The Case of the Curious Bride (1935)

Perry interrupts his vacation plans when an ex-girlfriend, now newly married, asks him to help her with murder and bigamy charges.

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 Montaine
Donald Woods	...	Carl Montaine
Claire Dodd	...	Della Street
Allen Jenkins	...	Spudsy Drake
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:

jail visitation | second part | wisecrack | perry mason character | della street character | 

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Taglines:

SHE WAS THE WIDOW OF A CIGAR STORE INDIAN UNTIL HER LAWYER WENT ON A WARPATH (Print Ad- Greenfield Recorder-Gazette, ((Greenfield, Mass)) 22 May 1935)

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

Unlike the novels and the Raymond Burr TV series, which used Los Angeles as a location and/or base, here Perry Mason's offices are in San Francisco.

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Goofs

When Mason walks into Moxley's house and walks up the stairs, there is a beautiful French window behind him, but when his car pulls away later, as seen from the outside, there is no matching french window.

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Quotes

Perry Mason: She's more of a legitimate fake than I thought she was.

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

Isle of Capri
(1934) (uncredited)
Music by Will Grosz
Played on a record at Mason's cocktail party

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

13 April 1935 (USA)

Also Known As:

Clue Club #4: The Case of the Curious Bride

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

First National Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1