A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Grimacing Governor (1994 TV Movie) User Reviews (8)

That Girl Killed The Best Man Who Ever Lived!

[sol1218 · 7/10 · 9 January 2007]

(There are Spoilers) Looking like he's a shoo-in to get elected the next governor challenger Harland Richards', Ken Kercheval, road to the state house is sidetracked when it's revealed by this stripper Violet Moore, Elyssa Davalos. A bald-face lie if there ever was one Richards gets in touch with his good friend defense attorney Wild Bill McKenzie, Hal Holbrook, to have him get a hold of Violet and do his best to put some sense into her head.

Not willing to change her story Violet is obviously lying and both she and Wild Bill knows it but before he can get back to her Richards jumps or is thrown from his high-rise hotel balcony killing himself. We know that Richards was murdered because we saw that he was bopped over the head by some unknown assailant and then thrown straight down on to the street.

Richards' daughter and campaign manager Karen, Kim Johnson Ulrich, goes on her own to find out just who was behind her fathers death and tracks down Violet in some out of the way strip joint. Karen is told by Violet the the person behind her dad's death is someone very high up in the state government maybe even the governor Ryan Allsion, James Brolin, himself. Karen outraged that Governor Allison my have had something to do with her father's death makes so much noise that Governor Allison invites her to talk the whole tragic event over with him. When Karen shows up at the Governors mansion she finds Allison dead with a gold letter opener stuck through his heart.

Taking up Karen's defense in her being charged with murder Wild Bill McKenzie with the help of private investigator Ken Malansky, William R. Moses, begin to poke holes in the prosecutions case against his client. The the cool and calculating Wild Bill completely destroys all the so-called damning evidence placing Karen at the sate house some fifteens minutes before the governor was found murdered that it's a wonder that the case against her wasn't thrown out by the presiding judge sooner. We still had to wait for the real killer of Governor Allison to be revealed in open court since there wasn't a single shred of evidence that could have possibly convicted her.

Tracking down the very elusive Violet Moore at big shot mobster Johnny Steel ,Tony Curtis, palatial estate it comes out that both Harlan Richards and Governor Ryan Allison were both on Johnny Steel's personal sh*t list. Both Richards & Allison, which ever one was elected, were committed in checking out this company, a firm called Camacol, that was getting the lion share of state construction contracts. Steel it turns out was not only the majority shareholder in Camacol but had in it as a silent partner someone who's a top member of Governor Allison's cabinet!

For once the murderer when confronted with irrefutable evidence of his crime didn't fold up and spill his guts out admitting what he did. The tied up the wheels of justice by playing it smart and saying nothing thus having Wild Bill McKenzie and the state do all the work to put him behind bars.

An answer for "boo moo" from Jan. 2007

[hisarrow · 6/10 · 20 October 2017]

"The only question I have is why they felt they needed to keep shoe-horning Ken and Della into it - surely they could keep the brand and just start with new characters, or at least only use them without forcing it?" This is a quote from "boo moo's" review. It's unlikely that this person will ever see my answer, being written in 2017, but maybe someone else will wonder the same thing. The answer is that Raymond Burr wanted it that way. Barbara Hale and William R. Moses were contracted for all those movies, and if their contracts were canceled because of his death, they would been out a lot of money. So as a favor to them, Raymond Burr insisted that they be retained (pun intended) for all the movies. My comment re Ken Melansky is that after getting roughed up as many times as he does, if I were him, I'd start looking for a different line of work!

Grimaces Are Fine Here-Case of Grimacing Governor Merits ***1/2

[edwagreen · 8/10 · 26 October 2008]

Hal Holbrook was far better here than in a previous episode. Why? He actually tackles a case in the style of Perry Mason. Raymond Burr would have been very proud. This time he really doesn't let his personal life interfere in his conduct of this case involving the demise of a gubernatorial candidate and the governor as well.

There is plenty of intrigue here especially when the second murder occurs.

Tony Curtis is brutal in his brief stint as a mobster involved in this mayhem. While he looks much older and pale in this part, he delivers a good performance as a racketeer.

McKenzie for the Defense!

[Mark-129 · 3 May 2004]

Maverick lawyer Bill McKenzie returns to action defending the daughter of a disgraced politician. The politico was murdered, but his death was successfully made to appear as suicide. Several years later, his daughter finds herself suspected of murdering the Governor of the state, who she held responsible for her father's suicide through a political smear campaign.

Hal Holbrook is great in this role and the mystery, while engaging is rather disturbing as McKenzie probes layer upon layer of political corruption during his investigation. One can't help but wonder about the political repercussions after the smoke cleared. It might have made an interesting film on it's own. The final revelation, while not surprising, is clever and ironic.

A treat, this late in the game.

On a side note, reflecting a new courtroom era, cameras can be clearly seen in the background, televising the courtroom proceedings to a large cable audience no doubt.

Hal Holbrooks Solves Three Murders

[boblipton · 6/10 · 15 February 2019]

When a candidate for governor is killed, the incumbent is pleased. Then the governor is killed, and the candidate's daughter is on trial for murder. It's a good thing this is a Perry Mason Mystery. Even if Perry is unavailable (because Raymond Burr is dead), there's Barbara Hale as Della Street, William Moses as the investigator and Hal Holbrook, sporting a country accent and Stetson to deal with the matter. Will a random witness confess on the stand? Don't be surprised if one does.

The characters involved (including turns by Tony Curtis, Bonnie Bartlett and James Brolin) keeps things interesting. Given the information that comes out at the end, revealing the actual murderer, it's not as good as the others.

