04-29-2012, 05:44 PM | #31 |
Montreal wins Grey Cup!
Posts: 7,583
Karma: 31484197
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC
Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite
|
I'd like to see Perry Mason movies of the early books, which don't call for Raymond Burr-acting at all.
Unfortunately, I think that the public would be disappointed because they (or it) would expect to see a courtroom drama. |
04-30-2012, 12:23 AM | #32 | |
Bah, humbug!
Posts: 39,073
Karma: 157049943
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.
|
Quote:
You're probably right. I have nothing against car chases or hanky-panky, but neither has a place in a Perry Mason film, although, again, some of the early books did drop occasional hints that the relationship between Perry and Della was not entirely platonic. |
|
04-30-2012, 12:41 AM | #33 |
Zealot
Posts: 121
Karma: 21024
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Ohio, USA
Device: Sony PRS-505
|
I agree about the hints and some slight innuendo was included in some episodes of the old television show if I remember right. It was this subtleness that I suspect might be overdone by Hollywood. I have nothing against car chases or love scenes either.
|
04-30-2012, 04:42 AM | #34 |
Bah, humbug!
Posts: 39,073
Karma: 157049943
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.
|
Exactly. And that's why I'd like to see them done as period pieces. The things he did in those early stories would never fly in a modern setting. He was a bit of a rascal.
|
04-30-2012, 03:41 PM | #35 |
Montreal wins Grey Cup!
Posts: 7,583
Karma: 31484197
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC
Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite
|
Tom, ca. 1984 HBO did a series of Philip Marlowes which were period pieces. I only saw a couple, but I would give them five stars. I think a similar Perry Mason series, true to the books, would be a big hit provided that the audience understood that this is not the 1950s Perry Mason.
The Raymond Burr shows are still shown on broadcast tv here, so I imagine that many too young for the original series might be at least a little bit familiar with them. |
05-01-2012, 09:29 AM | #36 |
Now what?
Posts: 58,849
Karma: 135181808
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Durham, NC
Device: Every Kindle Ever Made & To Be Made!
|
If HBO produced a period piece production, or a modern updated version, I can somehow see Jack Black as Mason - he embodies the "rascal" approach to criminal defense that is found in many of the books.
|
05-01-2012, 02:14 PM | #37 |
Bah, humbug!
Posts: 39,073
Karma: 157049943
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.
|
Pooh, are those migraines bothering you again?
|
05-01-2012, 02:43 PM | #38 |
Now what?
Posts: 58,849
Karma: 135181808
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Durham, NC
Device: Every Kindle Ever Made & To Be Made!
|
Think of his character in King Kong ... in a suit!
|
05-01-2012, 06:57 PM | #39 |
Bah, humbug!
Posts: 39,073
Karma: 157049943
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.
|
Now that I could see—as long as he didn't smile. He does look like a fighter.
|
05-05-2012, 12:02 AM | #40 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,302
Karma: 2607151
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Toronto
Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo
|
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Perry Mason movies made in the mid-1930s. They featured a couple of different Masons and they were more action oriented than Burr's portrayal. If Sherlock Holmes can be updated repeatedly (Rathbone, Brett, Downey, Cumberbatch ... see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...herlock_Holmes), I don't see why Mason can't be reinvented. The books were written over a forty year period so there's a good case for setting them in the 1940s as a compromise, giving them a "vintage" feel but also allowing for a little more noir-grit.
But the stumbling block would still remain the Gardiner estate which, I presume, controls the film rights. In absentia. |
05-05-2012, 12:58 AM | #41 |
Bah, humbug!
Posts: 39,073
Karma: 157049943
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.
|
I just saw an episode of the Jack Benny Program that I didn't know existed. In it, Jack's neighbors had him summoned him to court for disturbing the peace because of a rooster he was keeping in his yard. He fell asleep, and that led to a dream sequence where he was in court charged with murdering the rooster. He was defended by Perry Mason (Raymond Burr), who entered the courtroom to cheers, including a standing ovation by the jury. Unfortunately, Mason's skills were not so evident as they were on the Perry Mason show, and when Jack Benny asked him how he managed to win all the cases on his show, Mason replied, "I don't know. Maybe I've got better writers than you." Eventually Jack Benny was exonerated when in a stunning courtroom turn of events, Perry Mason confessed to the crime, having been driven to exasperation by the constant crowing of the rooster.
|
05-05-2012, 01:01 AM | #42 | |
Guru
Posts: 614
Karma: 1164945
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA
Device: iPhone 7+, iPad Mini4, Kindle Voyage
|
Quote:
|
|
05-05-2012, 01:05 AM | #43 |
Bah, humbug!
Posts: 39,073
Karma: 157049943
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.
|
It was on a station called "Antenna TV", which plays a lot of the old TV shows, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Burns and Allen Show. I just happened to tune in tonight and that's what was shown.
|
Tags |
erle stanley gardner, lawyer, murder, perry mason, pulp fiction |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Perry Mason e-books? | HarryT | Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links) | 17 | 09-01-2011 01:35 PM |
Steve Perry...SciFi author | Red Alert | Reading Recommendations | 4 | 08-28-2011 06:32 AM |
Vanishing Act by Thomas Perry | CRussel | Reading Recommendations | 6 | 05-30-2011 05:12 PM |
Perry Rhodan | beam | E-Books | 24 | 08-01-2009 04:57 PM |