THE CASE OF THE VELVET CLAWS

US, 1956, 70 minutes, Black and white.
Warren William, Claire Dodd, Wini Shaw, Bill Elliott, Joe King, Addison Richards, Eddie Acuf.
Directed by William Clemens.

This is Perry Mason story from a novel by Earl Stanley Gardner. Warren William starred in a series of four small-budget films in the mid-1930s as Perry Mason, with Genevieve Tobin as Della Street.

For audiences accustomed to imagining Perry Mason like Raymond Burr and Della Street like Barbara Hale, the last film in the series will be something of a shock - marriage.

Warren William, romantic hero in some of the 1930s films, although also capable of being a suave villain, is tall and thin. He is also something of a comedian, as a character, in the way William plays Perry Mason.

At the opening of the film, Perry and Della go to the judge to get married – but it takes a while to get to the honeymoon. A woman accosts Perry and hires him to go to a tabloid editor to prevent a story being published. She gives a false name and turns out to be married, having an affair with a politician. The editor is killed, the woman is unmasked, but not before blaming Perry for the murder. Perry, questioning, happy-go-lucky manner, and with severe flu, seemingly effortlessly uses his powers of deduction but also sends out his assistant, Spuds to get information.

While the crime is interesting, it is the character of Perry Mason, his comic style, his man-about town manner, that is more entertaining. And then there is his marriage with Della – and commentators note that Earl Stanley Gardner married his secretary just before he died.