PERRY MASON: THE CASE OF THE DEFIANT DAUGHTER (TV)
Summary
One in this series of made-for-television films, based on the novels by Erle Stanley Gardner and TV series of the same name, about the cases of trial attorney Perry Mason, who proves his clients' innocence by solving the crimes himself, with assistance from his savvy secretary Della Street and private investigator Ken Malansky.
The sixteenth film opens as David Benson sadly tells his teen daughter Melanie about his brother Peter's recent suicide; he sends her out of state to her mother as he heads to Las Vegas on a revenge mission. Perry and Ken check into the same hotel, the Desert Inn, as David bursts into a private high-roller poker game and, brandishing a gun, blames Richard Stuart for Peter's death. David is disarmed by the other four players and roughly dismissed, but he is later contacted by a woman calling herself "Jennifer" who offers damning information on Richard — in exchange for $20,000. At the same time, Richard is shot dead by an unseen figure.
Melanie surprises her father in his hotel room just as the police arrive to arrest him for the murder; though Perry assures the excited press that he is there for vacation only and isn't interested in the case, Melanie seeks him out and convinces him to represent her father, reminding him that he "cares about justice." At the police station, David explains how Richard, working in public relations, ruined his brother's life by exposing his so-called "emotional problems" during an election campaign years ago, eventually leading to his suicide. Perry resolves to find Jennifer, David's sole alibi, and when Della arrives, he tasks her with investigating Richard's four poker buddies, as one of them is likely the killer. She first interviews Sarah Andrews, Richard's longtime personal secretary, and David is arraigned and held without bail. Perry, after rejecting Melanie's offer to "spy" and help with the case, first talks to actor Cliff Bartell, noting that Richard assisted him in covering up a hit-and-run accident, thus creating motive for his murder, though Cliff denies it.
As Ken tries to identify Jennifer via police sketch, Perry seeks out Steven Elliott, a former senator who turned to Richard to help hide his young mistress' pregnancy and subsequent abortion. Ken overhears Cliff talking to his alibi, and though they are both accidentally caught up in a sting with a couple of drug dealers, Ken guesses that he is still hiding a crucial detail. Perry's next suspect is L.D. Ryan, a businessman with secret ties to insider trading. Della and Ken find that Jennifer was driving a car belonging to casino dealer Alice Sherman during her fateful parking-lot meeting with David. Melanie tries to entrap Cliff with a fake phone message as Perry finds the fourth and final "poker player," Jay Corelli, an automobile magnate who knowingly ignored warnings of dangerous brake problems, again with Richard's help. Cliff meets up with his lover and catches Melanie spying on them; he admits to Perry that his alibi is really lounge singer Belinda Foster, whose jealous crime-boss boyfriend wouldn't like to hear of their affair.
Perry tries to reassure Melanie that he will save her father from the false charges, and in court, he destroys the testimony of an alleged eyewitness, Martin Hochman, who was in fact very drunk and $60,000 in the red when he supposedly saw David leaving the crime scene. Ken finds Alice driving the supposedly "stolen" car to meet up with her boyfriend, and he demands information on Jennifer in exchange for his silence about her extramarital affair. Cliff takes the stand and testifies that Richard was blackmailing all four of them, using the "poker games" as a front for the money he took from them regarding their various dark secrets. When Ken finds "Jennifer," really Stephanie, she confesses her fear of getting involved in the dangerous case by alibing David. Once subpoenaed to testify, she claims total ignorance and denies ever meeting David; when Ken tails her on Perry's orders, he is unable to save her from being deliberately mowed down by a car.
Ken explains that Stephanie had a six-year-old son, Skip, and Perry, pondering the tangled conspiracy, arrives late to court and is scolded by Judge McElvy. He again calls Steven to the stand and questions him about his five-year period of blackmail from Richard, revealing that he is now rapidly running out of money with which to pay him off. Photos prove that Steven changed clothes right around the time of Richard's death, and when Steven acknowledges that his nickname is "Skip," Perry forces him to admit that he cajoled Stephanie, his mistress and the mother of his secret son, to distract David long enough for him, Steven, to commit the murder — and then murdered her to keep the secret and save himself the monthly child support payments. Steven admits that he cooked up the plan only after David's surprise arrival; David is quickly released from custody. Melanie sincerely thanks Perry, Della, and Ken for their invaluable help as father and daughter depart together. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:34:19
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:20601
- GENRE: Drama, police/private detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/private detective; Drama, mystery/suspense; Las Vegas, Nev.
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV, 1990
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Dean Hargrove … Executive Producer, Writer
- Fred Silverman … Executive Producer
- Joel Stieger … Co-Executive Producer, Writer
- Billy Ray Smith … Producer
- David Solomon … Producer
- Christian I. Nyby II … Director
- Anne Collins … Writer
- Erle Stanley Gardner … Based on characters created by
- Dick DeBenedictis … Music by
- Fred Steiner … Theme Music by
- Raymond Burr … Cast, Perry Mason
- Barbara Hale … Cast, Della Street
- William R. Moses … Cast, Ken Malansky
- Jere Burns … Cast, Cliff Bartell
- Robert Culp … Cast, Richard Stuart
- Ken Kercheval … Cast, L.D. Ryan
- Kevin Tighe … Cast, Steven Elliott
- Robert Vaughn … Cast, Jay Corelli
- John Apicella … Cast, Martin Hochman
- Don Galloway … Cast, Sergeant Hollenbeck
- Harry Lennix … Cast, Prosecutor Keith Warner
- Jenny Lewis … Cast, Melanie Benson
- John Posey … Cast, David Benson
- Michele Scarabelli … Cast, Ms. Young (Jennifer / Stephanie)
- Lois de Banzie … Cast, Sarah Andrews
- Denise Galik … Cast, Alice Sherman
- Valerie Karasek … Cast, Belinda Foster
- Ron Pinkard … Cast, Judge McElvy
- LuAnn Buckstein … Cast, Elaine Hochman
- Michael Leopard … Cast, Alice's Husband
- Jack O'Halloran … Cast, Big Man
- Joe Horvath … Cast, Hood