The Case of the Lucky Legs (1935)

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Perry Mason (Warren William) is hired to locate the organizer of a crooked beauty contest and finds the man murdered. The contest winner is the prime suspect but, of course, she's innocent and it's up to Perry to prove it by finding the real killer.The third Perry Mason movie from Warner Bros. starring Warren William. If you're new to the series and only know Perry Mason from the TV show, expect to be surprised and possibly disappointed. This Perry is nothing like Raymond Burr's version. He's less a lawyer than a private detective. Essentially this is Warren William playing the same character type he'd play in several different detective roles -- cocky, funny, tough, and a little flirty. This particular film's Perry owes a lot to another famous detective with a penchant for boozing -- Nick Charles. Genevieve Tobin is fun as Della Street. Good supporting cast includes Allen Jenkins, Barton MacLane, Lyle Talbot, and Porter Hall. Lovely Patricia Ellis plays the winner of the "best legs" contest. She was a deserving winner and quite the cutie. Speaking of cuties, how about a young Mary Treen as Jenkins' wife? Mary made her career as a character actress playing plain Jane types but here in this early role I think she was very pretty.It's enjoyable enough for a B detective film. Nothing particularly unique but entertaining in its way. If you're a Perry Mason buff you might be put off by the portrayal of Perry but I didn't mind it. As I said before, William has played this type of character in other films. But if it works, keep doing it.

The best portrayer of Perry Mason and the best Della Street in the same movie...Mason is portrayed in the same manner as in Gardener's books. He's playful, shrewd, irreverent and kind of a jackass. Definitely NOT the stodgy inert lump of good looks that Raymond Burr was.The man gets in people's personal space, jokes, tickles and even raids refrigerators of the people he's questioning. He is, for want of a better word, "wacky".The plot is kind of fun: A con man is killed and the main suspects are everybody. Mason, as usual, keeps one step behind the murderer and two ahead of the police. One of the cops is played by Barton MacLaine, a standard in thirties detective movies, later to become General Peterson on I Dream of Jeanie...

It is certainly understandable why Erle Stanley Gardner much disliked the Perry Mason movies of the 1930s particularly the portrayal of Mason by Warren William. In this movie, William's portrayal of Mason is simply not that of Mason in the books. However, if one does not think of the Mason character in the books or as depicted by Raymond Burr, then this movie works very well as a comedy/mystery and is highly enjoyable. Warren William's rendition of Mason is that of a debonair often hungover, fast talking attorney. Genevieve Tobin plays Della Street as a wise-cracking, irreverent and loyal secretary and Allen Jenkins' "Spudsy" (!) Drake portrayal is that of a likable, often unintentionally funny doofus. The story is about a "most beautiful legs" pageant and the murder of its crooked promoter. The promoter has run off with the prize money put up by local businessmen in the city of Cloverdale. One of the local supporters hires Mason to find the young woman who won the Cloverdale pageant who was cheated of the prize money and has disappeared. Mason finds the promoter dead, stabbed with a scalpel. Plenty of suspects but no court room scene - Mason is more of a private detective than attorney. But that's okay because this is a comedy first and a mystery second. Tobin is a riot as Della and William is great fun in the Perry role. When I first reviewed a William Mason movie (The Case of the Howling Dog), I was very negative about it - hung up on how it didn't accurately portray Mason. But I got over that and much enjoyed this movie - great fun and recommended.

As one other reviewer noted, The Case of the Lucky Legs seems to be a bit more concerned with laughs than mystery. I concur. Mason is portrayed as a lush with tendencies to make a pass at virtually any woman he meets. His assistant Spudsy Drake played by Allen Jenkins almost borders on farce at times as he tries to pick a fight in an airport and has things thrown at him by his wife. These are just two scenes where director Archie Mayo goes for much more broader humour than seen in the first two Mason films in the series. Perry gets sick on a flight, passes a cold to everyone he meets, and does his final summation in his offices to a slew of people while being given a physical as well. These comedic touches don't really detract from the film and make it a pretty entertaining film when added to the mystery - a lesser one than previously used in the two earler mason films. This time Perry must try and a help a Colonel Bradbury and the winner of a legs contest who have been swindled and duped by a conman who takes a powder after the contest with all the loot from the contest. Mason keeps mixing Bradbury's name throughout the whole film after meeting him from his floor bed in his office after a late night bender. Warren William again is the epitome of suave wit and charm releasing one-liners with great accuracy. His performance and, I might add, his worth as an actor, greatly aid this film and the other three he starred in as the lawyer Perry Mason. For the third film we have a third actress playing Della Street(Genevieve Tobin). She oozes witty charm and fits William's style almost perfectly. Jenkins, Barton Maclane, and Olin Howard reprise their roles for this third installment. Humdrum Lyle Talbot has the leading man role in the mystery as the love interest of the contest winner, played by a gorgeous Patricia Ellis. She has a fine set of attributes - nice legs too! Character actor Porter Hall plays Colonel Bradbury with some nice subtle comedic touches. This is a very entertaining film as really are all of the four films in the series starring William.