The Case of the Lucky Legs

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The Case of the Lucky Legs
The Case of the Lucky Legs FilmPoster.jpeg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Archie Mayo
Written by Jerome Chodorov (adaptation)
Brown Holmes
Ben Markson
Based onThe 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 byJames Gibbon
Music by Leo F. Forbstein
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • October 5, 1935 (1935-10-05)
Running time
77 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

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.

Contents

Plot

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

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.

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References

  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.)