark or MeTV, she loved rewatching them even though she already knew who the murderer was going to be.  I would watch with her sometimes.  We agreed that Perry and Della were in love and that Paul Drake, Jr. was Della’s son, even if he didn’t know it.

Rewatching all of the movies this month, what struck me is that most of them are still a lot of fun.  Sure, there’s a few clunkers.  But the majority of the 27 Perry Mason films are still entertaining to watch.  Raymond Burr as Perry Mason and Barbara Hale as Della Street?  Nobody did it better.

 

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.

 

I Watched Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Fashion (1991, Dir. by Christian I. Nyby II)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Perry Mason (Raymond Burr), Della Street (Barbara Hale), and Ken Malansky (William R. Moses) are in New York when an old friend of Perry’s, magazine editor Lauren Jeffreys (Diana Muldaur) is accused of murdering a rival editor, Dyan Draper (Valerie Harper). Dyan was infamous for writing about the personal lives of celebrities in her column so there’s a ton of possible suspects. While Ken teams up with a mobster named Tony Loomis (Robert Clohessy) to search for clues, Perry finds himself facing off against a young district attorney (Scott Baio) who is smarter than he seems.

This Perry Mason movie is unique because, for once, the prosecutor is as good an attorney as Perry.  It reminded me of how, when the movies started, David Ogden Stiers always played the prosecutor and came across like someone who would probably win if he has going up against anyone other than Perry Mason.  Even though I immediately thought of Bob Loblaw as soon as I saw him, Scott Baio gives a good performance as a lawyer who worships Perry and can’t wait to face him in court.  For once, there’s mutual respect between the two sides.

The mystery was another one of those where I was able to guess who the killer was from the start.  They had to really stretch things to get the mob involved so that Ken could team up with Tony.  (Ken wanted to bring the killer to court while Tony just waned to shoot them.)  Also, it was obvious that Raymond Burr was not doing well when he filmed this movie.  In almost every scene, he’s either seated or leaning against something.  There are only 6 more Perry Mason films featuring Burr after this one and one of those aired after he died.  Burr still gives a commanding performance whenever Perry’s in court, though.  Sick or not, there’s no other attorney you want on your side.

Retro Television Reviews: The Love Boat 3.7 “The Reunion/Haven’t I Seen You?/Crew Confessions”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986!  The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!

This week is all about mistaken identity!

Episode 3.7 “The Reunion/Haven’t I Seen You?/Crew Confessions”

(Dir by George Tyne, originally aired on October 20th, 1979)

After discovering that a guy that he went to high school with in Oakland is now a published author, Isaac decides that maybe he should spend the cruise writing a novel of his own.  The other members of the crew encourage him to try his hand at being a literary genius because, seriously, how hard can it be?  (Gopher suggests that anyone can be a writer!  Okay, Gopher….)  Isaac attempts to write a western, just to discover that he can’t get past the first two sentences.  He then tries to write a romance and can’t get past the first two sentences.  Finally, he attempts to do a science fiction novel and can’t get past …. well, you get the idea.

Finally, Isaac realizes that his mistake is that he’s not writing about what he knows.  Instead, he starts writing a book about life on a cruise ship!  (There’s a bit of an inside joke here as The Love Boat itself was inspired by a “non-fiction” book written by a former cruise director.)  Unfortunately, the rest of the crew soon recognizes themselves in Isaac’s writing.  Doc is offended at being portrayed as a sex-crazed womanizer who rarely practices medicine.  Gopher is upset to discover that the fiction ship’s purser is a klutz named Muskrat.  Julie is upset at the character of the “perky” cruise director.  Only Captain Stubing seems to be truly supportive of Isaac.  Upset that his friends are upset, Isaac rips his book in half.  Guilt-stricken, the rest of the crew decides to support Isaac and they start giving him ideas for his novel.  For instance, Doc Bricker tells Isaac that he served in the U.S Navy after medical school, adding yet another piece of the puzzle to the enigma of Adam Bricker.

The novel-writing storyline, I liked.  I could relate to it because I’ve noticed that people are always willing to support your literary ambitions until they realize that you’re writing about them.  I kind of hope that Isaac will keep writing.  Knowing The Love Boat, though, I know this is probably one of those things that will be forgotten by the next episode.

As for the other storylines this week, they were okay if slight.  Don Knotts plays a shoe salesman named Herb Groebeck who looks just like a television start named Devon King.  At first, Herb keeps correcting everyone about his identity but, when he’s approached by Marla (Julie Newmar), he decides to pretend to be Devon for a while.  Marla reveals that she has a baby and she says that Devon is the father, the result of a one-night stand in Las Vegas.  Herb, having fallen in love with Marla, asks her to marry him.  Marla suddenly reveals that she’s never actually met Devon and that she was lying about him being the father because she wanted a husband who could take care of her baby.  Herb says that’s okay because he’s not even Devon King.  Marla and Herb share a good laugh and leave the cruise as an engaged couple which …. I mean, is this really a relationship that’s really going to last?  It’s pretty much built on lies.

Speaking of lies, Laurette Ferot (Jane Wyatt) has boarded the boat so she can be reunited with her long-missing husband, Gilbert (Jean-Pierre Aumont).  Laurette and Gilbert were married in 1939 but the Nazi invasion of France tore them apart.  Laurette was taken off to Denmark.  Gilbert vanished and was presumed dead.  Laurette has spent the last 40 years looking for Gilbert.  Unfortunately, the man who shows up on the cruise is not her Gilbert.  Instead, he’s a former member of the French Resistance who befriended the real Gilbert in a concentration camp and who fell in love with Laurette as a result of listening to the real Gilbert talk about her.  When the real Gilbert died in the camp, the fake Gilbert assumed his identity.  Having survived the war, the fake Gilbert came to America and made millions as a lock manufacturer while also looking for Laurette.  Laurette is surprisingly forgiving of Fake Gilbert and even goes through with the ceremony to “renew” their vows on the ship.  Laurette marries Fake Gilbert and they leave the ship together.  Jane Wyatt and Jean-Pierre Aumont both gave heartfelt performances but this storyline, involving concentration camps and Nazi cruelty, felt a bit out-of-place when partnered up with stories about Isaac writing a salacious book and Don Knotts pretending to be an action star.  It was a bit too serious for The Love Boat format.

Overall, this episode was uneven but genuinely well-acted.  Just as last week’s episode gave Fred Grandy a chance to show off the fact that he actually could act, this episode gives the spotlight to Ted Lange and Lange, again, proves himself to be capable of more than just making drinks and pointing.  I hope his book was best seller.