Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace (1988 TV Movie) User Reviews (9)

Backstory

[boblipton · 7/10 · 1 March 2019]

Between the end of the Perry Mason TV series in 1966 and its revival as a series of TV movies twenty years later, Raymond Burr as Mr. Mason was supposed to have served as an appellate court judge -- I would imagine he was appointed to give the Los Angeles District Attorney's office a better win/loss ratio. In this movie, we see a brief flashback that time, and a case in which Air Force Lt. Colonel Larry Wilcox was found guilty of murder.

Now that Burr is returned to private practice, he is defending Wilcox in a retrial; he remarks there were no errors, but he thought the defense had done a poor job. Of course they had! Without him in the defense chair, there was no one to get a random witness to confess on the stand! Viewers can be confident that Erle Stanley Gardner's lawyer/sleuth will make that happen here.

Besides cast regulars Barbara Hale as Della Street and William Katt as Perry's leg man, we get to see Don Galloway from IRONSIDE, promoted to a General.Donald Ogden Stiers has the thankless task of prosecuting the case, and Patty Duke has a small but key role.

A good set up in this Perry Mason mystery

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 26 April 2017]

THE CASE OF THE AVENGING ACE is an interestingly-plotted PERRY MASON that I enjoyed more than most. The backdrop to the court case is military themed this time around, giving former BUCK ROGERS actress Erin Gray a chance to shine in the otherwise clichéd role of the woman that Mason's sidekick William Katt teams up with.

The opening murder sequence is fairly complex here and therefore of interest. A perfect fall guy is chosen to set up but to do this he must first be broken out of the courthouse before being knocked out. Katt's action scenes involve him chasing a mysterious bearded hermit type and these bits are quite fun, especially their final showdown, although the courtroom stuff is strictly routine. The supporting cast includes TV regular Patty Duke.

No matter how twisted these are, it's always a straight shooting Street when Della's around.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 20 August 2023]

The camaraderie and sardonic wit between Raymond Burr's Perry Mason and Barbara Hale's Della Street always rescues even the corniest of murder mysteries, such as when she wryly gives him info on their latest case, ending with a sarcastic "sir" to which he responds dryly, "You forgot to salute". The love they have for each other as long time colleagues on and off the screen is obvious, and it's too bad in these movies, she's often relegated to being the drop line dame, on and off far too quickly in her few scenes.

Her real life son William Katt is Mason's much younger partner, running the firm while Perry's in judges robes. But Mason constantly gets off the bench when a challenging case comes up, and in this case, he's defending airman Larry Wilcox who was previously found guilty of murder, something the ethical Perry is certain he's innocent of.

This has a huge supporting cast, mainly unknowns, but Patty Duke is the big guest star as the wife of factory owner Charles Siebert, both of whom have different alibis that don't match their spouse's claims. David Ogden Steirs as the prosecutor is a tough rival to Perry, making me wonder what their professional relationship would be with Perry as judge. It's a typical Mason entry, nothing exceptional, but frequently fun.

Some weaknesses but still a pretty enjoyable Mason movie

[bob the moo · 9 March 2004]

Perry Mason is on the appeal board when he has the case of Lieutenant Colonel Parks come before him. Parks was found guilty of murdering a girl called Amy Beth; Mason and the other judges find no reason for an appeal to be granted - although Mason holds other opinions about the guilty judgement that are outside of his scope of influence. Two years later, a new witness has been found that looks like it will free Parks, but the witness is forced to change his story and then is murdered after the court appearance. Mason takes over the case and prepares for the appeal while Drake hooks up with Captain Terri O'Malley to find the mystery man who he suspects of framing Parks for the murder of the witness and Amy Beth.

This film starts in a different vein from the rest of the Mason films; Mason is a judge of sorts on the appeal board and is part of the decision to turn down the appeal. This continues two years later when the film takes another turn. At this point the film gets back down to the usual formula of having Mason and Drake searching for the real killer. The first thing you need to do is get past the fact that it is very unlikely that Mason would be allowed to defend a man who's appeal he was involved in hearing - surely the DA would have seen the threat posed by Mason and would have looked to knock him out of the case? Despite this, the different opening does enough to make the film feel different from the formula and be more interesting.

The film is quite engaging but displays some quite shockingly lazy writing; worst is the moment where Drake and O'Malley go up in a helicopter to search for a car - despite not knowing where it would be or even really what it looks like they manage to find it in the woods after a 20 minute flight! Despite this, the rest of the film is to the usual standard without being quite as poor as that example. It is quite enjoyable even if it does rely on the usual sudden twist towards the end.

