THE CASE OF THE MUSICAL MURDER is one of those lacklustre PERRY MASON TV movies where it seems like nobody was making much of an effort, particularly the writer. Once again we have an opening set-up in which a loathsome character is bumped off with certain folk acting as prominent suspects. The setting is the world of musical theatre, thus the presence of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN actress Debbie Reynolds as the foremost guest star.
Otherwise, it's business as usual, albeit low par business. Raymond Burr is on tired and grumpy form here and snaps a lot. William R. Moses and Alexandra Paul come back from the previous instalment and Moses settles into his action-man helper routine when going up against the hulking Rick Aiello. Jerry Orbach is a welcome face in support, and TANK GIRL starlet Lori Petty is here too. However, it's all very familiar and lifeless, and the motive for the murder comes out of nowhere at the climax which I always find a bit of a cheat.
0 out of 6 found this helpful