Perry Mason - L'affaire de l'amour perdu

Raymond Burr congratulates Jean Simmons. She is about to be appointed a senator to fill a vacancy. However, a private detective tells her husband, Gene Barry, that unless he gets $30,000, he'll release proof that Miss Simmons had spent time in a mental institution a few years earlier. When the detective is found dead, and Mr. Barry's cigarette case and fingerprints are found in his room, Barry is on trial for murder. Good thing Perry Mason is a family friend. His clients are rendered innocent by his presence on a case, and random strangers confess in the courtroom.

It's the fourth TV movie that Raymond Burr starred in, reviving his handling of Erle Stanley Gardner's lawyer-sleuth from the classic TV show. He's still aided by Barbara Hale as Della Street, and there's some catty remarks between the two ladies. Donald Ogden Stiers plays the self-assured ADA who will get his surprise drubbing in court. The mystery is a good one and it's a pleasure to see these old pros going through their numbers.

When a long time Senator dies, the race is open for a replacement to finish his term. Favourite for the job is corporate lawyer Laura Robertson (an old flame of Perry Mason's). However a few weeks before the announcements, Laura's husband Glenn is called to a mysterious meeting by Luke Dickson, who is asking for $50k to conceal evidence of Laura's treatment for mental problems. When Luke Dickson is found dead, Glenn is arrested and Laura employs Mason to help defend him. Meanwhile Paul Drake's investigation into Dickson is hampered by the interference of a mysterious man.

Although this film sticks to the usual formula for the Mason movies, it is easily one of the better films mainly because it tries to go for a better plot and characterisation than the other ones. Here there is a certain amount of solid subplot as Mason and Laura clearly are still affectionate while Glenn is openly hostile about Perry's reintroduction into their lives (or rather her life). This is well played out without being more than a subplot and it adds a layer to the usual fare of Mason and Drake's investigation. Those who have a strong dislike of the usual Mason plotting will not be won over by this, but it is better than usual. Drake's side of things is not as clear as it could have been but still serves to lift the pace of the film somewhat (but attempts to give him a bit of relationship back story are strangely misjudged).

Burr is good and clearly rises to the opportunity to a bit more actual acting than he usually gets to do with Mason (most of the time he is simply do a character as opposed to emoting or anything). Barry is good and has a nice steady frostiness when with Burr; similarly the actress playing Laura has a nice chemistry with Burr - one thing I would like to have seen was more of Della (Hale) in order to see how she reacted to this new spark in his life, sadly the film doesn't go that far from the formula. A few familiar faces are in the support cast including a typical sleazy Banks and a quite amusing turn from Walden in the witness box. Stiers is on good form and is still one of the better DA's in the Mason series.

Overall I found this to be one of the best of the Mason films I have seen, even though it still uses the same formula. The relationship history between Mason and Laura creates a better story than usual and it raises the film a notch. Combine this with better than usual acting and an ending that actually is quite good (as opposed to `oh, it's so-and-so' coming out of nowhere) and you have a Mason film that may not be a great movie but certainly is one of the best of the Mason series.

When watching it, The Case of the Lost Love felt like two movies spliced together in alternating scenes. One movie stars Jean Simmons as a beautiful, classy politician, up for a Senate seat after her predecessor's sudden death. Before her appointment, secrets in her past threaten to catch up with her. This movie is interesting. The second movie is a cheesy, poorly acted, cringe-worthy television crime drama. That movie, the Perry Mason part, is pretty lousy.

I've never seen a Perry Mason TV movie, so maybe they're not all this bad, but if Jean Simmons hadn't been in this movie, I would have turned it off. As it was, I'd frequently walk out of the room for bathroom or snack breaks during the Perry Mason scenes, without bothering to press pause. If you actually happen to like his series, you'll probably like this one. But if you're just looking for an interesting crime/detective show, you have dozens of other shows to choose from. My favorite is Agatha Christie's Poirot. And if you're in the mood to watch a Jean Simmons thriller, try Angel Face instead.

In The Case Of The Lost Love we find that Perry Mason indeed had an old flame, another attorney in the person of Jean Simmons. Simmons has become quite successful and is even now having her name bandied about with speculation she might get a temporary U.S. Senate appointment from the governor.

But the publicity surrounding her appointment has led a blackmailing private detective, Jonathan Banks, to demand some hush money. It seems like he stole her medical records from years earlier when she was in a mental facility. Stuff like that is what got Thomas Eagleton tossed off the Democratic ticket in 1972.

When husband Gene Barry goes to meet Banks with a pre-arranged rendezvous he finds Banks dead and no incriminating medical records. When Barry is arrested for the homicide, it's Perry who offers to defend the husband of his old flame.

There are quite a few of the usual red herring suspects, but the ending is a twist that might surprise viewers who expect things to go a certain way in a Perry Mason story.

The Case of the Lost Love is one of the most original and best of the Perry Mason films. Helped in no small part with the presence of Jean Simmons who back in the day seemed like she was in every good movie of the 1950s.

She's reason enough to see The Case of the Lost Love.

Although this movie manages to hold the interest up to the -unexpected, it is the truth-finale, I would not recommend it. The reason is that it is a 'conservative' and very typical film, made for the taste of the ordinary American TV spectator, which presents an unimportant mixture between police adventures and court dramas.