Perry Mason without Raymond Burr works surprisingly well

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 24 January 2017]

The Case of the Grimacing Governor is the penultimate episode of the PERRY MASON film series made after the death of star Raymond Burr. Into his shoes steps the one and only Hal Halbrook, playing a cowboy lawyer who proves to be a bit more physically able than Burr, so much so that we don't really miss the big man's presence. Another surprise is that GRIMACING Governor is an involving mystery that's quite a bit better than some of the earlier instalments.

The plot takes in a double murder with lots of different suspects and motives for the deaths. The subject matter is politics, but there's enough action and incident to stop it ever becoming boring, as well as a little humour that works for a change. Barbara Hale barely appears but William R. Moses does his usual action guy routine and there are nice roles for the likes of Tony Curtis (impressing as a gangster), a brief but fiery James Brolin, and Gregg Henry. No classic here, but solid enough viewing material anyway.

Where Was The Security?

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 26 October 2008]

It's sad that Hal Holbrook's character of Wild Bill McKenzie was a rush creation job to fulfill the commitment of NBC for Perry Mason stories after Raymond Burr died. He could have been successful had he been launched on his own, might have been given a fair chance to succeed.

Barbara Hale and William R. Moses, vacationing on lawyer/rancher Hal Holbrook's spread get drafted into helping with another case. This one involves no less than political assassination and I'm betting would have been on the front page of every paper in the country.

Kim Johnston Ulrich is the daughter of former McKenzie colleague, Ken Kercheval whom she believes was murdered and the man who is now governor of the state, James Brolin, is responsible. When she goes to visit him, one evening, the governor is found stabbed to death with a letter opener. Naturally she's looking good for it and naturally comes she gets Holbrook and the team for her day in court.

A couple of things struck me about this episode which you know had to have been written for Raymond Burr and would have made more sense given the Erle Stanley Gardner parameters he had to operate under and which the audience here would have been expecting for Wild Bill McKenzie. At one point Brolin's wife Deborah Raffin asks him how he could defend such an evil woman as Ulrich and he replies something on the order that since he's now rich enough, he defends only whom he wants and whom he believes are innocent.

That was certainly true of Perry Mason. I'm betting neither Mason or McKenzie ever got a mob hit man off on a homicide. At least once they could pick and choose clients. Still it does violate at least one canon of legal ethics that EVERYONE is entitled to a defense.

The Case of the Grimacing Governor had many generations of performers from old to new Hollywood in the cast. The old Hollywood was represented by movie legend Tony Curtis who has a small role as a very rich hoodlum with fingers in lots of pies. In an even smaller role is Ryan Phillippe as a banquet waiter whose testimony discredits so called eye witness testimony for the prosecution. This was before Phillippe hit movie star status.

With all that though I do have to wonder where was the governor's security during all this. On second thought we in New York lost a governor because he managed to ditch his trappings of security for a little indiscretion that cost him his office. By the way I'm still not convinced Elliott Spitzer ought to have resigned.

But that's the plot of another film.

Surprisingly good entry into the Mason series

[bob the moo · 11 January 2003]

Harlan Richards is running for Governor when he is accused by a young lady of having an affair. This ruins his campaigns even though he claims innocence. He commits suicide although his daughter, Karen and friend Wild Bill Mackenzie suspect he was murdered. Months later Karen finds the girl who accused him of the affair and confronts her - demanding to know who set her father up. She goes to see the man she suspects - the other candidate for Governor but finds him murdered, with herself as the main suspect. Bill agrees to defend her and asks Ken and Della (house guests at his ranch) to help. Ken starts searching for the woman who first set Richards up as she has vanished since then.

Anyone `lucky' enough to see the debacle that was `Wicked Wives' will know that the Mason Mystery series looked to be about as alive and well as the sadly passed star, Raymond Burr. So this film just looked like it would be worse - however they seemed to learn from the last film. The signs aren't good when even the usual director (Nyby II) has skipped on this one but actually it stands out as a good part of the series - only lacking Mason himself to complete the formula.

The plot is quite complex and a little unlikely but is engaging none the less. Ken's investigation has more of a twist to it than usual and demands you pay more attention than he usually requires. As usual it has all the weakness of the usual formula but if you enjoy that formula (and I do) then it works fine. The film's main flaw for me is the way it wants to be a mason movie no matter how tenuous the link. Wicked Wives made an iffy link but this one is even worse - Ken and Della happen to be house guests of Mackenzie at the time! Ken gets to do stuff but Della is lumbered with nothing to do at all - cook and that's it!

Holbrook is much better in the lead than Sorvino was in WW. He is a completely different character than Mason and the film wants us to know this by having him ride a motorbike and visit a strip bar. He is a really good character and that's why the series stuck with him for the rest of the movies. Moses is OK as Ken and has a decent haircut this time but Hale just looks like a woman bound by contract and knowing she'll only ever be known for one role. The support cast is deep and that helps - John Spencer is good and a few other recognisable (but not easily nameable to this reviewer!) faces add character. Tony Curtis is a crazy bit of casting but works OK in small doses (which is all he has happily). An amusing side note for the Mason fan is that Kercheval has his second role in a Mason movie having first had a role as a suspect in the Defiant Daughter.

Overall this is surprisingly good. The Mystery movie before this one was pretty awful whereas this replaces Mason with a strong character, has a good story and sticks to formula for the rest. The only question I have is why they felt they needed to keep shoe-horning Ken and Della into it - surely they could keep the brand and just start with new characters, or at least only use them without forcing it?