Perry Mason Movie Collection, Volume 1

Almost 20 years after the end of the original Perry Mason TV show—based on the novels by Erle Stanley Gardner—Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale revived the characters of defense attorney Perry Mason and secretary Della Street in Perry Mason Returns, the first in a series of 26 TV movies made between 1985 and 1993. This boxed set collects the initial six telefilms, relaunching the character by having him step down from the bench (Mason became a judge in the intervening years) to defend Della from a murder charge (the guest victim here is Patrick O'Neal). William Katt completes the team as Paul Drake Jr., son of the former investigator played by William Hopper. The super-serious Perry still manages to find only innocent clients, whom he saves with courtroom theatrics and a witness-stand confession by the guilty party in the final act, but the movies tend to play more like Columbo or Murder, She Wrote with their meandering investigations and casts of old movie stars and contemporary TV celebrities. David Ogden Stiers takes over the Hamilton Burger role as District Attorney Michael Reston—the man who loses every case to Perry—in the second film, The Case of the Notorious Nun (with Timothy Bottoms). Burr, Hale, Katt, and Stiers continue on through the rest of the set: The Case of the Shooting Star (with Joe Penny and Ron Glass), The Case of the Lost Love (with Jean Simmons and Gene Barry), The Case of the Sinister Spirit (with Robert Stack and Kim Delaney), and The Case of the Murdered Madam (with Ann Jillian and Anthony Geary). Sinister Spirit is the standout here, a mystery about a murdered horror author in a haunted hotel that is rigged with practical jokes. Mostly of interest to nostalgic Perry Mason fans, this is a strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)