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.
