Wonderful Movie

So much average

Best movie ever!

The acting in this movie is really good.

THE CASE OF THE KILLER KISS is a notable PERRY MASON movie insofar as it marks Raymond Burr's last screen appearance before his untimely death in 1993; there's a tribute to Burr after the final scene. It's a shame his last movie couldn't be a bit better, but then that often happens with our long-running TV show heroes (COLUMBO LIKES THE NIGHTLIFE wasn't up to much either). Burr is clearly frail here, forced to sit or lean for all of the production, but there's no faulting his acting.The problem with this production is just how predictable it is. Once again the setting is a TV studio in which the philandering jerk of a male lead is killed by persons unknown. There's an obvious suspect, but Perry digs a bit and soon uncovers a conspiracy of lies and hidden plots. I found the writing quite lazy here, with the security guard sub-plot shoe-horned in just to give William R. Moses something to do and count for some action and suspense scenes. The final reveal is unguessable due to information being withheld from the viewer. Stuart Damon, one-time star of TV's THE CHAMPIONS, plays in support.

Perry Mason enters the world of TV soap operas to defend Mile High star Kris Buckner (Genie Francis) whom has been framed for the murder of her co-star, Mark Stratton (Sean Kanan). Somebody spiked actress Charlotte Grant's (Krista Tesreau)lipstick with walnut nut oil knowing that the actor would kiss her in a scene and, as a result, has an allergic reaction. The crew fetch his allergy kit but that had been spiked too and he dies. The police figure that Buckner killed her co-star because, on the day before he died, Stratton demanded that her part in the show be drastically cut by having her character go into a coma. In a rage, Kris struck Stratton on the face saying "I could kill you for this." To make matters worse, a duplicate allergy kit of the murdered man is discovered in her dressing room and she was seen re-entering the studio on the night before Stratton died. Mason learns that Stratton was detested by all who worked on the show and many had reasons for wanting him dead. They include production assistant Mimi Hoyle (Karen Moncrieff) who was once Stratton's lover and she became pregnant with his child. But, he demanded she have an abortion and threatened to have her fired if she did not. The show's producer, Evan King (Michael Tylo), also had a strong motive for murdering Stratton because it turns out that Stratton was putting pressure on the production company to axe him from the show so that he could take over completely. Mason is puzzled as to why Stratton appeared to have so much control over the running of the show because, after all, he was only the leading man. Mason sends Ken Malansky (William R Moses) to the rural town of Cedar Grove - Stratton's home town - where an unsolved old murder from thirty years ago could hold the key to the killer's real identity.This was Raymond Burr's final appearance in his most celebrated role as the Los Angeles defence attorney Perry Mason in what seemed like a never ending series of revival movies that began with Perry Mason Returns in 1985. Burr sadly died in 1993. Basically, with these films, if you've seen one, you've pretty much seen them all. However, there was a few exceptions where the series successfully broke away from the routine courtroom drama formula, but this is purely standard fare. If you love the series, as I do, then you will love it and for somebody who has never seen an episode before then its not a bad place to start as the storyline has enough to keep one engaged for a couple of hours and the script generally plays fair with the audience. The supporting cast, while undeniably second league, is more than competent and Arleen Sorkin is good as an irritatingly obsessive soap fan, Peg Furman, who gets under Malansky's hair as he does his usual heavy lifting in order to track down vital witnesses and clues for his boss - as ever, risking his life in the process. Only Furman, as much as Malansky wanted her out of the way, turns out to be useful as she unwittingly holds a vital clue to the killer's identity as a result of her sneaking into the TV studio and stealing a copy of Mark Stratton's script. A coffee stain bearing the indentation of the murdered man's personalised mug on the script helps Mason unravel the mystery.

***SPOILERS*** One of the most confusing of all the Perry Mason TV movies which in fact was the last of the bunch released some two months after it's star actor Raymond Burr, Perry Mason, passed away. The movie has Perry Mason take the case of his private secretary Della Street's ,Barbara Hale, goddaughter TV soap opera star Kris Buckner, Genie Francis, who's accused of murdering her co-star on the popular daytime TV soap "Mile High" actor Mark Stratton, Sean Kanan.You can see right from the very start the case against Kris is very weak in that so many other people on the set of "Mile High" had it in for the brash arrogant and, what we find out later about him, blackmailing Stratton far more the Kris did! Stratton had a habit of manhandling his female co-stars with his sloppy on camera smooches! Despite his uncouth behavior on the set with a very angry and insulted Kris that as it later turned out was really the last reason anyone wold have wanted to do the self styled Casanova in. As we find out Stratton was allergic to walnuts and in what turned out to be his last kissing scene someone spiked his leading lady, who replaced Kris, and fiancée Charlotte Grant's, Krista Tesreau, lipstick with a swab of walnut oil! That had Stratton after planing one of his patented sloppy smooches on Charlotte get sick and then go into convulsions. Getting an emergency allergy or anti-walnut kit from his dressing room Stratton immediately gives himself an injection and then within seconds passes out and drops dead on the spot! As it turned out the needle didn't contained any anti-walnut serum in it by a douse of 100% deadly,to Stratton, walnut oil!Being that Kris had a fight with Stratton on he set of "Mile High" the day before, after he smooched her on camera, and was the last person seen in the studio the evening before he mysteriously died she was immediately suspected in Stratton's murder. Perry with the help of his leg-man private investigator Ken Malansky, Robert R. Moses, together with "Mile High" groupie Peg Freeman, Arleen Sorkin, track the truth down about Stratton's untimely death that leads to his home town Ceder Grove. It turns out that Stratton made his way up the ladder of success in the world of TV soap operas not by his acting talent but his blackmailing of people in high places!As you would have expected Malansky,known as the human punching bag, gets the hell beat out of him but as usual gets the goods that his boss Perry Mason wanted him to get in getting his client Kris Buckner off! Malansky does have the daffy Peg, whom at first he didn't have any use for, save his butt a number of times who in the end has Perry or actor Raymond Burr, who looked like he had one foot in his grave, save the day by keeping the bumbling Ken Malansky from getting his brains blown out!***SPOILERS*** Wild final with a fight breaking out in the courtroom between two of the main witnesses as well as evidence being brought out about a video fencing ring inside the "Mile High" studio. All this had to do with the studio's night watchman Mort Aberdine, Richard Riehle, being too busy stealing the show's rushes and selling them to an unscrupulous video distributor who duplicated and then sold them, for a hefty price, to eager "Mile High" fans before they were even shown on TV! The question is what did all that have to do with Mark Stratton's murder? The answer is that it made it possible for the killer to sneak into Stratton's dressing room to plant the walnut oil in his emergency kit! The killer himself is broken down under cross-examination by Perry Mason in revealing his reasons for doing Stratton in. And as you would have expected it all had to do with greed and success and the fact that Stratton was blackmailing him that the killers very reason for living, in his mind, was in jeopardy with the only option left open for him being in murdering the blackmailing swine!

Raymond Burr makes his last appearance as Perry Mason in this film. Mason finds his hands full in a case involving actors in a soap opera and a very unusual murder weapon. Featured in the guest cast are several popular daytime performers including Genie Francis as the framed defendant. Burr, as always is above reproach as Mason. Though not among the series best, there does appear to have been an effort to break the mold a bit, with a little more jeopardy for Mason's legman, Ken Malansky.