Perry Mason Returns (1985)

When his former secretary (Barbara Hale) is accused of a murder, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) gives up a judgeship to defend her.

Director:

Ron Satlof

Writers:

Dean Hargrove, Erle Stanley Gardner (characters creator)

Stars:

Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, William Katt

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Raymond Burr	...	Perry Mason
Barbara Hale	...	Della Street
William Katt	...	Paul Drake Jr.
Holland Taylor	...	Paula Gordon
Richard Anderson	...	Ken Braddock
Kerrie Keane	...	Kathryn Gordon
Al Freeman Jr.	...	Lt. Cooper
David McIlwraith	...	David Gordon
Roberta Weiss	...	Laura Gordon
Cassie Yates	...	Barbara Scott
Patrick O'Neal	...	Arthur Gordon
James Kidnie	...	Bobby Lynch
Paul Hubbard	...	Sgt. Stratton
Lindsay Merrithew	...	Chris
Kathleen Laskey	...	Luanne

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

perry mason | murder | false accusation | sequel | detective | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 December 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Defense Never Rests

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

InterMedia Entertainment Company, Strathmore Productions, Viacom Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 96 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lee Miller's final film.

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Goofs

In one of the chase scenes, the doors on Paul Drake's jeep are there when he takes off but after he rounds the corner they are gone.

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Connections

Followed by Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin (1989)

User Reviews

Success by Negation

This film is interesting not for what it is, but its place in a the scheme of things. By itself, it is dreadful, every bit of it. Taken alone, there are inherited characters played by actors who were accidents. There is an attempt to play with a formula that got worn out, so there is a hipster detective and a couple car chases. The "77 Sunset Strip" model is followed here, I think because the original series competed with it (and its ilk). The formula that worked before was scrambled here, but in the later episodes of this second time around, they got better as they went back to basics.

The thing is worth considering because of the stage of evolution it represents.

The detective story was a great invention, a big step forward in narrative types. It was followed by the mystery novel, where the reader and writer engaged in a tussle for control, sometimes (in the later form) complicated by a detective who has as much control as the writer. This was high art, in fact still is in some form in literature.

Film picked it up and evolved the noir form, perhaps the greatest American invention.

In written fiction, the standard model is based on the reader trying to determine the murderer by assembling causal dynamics. Erle Stanley Gardner changed the formula in a clever way. He wrote tons of Perry Mason stories from his "fiction factory," using a very strict formula. In his stories, it is impossible to guess the murderer (or sometimes two) by understanding cause. Instead, you eliminated all that could have done it, because the solution is the least likely. Gardner in his day was the most popular author in the English language.

So while film took the mystery form and evolved it into noir in amazing variety, TeeVee picked up this strange deadend on the evolutionary tree. The stories were imported wholesale, with the characters modified significantly. Perry was less a playboy and Della was not his lover. No big deal. I think the long run of this show established the form of the detective story we have today when it is distinct from noir: viewers don't want to work at figuring things out. They just want to collect all the pieces as the movie proceeds and see how they assemble at the end, the assembly done for them.

When Perry went off the air, it was a sad end to the more pure negated form (negated because of that "least likely" business). So when he came back with this relatively long form, it was hugely anticipated. I recall this. And I recall how we celebrated the show and its successors, not because they were good but merely because they existed. Again. This negated the negation of the negated form.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.