Between 1934-1937, Warner Brothers Studios produced six films loosely based (and I use those words carefully) on the Erle Stanley Gardner’s lawyer-detective, Perry Mason. Warner Brothers has released these six movies on DVD and they are somewhat of a mixed bag. They were all originally produced as B movies intended to be the second feature on a double feature fare. Running time for all movies is approximately 65 minutes.

Three different actors portray Mason in these movies. William Warren (pictured on the DVD cover ) takes charge in the first 4 movies. His Mason, over the course of the 4 movies, comes across as a fast-talking, gourmet eating, drunk. The influence of William Powell’s portrayal of Nick Charles in the Thin Man movies on Warren’s performance is all too apparent – and really wrong for these movies.

In the last of the 4 Warren movies, The Case of the Velvet Claws, Mason marries his secretary, Della Street. Fans of the Perry Mason novels know that in the 1943 story, The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito, Della makes it very clear that while she and Mason are very fond of each other, marriage is out of the question because they’re both “…hardened campaigners who can’t waste time with romance when there’s work to be done….” Most believe Gardner was so upset at Hollywood’s treatment of his character in the Warren movies, that he made sure that Mason and Street had a purely professional and platonic relationship in future novels.

By the time we get to the fifth movie, The Case of the Black Cat, Ricardo Cortez is Perry Mason. The marriage to Della Street has been forgotten and Mason is more focused on his law practice and no longer pretending to be Nick Charles. By the way, there is no black cat in this movie, but rather a black and white calico one.  The story is based on Gardner’s The Case of the Caretaker’s Cat. This movie works better than the last Warren entry because the story is closer to the book and detective Paul Drake is no longer played for comic relief. But Cortez just doesn’t come across as if he believes the lines he’s speaking. And that hurts the performance of the rest of the cast.

The final entry on the DVD is The Case of the Stuttering Bishop. Mason this time is played by veteran actor, Donald Woods. While the story is very close to the novel, it is difficult for a true Mason fan to get over Wood’s distracting mustache. However, this movie creates the basic template for the Raymond Burr TV show to follow 20 years later. Wood’s Mason and his staff are highly competent. One other thing about this last movie that I did not like was how everyone pronounce District Attorney, Hamilton Burger’s last name. Instead of pronouncing it as “Burger,” like hamburger; everyone pronounces his name like “Berger,” like merger.

The quality of the six prints on the DVD is good. If you are a Raymond Burr Perry Mason fan, this series will pale in comparison to Burr’s nine year run as the lawyer. However, if you are a fan of Gardner’s stories, you’ll want to own this DVD to complete your collection.