Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson

First, I confess that I'm not as fond of the Mason revival TV movies as the original series. I especially enjoy the early episodes from the late Fifties, which for me had more edge than the TV movies from the 80s and 90s. Perhaps it's the chronologic proximity and the black & white look that recalls the film noir ethos that I find compelling. Whatever the case, I'm making my way through the Mason TV movies and this one may be the best yet. I've seen about a dozen of them, somewhat out of order, so the introduction and evolution of the Malansky character is a little obscure for me. But this entry had a swiftly-moving, if improbable, story, all done with considerable brio. And the romantic subplot was presented with a nicely comic touch and well integrated into the main story. Best of all was Alexandra Paul as Malansky's girlfriend, who more or less steals the movie. Burr is solid as always but isn't given that much to do. It's really Moses and Paul's movie. In sum, I give this one a fairly solid seven stars.

This entry in the Perry Mason series marked the first time that William R. Moses makes an appearance. He's young law school student Ken Malansky and they meet as Perry is giving a lecture to the participants of a moot court of soon to be graduates.

One of my favorite ironic moments in the Perry Mason series occurs in this film, Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson. Raymond Burr gives a very good speech to the group about juries, people bringing all kinds of baggage from their every days lives to a jury. They're no better or worse than any other average group of folks you can get out of a phone book. But that as a jury they become a noble body and one should never demean them in any way.

It was a great moment of eloquence for Raymond Burr, one of the best in his career as an actor. It ought to be mandatory in law schools in fact. Yet we are talking about Perry Mason who never let a case get that far to a jury, at least not in any of the movies or the couple of hundred episodes from the original series that I recall.

Anyway among the participants of the moot court is John Allen Nelson, the spoiled son of Brian Keith who is an old friend of Burr's. He's a really rotten kid who's dad has used money and influence to get him out of trouble before. During moot court Moses threatens him and later goes out looking to him some bodily harm. But someone beat him to it when he finds the body and he's discovered with the corpse of the late Mr. Nelson. Of course Moses turns to Perry Mason for help.

For fans of the old television series, the character of Ken Malansky actually does have a precedent. For a couple of seasons Perry Mason had an actor named Karl Held play young lawyer David Gideon whom he also defended in a murder trial. Held popped up in a dozen or so episodes after that.

Anyway you know this kid had a host of people who didn't like him in his study group and others. But Perry ferrets out the killer in his usual manner.

William R. Moses joined the TV film series after that as William Katt as Paul Drake, Jr. departed for a series Top of the Hill that didn't last. Neither Moses or Katt have ever lacked for work however though they both are now forty somethings.

It's a good episode and fans of Billy Moses consider it a landmark.

Raymond Burr is in Denver, working on "the court of the future" with law students, when one of his students, William Moses, is put on trial for murdering a fellow student. Since that student is the son of Burr's old law-school buddy, Brian Keith, he is reluctant. He is, however, Perry Mason, and just as all his clients are innocent, when Moses asks for him to defend him, we know he is innocent, so apparently Burr has no choice but to do so, with the attendant confession by a random witness on the stand.

As usual, there are many false trails in this TV movie about Erle Stanley Gardner's lawyer-sleuth. It's well done, but the most interesting bit about it is the fact that Moses (as Malansky) would serve the remainder of the series as Burr's investigator.

This is the first movie with William R. Moses ("Falcon Crest") starring as Ken Malansky (nobody can remember this name !) supporting lawyer Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) and Della Street (Barbara Hale) during murder cases.

He enters the series by being accused of murder. But we know, Perry will defend him and proof his innocence ! This is interesting and nice enough for an evening in front of your TV at home.

Of course we will miss William Katt as Perry's assistant, but you will like William R. Moses, too.

If you like Perry Mason stories (and I once owned 86 PM books), you will be happy to see these resurrection stories. They do have one missing element: the tag at the end, when all the characters discuss the mystery and how it was solved.

One thing I do not like AT ALL in these new stories: Ken Malansky is the most incompetent, stupid, bumbling, and ridiculous investigator imaginable. In every show he goes into dark interiors alone, in every show he gets beat up at least once, in every show he gets information and then decides to NOT call police or share with anyone, but just go off half-cocked on some chase.