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Warren William is a heavy-drinking Perry Mason in this highly entertaining outing. Della Street is given wit, beauty, and a touch of pathos by the underrated Genevieve Tobin. The rest of the cast is superb, with no exceptions.

For a movie that came out after the Code, it is quite racy. The title refers to a contest in which ladies do not show their faces but compete as to the most beautiful stems. And what a group we see! Lyle Talbot was a decent leading man during this period. He was nice looking. It's always hard for me not to think of his Ed Wood performances when I see him in these early movies, though.

Erle Stanley Gardner oversaw the TV series "Perry Mason," including picking the Perry - so you can see the difference between that series and a Mason movie like "The Case of the Lucky Legs." Warren William is Mason, and his Mason is 180 degrees different from his first, more serious Mason portrayal in "The Case of the Howling Dog." Here, he's extremely flippant, he and Delta flirt constantly, and it's all a game to him in between drinks. In the first entry into the series, he has a huge office with lots of associates; here, he's a one-man office as in the books.

William's Mason has nothing to do with the Erle Stanley Gardner's passionate Perry Mason of the Depression, or the steady, solid Perry of later on, but he's still wonderful - handsome, charming, debonair, and very funny. He's definitely a guilty pleasure, even though I know how much Gardner hated these films.

At least in title, this is an actual Perry Mason story, and it's a good one.

Warren William played heavies in silent films and emerged in talkies as a leading man. He had a great persona.

Very entertaining.

Entertaining as a screwball comedy, but hardly the kind of mystery and suspense one expects from a Perry Mason story.

From the very opening scene, the entire story is played for comedy. A criminal cheats prize winning woman out of their contest money and is soon murdered. It's up to Mason to figure out who committed the crime and why.

Since the murdered man was killed with a surgical knife, we can suspect LYLE TALBOT for awhile since he plays a doctor. PORTER HALL is the man who contacts Mason and asks him to investigate the man who has run off with the prize money. PATRICIA ELLIS is the pretty blonde contest winner who wants Mason to find the crooked contest sponsor (CRAIG REYNOLDS).

GENEVIEVE TOBIN is Della Street, batting her eyes at everyone as the plays a mischievous secretary with tongue-in-cheek humor. A sample of the flippant dialog: (Mason to Lyle Talbot): "All alone in the bridal suite? You must love yourself." And later, after knocking him out briefly, "Bring yourself to life. You're a doctor."

Entertaining only as a comedy. The mystery is given short shrift.

One day in 1935, Erle Stanley Gardener wandered onto a Hollywood sound stage. "What's being filmed," he asked? "A new Perry Mason comedy," answered an underling who didn't recognize the author. "You can't be serious," shuddered Gardner "And neither is the movie," said the underling. "I mean there's one scene where a client comes in and finds Warren William as Perry Mason lying under his desk, sleeping off a hangover. The poor sap thinks it's a dead body." "Are the courtroom scenes at least serious," wondered Gardner. "There aren't any courtroom scenes," shot back the underling. "Mason solves the murder of a con artist while in his office, being x-rayed by a doctor who's as much as a nutcase as he is. But nobody really cares about who did it or why." Gardener could have filed an injunction since he was a lawyer-turned-author. Instead, he made plans for a Perry Mason TV series if and when television was ever invented. And "The Case of the Lucky Legs" opened in theaters and got quite a lot of laughs.

