Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake (TV 1988)

A tennis player is accused to having killed his wife, a rich heiress. The facts are against him as he was seen in the arms of his former girlfriend in the night before the murder. This is a case for Perry Mason.

Director:

Ron Satlof

Writers:

Shel Willens, Erle Stanley Gardner (characters creator)

Stars:

Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, William Katt

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Raymond Burr	...	Perry Mason
Barbara Hale	...	Della Street
William Katt	...	Paul Drake Jr.
David Hasselhoff	...	Billy Travis
John Beck	...	Doug Vickers
Doran Clark	...	Sara Wingate-Travis
George DelHoyo	...	Frank Travis (as George Deloy)
John Ireland	...	Walter
Liane Langland	...	Lisa Blake
Darrell Larson	...	Skip Wingate
Audra Lindley	...	Mrs. Chaney
David Ogden Stiers	...	D.A. Michael Reston
Terrence Evans	...	Sheriff Ed Prine (as Terrance Evans)
Richard Jury	...	Hans (as Ric Jury)
Nadya Starr	...	Polly Neff

Storyline

A tennis player is accused to having killed his wife, a rich heiress. The facts are against him as he was seen in the arms of his former girlfriend in the night before the assessination. This is a case for Perry Mason.

---

Plot Keywords:

perry mason | courtroom | kicked in the balls | sequel | fighting women | 

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 May 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Perry Mason - Die Tote im See

Filming Locations:

Denver, Colorado, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dean Hargrove Productions, Fred Silverman Company, Strathmore Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

William Katt's final appearance as Drake.

---

Connections

Followed by Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer (1990)

User Reviews

The Drowned Wife

Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake finds America's most formidable defense attorney taking on David Hasselhoff as a client who is being accused of the murder of his wife. Hasselhoff is a retired tennis player now just hanging on in the tennis circles and is thought to have just married wife Doran Clark for her money. Everyone that is but family attorney John Ireland who retains Perry on behalf of Hasselhoff.

There's another part to this story, when they were teenagers Clark and her sister were kidnapped and thrown in the lake by the suspect just before a shootout with the local sheriff and his posse. The suspect was killed, the sister drowned and her body never recovered, and Clark was traumatized. It took her years to resume a normal life. And now her body is thought to be in the same lake.

The cases are indeed connected in a complicated scheme worked out by the murderer and an accomplice. The ending is a bit of a variation on the Perry Mason format. But Mason fans can rest assured that Hasselhoff didn't kill his wife. Perry just doesn't defend the guilty.

With an intricate twist in the plot and outcome, The Case of the Lady in the Lake is one of the better Mason films. Good, but don't expect Raymond Chandler either.