Burr does his usual stuff with confidence and seems to enjoy the fact that this case is a little different from some of his usual ones. He delivers some nice wit and humourous touches here. Katt is near the end of his `family' role (Dad was the original Drake, mother is Hale) but he seems full of energy here. Despite the fact that the guy he is hunting is the most unsubtle hitman in the world (really tall, red jacket, big beard) the action thread is actually quite good (and with added explosions!). Katt also has a good chemistry with his usual female sidekick - this time played by Buck Rodger's Erin Gray. Hale has little to do and the support cast aren't that memorable in their roles - this was the only downside of the film's approach: without the build up to the murder we never really get into the characters - we only see their motives later and it doesn't work as well in that regard.

Overall this is an enjoyable Mason movie that has weaknesses but has them mainly because it tries to do things a little differently. Some of the characters and writing is bad, but in Mason movies you pretty much know what to expect.

I don't generally comment on editing

[neverenoughgold · 6/10 · 16 January 2023]

Unfortunately, this episode screams for better sound editing. The scenes in the mountains with the helicopter and Paul Drake are virtually unintelligible. Not sure what the production crew was thinking when they put two characters in the cockpit of a helicopter and have them conversing on a variety of subjects while the sounds of the helicopter are screaming in the background and foreground! Any comprehension of their dialog is completely lost and without a script in hand, viewers have absolutely zero idea of what they were saying!

To make things worse, background music was added only to make things worse!

Then, the characters land and get out of the copter all the while the racket continues.

Far Fetched Set Of Circumstances

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 27 July 2008]

Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace is one of the more far fetched episodes where the murderer and the individual behind the murders will do anything, kill anybody to keep a particular family scandal from seeing the light of day.

If you remember in Perry Mason Returns, Raymond Burr was an appellate judge who resigned the bench to defend Della Street from a murder charge. This film begins with a flashback to those times on the bench where he votes to sustain a conviction for murder on procedural grounds of Larry Wilcox, a decorated Air Force colonel who allegedly murdered a woman he was allegedly involved with.

Fast forward to the present when a witness has come forward who on the day of the hearing reneges on his testimony under threat. Then Wilcox is busted out of jail and later the recanting witness is shot to death and Wilcox is found with murder weapon in hand.

This far fetched set of circumstances would defeat any lesser lawyer, but we're dealing with Perry Mason. You know this top gun will eventually be free of all charges, including the original murder that sent him up.

This particular Mason film I found a bit too bizarre for my taste, but fans of the series will love it.

The Beard

[sol1218 · 5/10 · 29 January 2007]

(There are Spoilers) Far fetched Perry Mason crime drama has Perry, Raymond Burr, get off the bench as an appeals court judge to take up the case of Air Force Colonel Kevin Parks, Larry Wilcox, who's conviction Perry Mason upheld on appeal! Convicted of the murder of Mary Beth Sawyer Col. Parks is given a second chance to stand trial and prove his innocence when this man Lester McCarren, Joel Colodner, stepped forward and provided Parks with an air-tight alibi; that he was with him on the Old Woods Road, some 50 miles away from the murder scene, the night that Mary Beth was murdered.

Just before testifying McCarren gets an envelop slipped to him with his wife's golden heart pendant and a note telling McCarren that she'll be killed if he testifies in Parks favor. That's all it takes for the man to freeze up on the witness stand and suddenly lose his memory throwing away the last chance for Parks to be a free man.

We see this obviously disguised person, dressed as a mountain man, who slipped the threatening note to McCarren. Later at a restaurant as McCarren tells Perry Mason that he can't tell the truth about what he knows about Parks being with him the night that Mary Beth was murdered this same mountain man suddenly shows up and has McCarren paged, by saying that it's his wife calling. It's then that he blows him away when he goes to the back to talk to her on the phone.

Really making up for lost time the grizzled mountain man then goes back to the courthouse where Parks is in custody thus proving that he didn't kill McCarren and throws a stink bomb into a crowded elevator with Parks in it knocking everyone out. Then, wearing a gas-mask, the mountain man kidnaps Parks and drives him down to this deserted airstrip placing the murder weapon into the unconscious Parks hand! All this to make it look like he's the one who murdered McCarren.

The movie then goes into a number of different directions that involves the US Air Force with a pill popping fighter pilot Lt. Wilkes ,Gary Hrshberge,who's being blackmailed in that he suffers from dizzy spells that would disqualify him from flying. There's Mary Beth's former boyfriend Daryl Herley, James McItire, who felt that he and Mary Beth were made for each other but it was that dirty rotten swine Col. Parks, together with his good looks and chest full of medals, who blinded the naive and very impressionable Mary Beth from seeing the fact. There's also suspected in Mary Beth's murder a real-estate tycoon Jason Slone (Charles Siebart), whom she worked for as as a private secretary. There's also Slone's somewhat strange, who has a deep family secret that she's been hiding for years, wife Athera ,Patty Duke. Not to overlook in the mix the mysterious mountain man himself who tries to murder Perry's private investigator Paul Drake Jr, William Katt, almost a half dozen times. The mountain man ends up having himself thrown from the second floor of a cafeteria breaking his neck and exposing just who he really is; and he's not any kind of mountain man or anyone else who's in love with the great outdoors.

