Overview: Perry Mason (Raymond Burr), America's favorite defense attorney, is back in action once again! Employing the skills of Della Street (Barbara Hale) and Ken Malansky (William R. Moses), Perry once more attempts to exonerate the accused. From Las Vegas to Paris, France, Mason and his team travel to the scene of the crime, crossing paths with mobsters, war criminals, and demanding divas at almost every turn in this riveting 6-movie set.

DVD Verdict: Before we progress onto the made-for-TV movies contained here in this three-disc set, let's find out more about the late, great Raymond Burr. He was a Canadian actor primarily known for his title roles in this television drama ('Perry Mason') along with that of 'Ironside.'

His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain! He actually won two Emmy Awards in 1959 and 1961 for the role of 'Perry Mason,' which he played for nine seasons between 1957 and 1966. His second hit series, 'Ironside,' earned him six Emmy nominations, and two Golden Globe nominations. He is also widely known for his role as the murderer in 'Rear Window,' of course.

OK, onwards and upwards, and first on the list here is 'The Case of the Poisoned Pen' (1990) which finds Bradley Thompson, a famous crime writer, in town to collect an award for his latest book. However he is a fraud. Bradley takes information, book plots and sometimes the entire book from other people and gets them published under his own name and enjoys the credit when they become bestsellers.

An enjoyable outing for Perry Mason, which does not seem as padded as many of its predecessors. This is thanks largely to better writing than usual by George Eckstein. He also penned the excellent 'The Case Of The Desperate Deception' episode, which is next up in this collection, funnily enough. This one isn't quite as good but it makes a genuine attempt to vary the formula in that usually, Perry's clients were usually old friends of his and that became a little tiresome since how many old friends could Perry possibly have had?

In this instance, the murder of Thompson is connected to an old case of his in which an innocent man committed suicide due to his accusations against him in his novel and the plot follows on from there. This makes a refreshing change from what is usually the norm for this series and for once, the story moves along logically with the clues running smoothly into one another without the usual holes in the too often lazily written scripts that left too many questions unanswered.

The only let down is the denouement, in which the film falls into the trap of trying to surprise the audience with the usual unsuspected ending that has no logical insight as to how Mason found it out and therefore it is more disappointing than surprising.

Next up is 'The Case Of The Desperate Deception' (1990) where Perry Mason has to defend the son of an old friend of his who is accused to have killed an ex-officer of the Nazi-SS.

For it's one and only time the Perry Mason series went abroad and where better than Paris to defend the Marine son of a Holocaust survivor charged with the killing of a former S.S. captain who personally killed members of his mother's family and crippled her. It might have been nice had Raymond Burr and Billy Moses taken Barbara Hale along, but I guess someone had to tend to the office.

An old film favorite Teresa Wright plays Tim Ryan's mother and her testimony on the stand is the best part of this TV film. Her experiences going to the death camps is most moving.

For reasons I'm not quite sure, the French cede jurisdiction to the US military in this case. Ryan is a guard at the US Embassy in Paris, but the killing was definitely not in the line of duty. I would think the French would insist on trying him. In any event Perry Mason represents Ryan at a military court martial which he's permitted to have civilian counsel should he choose.

The murderer is a choice from way out of left field or in this case I should say right field. It does have to do with the events in the concentration camp, but in a most oblique way.

'The Case Of Silenced Singer' (1990) brings us Perry Mason defending the husband of a famous rock singer who was found being killed after having had a tremendous discussion with her husband and her manager.

This is yet another very good Perry Mason film where a singer, with a changing personality, is murdered and her second husband is arrested for this. As always, Perry uncovers a slew of others who could have done the victim in.

You know that something is really amiss when of all people, Alice Ghostley, is killed by the killer as she same him at the scene where he didn't want people to know that he had been there. Other potential suspects include the woman's first husband, and two female friends.

The ending, as always, is a real shocker. You'll almost feel empathy for the killer until you realize that he or she tried to blame the first husband out of revenge for his previous affair. As the singer, the always-beautiful, always stunning Vanessa Williams sparkles. Her singing, in flashbacks, is absolutely sparkling. Wonder if she did her own singing?

'Perry Mason: The Case of the Defiant Daughter' (1990) tells the story of a young woman from Las Vegas who wants Perry Mason to defend her father who is accused to having killed a man blackmailing him.

