With modern entertainment obsessed with youth it's encouraging to see a project involving very active characters who are in their 60's and 70's. That said, this film is a major disappointment.
Debbie Reynolds (whose name in the credits prompted me to TIVO this) plays a musical comedy actress in a Broadway bound musical about Polly Adler, who achieved a certain level of fame in the early 20th century operating a bordello in Manhattan which catered to upper crust clients. So when we first see Ms. Reynolds she's singing the title song from her show which strongly resembles MAME in music, lyrics, costumes, and choreography. The director is unhappy with the show's progress and pitches a fit, finally firing the stage manager.
Not surprisingly, the director soon finds himself on the wrong end of a handgun.
The stage manager is arrested. However, no one less than Perry Mason can provide the man an alibi. The circumstances of the alibi, in which a heavily sedated Mason happens to be looking out his Denver, Colorado, hospital room at 2:30 AM, are lame beyond belief and demonstrate sloppy writing at its worst.
Mason and his young associate take on the case since the alibi won't hold water and, of course, the actual killer confesses while on the witness stand at the end of the show.
If this had been a typical episode of the series it would have been tense and exciting. Stretched to feature length (take a 48 minute script, boil it in vinegar for half an hour, and borrow a stretching rack from the Inquisition- that's easy) it's just murky and confused. Veteran character actors try to pretend interest in the characters they're playing, but even they are disinterested.
Debbie Reynolds looks great, but even she can't save this project. I did a quick Google to refresh my memory about Polly Adler, and I'm surprised that we haven't actually seen a musical about her life, which would have Dutch Schultz, Jimmy Walker, and Fiorello LaGuardia as major secondary characters. Now that would hold our attention for two hours.
Debbie Reynolds (whose name in the credits prompted me to TIVO this) plays a musical comedy actress in a Broadway bound musical about Polly Adler, who achieved a certain level of fame in the early 20th century operating a bordello in Manhattan which catered to upper crust clients. So when we first see Ms. Reynolds she's singing the title song from her show which strongly resembles MAME in music, lyrics, costumes, and choreography. The director is unhappy with the show's progress and pitches a fit, finally firing the stage manager.
Not surprisingly, the director soon finds himself on the wrong end of a handgun.
The stage manager is arrested. However, no one less than Perry Mason can provide the man an alibi. The circumstances of the alibi, in which a heavily sedated Mason happens to be looking out his Denver, Colorado, hospital room at 2:30 AM, are lame beyond belief and demonstrate sloppy writing at its worst.
Mason and his young associate take on the case since the alibi won't hold water and, of course, the actual killer confesses while on the witness stand at the end of the show.
If this had been a typical episode of the series it would have been tense and exciting. Stretched to feature length (take a 48 minute script, boil it in vinegar for half an hour, and borrow a stretching rack from the Inquisition- that's easy) it's just murky and confused. Veteran character actors try to pretend interest in the characters they're playing, but even they are disinterested.
Debbie Reynolds looks great, but even she can't save this project. I did a quick Google to refresh my memory about Polly Adler, and I'm surprised that we haven't actually seen a musical about her life, which would have Dutch Schultz, Jimmy Walker, and Fiorello LaGuardia as major secondary characters. Now that would hold our attention for two hours.