Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin

This babe has got to be the most appealing woman I have seen anywhere in a long time. I think she is just absolutely wonderful on the Matlock series. Thank goodness they are still running Matlock.. So wholesome, so exciting, such interesting stories.

David Katz is a world famous magician and he comes to Denver with his group to perform for a charity gala for disabled children. Also there is Perry and Della as all three are supporters of the charity. Kate Ford, an assistant with an arrogant attitude, tells David that she is, from now on, going to do an illusion in which an assistant is raised in a glass coffin only to disappear when the coffin is opened up in the air (while the assistant climbs out before the coffin is raised.) After a one night stand with David, Kate is pregnant and she blackmails David with this. David and his wife Judy can't have children so that comes as a double blow to them. However Kate, with her attitude, creates much hatred at her from the rest of the group. At the gala, the glass coffin is raised but when it opens Kate's dead body falls to the ground - strangled. While Perry and Della set out to try to find the killer, Ken and PI Terry Weidner set out to find out more about Kate but they discover that nobody in Kate's home town wants to talk about her for some reason...

Another top notch mystery that has Perry Mason defend an illusionist who is accused of murdering a rather horrid woman he impregnated- but there's plenty of people who had motive to do her in such as the magician's wife who overhears her with her husband, another assistant whose trick she takes, the prop guy she annoyed and a stage hand she nastily turned down when he asked her out, and another magician which accuses David of stealing his tricks.

It's an enjoyable mystery with a gripping courtroom scene with Perry Mason doing what he does best.

Nancy Lee Grahn tells magician Peter Scolari that unless he gives her the featured turn in his act, she'll tell his wife she's pregnant with his child. It's an elaborate trick, with her inside a glass coffin. When the coffin rises into the air and the lidis opened, she tumbles to her death; Scolari's "lucky wand" has jammed the escape mechanism and Scolari is on trial for First Degree Murder.

Fortunately, Scolari has his own escape mechanism in place with his friend Perry Mason (aka Raymond Burr) as his attorney. Perry and his associates, Barbara Hale and William Moses, make other suspects appear and, we are confident, the least likely one will confess on the stand.

It's always good to see Mr. Burr in his signature role, and there's a nicely tangled mystery to be unraveled. Unlike others in this series of TV movies, there aren't many well-known actors outside the trio: Mr. Scolari, Bob Gunton as the doomed Assistant District Attorney, Julie Sommars and Kate Vernon; although doubtless there are fans of many of the performers involved.

Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin finds Raymond Burr defending David Copperfield/Rick Blaine like magician Peter Scolari from a murder charge involving one of his assistants. A trick involving a suspended glass coffin in midair goes awry and the body of Nancy Grahn comes a tumbling out.

Nancy was one of six female assistants who work with the act and we learn two things about her. First in a moment of drunken weakness, Scolari got seduced by her and she claims she was impregnated. Secondly she is living under an assumed name and had a secret from her past.

Billy Moses who probably never thought he'd be doing such rough stuff back in law school gets to tangle with a couple of good old boys when goes seeking the truth in Grahn's home town. A little more action than usual for Ken Malansky, he almost gets himself killed.

One big flaw in this mystery is simple forensics. The medical examiner's report should have provided concrete evidence that the victim was killed in such a way that Scolari could not possibly have done the deed. The police should have been looking in a different direction for the killer.

When you see who the killer is you won't blame the individual, but you'll also see how the investigating officer James McEachin got it wrong from the start. It kind of spoils this particular Mason film.

David Katz is a famous stage magician who is putting on a charity show to benefit a children's charity supported by Perry Mason. On the day of the show one of his assistants, Kate Ford, tells him she is pregnant due to an affair they had, and tries to blackmail him. Later that night a trick appears to go wrong and Ford is killed and Katz arrested. Mason takes the case and tries to find out who else had a motive for murder. Meanwhile Ken Malansky travels out to Ford's hometown to get background information, only to find that some people want to cover something up.

If you've seen one of these things then you've seen them all. The legal realism of these shows are always very doubtful but the drama is still enjoyable. Here for example the whole court is moved to the scene of the crime for some reason or other! Mason does his usual ripping into the witness stuff which is good but can get a bit tiresome because you know that they're all red herrings and the real person is only really examined at the end. Ken's investigation is better than usual here and it does have a genuine feel of PI work as facts are uncovered which expose the truth. It's nothing special but enjoyable.

Burr, Hale and Moses are all very comfortable and don't try too hard. Moses loves his role as he gets to be an action hero and jump around despite his daft hair. The support cast all skulk around looking a little guilty in attempts to try and throw us all off the scent – they do alright. The usual `surprise face' in the Mason TVM's this time is Bob Gunton who does a good job as the Asst DA, but I always felt David Stiers was a better foil for Mason

Overall this is nothing special and is pretty basic when compared to much more sensational courtroom dramas.