The Case of the Lucky Legs

The Case of the Lucky Legs
The Case of the Lucky Legs
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Archie Mayo
Written by	Jerome Chodorov (adaptation); Brown Holmes; Ben Markson
Based on	The Case of the Lucky Legs; 1934 novel; by Erle Stanley Gardner
Produced by	Henry Blanke
Starring	Warren William; Genevieve Tobin; Patricia Eills; Lyle Talbot
Cinematography	Tony Gaudio
Edited by	James Gibbon
Music by	Leo F. Forbstein
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date	October 5, 1935;
Running time	77 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Case of the Lucky Legs is a 1935 mystery film, the third in a series of Perry Mason films starring Warren William as the famed lawyer.

Plot

Genevieve Tobin, Warren William and Patricia Ellis in The Case of the Lucky Legs (1935)

Margie Clune wins the "Lucky Legs" beauty contest concocted by Frank Patton, but has trouble collecting her $1,000 prize when the promoter skips town. It turns out it is all a scam he has pulled before. When he later turns up stabbed to death, she is a strong suspect.

Cast

Warren William as Perry Mason
Genevieve Tobin as Della Street
Patricia Ellis as Margie Clune
Lyle Talbot as Dr. Bob Doray
Allen Jenkins as Spudsy Drake, Mason's private investigator
Barton MacLane as Police Chief Bisonette
Peggy Shannon as Thelma Bell
Porter Hall as Bradbury
Anita Kerry as Eva Lamont
Craig Reynolds as Frank Patton
Henry O'Neill as District Attorney Manchester
Charles Wilson as Police Officer Ricker
Joseph Crehan as Detective Johnson
Olin Howland as Dr. Croker, Perry's doctor
Mary Treen as Spudsy's wife

Critical reception

Writing for The Spectator in 1936, Graham Greene praised the film as "an admirable film" sadly partnered as makeweight to I Give My Heart (a film Greene characterized as appalling). Comparing the character of Perry Mason to other similar fictional detectives like Sherlock Holmes, Lord Peter Wimsey, Charlie Chan, and those created by William Powell, Greene concludes that Mason is his favorite film detective because he is a more genuine creation and recommends the film as "good Mason if not good detection".^[1]

Home media

On October 23, 2012, Warner Home Video released the film on DVD in Region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection alongside The Case of the Howling Dog, The Case of the Curious Bride, The Case of the Velvet Claws, The Case of the Black Cat and The Case of the Stuttering Bishop in a set entitled Perry Mason: The Original Warner Bros. Movies Collection. This is a manufacture-on-demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and only in the US.

"The Case of the Lucky Legs" was remade for the Perry Mason (1957 TV series), Season three; episode 10, first shown December 19, 1959.

References

^ Greene, Graham (31 January 1936). "The Case of the Lucky Legs/Charlie Chan in Shanghai". The Spectator. (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. pp. 48–49. ISBN 0192812866.)

External links

The Case of the Lucky Legs at the TCM Movie Database
The Case of the Lucky Legs at IMDb
The Case of the Lucky Legs at AllMovie
The Case of the Lucky Legs at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

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[1] Greene, Graham (31 January 1936). "The Case of the Lucky Legs/Charlie Chan in Shanghai". The Spectator. (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. pp. 48–49. ISBN 0192812866.)

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