The Case of the Curious Bride

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.

Perry Mason, Celebrity! A whirlwind opening sequence flashes a headline across the screen: "Perry Mason Wins Brilliant Battle of Wits." To celebrate his latest magnificent courtroom victory, Mason and team sweep into a posh restaurant, where the hero waltzes right into the kitchen and starts chopping food, to the delight of the entire kitchen staff.

Warren William is charming, energetic, a bit cocky and rather brilliant as the famous lawyer-detective in this zippy series mystery.

He is aided by Allen Jenkins, at his best as the assistant whose loyalty is invaluable but who would like some of the credit. Claire Dodd is good in a small role as Mason's secretary Della—or is she his girlfriend? She's certainly the only character who can order Mason around, telling him (for example) to go take a shower.

Margaret Lindsay is the "curious bride" of the title, an old friend of Perry's who brings him this new case: she was married four years ago, she says, but her husband disappeared. Now she wants to remarry and needs to prove that that first husband is dead—but she has her doubts. The plot thickens, needless to say, and includes a murder, an empty coffin, and a variety of conversations with the coroner.

Nice directorial flourishes add flair—from showy camera zooms to clever little touches (like the shot of a sign on a door– COUNTY MORGUE – that pans down to a floor mat: WELCOME).

The pace is also very fast, so fast that you can't quite keep up—at least not with Perry Mason, who not only thinks and talks fast but bounds up stairs two at a time.

Sharp dialog and a fairly complicated plot keep things interesting, but it's the enthusiastic cast that make this one especially entertaining.

Michael Curtiz, one of the most prolific directors Hollywood had, is at the helm of this film, based on one of Erle Stanely Garner's stories, featuring Perry Mason, the famous lawyer. With a screen play by Tom Reed, this film offers a glance at some of the best players working in films in the Hollywood of the thirties.

Warren William, is Perry Mason, a man who knows a lot about the law, as well as what to cook for dinner. Mr. William is at his best playing the lawyer-detective. Margaret Lindsay, is the lady at the center of the crime that Perry Mason is trying to solve. Ms. Lindsay was a beautiful actress who adds a touch of class, as well as mystery to her take on Rhoda Montaine.

The rest of the cast assembled to back the principals was made up of some of the best character actors of the era. Donald Woods is seen as Carl Montaine. Clarie Dodd plays Perry's secretary Della Street. Allan Jenkins is Perry's assistant Spudsy.

A little gem of a film for lovers of the genre.

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.

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.--