Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host (1993) (TV)

Director:

Christian I. Nyby II

Writers (WGA):

Joyce Burditt (teleplay)
Dean Hargrove (story) ...

Release Date:

21 May 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Dr Sheila Carlin is good friends with Della who calls Perry in when she is being pestered by someone...

Plot Keywords:

Courtroom | Sequel | Detective | Perry Mason | Character Name In Title

Cast

Raymond Burr	...	Perry Mason
Barbara Hale	...	Della Street
William R. Moses	...	Ken Malansky
Regis Philbin	...	Winslow Keene
Fritz Coleman	...	Fritz Moore
Cristina Ferrare	...	Judith Jansen
G. Gordon Liddy	...	Clark Hunter
Fred Roggin	...	Fred Fisher
Montel Williams	...	Boomer Kelly
Alan Blumenfeld	...	Russell Farnsworth
Eugene Butler	...	Paul Turner
Betsy Jones-Moreland	...	Judge Elinor Harrelson
Rick Lenz	...	Nick Scanlon
Charles Macaulay	...	Dist. Atty. Markham
James McEachin	...	Lt Ed Brock

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Denver, Colorado, USA

Company:

Dean Hargrove Productions

Trivia:

Based on characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner, who is not credited by the Writers Guild of America for this teleplay.

Movie Connections:

Follows Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin (1991) (TV)

Nothing more than the usual formula

Radio talk show host Dr Judith Jansen feels she is being stalked by someone and calls her friend Della Street for help. Perry and Ken come to see her and arrange to meet the staff at her radio station in order to find out who might be doing it. Dr Jansen sets up Perry to have an interview on one of the shows but during his visit a staff meeting is called by the station's boss, Winslow Keene. At the meeting Keene announces that the staff are all being moved to night shifts to make way for music shows. Later that night Keene is killed and Dr Jansen's car is seen driving away from the scene. She is charged and Perry steps in to defend her while Malansky sets out to track down the man who bought the gun and acted as a hitman.

The Perry Mason formula continues with this entry in the series that meets the normal level for this series but fails to stand out. The plot is the usual fare although the reason for Mason's involvement is very weak here. Dr Jansen is being stalked which brings Mason into picture, however this element is totally lost and not followed through - I had assumed there would be a link to the murder mystery but there wasn't - it was just simply dropped! The use of a hitman is starting to tire me a little bit because I have seen it so many times and it is simply to give Malansky something to do while Perry goes after the person who hired him. It's not bad bit it is an element of the formula that I hadn't noticed before.

The usual element of Malansky's strand is the side kick and it is present here. I enjoyed it more than the usual bland female that is put with him to flirt with and this time he has a black cop who is sassy (although a little bit of an ethnic stereotype is in there). The investigation is to the norm and the climax is not a surprise so much as an inevitability.

Burr helps the climax by being his usual self. My only problem with him is that he wears a hat during this film that doesn't really suit him. Hale is OK as Della and has a repeat joke to make - however the kiss that occurs between them is not very good as it fouls the platonic relationship that they have, nothing else comes of it in later films and it just felt that they had nothing else to do with the film to spice it up a bit. Moses is OK as normal without trying too hard. Datcher is pretty hot as Paxman and her sassiness helped the film feel more energetic that it actually is, maybe I'm a little biased as I found her quite sexy and ignored her clichéd black character. The support cast are all pretty bland and the `oh look, it's ...' faces this time are chat show host Montel Williams and `Millionaire's' Regis Philbin.

Overall this is a reasonable entry in the series that is OK is you like the formula but to be honest it is not as good as some of the other ones. Big bits of the plot go AWOL and the story feels like a formula rather than adding anything fresh to it. Fans will enjoy it (as I did) but it is unlikely to win over those demanding more than the basic formula wheeled out again.