Ken Malansky is a student taught by Perry. Ken hears his girlfriend was assaulted by another student so he confronts him but finds him dead, the weapon his own knife. Perry is slow to take t... Read allKen Malansky is a student taught by Perry. Ken hears his girlfriend was assaulted by another student so he confronts him but finds him dead, the weapon his own knife. Perry is slow to take the case as the victim is a close friend's son.Ken Malansky is a student taught by Perry. Ken hears his girlfriend was assaulted by another student so he confronts him but finds him dead, the weapon his own knife. Perry is slow to take the case as the victim is a close friend's son.
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- Scott McDonald
- (as John De Mita)
- Bartender Al
- (as John La Motta)
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFirst appearance of William R. Moses as Ken Malansky.
- GoofsThe night skyline shown in this movie and other modern Perry Mason movies is of Atlanta with the Peachtree Plaza not of Denver where the movie is supposedly taking place.
- Quotes
Perry Mason: You're clever and articulate, Mr Wellman. But a jury is a complex organism. Just a group of ordinary people. They haven't studied Aristotelian logic, their individual honesty may come and go, as it does for all of us. When they become a jury, they take on an intelligence that you must never underestimate and an integrity that you must never, NEVER, insult.
- ConnectionsFollowed by Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder (1989)
For those who know the Perry Mason series and enjoy it, they will find that this film continues doing what it has always been doing. The formula is all in place - the investigation by Mason's sidekick, a girl involved in that investigation, Mason's interviews, the court case and the eventual twist. All this it does as well as it usually does (ie not great but reliable and familiar) but it also adds some aspects to the mix. The element regarding Mason's conflict with Frank Snr has potential but sadly it doesn't do enough with it apart from put a plot twist into the middle of the film - but it doesn't have the emotional clout that it should have had. The other thing this film does is introduce to the series that character of Ken Malansky as a replacement for Paul Drake. The film uses him quite well, even if he is less assured than he would become.
Ken, as Drake always did, is reluctantly paired with a woman as his investigative partner. Here he has his ex girlfriend, Amy, with him - as he would for 3 or 4 films after this one. However her character is annoying here - too snobbish, irritating and really difficult to like. The fact that someone is kooky can be an endearing thing but here her character is too forceful and outside of the habits of polite (not rich) society. The only thing that is good about her role is that Paul is an OK actress and is easy on the eye. She is in the shadow of Moses though, who steps up to the challenge of making his mark and securing his employment. Katt is a sad loss to the series simply due to his family connection to the show, but I enjoy Moses a little more - and he has better hair than Katt absurd perm!
Mason does well but he doesn't step up to meet Brian Keith's more emotional input. Ken's class is badly served; I'm sure the actors could have done well but I was surprised how little time they had on screen - Mason's interviews took up less time than usual. None of them really make a mark and, worse still, some of them really force their scenes, supposedly because they knew how little time they had to shine. The `oh look it's...' face this time is Mark Rolston - not a famous name but you'll recognise him from many big films including Shawshank Redemption, Rush Hour, Robocop 2 and Aliens - shame he is only given about 3 minutes of screentime!
Overall this is still a solid entry in the series (if you generally enjoy the series). It doesn't do anything new above the formula but it has an interesting (if poorly used) subplot involving Perry and it also sees Malansky take over from Drake - however I would have preferred the film to partner Malansky with Drake for this film (rather than Amy) and provide a proper handover for the fans!
- bob the moo
- Mar 31, 2004
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- Perry Mason: El caso del asesinato en la universidad
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