As one other reviewer noted, The Case of the Lucky Legs seems to be a bit more concerned with laughs than mystery. I concur. Mason is portrayed as a lush with tendencies to make a pass at virtually any woman he meets. His assistant Spudsy Drake played by Allen Jenkins almost borders on farce at times as he tries to pick a fight in an airport and has things thrown at him by his wife. These are just two scenes where director Archie Mayo goes for much more broader humour than seen in the first two Mason films in the series. Perry gets sick on a flight, passes a cold to everyone he meets, and does his final summation in his offices to a slew of people while being given a physical as well. These comedic touches don't really detract from the film and make it a pretty entertaining film when added to the mystery - a lesser one than previously used in the two earler mason films. This time Perry must try and a help a Colonel Bradbury and the winner of a legs contest who have been swindled and duped by a conman who takes a powder after the contest with all the loot from the contest. Mason keeps mixing Bradbury's name throughout the whole film after meeting him from his floor bed in his office after a late night bender. Warren William again is the epitome of suave wit and charm releasing one-liners with great accuracy. His performance and, I might add, his worth as an actor, greatly aid this film and the other three he starred in as the lawyer Perry Mason. For the third film we have a third actress playing Della Street(Genevieve Tobin). She oozes witty charm and fits William's style almost perfectly. Jenkins, Barton Maclane, and Olin Howard reprise their roles for this third installment. Humdrum Lyle Talbot has the leading man role in the mystery as the love interest of the contest winner, played by a gorgeous Patricia Ellis. She has a fine set of attributes - nice legs too! Character actor Porter Hall plays Colonel Bradbury with some nice subtle comedic touches. This is a very entertaining film as really are all of the four films in the series starring William.

THE CASE OF THE LUCKY LEGS (1935) is a delightful entry into the Warren William "Perry Mason" series. It's a breezy murder-mystery that's full of silliness. William is great as the unorthodox attorney and Genevieve Tobin is simply wonderful as his trusty secretary Della Street.

William brings levity to the Perry Mason character, pulling the strings and solving the case while having a blast. Tobin is a comedic revelation in her turn as Della Street. Her performance is flirty and witty and daffy and hilarious as she handles Mason's office while he's away. Tobin is a great comedienne, and lovely, too. (She calls to mind that other great comedienne, Joan Blondell. Something around the eyes, I think.) Each "Perry Mason" film brought a new actress to play Della Street opposite Warren William, but Tobin really makes an impression in this entry.

The mystery starts with a "Lucky Legs" competition racket and soon involves a murder and several suspects. Pretty young Warner Bros. contract player Patricia Ellis plays the latest winner of the "nicest legs" scam, who (along with doctor boyfriend Lyle Talbot) might be the murderer in question. Perry Mason is on the case, along with his associate on the street, Spudsy (Allen Jenkins). The supporting cast also includes familiar faces like Porter Hall, Olin Howland, Barton MacLane, and Henry O'Neill.

With the plot built around a "nicest legs" competition, you can bet there'll be a lot of gams on display and Warner Bros. does not disappoint. The opening scene at the Lucky Legs finals features a parade of anonymous shapely limbs. Perry Mason is even shown Ellis's neck-down contest submission photo, allowing him to later identify the girl by her $1000 legs.

THE CASE OF THE LUCKY LEGS is a quick murder-mystery programmer, but the writing and the performances are so much fun that I couldn't help but give the movie a 7/10.

Something is fishy about the "lucky legs" contest at the big department store—in fact, the winner was cheated out of her prize money by the sponsoring hosiery company. The store owner enlists Perry Mason's help.

Our first glimpse of Mason is a good indication of this picture's level of seriousness: he's asleep on his office floor, and when awakened turns out to be rather hung over, in a goofy mood—but quite sharp enough to efficiently gather some details about the new case.

Or course it soon becomes a murder case involving multiple suspects and featuring assistance from Mason's secretary Della Street (Genevieve Tobin) and his associate Spudsy (Allen Jenkins).

Warren William talks fast and appears to be having fun in what must be one of his sillier performances. Tobin is very funny as Della, delivering one coy look and sly smirk after another. Jenkins is right at home in this kind of a picture—his comical sour looks and unheeded protests are perfect foils to Tobin's and William's breeziness.

The solid cast also includes Lyle Talbot as a handsome young doctor who gets mad at his girlfriend for immodestly entering (and winning) the legs contest, and Patricia Ellis as said girlfriend who tells him off, at least temporarily.

