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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.

 

I Watched Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace (1988, Dir. by Christian I. Nyby II)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

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.