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Expected more

A lot of fun.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Raymond Burr has indelibly etched a conception of Perry Mason on our minds that is not easily overcome. In fact Erle Stanley Gardner himself said that Burr fit perfectly what he thought his fictional lawyer/sleuth should be.God only knows what he thought of Warren William in this particular film where Mason is quite the party animal, usually partying with Della Street played here by Genevieve Tobin. When we meet him he's in his office sleeping one off when Porter Hall arrives looking to hire him.Hall wants Craig Reynolds the sponsor of the Lucky Legs beauty contest investigated. The woman Hall has been seeing Patricia Ellis was the winner of the latest contest so there's a personal angle here. Later on Reynolds is found stabbed to death.I'm wondering if Jack Warner didn't get permission from Louis B. Mayer for a lease on Nick and Nora Charles. A few more wisecracks and a wider suspect list this one plays like a Thin Man movie.And one other thing happens here that definitely not in keeping with an Erle Stanley Gardner paradigm. But if I say everything will be revealed.Fans of the principal players should be pleased.

Gosh, where to start. The name Perry Mason has a cachet about it, derived in part from the 50's TV series and from the books written by Erle Stanley Gardner. I wonder what Mr. Gardner would have thought about how Hollywood wrecked one of his best-sellers with the god-awful treatment found in "The Case Of The Lucky Legs".It is presented as a comedy-mystery, accent on the comedy angle. Did audiences find this stuff funny in the mid-30's? Did they notice the many loopholes in the plot left unresolved? More importantly, did Archie Mayo, a veteran Hollywood director, mail this one in? read some other reviews for a plot rundown, but there is very little to recommend this picture to unsuspecting viewers, save for Genevieve Tobin, who plays Della Street. She, at least, emerges with her dignity intact. This picture is illogical, the plot far-fetched and as funny as a funeral cortege.

Raymond Burr's Perry Mason of the fifties practically defined the law to a whole generation of boomers. Words like incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial were on the lips of kids of all ages. Burr made defense attorney the highest calling imaginable. The thirties version is different. it's entertaining, but in a light comic way reminiscent of the Thin Man series. Warrem Williams plays for laughs and like the thin man is often drinking. The pace is snappy and keeps the interest from flagging. You won't be bored, but don't expect anything like the classic TV series.Missing here - believe it or not there's no courtroom drama, not even a surprise confession from the character you hardly noticed until Mason started his penetrating questions. There are no penetrating questions for that matter. Paul Drake is "Spudsy" Drake and, like his name, inserted for comic effect. The cops are more keystone and there is no Hamilton Berger D.A.On the whole OK, but more interesting as a comparison that shows what the 50's television series achieved and what changes made it possible.

Entertaining as a screwball comedy, but hardly the kind of mystery and suspense one expects from a Perry Mason story.From the very opening scene, the entire story is played for comedy. A criminal cheats prize winning woman out of their contest money and is soon murdered. It's up to Mason to figure out who committed the crime and why.Since the murdered man was killed with a surgical knife, we can suspect LYLE TALBOT for awhile since he plays a doctor. PORTER HALL is the man who contacts Mason and asks him to investigate the man who has run off with the prize money. PATRICIA ELLIS is the pretty blonde contest winner who wants Mason to find the crooked contest sponsor (CRAIG REYNOLDS).GENEVIEVE TOBIN is Della Street, batting her eyes at everyone as the plays a mischievous secretary with tongue-in-cheek humor. A sample of the flippant dialog: (Mason to Lyle Talbot): "All alone in the bridal suite? You must love yourself." And later, after knocking him out briefly, "Bring yourself to life. You're a doctor."Entertaining only as a comedy. The mystery is given short shrift.