The Case of the Curious Bride

There seems to be a wide divergence of opinion on the quality or otherwise of this one, whether it's poor and dull or witty and fast. I plump for the latter, even though Warners' portrayal of the lawyer left something to be desired, turning him into potentially yet another run of the mill private eye for the b market. But the production values in this were pretty high and it was directed by Michael Curtiz with panache.

Woman comes to Perry Mason played again by William Warren for help because her first husband she thought dead has come back to shake her and her new rich husband down. Her first husband gets his instead, from then on the game is on to find whodunit and why, with some witty if sometimes improbable plot twists along the way. From the outset with Perry and his laconic coroner friend buying lobsters for the creation of a new gastronomic sensation to Errol Flynn's flashback appearance it carries you along on a tide of incessant lighthearted repartee and swift soft focus fade out's and in's. Typecast Allen Jenkins plays Perry's helper the brash and loyal Spudsy in what must be one of his finest performances ever, he weaves in and out of the story as a perfect counterpoint to his boss. Favourite bits: The all-too-short scenes in Luigi's restaurant on that "nutty night"; Perry and the coroner's continual smart ass one liners; the cosy relationship depicted between Perry and the newspaper men; Jenkins getting knocked out by the 2nd husband; Flynn's bit.

It should be a great watch for fans of b&w 30's detective films (and maybe screwball comedies too), I certainly have always enjoyed this 2nd entry in the series. But not to be taken too seriously.

... since the premise of the crime does not make sense, and the behavior of both Perry (William) and the DA are outright illegal and unethical. (Sometimes one is not necessarily the other).

Rhoda Montagne (Margaret Lindsay), recently married to the wealthy Carl Montagne (Donald Woods), is allegedly "curious" if a particular person is alive. Except she isn't curious when she calls Perry and does the obvious old "a friend of mine wants to know" routine. Her allegedly dead husband has returned from the grave and has been bothering her for lots of money or he threatens the scandal of bigamy. Now this guy's racket makes no sense. He marries women, fakes his own death, and waits for them to marry rich men and then pulls the bigamy routine? How does he know, during the Great Depression, that any of them will marry a rich guy? This is a scam that might never pay off.

Well Rhoda's not dead husband turns up dead again - this time for real - stabbed in his apartment. Rhoda is arrested for the crime. But even her arrest is full of hijinks. Perry first hides the suspect then turns her over to be "arrested by the press", who then don't have to turn her over until they finish their interview? The police and DA work to hide Rhoda from her attorney, Perry, in spite of a habeas corpus order UNTIL they get a confession. Law & Order prosecutor Jack McCoy would shake his head and knock all of their heads together Three Stooges style.

And yet it works. Because the mystery of who actually did do it is a pretty good yarn. Because Warren William as the always suave never mussed never plussed attorney moves gracefully through his paces. Because Allan Jenkins as Perry's ever loyal muscle is a not very bright yet humorous delight. And because of the coroner who loves his work - "I'll be seeing you" - is always his greeting to everybody.

A couple of surprises - Margaret Lindsay and Donald Woods were paired several times because they had some chemistry together. But this time the wooden Donald Woods uses his stiffness to surprise you with the outcome. Also, speaking of stiffs, Errol Flynn is mute in a bit part as the murdered man. Did director Michael Curtiz, who directed Flynn in a total of twelve films, look under the sheet and say "kid, you've got something"?.

Second in the Perry Mason film series starring Warren William as the famed lawyer/detective. It's arguably the best in the series. This time around Perry is asked for help by an old flame and winds up investigating her estranged husband's murder. Fun entry with a weird thread involving Perry's cooking hobby. William is having fun as he usually seemed to be. Allen Jenkins is a hoot as Perry's sidekick. Claire Dodd is an enjoyable Della Street. Errol Flynn has a "blink and you'll miss him" appearance in a flashback. This was his inauspicious feature film debut. One of Humphrey Bogart's wives, Mayo Methot, has a small part. The rest of the fine cast includes the always lovely Margaret Lindsay, the always bland Donald Woods, and the always grumpy Barton MacLane. It's a good-looking film, attractively photographed by David Abel with nice direction from the great Michael Curtiz, who would go on to much bigger and better films, including many starring Flynn.

