Perry Mason steps down as a judge to defend his former secretary and one time sweetheart Della Street whom has been accused of murdering her new boss, the computer science tycoon Arthur Gordon. Assisted by Paul Drake Jnr, the son of his former private eye associate Paul Drake, Perry discovers that Gordon was about to cut off his family without a cent. Since all of them were in dire need of money, they all had a reason to want him dead. Perry and Drake discover that Gordon was really killed by a hitman called Bobby Lynch, but he too is murdered and time is running out fast for the pair to find out which one of the family hired him and to clear Della's name...First and best of the numerous revival made-for-television movies, which returned the great Raymond Burr to his best loved role (along with Ironside) as Erle Stanley Gardner's ace defence attorney Perry Mason. It sizzles with cracking chemistry between Burr, Barbara Hale and William Katt (Hale's real life son) who plays the son of Perry's old private eye colleague Paul Drake. The actor William Hopper who had played him in the hit 1950's-60's TV show died not long after it had finished as did William Talman who played the famous DA Hamilton Burger. Here, Mason is paired with a young DA called Barbara Scott (Cassie Yates) who thinks that she is on to a "dead bang winner" partly because the circumstantial evidence against Della is overwhelming, but also because she believes that Mason is "rusty". Her boss, sceptical of her confidence of victory asks "Do you know how many times Hamilton Burger said that?" in an amusing nod to the original series. Her courtroom scenes with Burr are quite fun to watch as she isn't prepared for Mason's unorthodox courtroom antics. And, like Burger always did, she underestimates Mason's considerable abilities as a sleuth in which he always looks beyond the circumstantial. Yes, you've guessed it! - Scott loses just like Burger always used to.Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale are a joy to watch here. Although she is now Perry's client, she acts as though she is still his secretary. "You do realise that you are the client, don't you?", he asks as if putting her in her place. She replies, "For the first time I know what its like to be the accused, I'd like to stay busy." "Well, in that case I will need detailed information on all the family, especially their finances." In a touching moment, Della turns to Perry and says "I don't know if I've ever said this, but its nice to see you again" and you can see by the way Perry responds that he is moved and we are invited to wonder if there really was a romantic angle to their relationship.The interplay between Burr and Katt's struggling private eye is at its strongest here. Perry makes it clear that he disapproves of his undisciplined lifestyle: he has ran his father's once thriving business virtually into the ground and he scraps a living on routine divorce cases when he isn't moonlighting as a jazz musician and the "novel" he is meant to be working on has barely got started. Mason is very hard on Drake during the investigation by dismissing his efforts even when he has got vital leads and clues, which he has literally diced with death to obtain for him. Initially, we think that Perry's attitude to the young lad is unjust, but later we can see that he is actually very fond of him and it was just his way of getting Paul to focus on the job at hand.The supporting cast is excellent with Holland Taylor, Kerrie Keane, David McIlwraith and Roberta Weiss stand out as the murdered man's family all of whom, in the best murder mystery tradition, have something to hide and are all not exactly trustworthy. Richard Anderson also deserves mention as the family lawyer Ken Braddock as does Patrick O' Neill as the ruthless tycoon Arthur Gordon. Dean Hargrove's script plays as fair as can be with the audience leading to a satisfying denouement and Ron Satlof's direction is pacy, slick and smooth.

After a 20 year absence from the small screen Raymond Burr who is now, older, stouter, and grayer and with a beard returns to television in the first of several two hour made for television films. Burr had a legion of fans as Mason and his return was heralded with high ratings every time one of these films was broadcast. In the interim like many good lawyers and some mediocre ones, Perry Mason became a judge and was now an appellate court jurist. But when a friend's in trouble, Perry quits it all and returns to active combat in the courtroom. Back in the original series William Hopper as Paul Drake was a defendant in one episode. Here it's the only other living cast member at the time from the old series, Barbara Hale as Della Street.Della's gone on with her life as well. She became a secretary and later executive assistant to the wealthy Patrick O'Neal. With the kids and second wife O'Neal's got, no wonder he began relying heavily on Della Street to run his business. When O'Neal is stabbed to death by a killer in drag to make it look like Della broke in, she's arrested and of course she turns to Perry as her attorney. Biggest mistake the perpetrator made, didn't the individual realize just who Della worked for before. Definitely should have found another patsy. But as the case developed it turns out that not only did O'Neal have to be killed, but that Della had to be framed in order to solve get out of the potential jackpot the killer was in.This became a family reunion in another way as Barbara Hale's son William Katt came on as Paul Drake, Jr. The script had it written that Paul Drake was now retired and the Drake Detective Agency was in the hands of his son. But it's clear that Katt only considers it a part time gig. In fact when we first meet him he's doing another gig, playing a saxophone at a jazz club. Perry takes him on, but doesn't quite take him seriously enough. Katt has to earn his respect and that's a running theme throughout the film.Perry Mason Returns is a good start to eight years of Perry Mason films, all anticipated by the legion of fans Raymond Burr developed for Erle Stanley Gardner's famous defense attorney.

Rich business man Mr Gordon has many enemies and a family that wouldn't miss him if he dropped dead. Someone hires a hitman to kill him and it is carried out in such a way to frame Gordon's secretary Della Street. When Della is accused of the murder, Perry mason resigns his position as judge to defend her and employs the son of his old colleague, Paul Drake, the act as private investigator on the case.This film is the first of the many Perry Mason TVM's that were made in the late 80's and early 90's. This is the one that set up the new characters and the formula for all the movies. I have never seen the original series so don't know if this is just a lift of that formula or not, but they are all the same thing in different clothes and settings!The plot here is the same as all the other TVM's except it does feel better written and more worked. The main flaw with the plot is the whole idea of a man dressed up as a woman – it isn't that big a deal but you must wonder how seriously they expect us to take the plot when Mason sets up his usual courtroom antics that would get kicked out in any real court but are accepted here! The final twists aren't even as daft as usual but it does set up the usual big finish. Burr loves nothing more that getting to boom `isn't it true etc, isn't it also true etc' and it makes for a dramatic if slightly hammy climax.Burr seems very happy to be back in his old role and works hard, compared to later TVM's where he almost appears to be going through the motions. Hale is good and it's good to see her getting more of a role than usual. Katt is also good and his haircut hasn't yet gone curly and his action scenes are reasonably tense. The rest of the cast are made up of the usual red herrings for Mason to chase around the courtroom until he gets the real killer. The `oh look it's…..' faces are Taylor who is OK and Anderson. Freeman is also amusing to see if you only know him as Elijah Mohammed from Malcolm X. The cast is also interesting when you look at it in terms of the mason series and note that one of the Gordon family (Kathryn) is actress Kerrie Keane who is in two later Mason movies playing different roles.If you've enjoyed any of the Mason TVMs then this will please you as well. Because it is the first of the TVM run it feels better and that a lot more work has gone into it, as much as I enjoy the rest, some did feel like they were rushed out in a short time. Overall this is one of the better of the modern Mason series.

Della Street is set up as the fallguy for a murder. Of course, everybody knows that this sweet, motherly woman wouldn't swat a fly, much less off somebody. Mason pulls out all stops in unraveling the mystery and uncovers a plot to keep a multi-million dollar scam intact. The one phony part in this film is the reaction of a lawyer at the movie's end. No attorney would do what this man did.