Perry Mason - Campioni senza valore

I have watched the original Perry Mason series since I was a little girl. Now, the 2- hour movies are coming into weekly rotation on an old movie channel and I am checking them off one by one.

This episode ranks 5 stars out of 10. Not as bad or over the top as others. But for the gigantic shoulder pads of the 1980s that Della and Amy wore, the movie was ok.

The quality of these shows declined after Alexandra Paul was added to cast. I never understood why it was necessary to add her as another annoying character. They already had James McEachin. And I think the only reason he ever agreed to play the buffoon in this series was to get a regular paycheck.

A story that is so slow moving that only a soap opera actor could perform. That is exactly what the audience gets. With the exception of Shari Belafonte, the cast is not exactly replete of motion picture or stage actors. In that respect, the glacially paced plot is perfectly cast. Beyond that, not much to add except that the story is best characterised as obvious.

When a ruthless sports team tycoon Thatcher Horton is shot dead. Ex hockey player Bobby Spencer is accused of his murder. Ken Malansky was representing Spencer in a lawsuit against Horton.

Ken turns to Perry Mason to represent Spencer as he is an old friend of his. Perry is reluctant as first as he found Spencer to be hot headed and rude.

It leaves Ken to investigate reluctantly helped out by his girlfriend Amy who wants to be an investigator.

As it's always the case in the Mason movies; there are a number of suspects for Horton's murder which include his wife and son. There is also a hitman on the lose, even while wearing a gardener's uniform he looks like a hitman straight out of central casting.

The fun of the Perry Mason television movies was to see Raymond Burr tearing the witnesses apart in court and bring out their dirty laundry. Here he makes the actual culprit confess in court.

Bruce Greenwood is the standout in this one, obviously he looks like someone who knows he is capable of better things. A fun television movie and I had a rough idea who the culprit might be.

Thatcher Horton is owner of a Denver sports arena and a couple of sports teams. Bobby Spencer a friend of Ken was one of his hockey players. It seems that Horton verbally promised him that he would take care of him if he gets injured, which happened. Now it seems that Horton is reneging and he has asked Ken to represent him in his suit against Horton. Bobby threatened Horton and not long after that Horton was killed and the murder weapon was found in Bobby's possession. So Perry comes to help defend Bobby. It seems that Horton was not liked by other people including his wife and son, and it also seems that the killer was a professional assassin, so did one of them hire him?

Rather routine yet enjoyable Perry Mason Tv film with Alexandra Paul joining William R Moses in the snooping behind the courtroom scenes. They work well together as well as bicker - the suspects are quite good and ends competently with the unraveling of the murderer.

Ken Malansky is doing a friend (ex-hockey star Bobby Spencer) a favour by representing him in very bitter negotiations with Thatcher Horton - owner of a sports arena and the teams that use it. When things go badly, Bobby storms out making threats - that come back to haunt him when Horton is murdered by a hitman. Ken goes to Perry Mason for help defending Horton while he starts looking for the hitman who was hired to do the job; tasks not made easier by Bobby's temper and the fact that Ken's fiancé, Amy, wants to be involved in the investigations again.

Perry Mason TVM's are all pretty much the same and if you like one you'll like the vast majority of them. This one is no exception as it does all the usual stuff without any of it really impressing too much, but just doing enough to get by. The plot here offers up the potential for a bit of glamour - a chase at a big game perhaps? Or a whole range of athletes being under suspicion? However it doesn't really use the venue well - at most we see one player `shooting hoops' in an empty stadium. This is still OK but I couldn't help wondering what a slightly bigger budget would have allowed. As it is, the mystery goes the usual places - Mason goes around stirring up clues and red herrings while Malansky does his action stuff in pursuit of the killer.

Mason's red herrings are quite good here and there are some good twists and turns - twists that actually fit inside each other this time as opposed to just being distractions until the real twist comes. Malansky's stuff is OK but is detracted by the presence of Amy Hastings (still kicking around from her own court case); this was her final appearance and it is for the best as it would have got harder and harder to use her effectively. Although I would have liked to see a bigger team of sportsmen, the film's small group of suspects allows them to be more interesting. They each are used well and it could be any of them. Of course - don't assume from this that the film is great - it isn't anything special, but if you like the series then this is good enough.

Burr is good and comfortable in his role, although Hale is practically invisible here. Moses continues to settle into his role and his stuff with Paul would better with a better script - they do have chemistry and she is a good actress when given the chance. The support cast is pretty good - Belafonte is unmistakably her father's daughter and is quite good, as is the basketball player despite not being that good an actor generally. The better roles are given to Greenwood and Hall as their bits are interesting, and of course Roberts as Horton himself. McEachin is good in his usual role, but Mahaffey is no match for Mason as the DA.

Overall this is a good film in the series but is not different or special enough to win over anyone who dislikes the other films. The story is good despite not being used to it's full potential and the cast is pretty good.