I saw that a new season of Perry Mason, with Matthew Rhys, is starting on HBO Max, so I felt it was time to binge the first season. I'd only watched the first episode and forgot about it, so I returned. You can also see the first season on Freevee.
Forget the previous TV series and made-for-TV movies, as this goes back to the original books by Earl Stanley Gardner as inspiration. Liberties have been taken with some of the characters we were familiar with from the Raymond Burr era as well as earlier films and radio dramas.
Mason, a veteran of WWI, is working as an investigator for a defense lawyer, E.B. Jonathan. They have taken the case of a woman, accused of being involved in the alleged kidnapping of her own child, who was murdered during the crime. It becomes apparent that there is more to the case, especially when a well-known Evangelist preacher and her congregation appear to become involved.
Besides Mason, the show's creators (Executive Produced by Robert Downey, Jr. and his wife, who purchased the film rights to the character several years ago), also take inspiration in this first season from the Depression-era faith healer and media celebrity Aimee Semple McPherson.
One delightful part is when Hamilton Burger, here Asst. DA, who is helping Mason tells him that people never confess while on the stand. That is a dig at the way that trick was used in the Burr series, becoming something of a joke.
Well acted with great cinematography. For me, the series really captured the feel of LA in that era, both the good and bad aspects of that period.
No comments:
Post a Comment