"Run-of-the-mill courtroom drama for Perry Mason die-hards only."

[jamesraeburn2003 · 7 August 2008]

Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) was on the panel of judges that rejected Lieutenant Colonel Parks' appeal against his conviction of murdering Amy Beth Sawyer (Dotty Coloroso). Eighteen months later, Mason has done some digging and has found a witness in the form of Lester McCarren (Joel Colodner) who has evidence to prove that Parks was nowhere near the murder victim's apartment at the time she was killed. However, it isn't all going to be plain sailing since McCarren is shot dead in a restaurant and somebody has cleverly planted circumstantial evidence at the crime scene to implicate Parks for this crime too. Having abducted him from the courthouse at the hearing and kept him out of the way until McCarren was disposed of, the real killer then dumped him at a spot placing the gun in his hand and dutifully informing the police. Police Sergeant Brock (James McEachin), as usual, thinks he has got an open-and-shut case. However, Mason and Della Street (Barbara Hale) investigate and reveal some shady goings on within a real estate company owned by Jason and Althea Sloan (Charles Siebert and Patty Dukes) concerning a deal they did over a plot of land with the air base where Parks was stationed. It also transpires that Jason Sloan was infatuated with the murdered girl much to the anguish of his wife and gave her a job in the family firm. In addition, part of the evidence against Parks was that he was also on friendly terms with Amy Beth as well...

All in all, The Case Of The Avenging Ace, emerges as a pretty standard entry in the series of Perry Mason revival movies. It attempts to break the run-of-the-mill formula but not in an entirely successful way. Usually Mason's clients accused of murder were old friends of the attorney's, which caused audiences to ask themselves, "How many old friends can Mason really have?". Here the film opens with a prologue set in the past where Mason was still a judge before he stepped down to become a defence lawyer again after Della Street was accused of bumping off her new employer in the very first episode, Perry Mason Returns. But here Mason had a special attachment to Lieutenant Colonel Parks' case since unlike everyone else concerned, he was convinced of his innocence, which isn't exactly original either. It finally settles down into being a fairly engaging mystery but unfortunately it falls victim to the lacklustre writing, in which at the denouement, there is a sudden twist in the story as to how the crime was committed. This is supposed to surprise us but as is all too often the case with the latter day Perry Mason films, the solution is thrown at us out of nowhere without any insight or plot logic as to how Perry Mason worked it out so we are left dissatisfied rather than surprised. In addition, predictability was also a major fault with this series since you always knew that Perry Mason would win his case and it was a problem for the screenwriters to inject any originality into his adventures.

Raymond Burr is always reliable in his courtroom scenes and it was always fun to watch him grilling the guilty party on the witness stand. The battle between Mason and the prosecution attorney, Michael Reston (played by David Ogden Stiers) who is always objecting to Mason's line of questioning towards witnesses and more often than not being overruled was always good to look at. William Katt (Barbara Hale's real life son) gets to do his usual action man bit as Paul Drake running around all over the place trying to locate somebody vital to Mason's case with a few stunts and fist fights thrown in but more often than not they added little to the proceedings. This is very much the case here even though he gets aided by Captain Terry O' Malley (Erin Gray), a colleague of Parks' at the air base , with whom he sparks up a bit of a friendship but it is insufficiently developed to be of much interest. The rest of the supporting cast act their parts competently but they don't exactly set the screen alight.

Overall, The Case Of The Avenging Ace, is really only for die-hard fans of the Perry Mason revival series as the casual viewers will only see it for what it is, a run-of-the-mill television courtroom drama.

The case of an Avenging Ace

[coltras35 · 5/10 · 20 May 2023]

Air Force Lt. Col. Kevin Parks (Larry Wilcox) is aiming to appeal for the second time a conviction having been tried and convicted of murdering Amy Beth Sawyer (Dotty Coloroso). Despite having been a judge in the first appeals court, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) had to turn down his appeal but some thing didn't sit right with him and with his team has found another witness for the defence. But when that witness is murdered Perry, Della (Barbara Hale) and Paul (William Katt) find themselves not only investigating but taking over Parks' case.

This Perry Mason entry has enough intrigue to keep you interested and also benefits from an interesting backdrop of military aviation, however it can get rather contrived and convoluted. A passable entry, but not a striking one.