The emphasis is on humor more than on mystery or suspense, so the snappy dialog stands out a lot more than the plot. It goes by awfully fast, it's frequently hilarious, and if you can't really remember who did it five minutes after it's over—well, that wasn't really the point, anyway.

... because in "Case of the Howling Dog" we have dead serious Perry Mason, then in "Case of the Curious Bride" we have an epicure, but here we have a rather dissolute happy go lucky Perry and Della for that matter. The script seems like it was written for the manic Marx Brothers, not debonair and wily Warren William.

The case is about the murder of a man who financially backs "lucky legs" contests - where girls are judged on their legs only - and then he makes off with the prize money. At least one prizewinner has caught up to the guy, but police suspicion falls on current winner Margie Clue (Patricia Ellis) for reasons that don't make much sense. Also, Perry's actual client is Colonel Bradbury, the guy who held the Lucky Legs contest and so was bilked by the murdered man too. But Perry seems to forget all about that client and just stops representing him in midstream and starts representing Margie, all the while drinking and laughing his way through the case which is actually not that interesting.

I love Warren William in anything he does, but the script and the characterization are beneath him. Without him this film would barely rate a five out of ten.

When I sat down to watch this I thought, another Perry Mason movie. I have always loved Perry Mason but this is the best damn one you will ever see.

As well as having a great plot and whodunnit side to it, it has got to be the funniest movie you are ever likely to see. A classic scene arises at the end of the movie when Perry has gathered everyone together to announce the killer, at the same time that the doctor is giving him a physical.

If you are into comedy/whodunnit movies then I highly recommend this one.

Raymond Burr's Perry Mason of the fifties practically defined the law to a whole generation of boomers. Words like incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial were on the lips of kids of all ages. Burr made defense attorney the highest calling imaginable.

The thirties version is different. it's entertaining, but in a light comic way reminiscent of the Thin Man series. Warrem Williams plays for laughs and like the thin man is often drinking. The pace is snappy and keeps the interest from flagging. You won't be bored, but don't expect anything like the classic TV series.

Missing here - believe it or not there's no courtroom drama, not even a surprise confession from the character you hardly noticed until Mason started his penetrating questions. There are no penetrating questions for that matter. Paul Drake is "Spudsy" Drake and, like his name, inserted for comic effect. The cops are more keystone and there is no Hamilton Berger D.A.

On the whole OK, but more interesting as a comparison that shows what the 50's television series achieved and what changes made it possible.

Reading other reviews, I think I approached this with an advantage: I have never seen any other Perry Mason films, I've never heard of the TV series and have no idea who Raymond Burr was. I therefore don't have anything to compare it with. To me, this was simply another fun William Warren film with the added benefit of featuring lovely Genevieve Tobin. Viewed in that context, it's a reasonably entertaining thirties style comedy.

As is often seen in cheap 1930s comedies, the supporting cast are pretty one-dimensional giving performances with levels of enthusiasm commensurate with doing the ironing. They certainly wouldn't win any acting awards but that doesn't really matter. You don't actually have time to notice this because everything happens just so fast - very fast. Director Archie Mayo, who wasn't one for style or innovation at the best of times seems to either have been in a hurry or was trying to win a bet to see how quickly he could make a picture.

Warren William alone carries this. He is at his suave, sophisticated best playing a sort of Sherlock Holmes on speed. He is clearly loving this opportunity to outBarrymore Barrymore and his enthusiasm is infectious and engaging making this real fun to watch. The other person actually acting is Genevieve Tobin who is playing Joan Blondell. Although her character doesn't have much depth, she makes the most of what she's given and is honestly as good as the real Joan Blondell.

Overall, this is harmless nonsense but made fun by Warren Williams' crazy performance and Joan Blondell's, sorry, Genevieve Tobin's radiant presence.

Gosh, where to start. The name Perry Mason has a cachet about it, derived in part from the 50's TV series and from the books written by Erle Stanley Gardner. I wonder what Mr. Gardner would have thought about how Hollywood wrecked one of his best-sellers with the god-awful treatment found in "The Case Of The Lucky Legs".

