The Case of the Grimacing Governor is the penultimate episode of the PERRY MASON film series made after the death of star Raymond Burr. Into his shoes steps the one and only Hal Halbrook, playing a cowboy lawyer who proves to be a bit more physically able than Burr, so much so that we don't really miss the big man's presence. Another surprise is that GRIMACING Governor is an involving mystery that's quite a bit better than some of the earlier instalments.
The plot takes in a double murder with lots of different suspects and motives for the deaths. The subject matter is politics, but there's enough action and incident to stop it ever becoming boring, as well as a little humour that works for a change. Barbara Hale barely appears but William R. Moses does his usual action guy routine and there are nice roles for the likes of Tony Curtis (impressing as a gangster), a brief but fiery James Brolin, and Gregg Henry. No classic here, but solid enough viewing material anyway.
The plot takes in a double murder with lots of different suspects and motives for the deaths. The subject matter is politics, but there's enough action and incident to stop it ever becoming boring, as well as a little humour that works for a change. Barbara Hale barely appears but William R. Moses does his usual action guy routine and there are nice roles for the likes of Tony Curtis (impressing as a gangster), a brief but fiery James Brolin, and Gregg Henry. No classic here, but solid enough viewing material anyway.