People are waiting in Perry Mason's outer office; his secretary, Della Street, tells them that he is "very busy." Inside the office we see the great lawyer working—on a crossword puzzle. The level of seriousness never rises very high in this fast-paced series mystery.
The plot is pretty standard but fun—a grumpy old millionaire (Harry Davenport) is sure that someone is out to kill him. His big old estate is populated by a couple of grandkids, a granddaughter's fiancé, a nurse, a caretaker .and one night the house burns down with Davenport in it. His will, it seems, was recently changed— requiring that the caretaker and the cat stay on at the house. Perry Mason, who wrote the new will for the old man, sticks around to investigate: "I represent the cat."
Ricardo Cortez is pretty good as Perry Mason; he manages to shift fairly smoothly from silly to suave to serious crime-solver as the plot progresses. (Much as I like Warren William, I have to say that Cortez plays Mason in his one attempt with a little more of an edge.)
The rest of the cast includes June Travis as Della, and Gordon Elliott (later Wild Bill) as a spoiled grandson who throws a shoe at the cat. The plot thickens occasionally but keeps on moving quickly, culminating in a courtroom surprise.
Lots of fun for us fans of 1930s series mysteries.
The plot is pretty standard but fun—a grumpy old millionaire (Harry Davenport) is sure that someone is out to kill him. His big old estate is populated by a couple of grandkids, a granddaughter's fiancé, a nurse, a caretaker .and one night the house burns down with Davenport in it. His will, it seems, was recently changed— requiring that the caretaker and the cat stay on at the house. Perry Mason, who wrote the new will for the old man, sticks around to investigate: "I represent the cat."
Ricardo Cortez is pretty good as Perry Mason; he manages to shift fairly smoothly from silly to suave to serious crime-solver as the plot progresses. (Much as I like Warren William, I have to say that Cortez plays Mason in his one attempt with a little more of an edge.)
The rest of the cast includes June Travis as Della, and Gordon Elliott (later Wild Bill) as a spoiled grandson who throws a shoe at the cat. The plot thickens occasionally but keeps on moving quickly, culminating in a courtroom surprise.
Lots of fun for us fans of 1930s series mysteries.