It is presented as a comedy-mystery, accent on the comedy angle. Did audiences find this stuff funny in the mid-30's? Did they notice the many loopholes in the plot left unresolved? More importantly, did Archie Mayo, a veteran Hollywood director, mail this one in? read some other reviews for a plot rundown, but there is very little to recommend this picture to unsuspecting viewers, save for Genevieve Tobin, who plays Della Street. She, at least, emerges with her dignity intact. This picture is illogical, the plot far-fetched and as funny as a funeral cortege.

In the third Perry Mason movie starring Warren William, Frank Reynolds is running a contest in which the girl with the best legs wins $1000. Patricia Ellis scoops the prize, but Reynolds skips town before paying her -- he's done this before. William sends Allen Jenkins to find Reynolds, which he does quickly. Unfortunately, Reynolds is dead with a pair of scissors stuck in him.

There's a lot of comedy in this short, with Genevieve Tobin as a saucy Della Street, as well as the usual assortment of actors available to Warner Brothers' programmers: Barton Maclane, Lyle Talbot, Porter Hall and Bud Jamison show up, as they have in previous entries, often playing totally different roles. A nicely tangled mystery under the direction of Archie Mayo, this 77-minute movie is fast moving and a fine little time waster.

Perry Mason (Warren William) is hired to locate the organizer of a crooked beauty contest and finds the man murdered. The contest winner is the prime suspect but, of course, she's innocent and it's up to Perry to prove it by finding the real killer.

The third Perry Mason movie from Warner Bros. starring Warren William. If you're new to the series and only know Perry Mason from the TV show, expect to be surprised and possibly disappointed. This Perry is nothing like Raymond Burr's version. He's less a lawyer than a private detective. Essentially this is Warren William playing the same character type he'd play in several different detective roles -- cocky, funny, tough, and a little flirty. This particular film's Perry owes a lot to another famous detective with a penchant for boozing -- Nick Charles. Genevieve Tobin is fun as Della Street. Good supporting cast includes Allen Jenkins, Barton MacLane, Lyle Talbot, and Porter Hall. Lovely Patricia Ellis plays the winner of the "best legs" contest. She was a deserving winner and quite the cutie. Speaking of cuties, how about a young Mary Treen as Jenkins' wife? Mary made her career as a character actress playing plain Jane types but here in this early role I think she was very pretty.

It's enjoyable enough for a B detective film. Nothing particularly unique but entertaining in its way. If you're a Perry Mason buff you might be put off by the portrayal of Perry but I didn't mind it. As I said before, William has played this type of character in other films. But if it works, keep doing it.

A wonderful version of Perry Mason. Warren William is the perfect shyster, affiable, witty, lovable, funny and willing to bend the law a little for his client while skewering his adversaries. The dialog is great and pace never lags. A very good mystery with a great 30s setting. I wish WW had played Perry in a dozen of these Gardner stories.

The film begins with a "nice legs" contest. But when the winner is announced, the organizers tell her that she should come back in the morning to get her winning check. Of course, when she returns, the crooks have made off with the sponsors' money. Later, when the crook is killed, the police think that this lady is the perpetrator. This is odd, however, as this jerk has done this scam repeatedly and MANY possible ladies could have done it.

The police in this Perry Mason B-movie are stupider and more unscrupulous than normal for the genre. First, they want to arrest Mason, though there's no indication he did anything wrong. Second, they listen in on phone calls from Mason's clients to his office--a serious violation of the law. These cops are beyond stupid--they are criminal in their behaviors!

Now if the cops don't behave like cops, it's much worse when it comes to Mason. He behaves nothing like an attorney and especially nothing like the TV version or the guy from the first Perry Mason movie (THE CASE OF THE HOWLING DOG). Here, he's a heavy drinker, punches people, makes lewd comments and is constantly laughing while he investigates crimes. In many ways, he's pretty much like any other B-movie detective, but remember, Mason is NOT a detective but a defense attorney! None of this makes any sense and the films, too often, are played for comedic value. This is just wrong for the type films these are supposed to be. As a result, the film (and most of the Warren William versions of Perry Mason) is a big disappointment.