This Perry Mason movie has a closed ring of suspects in who killed Robert Culp. All of them John Posey, Jere Burns, Kevin Tighe, Robert Vaughn, and Ken Kercheval have lots of reasons to kill Culp, he was blackmailing the lot of them.

Culp has a really clever scheme going, his victims meet in Las Vegas every year give him and $8000.00 check and declare it as gambling losses as he declares a gambling victory. It's made him a rich man, as rich as the rest of these guys, all of whom he has something on.

But when Posey breaks in waving a gun threatening to kill Culp, he's tailor made as a fall guy. One of them steals his gun and shoots Culp. The perpetrator has an accomplice steer Posey away from the scene and then disappear so he has no alibi. It's William R. Moses's job to find that accomplice Michelle Scarabelli. In fact Scarabelli has quite a secret of her own.

In casting Burns, Tighe, Vaughn, and Kercheval they got four people who've done some pretty nasty things big screen and small in several movies and programs. You'll not figure out who the perpetrator is. And that's the necessary ingredient for any Perry Mason story because Raymond Burr does not defend guilty clients.

'The Case Of The Ruthless Reporter' (1991) Perry Mason is due to have an interview on news TV station KGGY with Gillian Pope. However Brett Huston, a selfish host on the show cuts her interview out of the show. Huston not only upsets her but is on edge with many others at the station. It's no surprise that he gets killed but Pope is the suspect and turns to Mason for defence. Meanwhile Ken Malansky investigates a link with a blackmail scheme.

If you've seen one of these things then you've seen them all. The legal realism of these shows are always very doubtful but the drama is still enjoyable. Mason does his usual ripping into the witness stuff which is good but this time he has more objections overruled and DA LaRusso manages to hold his own well. Ken's investigation is better than usual here but it does feel like he's in a separate movie and it doesn't quite fit together as well as it is meant to. He also gets a bit more action than usual but it isn't directed very well.

The cast are the usual - Burr does well and is a bit like a comfortable old suit. Hale has even less to do than usual but is OK. Moses is good value as a cut price action man. The `oh look it's ..' count that is normally one in the Mason series goes nuts this time with Orbach (Law & Order), Romano (Under Siege) and tough guy (Beau Starr).

The production values are a little higher than usual and the sets don't look like they off a daytime soap! The plot is good and has the usual twist at the end that you could never guess in a million years. Overall a very enjoyable addition to the series that is better than the norm.

And finally comes 'Perry Mason: The Case of the Maligned Mobster' (1991) where Ken Malansky has an old college acquaintance who has gone into business with reformed mobster Johnny Sorrento. When Sorrento's wife is killed all fingers point to Johnny and Mason is asked to take up the case – reasoning that everyone deserves the best defence, Mason takes the case. Mason finds the world of the mob is one of murder and threats, while Malansky investigates an old murder case that Johnny had been accused of until someone confessed.

These Mason movies are all pretty much the same – innocent client who all the clues point to. Ken investigates the rough stuff while Mason questions each suspect. It all leads to courtroom questions and the twist at the end. As a result if you like one you generally like them all. However here the film tries to be a bit rougher and have a darker edge by having a mobster as a client. Mason naturally takes the case but we never see any conflict in his heart over doing this. Also the tougher edge is only added to the normal formula as a very thin top coat – for example Mason occasionally raises his voice a little, or a few people get shot or killed etc. Really it didn't work that well as it didn't add to the formula, only took a little away instead.

Burr isn't as good as usual because he has this tough edge on a familiar character and it doesn't sit well – witness him in a sling as if nothing happened! Hale has less to do than usual but Moses is actually pretty good with the darker subject matter. The rest of the cast are really nothing more than mobster support roles from bad mobster films – they don't even reach the level of caricature! The usual `oh, look it's…..' face this time is Stephen Tobolowsky.

The courtroom looks more like a TV set than usual and the actual courtroom finale is a bit of a letdown and doesn't even manage the usual average tension. The end result is a standard Mason setup that is spoil by little extras that the formula didn't need – the darker edge didn't work. Overall a sub-par outing in the series that plays slightly above par. These are all Full Screen Presentations (1.33:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.