The Case of the Velvet Claws

"The Case of the Velvet Claws," made in 1936, is a Perry Mason mystery that has Della and Perry as newlyweds starting off on their honeymoon. In the TV series, and even more in the TV movies later on, there was always that unspoken love between Della and Perry - and no one knew what went on after office hours. In real life, Erle Stanley Gardner married his secretary Jeanne right before he died, I suppose so she could inherit. So in some sense, the Perry-Della thing was modeled on his real life.

The two don't get to start their honeymoon because a woman (Wini Shaw) kidnaps Perry at gunpoint. She pays him $5000 to make sure a story about to be published in a tabloid about a politician doesn't come out - because it's about him and a woman, and she's the woman. Perry later finds out she's the wife of the owner of the paper! When the owner is found dead, Perry's own client blames him for the murder.

Warren William gives his usual lighthearted, devil my care performance. Even though his portrayal has nothing to do with Perry Mason, he's a riot. Instead of Paul Drake, he has some sort of an assistant named Spudsy Drake. The exotic-looking Winifred Shaw brings class and spark to her character. Who can forget her "Lullaby of Broadway" opening in "The Gold Diggers of 1935?" She had a very special quality. For some reason, her career died. Probably Warners failed to pick up her option in 1939. A shame.

I enjoy these films, but don't confuse them with Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason. He hated these movies.

As it turned out I happened to see the TV version that Raymond Burr did on his hour long Perry Mason show. Spoiled it a bit because I knew who did the deed. Still seeing the same story done by another actor as Mason was interesting. And was it ever different.

This one started with Warren William as Mason and Claire Dodd as Della Street invading Judge Clara Blandick's chambers and demanding to be married. The barest hint of a romance was present on the Mason television shows. But off Della and Perry go to the apartment and then the plan is for a honeymoon lodge in the country.

All that gets interrupted by Wini Shaw toting a gun and demanding to retain Warren William in a blackmail scheme against the publisher of a Confidential type magazine called Spicy Bits. What she doesn't tell him is that her husband is the secret owner of the rag and she's been stepping out on him with a candidate for office.

In a confrontation Shaw actually believes she shot her husband, but as in television Perry Mason defends no guilty clients. That's a parameter not broken. And if you watched the series you know who did the crime.

What was fascinating to me in The Case Of The Velvet Claws was how Paul Drake's character was changed from a professional well dressed William Hopper who owned his own agency to Eddie Acuff, a rather seedy looking retainer who even got into a drag to tail someone.

The Case Of The Red Velvet Claws has some nice sparkling urban Warner Brothers type dialog handled with aplomb by William. That was a guy who did all kinds of series, Perry Mason, Philo Vance, and Michael Lanyard The Lone Wolf. And all sounded as urbane and sophisticated as Warren William was in real life.

Definitely for fans of Warren William if not Erle Stanley Gardner's sleuth with a law degree.

Case of the Velvet Claws, The (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Fourth film in Warner's Perry Mason series once again features Warren William as the lawyer. This time out Perry is about to go on his honeymoon when a woman kidnaps him at gunpoint and asks for him to blackmail a newspaper so that her name won't be brought up in a love affair which will ruin a big politician. The bribe doesn't work but soon the woman's husband ends up dead and Mason is the suspect. This is a pretty good film that's nothing special but it makes for a quick 63-minutes worth of entertainment. The best thing the film has going for it is the performance of William who also picks up after the previous film. He's full of charm and anger this time out and those are two things William can do with ease. Sadly Allen Jenkins isn't in this one. He's replaced with a new assistant played by Eddie Acuff and he's comedy just doesn't work. The case itself is pretty good as is the ending.

Unfortunately this was Warren Willism's fourth and last foray in film as the omnipotent/ever-confident San Franciso(in film) lawyer Perry Mason. Warren William again gives a nice turn as the lawyer adding humorous touches with his witty deliver and his obvious talent for verbal repartee. The story; however, is not nearly as good as the previous three films as Perry marries Della Street(played again by Claire Dodd from the second Mason film The Case of the Curious Bride)and is held up when getting home from his wedding to enjoy his wedding night by a woman needing Mason's help in keeping someone's name out of a cheap gossip rag called The Tattler. The story then gets somewhat convoluted from there and William and Dodd do their best to throw one-liners everywhere they can hoping they stick. Some indeed do - but many just don't land, and that makes The case of the Velvet Claws the least of the William Mason films. The direction is not bad nor is the character acting though the guy taking over the Spudsy Drake role(Eddie Acuff) is nowhere as good as the previous actor Allen Jenkins. The fine comedic acting of Warren William - an actor who is definitely overlooked and forgotten by many - keeps this one relatively entertaining.

Perry Mason and Della Street marry at the beginning. I don't think that ever happened in the TV series.

This is a sleek, stylish movie, with good acting and chic sets.

I had forgotten that Wini Shaw was in the opening credits and was wondering who that fabulous fatale femme could be. In a dark wig she is very persuasive as the precursor to the betraying woman of film noirs, which would follow a few years later.

What a talent she was!