The Case of the Curious Bride

There seems to be a wide divergence of opinion on the quality or otherwise of this one, whether it's poor and dull or witty and fast. I plump for the latter, even though Warners' portrayal of the lawyer left something to be desired, turning him into potentially yet another run of the mill private eye for the b market. But the production values in this were pretty high and it was directed by Michael Curtiz with panache.

Woman comes to Perry Mason played again by William Warren for help because her first husband she thought dead has come back to shake her and her new rich husband down. Her first husband gets his instead, from then on the game is on to find whodunit and why, with some witty if sometimes improbable plot twists along the way. From the outset with Perry and his laconic coroner friend buying lobsters for the creation of a new gastronomic sensation to Errol Flynn's flashback appearance it carries you along on a tide of incessant lighthearted repartee and swift soft focus fade out's and in's. Typecast Allen Jenkins plays Perry's helper the brash and loyal Spudsy in what must be one of his finest performances ever, he weaves in and out of the story as a perfect counterpoint to his boss. Favourite bits: The all-too-short scenes in Luigi's restaurant on that "nutty night"; Perry and the coroner's continual smart ass one liners; the cosy relationship depicted between Perry and the newspaper men; Jenkins getting knocked out by the 2nd husband; Flynn's bit.

It should be a great watch for fans of b&w 30's detective films (and maybe screwball comedies too), I certainly have always enjoyed this 2nd entry in the series. But not to be taken too seriously.

There are a lot of different film genres I enjoy, but one I've enjoyed as long as I can remember (at least 45 years) is 30s/40s-era detective/murder mysteries. For reasons I can't explain, the early Perry Mason movies have, until the other night, remained unknown to me. I love the Thin Man, Falcon, and the Saint - Perry Mason ticks all the same boxes. Mix a decent little murder mystery with a bit of nice comedy, snappy dialogue, an appealing cast, and a well-shot, nice looking film and you'll end up with film that will most likely work on me. The Case of the Curious Bride may not be the best of the bunch, but it is a whole lot of fun.

The plot involves a worried woman named Rhoda. She tracks down Perry with a story of "friend" who has recently remarried, but is worried her first husband may not be dead after all. What should the "friend" do? It doesn't take a detective to see that Rhoda's in trouble. Perry agrees to help, but before he can do much, Rhoda's first husband turns up dead - for real this time. With Rhoda the chief suspect and Perry's reputation on the line, he's got to find the real killer.

The Case of the Curious Bride has a couple things going for it. First, Warren William's Perry Mason is a joy to watch. Similar to Nick Charles, Mason is a worldly sort - capable of everything from cooking a gourmet meal to solving a murder to just about everything in between. And he does all with style and grace. His barbs, directed at the police or whoever gets in his way, and his overall wit are real treat. He's quite a character.

The second is Director Michael Curtiz. His direction, even in a relatively "small" picture like The Case of the Curious Bride, is spot-on. The direction is snappy, without a single wasted scene. Curtiz deftly gives the film a light, airy feel that works. The mix of comedy, mystery, and action is handled expertly. He was a real underrated professional.

Overall, a real treat that I easily rate a 7/10.

Warren William reprises his role as Perry Mason for the second time in The Case of the Curious Bride. This time around Perry must deal with a woman - a young girl that was acquainted with Perry Mason when a child - who wants to marry but has a husband alive now that was supposedly dead four years ago. Just as in the first Mason mystery, we get a pretty taut mystery with lots of red herrings and some fine character performances. This film though is much more fun than The Case of the Howling Dog for two very important reasons: 1)Michael Curtiz(director of films like Casablanca) directs this go round and makes some vast improvements on directorial style, acting changes, and redesigning William's portrayal of Mason. In the first film Warren William was almost stuffy and starch collared, but here William is having a whole lot of fun(very much like his Philo Vance). He is a gourmet chef, a womanizer, a one-of-the-boys, and a witty talker. Curtiz really lets William open up; I am sure to the chagrin of author Erle Stanley Gardner for the even bigger departure from his character's real persona. Nonetheless, Warren William makes this picture work and gets help from Margaret Lindsay as the woman in peril, Claire Dodd as his Friday/Juliet Della Street, and Allen Jenkins in for comic relief as Spudsy Drake. Errol Flynn does have a BRIEF role as the dead man - only really gets to act BRIEFLY in a flashback scene. My favorite character is the mortician friend of Mason's named Wilbur Strong and played by screen stalwart character actor Olin Howard. He is very funny and reprises his role in the next Mason film The Case of the Lucky Legs. Of the four Mason films starring Warren William as the pragmatic Perry Mason, The Case of the Curious Bride is the best in my opinion.

Second in the Perry Mason film series starring Warren William as the famed lawyer/detective. It's arguably the best in the series. This time around Perry is asked for help by an old flame and winds up investigating her estranged husband's murder. Fun entry with a weird thread involving Perry's cooking hobby. William is having fun as he usually seemed to be. Allen Jenkins is a hoot as Perry's sidekick. Claire Dodd is an enjoyable Della Street. Errol Flynn has a "blink and you'll miss him" appearance in a flashback. This was his inauspicious feature film debut. One of Humphrey Bogart's wives, Mayo Methot, has a small part. The rest of the fine cast includes the always lovely Margaret Lindsay, the always bland Donald Woods, and the always grumpy Barton MacLane. It's a good-looking film, attractively photographed by David Abel with nice direction from the great Michael Curtiz, who would go on to much bigger and better films, including many starring Flynn.

Margaret Lindsay approaches Warren William to ask him a question for a friend. It's always for a friend, isn't it? She's about to be married and wants to make sure her first husband is dead. While William goes in search of a bottle of Chablis '21, Miss Lindsay disappears. When the coffin of her first husband is opened, it contains a wooden Indian.

The second Perry Mason movie has him in San Francisco, still a sharp, urbane, sophisticated man, and a bit of a shyster when it comes to defending his clients. It's a nicely tangled little mystery under the direction of Michael Curtiz, with the snap and crackling pace that had become a standard for Warners programmers during the pre-code era, and which had not quite vanished.