This movie is called "The Case of the Black Cat" because horror films were popular money-makers at the time of its release and the use of "black cat" in the title made it sound more ominous. An alternate moniker was "The Curse of the Black Cat." Apparently the producers thought that title was too misleading. The Erle Stanley Gardner Perry Mason story on which it is based was labeled, "The Case of the Caretaker's Cat," which was the title of the TV version when it played on the old Raymond Burr series. The cat and its caretaker owner are at the center of the plot; so that title makes more sense. Why not use a black cat in the 1936 film version? When the movie was being made, the "black cat" reference in the title had not been proposed; that the cat in the story was gray and white spotted determined the kind of cat to use in the picture.
To most fans of the Erle Stanley Gardner character, the definitive Perry Mason will always be Raymond Burr. The first big screen Perry Mason was Warren William and he made a dandy. His "The Case of the Howling Dog" is one of the very best in the William series. Unfortunately, the three follow-ups in which William played, while entertaining, were not up to the standards of the premiere feature. Ricardo Cortez, said to be a difficult actor with whom to work, does very well with the Perry Mason character, making "The Case of the Black Cat" one of the best translations of Perry Mason from book to screen.
The initial screen perception of Perry Mason was one of a debonair, skilled, yet at times unscrupulous, counselor-at-law who would use almost any trick to win a case. His courtroom shenanigans were part of the show. Even Raymond Burr began his TV program in that vein, becoming more law respecting and less law bending as the series progressed. Ricardo Cortez assays the role more along the lines of the later Raymond Burr personification of Perry Mason, though still willing to bend the law a bit when it helps his client, in this case a gray and white-spotted cat.
That the Perry Mason mysteries were not one-dimensional but at times highly complex was one reason for their popularity with amateur armchair sleuths. "The Case of the Black Cat" is no exception. A rich invalid, Peter Laxter, hires Mason to help him rewrite his will. Not long after the will has been changed, Laxter's mansion burns to the ground with Laxter in it. Perry convinces District Attorney Hamilton Burger (Guy Usher) to conduct an investigation. The findings show that Laxter had been dead for some time before the house burned. His heirs become the prime suspects, including Wilma Laxter (Jane Bryan) who runs a waffle house, since she had been disinherited by the new will.
Another prime suspect is heir Sam Laxter (Gordon Elliott aka Wild Bill Elliott). The caretaker, Charles Ashton (George Rosener), has a cat, Clinker, who meows at the moon so much it keeps Sam Laxter awake. He throws items at the cat, threatening to poison it if the mewing doesn't stop. The caretaker appeals to Mason for help after receiving yet another threat from Sam Laxter, this time in the form of a note. Thus Perry takes the cat as a client and the fun begins.
