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The Case of the Curious Bride
USA 1935
produced by Harry Joe Brown for First National/Warner Brothers
directed by Michael Curtiz
starring Warren William, Margaret Lindsay, Donald Woods, Claire Dodd, Allen Jenkins, Philip Reed, Barton MacLane, Wini Shaw, Warren Hymer, Olin Howland, Charles Richman, Thomas E.Jackson, Errol Flynn, Robert Gleckler, James Donlan, Mayo Methot, George Humbert, Henry Kolker
screenplay by Tom Reed, based on a novel by Erle Stanley Gardner
Perry Mason
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Rhoda Montaine (Margaret Lindsay) is married to rich Carl Montaine
(Donald Woods) when her former husband Moxley (Errol Flynn) who was
presumed dead turns up and tries to blackmail her to stay dead.
Rhoda turns to attorney Perry Mason (Warren William), an old boyfriend
of hers, to investigate on Moxley's background. The next day, Mocley is
dead, and all circumstantial evidence points to Rhoda ... only Perry is
convinced of her innocence, so he does his best to get the real story. It
soon turns out that it was Moxley's racket to marry women, then disappear
and return to blackmail them once they are remarried - and during his
investigations, Perry even invents one of Moxley's former brides (Mayo
Methot) to throw to the police as an appetizer ... and ultimately, he
finds a real former bride (Wini Shaw) of Moxley and her violent borhter
(Warren Hymer), who was at Moxley's place at the time of his death - but
who didn't do it.
In the end, Rhoda's own husband Carl is unmasked as the killer, but he
can convince Perry that he only wanted to help Rhoda and Moxley's death
was only an accident ... and so Mason agrees to represent him in court.
Allen Jenkins plays Perry's assistant Spudsy, Claire Dodd his secretary
Della Street.
This first fil based on Erle Stanley Garnder's character Perry
Mason has not so much to do with the Perry MAson of the books but
all the more with the film The Thin Man, which came out a year
earlier. Thus, The Case of the Curious Bride is a light-footed
crime comedy strong on snappy dialogue and ironic performances. As a
murder mystery on the other hand, the film fails to work, the plot as well
as most of the plot twists are simply too far-fetched and at the end the
killer is pulled out of the hat rather than the result of clever deduction
- so if a murder mystery based on logic and deduction is your thing, don't
even bother to watch, but if you want to be entertained by a crime comedy
and don't care about the occasional leap of reason or gaping
plothole, this might be your thing.
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