Warren William reprises his role as Perry Mason for the second time in The Case of the Curious Bride. This time around Perry must deal with a woman - a young girl that was acquainted with Perry Mason when a child - who wants to marry but has a husband alive now that was supposedly dead four years ago. Just as in the first Mason mystery, we get a pretty taut mystery with lots of red herrings and some fine character performances. This film though is much more fun than The Case of the Howling Dog for two very important reasons: 1)Michael Curtiz(director of films like Casablanca) directs this go round and makes some vast improvements on directorial style, acting changes, and redesigning William's portrayal of Mason. In the first film Warren William was almost stuffy and starch collared, but here William is having a whole lot of fun(very much like his Philo Vance). He is a gourmet chef, a womanizer, a one-of-the-boys, and a witty talker. Curtiz really lets William open up; I am sure to the chagrin of author Erle Stanley Gardner for the even bigger departure from his character's real persona. Nonetheless, Warren William makes this picture work and gets help from Margaret Lindsay as the woman in peril, Claire Dodd as his Friday/Juliet Della Street, and Allen Jenkins in for comic relief as Spudsy Drake. Errol Flynn does have a BRIEF role as the dead man - only really gets to act BRIEFLY in a flashback scene. My favorite character is the mortician friend of Mason's named Wilbur Strong and played by screen stalwart character actor Olin Howard. He is very funny and reprises his role in the next Mason film The Case of the Lucky Legs. Of the four Mason films starring Warren William as the pragmatic Perry Mason, The Case of the Curious Bride is the best in my opinion.

Of all the "Perry Mason" films of the 1930's (there were six films, produced from 1934 to 1937), this one has to be the best. -- At least, it's MY favorite.

Warren William, who played Mason in more of these films than anyone else, elevates this short murder mystery from programmer to an 'almost-A' feature.

Claire Dodd, as Della Street, is little more than window dressing, as were all of the "Della's" in these early Warners' Perry Mason films. Allen Jenkins gives one of his standard (but good) blustery performances as Mason's side-kick, Paul Drake (called "Spuds" Drake in this film, and a complete opposite of TV's dapper Paul Drake, played by William Hopper). The best supporting role was that of Olin Howard as the coroner, who is also Perry's good buddy, and frequent dining partner. The veteran character actress, Margaret Lindsay is the "Curious Bride" of the title.

The real surprise (the first time I saw this) was seeing Errol Flynn doing a "bit" part in a flashback sequence at the end of the film. Flynn has a non-speaking part as Margaret Lindsay's first husband. This flashback scene is narrated by the Curious Bride's current husband, played by Donald Woods (who would later play Perry Mason in another of these Warner Brothers efforts, though not anywhere as entertainingly as Warren William).

The use of soft-focus fades for every scene change, at first seems to help move the story, but can also be a bit irritating.-- Overall though, this is a well photographed film, --both the nicely composed interiors, and the outdoor urban location shots of 1935 San Francisco (although the Mason stories are mostly based in L.A.).

Directed by Michael Curtiz, this swift-moving murder mystery has the feel of many of Curtiz's bigger-budgeted Warner films, and is easily the best of the Mason series. At the same time, it is not too unlike the other 5 Mason films that Warners produced.

Unfortunately, Warren William could not play Mason in all of these films, but overlooking that fact, all six of the Warners "Perry Mason" films, including "The Case of the Stuttering Bishop", "The Case of the Velvet Claws," and "The Case of the Lucky Legs" are very faithful to the source material, and all are entertainingly done.

By the way-- because all of these films were adapted from original Earl Stanley Gardner stories, all of these titles showed up in the 1950's, produced as episodes in Raymond Burr's "Perry Mason" TV series. It's very interesting to see the different treatment these stories were given on TV.

--D.--