Perry Mason: Per un antico amore

The most ambitious and personal entry in the "Perry Mason" TV movie series. This time Mason comes to the defense of the husband of the woman he apparently loved and lost for the murder of a blackmailer who could have ruined her political career. The acting is top notch with Jean Simmons having great chemistry with Raymond Burr. Direction and production value is above norm for this series.

I used to be a fan of the black & white Perry Masons, but this was a more than unexpected surprise. As a television drama, it works exceedingly well, with an almost faultless screenplay and great acting. I LOVED Mr. Burr's Perry, all the more so because of his real suffering with a leg and difficulty at walking; and was pleasantly moved by this story of old romance, three main characters out of five that never married, decent people committing themselves to awful behavior, treason and deceit... All in all, what you used to call a very good yarn. Watch it and admire Jean Simmons, one of my favorite actresses in the Fifties and Sixties, doing her best to enthrall us again.

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.

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.

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.