Patience Watson
One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.
Sanjeev Waters
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Stephanie
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
Dan L. Miller
The Perry Mason series of mysteries from the 1930s are some of the best mysteries one could watch. One needs to pay attention to details throughout the film to follow the twists in the plot. The movies closely follow the Erle Stanley Gardner mystery novels on which they are based. The Case of the Lucky Legs holds one's interest from beginning to end as Perry Mason cleverly addresses the case of a murder committed by someone involved in a beauty contest in which girls are judged solely on the looks of their legs. Warren William is a pleasure to watch as Perry Mason, and Genevieve Tobin expertly plays Perry's faithful, flirty and efficient secretary, Della Street. The witty repartee between Perry Mason and Della Street is similar to the banter between Nick and Nora Charles in the Thin Man series. There are so many wisecracks and humor in this offering, the movie is categorized equally as a comedy as well as a mystery. If you are a fan of old, intriguing mysteries, you won't be disappointed with this gem.
utgard14
Perry Mason (Warren William) is hired to locate the organizer of a crooked beauty contest and finds the man murdered. The contest winner is the prime suspect but, of course, she's innocent and it's up to Perry to prove it by finding the real killer.The third Perry Mason movie from Warner Bros. starring Warren William. If you're new to the series and only know Perry Mason from the TV show, expect to be surprised and possibly disappointed. This Perry is nothing like Raymond Burr's version. He's less a lawyer than a private detective. Essentially this is Warren William playing the same character type he'd play in several different detective roles -- cocky, funny, tough, and a little flirty. This particular film's Perry owes a lot to another famous detective with a penchant for boozing -- Nick Charles. Genevieve Tobin is fun as Della Street. Good supporting cast includes Allen Jenkins, Barton MacLane, Lyle Talbot, and Porter Hall. Lovely Patricia Ellis plays the winner of the "best legs" contest. She was a deserving winner and quite the cutie. Speaking of cuties, how about a young Mary Treen as Jenkins' wife? Mary made her career as a character actress playing plain Jane types but here in this early role I think she was very pretty.It's enjoyable enough for a B detective film. Nothing particularly unique but entertaining in its way. If you're a Perry Mason buff you might be put off by the portrayal of Perry but I didn't mind it. As I said before, William has played this type of character in other films. But if it works, keep doing it.
csteidler
Something is fishy about the "lucky legs" contest at the big department store—in fact, the winner was cheated out of her prize money by the sponsoring hosiery company. The store owner enlists Perry Mason's help.Our first glimpse of Mason is a good indication of this picture's level of seriousness: he's asleep on his office floor, and when awakened turns out to be rather hung over, in a goofy mood—but quite sharp enough to efficiently gather some details about the new case.Or course it soon becomes a murder case involving multiple suspects and featuring assistance from Mason's secretary Della Street (Genevieve Tobin) and his associate Spudsy (Allen Jenkins).Warren William talks fast and appears to be having fun in what must be one of his sillier performances. Tobin is very funny as Della, delivering one coy look and sly smirk after another. Jenkins is right at home in this kind of a picture—his comical sour looks and unheeded protests are perfect foils to Tobin's and William's breeziness.The solid cast also includes Lyle Talbot as a handsome young doctor who gets mad at his girlfriend for immodestly entering (and winning) the legs contest, and Patricia Ellis as said girlfriend who tells him off, at least temporarily.The emphasis is on humor more than on mystery or suspense, so the snappy dialog stands out a lot more than the plot. It goes by awfully fast, it's frequently hilarious, and if you can't really remember who did it five minutes after it's over—well, that wasn't really the point, anyway.
blanche-2
Erle Stanley Gardner oversaw the TV series "Perry Mason," including picking the Perry - so you can see the difference between that series and a Mason movie like "The Case of the Lucky Legs." Warren William is Mason, and his Mason is 180 degrees different from his first, more serious Mason portrayal in "The Case of the Howling Dog." Here, he's extremely flippant, he and Delta flirt constantly, and it's all a game to him in between drinks. In the first entry into the series, he has a huge office with lots of associates; here, he's a one-man office as in the books.William's Mason has nothing to do with the Erle Stanley Gardner's passionate Perry Mason of the Depression, or the steady, solid Perry of later on, but he's still wonderful - handsome, charming, debonair, and very funny. He's definitely a guilty pleasure, even though I know how much Gardner hated these films.At least in title, this is an actual Perry Mason story, and it's a good one.Warren William played heavies in silent films and emerged in talkies as a leading man. He had a great persona.Very entertaining.
