bkoganbing Raymond Burr has indelibly etched a conception of Perry Mason on our minds that is not easily overcome. In fact Erle Stanley Gardner himself said that Burr fit perfectly what he thought his fictional lawyer/sleuth should be.God only knows what he thought of Warren William in this particular film where Mason is quite the party animal, usually partying with Della Street played here by Genevieve Tobin. When we meet him he's in his office sleeping one off when Porter Hall arrives looking to hire him.Hall wants Craig Reynolds the sponsor of the Lucky Legs beauty contest investigated. The woman Hall has been seeing Patricia Ellis was the winner of the latest contest so there's a personal angle here. Later on Reynolds is found stabbed to death.I'm wondering if Jack Warner didn't get permission from Louis B. Mayer for a lease on Nick and Nora Charles. A few more wisecracks and a wider suspect list this one plays like a Thin Man movie.And one other thing happens here that definitely not in keeping with an Erle Stanley Gardner paradigm. But if I say everything will be revealed.Fans of the principal players should be pleased.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . states "Not your papa's Perry Mason." No kidding. If you actually think about it, this aged six-pack is GREAT-GRANDDAD's Perry! From the first to this third series entry, Warner Bros. does one of the greatest makeovers in a single year in the history of any movie franchise. The opening shots of Perry's initial film (THE CASE OF THE HOWLING DOG) shows Mr. Mason occupying an entire high-rise floor, with scores of employees, including an in-house shrink and a private eye squad. He also needs nearly as many switchboard gals as Ma Bell. Presumably, the Depression hit Perry harder than most. By his third entry, THE CASE OF THE LUCKY LEGS, he's down to just two employees, one of whom works out of a modest office suite. (The other, "Spudsy," seems to be based at home sometimes, and on sidewalk benches the other nights.) As a recovering alcoholic, Perry's biggest concern in LEGS is, "Got milk?" His replacement secretary "Della Street" actress (Geneieve Tobin) is far Floozier than the original Della (Helen Trenholme). Plus the tone of LEGS has degenerated to a constant patter of cheap one-liners (the kind Bob Hope got two for a quarter at this time). Since three more Mason flicks followed LEGS, Great Grandpa must have been pretty easy to please.

dougdoepke A beauty pageant operator swindles the winners, but ends up on the wrong end of a knife. So who did it.It's madcap sleuthing with Williams' Perry Mason going about 80-miles per hour and no Stop signs in sight. His Mason's never at a loss for a snappy line, at the same time the dialog crackles forth like machine gun fire. What can you say about a lawyer who sleeps on the floor with a whiskey bottle for company. It's sure not TV's favorite straight-arrow attorney. Then there's girl Friday, Della Street (Tobin), who's about as demure as a hash-house waitress slinging her own one-liners. No, this is definitely not Raymond Burr's Perry Mason. In fact, it's hard to believe the two versions are supposed to be the same character.Maybe you can follow the whodunit. I couldn't, but that's beside the point anyway. It's really a Warren William showcase. The plot's just something to hang the actor's hat on. And catch the mystery's unraveling, including flashbacks for slow readers like me. It takes up about half the run-time. If there's a more swollen solution on record, I haven't seen it. Still, I really liked the first part, the one with one of the odder beauty contests on record. If it were me, I would have given a blue ribbon to all the lucky legs.Anyhow, the film's sometimes fun, sometimes not. I get the feeling it too often tries too hard. All in all, the result is really a Warren William vehicle, again showing why he was such a commanding presence from that neglected decade.

Paularoc It is certainly understandable why Erle Stanley Gardner much disliked the Perry Mason movies of the 1930s particularly the portrayal of Mason by Warren William. In this movie, William's portrayal of Mason is simply not that of Mason in the books. However, if one does not think of the Mason character in the books or as depicted by Raymond Burr, then this movie works very well as a comedy/mystery and is highly enjoyable. Warren William's rendition of Mason is that of a debonair often hungover, fast talking attorney. Genevieve Tobin plays Della Street as a wise-cracking, irreverent and loyal secretary and Allen Jenkins' "Spudsy" (!) Drake portrayal is that of a likable, often unintentionally funny doofus. The story is about a "most beautiful legs" pageant and the murder of its crooked promoter. The promoter has run off with the prize money put up by local businessmen in the city of Cloverdale. One of the local supporters hires Mason to find the young woman who won the Cloverdale pageant who was cheated of the prize money and has disappeared. Mason finds the promoter dead, stabbed with a scalpel. Plenty of suspects but no court room scene - Mason is more of a private detective than attorney. But that's okay because this is a comedy first and a mystery second. Tobin is a riot as Della and William is great fun in the Perry role. When I first reviewed a William Mason movie (The Case of the Howling Dog), I was very negative about it - hung up on how it didn't accurately portray Mason. But I got over that and much enjoyed this movie - great fun and recommended.