SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Scarecrow-88 Perry Mason(Raymond Burr)decides to step down as an appellant judge and represent his old friend, Della Street(Barbara Hale)who was framed by a hired killer responsible for assassinating her current employer, Arthur Gordon(Patrick O'Neal). Mason hires a private investigator, Paul Drake Jr(William Katt), the son of an old pal. The case is an intimidating one as the killer staged the crime really well against Della, appearing in drag so that the maid could see a woman exiting the mansion, leaving a torn piece of dress on the outside(and one of her earrings in his hand), returning her muddy heels to her closet to implicate her. But Perry doesn't intimidate easy and he expects a lot out of Paul in order to nab the real suspect, the one who hired the killer. Arthur was to disinherit his entire family out of his will and any one of them could have a possible motive for wanting him dead. When the killer, Bobby Lynch(James Kidnie)is himself shot dead while attempting to run over Paul, Perry plans to turn up the heat on all the Gordons, including wife, Paula(Holland Taylor), insanely jealous of Della who had earned Arthur's good graces(not an easy feat). Richard Anderson represents Paula and Perry later discovers that he is having an affair with Kathryn, Arthur's opinionated, bluntly honest(and has expensive taste)daughter. The aha moment at the end is an essential aspect to all the Perry Mason movies and it's a humdinger here as well. The most amusing scene could be when Perry proves his "dressed in drag" theory in court to the surprise of those in the room. Katt does most of the leg work, while Mason, with his usual towering strength, confronts the Gordons, plenty of questions and accusations which has them on the defensive, the anxiety ever present even from those who weren't behind the hiring of a hit-man. The case goes all the way to the wire with Paul popping in just in time to confirm who Mason expects is the real killer, allowing a nick-in-time suspense even though we know Perry always gets the bad guys in the end.

edwagreen Even when she is accused of murder, Della Street can't seem to get a piece of the acting action in the Perry Mason series.That being said, we have a marvelous film here with someone impersonating Miss Street, running around with her clothing to commit murder.The characters are lively. Eventually, you will come to know who the culprit is as the affair with the youngest daughter and attorney is revealed.Burr, as usual, is in top-form. He really goes at it with that prosecuting attorney, a nasty woman who thinks she has the case in the bag. She had to be reminded that Hamilton Burger always had the same beliefs.

liammurphy1 The first Perry Mason Series ran from 1957 until 1966, In the mid eighties until it's star's (Raymond Burr) death in 1993 there was a belated revival bringing Mason a new generation of fans in several TV Movies along with original sidekick Della Street (Barbara Hale) and new P.I Paul Drake JR (William Katt). This is the first such movie and one of the better ones for it has Della street accused of murdering her boss and so Mason and Drake frantically try to find clear her name.all in all an above-average TV Mystery8/10

bob the moo Rich business man Mr Gordon has many enemies and a family that wouldn't miss him if he dropped dead. Someone hires a hitman to kill him and it is carried out in such a way to frame Gordon's secretary Della Street. When Della is accused of the murder, Perry mason resigns his position as judge to defend her and employs the son of his old colleague, Paul Drake, the act as private investigator on the case.This film is the first of the many Perry Mason TVM's that were made in the late 80's and early 90's. This is the one that set up the new characters and the formula for all the movies. I have never seen the original series so don't know if this is just a lift of that formula or not, but they are all the same thing in different clothes and settings!The plot here is the same as all the other TVM's except it does feel better written and more worked. The main flaw with the plot is the whole idea of a man dressed up as a woman – it isn't that big a deal but you must wonder how seriously they expect us to take the plot when Mason sets up his usual courtroom antics that would get kicked out in any real court but are accepted here! The final twists aren't even as daft as usual but it does set up the usual big finish. Burr loves nothing more that getting to boom `isn't it true etc, isn't it also true etc' and it makes for a dramatic if slightly hammy climax.Burr seems very happy to be back in his old role and works hard, compared to later TVM's where he almost appears to be going through the motions. Hale is good and it's good to see her getting more of a role than usual. Katt is also good and his haircut hasn't yet gone curly and his action scenes are reasonably tense. The rest of the cast are made up of the usual red herrings for Mason to chase around the courtroom until he gets the real killer. The `oh look it's…..' faces are Taylor who is OK and Anderson. Freeman is also amusing to see if you only know him as Elijah Mohammed from Malcolm X. The cast is also interesting when you look at it in terms of the mason series and note that one of the Gordon family (Kathryn) is actress Kerrie Keane who is in two later Mason movies playing different roles.If you've enjoyed any of the Mason TVMs then this will please you as well. Because it is the first of the TVM run it feels better and that a lot more work has gone into it, as much as I enjoy the rest, some did feel like they were rushed out in a short time. Overall this is one of the better of the modern Mason series.