A world famous illusionist called David Katz (Peter Scolari) is arrested for the murder of his assistant Kate Ford after a magic trick involving a floating glass coffin goes horribly wrong. Katz is a married man but had a one night stand with the murdered woman who attempted to blackmail him when she became pregnant with his child. Witnesses overheard an argument between them in which Katz threatened her, and as always, the prosecution believes it is an open and shut case. Yet, with ace defence attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) on the case, there is most certainly going to be several other people with motives for wanting the selfish, mean and vindictive Ford dead coming out into the open. They include Katz's wardrobe assistant Betty Farmer (Julie Sommars) whose sister was fired from the show at Ford's hand. Then there is Max LeMar (Dennis Lipscomb), a rival magician and former Katz mentor, who believed that Katz was plagurising his work and wanted revenge. And Katz's wife, Judy (Kim Braden), was enraged that Kate Ford was pregnant with her husband's child...
A standard, strictly to formula but still very enjoyable Perry Mason revival TVM. If you can get around the predictable plot development it is quite satisfying with a very good denouement with Burr still a commanding presence as the world's best defence attorney. As ever the client is an old friend of Perry's - 'How many old friends could he possibly have?', you will doubtlessly ask . Nevertheless, there is a more emotional centre to it this time since as well as trying to clear Katz for murder, Perry is also helping him to save his marriage to Judy which had been on the rocks for quite some time.
William R Moses' Ken Malansky's action man part is more enjoyable here than usual. This time he is hounded by a young, attractive, rookie private eye called Terry Weidner (played by Kate Vernon who turns in a likeable performance) who thinks she can give her career a boost by helping Perry Mason crack his case. Of course, Ken is not too keen and doesn't like people getting in the way and stealing his thunder. Yet, the budding private eye is always one step ahead of him and stumbles upon important leads before he does and even saves his life. The pair journey to a rural Colorado town called Hastings where the murdered woman grew up to gain evidence for the defence. The result is some amusing knockabout as they have to do battle with the close knit community who don't like outsiders poking their noses in and turn some heavies on them to drive them out of town. Kate Ford's father owns a salt mill, which provides the town with its prosperity, and many years before, a crime connected to the murdered woman was covered up due to her father's position. Could it be connected to the murder? The feel for the close knit town and its hostility to outsiders is nicely conveyed in Brian Clemens' (The Avengers) script, and combined with some nice location work, is very effective under Christian I Nyby 11's direction.
The acting, writing and all other technical aspects are up to par here and Clemens' script plays fair with the audience with all the clues running neatly into a logical whole so that the impact of the solution is not diluted by plot holes and absurdities.
A standard, strictly to formula but still very enjoyable Perry Mason revival TVM. If you can get around the predictable plot development it is quite satisfying with a very good denouement with Burr still a commanding presence as the world's best defence attorney. As ever the client is an old friend of Perry's - 'How many old friends could he possibly have?', you will doubtlessly ask . Nevertheless, there is a more emotional centre to it this time since as well as trying to clear Katz for murder, Perry is also helping him to save his marriage to Judy which had been on the rocks for quite some time.
William R Moses' Ken Malansky's action man part is more enjoyable here than usual. This time he is hounded by a young, attractive, rookie private eye called Terry Weidner (played by Kate Vernon who turns in a likeable performance) who thinks she can give her career a boost by helping Perry Mason crack his case. Of course, Ken is not too keen and doesn't like people getting in the way and stealing his thunder. Yet, the budding private eye is always one step ahead of him and stumbles upon important leads before he does and even saves his life. The pair journey to a rural Colorado town called Hastings where the murdered woman grew up to gain evidence for the defence. The result is some amusing knockabout as they have to do battle with the close knit community who don't like outsiders poking their noses in and turn some heavies on them to drive them out of town. Kate Ford's father owns a salt mill, which provides the town with its prosperity, and many years before, a crime connected to the murdered woman was covered up due to her father's position. Could it be connected to the murder? The feel for the close knit town and its hostility to outsiders is nicely conveyed in Brian Clemens' (The Avengers) script, and combined with some nice location work, is very effective under Christian I Nyby 11's direction.
The acting, writing and all other technical aspects are up to par here and Clemens' script plays fair with the audience with all the clues running neatly into a logical whole so that the impact of the solution is not diluted by plot holes and absurdities.