By the way, look for Allen Jenkins as Mason's assistant. Ironically, in THE CASE OF THE HOWLING DOG, Jenkins played the cop investigating the murder.

I wonder what the younger audiences thought who saw the first Perry Mason movies in the 1930s, and then saw the Perry Mason TV series that began in 1957. Were they disappointed by the changed character and his venue? As some people seem to be today with the earlier films – those being people who grew up on the TV series that starred Raymond Burr. A number of other viewers have related that author Erle Stanley Gardner didn't like the direction, scripts and characters of his first books put on film. And this one, "The Case of the Lucky Legs," got his ire up the most. Supposedly, that led to his eventual efforts to serialize his stories on TV.

So, now we're stuck watching with the audience of 1935 this third film about Perry Mason, and the third starring Warren William. We've already seen considerable changes in character and his venue in these three films. He started off with a big office, law partners and his own investigative staff. In Lucky Legs, he's almost down and out, and a one-man show, but with sidekicks and friends.

This third film is the weakest of the mystery genre, mostly because the mystery is almost lost in the comedy. Indeed, there's so much comedy here, that the mystery is clearly an adjunct to the comedy with all its antics, witty exchanges and hilarious scenes. On second thought, the comedy may well have been invited because the mystery in this film is not that good or complicated. Plus, Warner Brothers had seen by then the success that MGM had with "The Thin Man," and how audiences loved the comedy of the Nick and Nora Charles mystery.

This film opens with a changed Perry from the earlier two films. He's a boozer whose health is in jeopardy. So, his friend, a doctor down the hall (played wonderfully by Olin Howland) prescribes rest and puts him on a heavy liquid diet that excludes anything alcoholic. Perry asks, "Are there any other liquids?" Della (played to maximum hilarity by Genevieve Tobin) replies, "Milk." Perry says, "Milk. You mean that unpalatable by-product of the cow?" Doctor Croker (Olin Howland) says, "Exactly! No excitement whatsoever, and no stimulants." Perry: "Did you get that, Miss Street? No stimulants and no excitement. I'll have to get rid of you." Della: "Thank you, you flatterer."

This film in places borders both on slapstick and on screwball comedy. It doesn't quite get there for either sub-genre, but the result is a mix of all types of humor with nice doses of slapstick and screwball throughout. Perry is at his height here for flirting and womanizing, but this is done only by insinuation and suggestion.

I rate this film a notch lower than the first two of the series because I think it loses its mystery appeal. To the point that the comedy almost dismisses the crime of murder. But, as a very good comedy, this film stands on its own. Here are some snippets of dialog to tickle one's funny bone.

District Attorney: "Bizzy, why do your men always arrive at the scene of a crime just after Mason?" Police Chief: "Well, I suppose it's because before they decide to a commit a murder, they hire Perry Mason to defend 'em."

Police Sergeant: "Who was that on the phone?" Della: "The garbage man. I told him to send up enough for four."

Airport steward: "I dropped him in a bus for the Lakeview Hotel." Perry: "You haven't got a lake here, have you?" Steward: "No, but the hotel has beds for you lie down on." Perry: "That's a very clever remark." One can see that the other two men are almost cracking up – which leads me to think that there may well have been some impromptu lines at times – especially from Warren William, that the director kept in the film. One has to love and laugh at exchanges like this. A Lakeview Hotel, but no lake. And that's OK because the hotel still has beds.

In a scene toward the end, Della is exhausted and is lying on the office sofa with her head turned toward the sofa back. Perry unlocks his back door and enters the room. Without turning her head to look at Perry, Della says, "Come right in and sit down, please. If you're looking for Mr. Mason, I don't know when the gentleman will be back." Perry says, "The gentleman is here." Della replies, "Oh, ha, don't lie to me. You're no gentleman. You're Perry Mason."

