For those of you who think of Raymond Burr when Perry Mason is mentioned, TCM is offering a mini-marathon of six films featuring the barrister-sleuth in other incarnations from the ’30s — plus the elusive Fog Over Frisco and A Scandal in Paris (a fictionalized biography of Vidocq).
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(All dates and times are EST.)
Monday—June 29th
8:00 AM—The Deadly Affair (1966)
A secret agent investigates the tangled affairs surrounding a government official’s suicide.
Cast: James Mason, Simone Signoret, Maximilian Schell.
Dir: Sidney Lumet.
C-107 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format
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Tuesday—June 30th
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Wednesday—July 1st
9:30 AM—The Case of the Howling Dog (1934)
Perry Mason gets caught between feuding neighbors who claim to be married to the same woman.
Cast: Warren William, Mary Astor, Allen Jenkins.
Dir: Alan Crosland.
BW-74 mins, TV-PG
11:00 AM—The Case of the Curious Bride (1935)
Perry Mason helps a young woman whose supposedly dead husband suddenly returns to life.
Cast: Warren William, Margaret Lindsay, Errol Flynn.
Dir: Michael Curtiz.
BW-80 mins, TV-G, CC
12:30 PM—The Case of the Lucky Legs (1935)
Perry Mason tries to stay on the wagon while investigating the murder of a crooked beauty contest promoter.
Cast: Warren William, Lyle Talbot, Allen Jenkins.
Dir: Archie Mayo.
BW-78 mins, TV-G, CC
2:00 PM—The Case of the Velvet Claws (1936)
Perry Mason’s honeymoon with Della Street is interrupted by the murder of a scandal-sheet publisher.
Cast: Warren William, Claire Dodd, Winifred Shaw.
Dir: William Clemens.
BW-63 mins, TV-G, CC
3:15 PM—The Case of the Black Cat (1936)
Perry Mason looks into a trio of murders heralded by the shriek of a cat.
Cast: Ricardo Cortez, Jane Bryan, Harry Davenport.
Dir: William C. McGann.
BW-66 mins, TV-PG
4:30 PM—The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (1937)
Perry Mason tries to find out if a long-lost heiress is the real thing.
Cast: Donald Woods, Ann Dvorak, Craig Stevens.
Dir: William Clemens.
BW-71 mins, TV-G
8:00 PM—Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
Boyhood friends grow up on opposite sides of the law.
Cast: Clark Gable, William Powell, Myrna Loy.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II.
BW-90 mins, TV-G, CC
9:45 PM—Fog Over Frisco (1934)
A San Francisco heiress discovers her sister is hanging out with gangsters.
Cast: Bette Davis, Donald Woods, Margaret Lindsay.
Dir: William Dieterle.
BW-68 mins, TV-G, CC
11:00 PM—G-Men (1935)
A mob protege joins the FBI when a friend is gunned down.
Cast: James Cagney, Ann Dvorak, Margaret Lindsay.
Dir: William Keighley.
BW-86 mins, TV-PG, CC
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Thursday—July 2nd
12:30 AM—The Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film (2008)
Documentary that explores the development of the crime film at Warner Bros. and the rise of iconic stars of the genre such as James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart.
BW-106 mins, TV-MA, CC
2:30 AM—The Petrified Forest (1936)
An escaped convict holds the customers at a remote desert cantina hostage.
Cast: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart.
Dir: Archie Mayo.
BW-82 mins, TV-G, CC
4:00 AM—High Sierra (1941)
An aging ex-con sets out to pull one more big heist.
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, Arthur Kennedy.
Dir: Raoul Walsh.
BW-100 mins, TV-G, CC
5:30 PM—Rope (1948)
Two wealthy young men try to commit the perfect crime by murdering a friend.
Cast: James Stewart, Farley Granger, John Dall.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock.
C-81 mins, TV-14, CC
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Friday—July 3rd
12:15 PM—Candleshoe (1977)
A street urchin infiltrates a noblewoman’s impoverished household in search of hidden treasure.
Cast: David Niven, Helen Hayes, Jodie Foster.
Dir: Norman Tokar.
C-101 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
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Saturday—July 4th
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Sunday—July 5th
6:00 AM—A Scandal in Paris (1946)
An elegant conman gets himself appointed chief of police so he can rob Paris at leisure.
Cast: George Sanders, Signe Hasso, Carole Landis.
Dir: Douglas Sirk.
BW-100 mins, TV-PG
12:00 PM—The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
A gang of small time crooks plots an elaborate jewel heist.
Cast: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Marilyn Monroe.
Dir: John Huston.
BW-112 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS
10:00 PM—To Catch a Thief (1955)
A retired cat burglar fights to clear himself of a series of Riviera robberies committed in his style.
Cast: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock.
C-106 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
—Mike Gray