AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

bensonmum2 There are a lot of different film genres I enjoy, but one I've enjoyed as long as I can remember (at least 45 years) is 30s/40s-era detective/murder mysteries. For reasons I can't explain, the early Perry Mason movies have, until the other night, remained unknown to me. I love the Thin Man, Falcon, and the Saint - Perry Mason ticks all the same boxes. Mix a decent little murder mystery with a bit of nice comedy, snappy dialogue, an appealing cast, and a well-shot, nice looking film and you'll end up with film that will most likely work on me. The Case of the Curious Bride may not be the best of the bunch, but it is a whole lot of fun.The plot involves a worried woman named Rhoda. She tracks down Perry with a story of "friend" who has recently remarried, but is worried her first husband may not be dead after all. What should the "friend" do? It doesn't take a detective to see that Rhoda's in trouble. Perry agrees to help, but before he can do much, Rhoda's first husband turns up dead - for real this time. With Rhoda the chief suspect and Perry's reputation on the line, he's got to find the real killer.The Case of the Curious Bride has a couple things going for it. First, Warren William's Perry Mason is a joy to watch. Similar to Nick Charles, Mason is a worldly sort - capable of everything from cooking a gourmet meal to solving a murder to just about everything in between. And he does all with style and grace. His barbs, directed at the police or whoever gets in his way, and his overall wit are real treat. He's quite a character. The second is Director Michael Curtiz. His direction, even in a relatively "small" picture like The Case of the Curious Bride, is spot-on. The direction is snappy, without a single wasted scene. Curtiz deftly gives the film a light, airy feel that works. The mix of comedy, mystery, and action is handled expertly. He was a real underrated professional.Overall, a real treat that I easily rate a 7/10.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . as it dispenses with the tedious courtroom climax, which was already a hackneyed film convention by the mid-1930s. But THE CASE OF THE CURIOUS BRIDE introduces racist Asian and Native American stereotyping, shows Mr. Mason to be just as cavalier when his former lover's neck is on the line as he had been with a stranger chick on the hot seat in THE CASE OF THE HOWLING DOG, and reduces Errol Flynn's role to about four seconds of saying nothing while giving up the ghost (a performance that could have been phoned in by any nameless extra on Warner's lot). Add to that a complicated murder scene as crowded as Union Station due to happenstance on top of odd congruence compounded by simultaneous coincidences, and this tale seems stuffed tighter with artificial contrivance than a goose with Foie Gras. THE CASE OF THE CURIOUS BRIDE is not even aptly titled, as the bride obviously did not have a curious bone in her body. What newlywed would allow her groom to die by sudden illness and get buried in a closed casket, without a look-see by herself or anyone she knew?! And what serial bigamist goes to the trouble of wedding a couple hundred poor chicks, with a plan that ONE of them can be blackmailed five or ten years later when she remarries a billionaire?! These sort of con artists crave instant gratification, targeting the Rich and Stupid, and breaking their banks before tying any wedding knots!

SimonJack This is the second of Erle Gardner's Perry Mason mysteries put on film. Warren William again stars and does a great job in the role. This is also the first of two appearances of Claire Dodd in the role of Della Street. She is by far the best in the early film roles. This Street plays off Mason's witticisms with equal wit. The repartee between the two is quit good and sprinkled throughout this film. Dodd's Della is equally attractive, intelligent and quick on her feet, yet also proper and not so flirtatious as others who play her in the early films. Dodd also imbues her character with a deep attraction to her boss. "The Case of the Curious Bride" is also the first look with some depth at Mason's epicurean side. The opening scene has him with a friend selecting the best crabs – probably at the Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. He later is going to prepare a dish he calls "Crab ala Bordeaux." Those are huge Dungeness crabs they are picking over. In my years of crabbing on the Oregon Coast, we seldom got crabs that large. A note for those not familiar with these Northwest crabs – they are cooked as soon as possible. The crabs Mason and friend are looking at and handling have all been cooked already. The audience can clearly see steam and the top of the cooking pot to the left. The mystery in this film is another excellent brain-twister that only Perry Mason and his team of detectives can unravel. And all the cast are very good in their roles. Allen Jenkins is a hoot as Spudsy Drake and Olin Howland is very good as Coroner Wilbur Strong. One other small smile comes with a very short appearance of Errol Flynn. I won't give away any of the story here, but have to mention that there is a tear gas scene that is riotously funny. True, these first movies of Gardner's famous lawyer-detective have a quite different character than millions of TV viewers and later movie fans saw with Raymond Burr. And, the Mason creator, Gardner, apparently didn't like these early films. But he was developing the character as he went along, and Perry Mason evolved after a few books into the courtroom centered mysteries that millions became familiar with from the 1950s on. But I think these early films – especially the first four with Warren William at the helm, are great entertainment. They provide some spice and humor. And they may more accurately reflect the people, customs and behaviors of the various social groups of the time. Toward the end of this film, Margaret Lindsay's character, Rhoda, says to Perry: "You're so wonderful. If only you couldn't cook."

jbacks3 If I recall my movie history, CAPTAIN BLOOD was released 8-1/2 months after this second Perry Mason programmer. Given the fact that Flynn receives 7th billing without any lines and what appears to be :30 screen time at the end of the picture (is that really him under the sheet earlier?) it leads me to believe that his role was largely left on editor Terry Morse's floor. It has an unsatisfying plot (go back to the first one for murderer's defense) and is padded with annoying scene fades. The camera trickery gets old fast and it's almost as if Curtiz is showing he's stooping to work on a make busy B-assignment. Cute Claire Dodd is wasted, but the Dellas in these things are eye candy. Uber WB character actor Allen Jenkins does his best to butch up Warren William's entourage. Mayo Methot, just 13 years away from her liver explosion in a cheap Portland hotel appears sober. There's elements akin to Nero Wolf (the food fetishist) and S.S. Van Dine here and some awesome mid-30's Lincolns on screen but ultimately it's a time waster, only of any real interest for a peak at Errol Flynn. Just don't sneeze or you'll miss him.