Raymond Burr has indelibly etched a conception of Perry Mason on our minds that is not easily overcome. In fact Erle Stanley Gardner himself said that Burr fit perfectly what he thought his fictional lawyer/sleuth should be.

God only knows what he thought of Warren William in this particular film where Mason is quite the party animal, usually partying with Della Street played here by Genevieve Tobin. When we meet him he's in his office sleeping one off when Porter Hall arrives looking to hire him.

Hall wants Craig Reynolds the sponsor of the Lucky Legs beauty contest investigated. The woman Hall has been seeing Patricia Ellis was the winner of the latest contest so there's a personal angle here. Later on Reynolds is found stabbed to death.

I'm wondering if Jack Warner didn't get permission from Louis B. Mayer for a lease on Nick and Nora Charles. A few more wisecracks and a wider suspect list this one plays like a Thin Man movie.

And one other thing happens here that definitely not in keeping with an Erle Stanley Gardner paradigm. But if I say everything will be revealed.

Fans of the principal players should be pleased.

The Perry Mason series of mysteries from the 1930s are some of the best mysteries one could watch. One needs to pay attention to details throughout the film to follow the twists in the plot. The movies closely follow the Erle Stanley Gardner mystery novels on which they are based. The Case of the Lucky Legs holds one's interest from beginning to end as Perry Mason cleverly addresses the case of a murder committed by someone involved in a beauty contest in which girls are judged solely on the looks of their legs. Warren William is a pleasure to watch as Perry Mason, and Genevieve Tobin expertly plays Perry's faithful, flirty and efficient secretary, Della Street. The witty repartee between Perry Mason and Della Street is similar to the banter between Nick and Nora Charles in the Thin Man series. There are so many wisecracks and humor in this offering, the movie is categorized equally as a comedy as well as a mystery. If you are a fan of old, intriguing mysteries, you won't be disappointed with this gem.

A beauty pageant operator swindles the winners, but ends up on the wrong end of a knife. So who did it.

It's madcap sleuthing with Williams' Perry Mason going about 80-miles per hour and no Stop signs in sight. His Mason's never at a loss for a snappy line, at the same time the dialog crackles forth like machine gun fire. What can you say about a lawyer who sleeps on the floor with a whiskey bottle for company. It's sure not TV's favorite straight-arrow attorney. Then there's girl Friday, Della Street (Tobin), who's about as demure as a hash-house waitress slinging her own one-liners. No, this is definitely not Raymond Burr's Perry Mason. In fact, it's hard to believe the two versions are supposed to be the same character.

Maybe you can follow the whodunit. I couldn't, but that's beside the point anyway. It's really a Warren William showcase. The plot's just something to hang the actor's hat on. And catch the mystery's unraveling, including flashbacks for slow readers like me. It takes up about half the run-time. If there's a more swollen solution on record, I haven't seen it. Still, I really liked the first part, the one with one of the odder beauty contests on record. If it were me, I would have given a blue ribbon to all the lucky legs.

Anyhow, the film's sometimes fun, sometimes not. I get the feeling it too often tries too hard. All in all, the result is really a Warren William vehicle, again showing why he was such a commanding presence from that neglected decade.

Margie Florence Clune wins prettiest legs contest with a prize of $1k from Frank Patton, a hosiery company representative. Frank is actually a con-man and always skips town before paying out. Another winner from another town catches up to him but she is taken by him. Margie loses not only the money but also her disapproving boyfriend. Col. Bradbury hires Perry Mason (Warren William) to find Patton after sponsoring the contest. Margie is his employee and he likes her.

This is the third Perry Mason movie. This one seems to be pushing the franchise hard on the comedy side. It's definitely on the silly side starting with a legs contest. In a way, I'm glad that it's not actually funny or else it would come off as a spoof. I'm trying to stay with the murder mystery but one struggles to ignore the screwball comedy. This is all over the place.