The Case of the Curious Bride (1935)

After giving the District Attorney another stinging defeat, Perry plans to take a vacation in China. That is, he was, until Rhoda, his old flame, meets him at a restaurant. Even though she ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Tom Reed (screen play), Erle Stanley Gardner (story),

Stars:

Warren William, Margaret Lindsay, Donald Woods

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Warren William	...	Perry Mason
Margaret Lindsay	...	Rhoda
Donald Woods	...	Carl
Claire Dodd	...	Della
Allen Jenkins	...	Spudsy
Phillip Reed	...	Dr. Millbeck
Barton MacLane	...	Detective Lucas
Wini Shaw	...	Doris Pender (as Winifred Shaw)
Warren Hymer	...	Oscar Pender
Olin Howland	...	Coroner Wilbur Strong
Charles Richman	...	C. Phillip Montaine
Thomas E. Jackson	...	Toots Howard (as Thomas Jackson)
Errol Flynn	...	Gregory Moxley
Robert Gleckler	...	Detective Byrd
James Donlan	...	Detective Fritz

Storyline

After giving the District Attorney another stinging defeat, Perry plans to take a vacation in China. That is, he was, until Rhoda, his old flame, meets him at a restaurant. Even though she says that she is asking for a friend, Perry can see right through her. It seems that her husband Moxley, who had been allegedly dead for four years, is alive and demanding money as she has married into wealth. The case escalates when the police find the body of Moxley and charge her with the murder.

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Plot Keywords:

district attorney | police | murder | restaurant | accidental death | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 April 1935 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Noiva Curiosa

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Vitaphone Corporation, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In The Case of the Curious Bride, one of Errol Flynn's earliest films, his role consisted of lying on a marble slab as a corpse. There was also a flashback sequence towards the end of the film showing how Flynn was killed. The film in question has appeared at least twice on Turner Classic Movies during Errol Flynn festivals despite his very limited (certainly less than two minutes) screen time.

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Goofs

In the first scene at Fisherman's Wharf, Perry is picking out crabs, and he says, "Joe, we've decided upon these four antagonistic anthropods." Crabs are arthropods; there is no such thing as an anthropod.

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Quotes

Coroner Wilbur Strong: His end of telephone conversation in a restaurant: "Yes, this is the coroner... I will? Over my dead bodies... Well, I can't help you looked all afternoon, I'm at an important meeting of the International Committee for the Elimination of Starvation... All right, but I want you gentlemen to remember one statement, made in my official capacity: 'I'll be seein' ya.'"

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Connections

Followed by Perry Mason: The Case of the Ruthless Reporter (1991)

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Soundtracks

"It Was a Dark and Stormy Night"
(uncredited)
Music by Sammy Fain
Lyrics by Irving Kahal
Sung by Wini Shaw and chorus at the burlesque theater

User Reviews

FUN!!! Dizzy, fast-paced and silly -- I loved it!

This is the only Warren William Perry Mason movie I've seen so far, and I thought it was a lot of fun! It gallops along at a breakneck pace, partly thanks to its super-kinetic (and rather disorienting) editing. William and Dodd bring a really delicious tongue-in-cheek camaraderie to the roles of Perry and Della, while Mayo Methot (was she already married to Bogart?)has a lot of fun with the small part of Florabelle. The coroner is not to be missed, by the way!

It is fascinating to see what a different interpretation of the character of Perry Mason William gives; he seems to be drawing as much on his previous performance as Philo Vance as on anything in the books. Naturally, this makes him nothing at all like Raymond Burr's Mason. (And he's in San Francisco, by the way, not Los Angeles.) I certainly missed the gravitas and moral authority that Burr gave the part, but William is hilarious and highly professional, pulling off a performance not unlike that of a drunken tightrope walker working without a net with aplomb and smooth daring-do.

The murder (of Errol Flynn, no less!) is incidental.