Tuesday, September 9 will see the release of six Perry Mason TV-movies in three affordable sets. Apparently some of these have been released before, in larger packages; now, if you are in the mood for some easy-to-get Perry Mason afternoons or if you need to get a gift for your parent or grandparent who loved the show, you’re in luck.
Perry Mason Movie Collection: Double Feature 4 is the first of the three collections, with “The Case Of The Scandalous Scoundrel,” and that one features Robert Guillaume (Benson), Morgan Brittany (Dallas’ Katherine Wentworth!), Yaphet Kotto (Homicide) and others. Following that is “The Case Of The Avenging Ace” with Erin Gray (Silver Spoons), Larry Wilcox (CHiPs), and Patty Duke. Both of these movies feature M*A*S*H’s David Ogden Stiers as well.
Double Feature 5 starts with “The Case Of The Lady In The Lake,” featuring David Hasselhoff (Knight Rider) and John Beck (Dallas) among others; also on the disc is “The Case Of The Lethal Lesson” with Alexandra Paul (Baywatch) and Brian Keith (Family Affair).
Included on Double Feature 6 is “The Case Of The Muical Murder” with Jerry Orbach (Law & Order) and Debbie Reynolds; finally, the DVD also includes “The Case Of The All-Star Assassin” with Dierdre Hall (Days of our Lives), Shari Belafonte (Hotel), and Pernell Roberts (Trapper John M.D.).
As I am no Perry Mason expert, I can’t say whether or not these are in the original broadcast order, or if there’s any rhyme or reason to why certain movies are on certain discs. What I can tell you, though, is that these are from a series of Perry Mason TV movies that were popular in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s, which actually lasted for a few movies beyond series star Raymond Burr’s death. Interestingly, I am of the age where this is the only Perry Mason I really knew; with the original series coming far beyond my time.
How are the movies? Perry Mason was always known as one of the best lawyer-mystery type shows, and these stack up. What I love is that they seem to get high-quality guest stars – much like The Love Boat would have a decade earlier – and you’re seeing them at a time when you might not have been seeing them a lot on TV. I mean, William Katt (The Greatest American Hero) is in several of these movies with a mullet. I wonder if it was a prestige thing to do Perry Mason back in the day, because there are a lot of people who were pretty A-list for TV at that time. Watching these movies also makes me curious what a younger, more physically active Raymond Burr would have been like; here he comes off as an older gentleman reading his lines; what was he like when he was young? Fortunately, all of those old episodes are available on DVD too.
The box art is somewhat bland and repetitive, though the little icons to represent the episodes are cute. Stills on the front cover might have been more interesting. The menus aren’t much to speak of, either. The video quality seems good.
If anything, like I said, it’s an easy and cheap way to get some enjoyable Perry Mason movies, though if I had a choice, I’d probably want to get more episodes in one big sitting. Looks like they did do just that as an Amazon exclusive last year, though.
Perry Mason Movie Collection Double Feature 4 – Double Feature 5 – Double Feature 6
