Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception (TV Movie 1990) Poster

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7/10
An American in Paris
sol121822 March 2007
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** Perry Mason goes international here as he travels to France to defend US Marines Capt. David Breman for the murder of millionaire businessman Felix Altmann. We learn early in the movie that David suspected, with good reason, that Altmann is really former Nazi concentration camp commandant the notorious Hauptsturmfuher Dieter Krugmann of the Midanek death camp in German occupied Poland and has been living undercover in France as businessman Felix Altmann for the last 40 or so years.

Ggetting the information that Krugmann is alive and in Paris living under an assumed name from Midanek concentration camp survivor Elsa Remsy David, who's mother Helene is also a survivor of Midanek, wants Krugmann to be brought before the bar of justice and pay for his crimes. The only person who can identify him Mrs. Ramsey is suddenly run down and killed on a Paris street. Coming to the conclusion that Altmann is actually Krugmann David finds out, through his good and close friend American diplomat Curt Mitchell, that he spends his time in a local health spa and goes to see him only to have Altmann gunned down before his eyes by an unknown and unseen assailant.

It's a race against time for Perry Mason as he uses delaying tactics to get the evidence to clear Berman of murder before he's convicted by a military court-martial. Perry is hampered by this bunch of doofas wannabe Nazi hunters lead by another concentration camp, this time from Triblika, survivor Otto Rosen a former,or so he says,Polish/Jewish guerrilla freedom fighter. Rosen and his boys, that includes the almost clueless Carl Meyerhoff, do more to screw things up in finding evidence of Berman's innocence then in finding the elusive Commandant Krugmann, if he's in fact alive, himself. Krugmann always seems to be a step ahead of the law and the Nazi hunters out to get him.***SPOILERS*** It's later shown that Krugmann in fact is being helped by the Nazi/SS Odessa Group who have an inside man in the US embassy who tips him off whenever things, like now, start to get hot for him. So who was the murdered Felix Altmann if he's not, as Perry Mason suspects, wanted Nazi war criminal Dieter Krugmann?

Far too complicated to go into detail, without giving away a lot of keys facts, "Desperate Deception" goes on to uncover a major hole in the Nazi hunter Otto Rosen organization that has to do with the fearless Otto himself. Otto is using the organization for his own selfish purposes. It's later in the movie that the real reasons for Otto's obsession with Krugmann comes out that will leave you, as well as everyone in the court house, in a total state of shock. The biggest shock of all comes when you just about thought that the movie was finally over as we start to realize that the Nazis are alive and well and still in control some 45 years after they were blasted out of existence. That is of course in the minds and pens of those screenwriters in Hollywood who still write these kinds of scripts for both the movies and TV.
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7/10
Hunting Nazis
boblipton25 January 2019
When the son of an old friend, a marine stationed at the US Embassy in Paris, is found standing over a dead former concentration-camp officer, with his service revolver on the ground the murder weapon, is there anyone except for Perry Mason to get him freed and the real murderer confessing on the witness stand?

This in an entry in the TV-movie series produced a quarter of a century since the TV series starring Raymond had ended. It's clear that the producers were going for something special. A lot of it is shot in Paris. The accused is Tim Ryan, who looks amazingly like currently-hot movie star Bruce Willis.

Given the Holocaust denial movement, and their rise during the era, this was clearly intended as a statement on the issue. the presence of Teresa Wright as a crippled survivor of the death camps speaks to that.
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6/10
Perry Mason goes Nazi hunting
Leofwine_draca29 August 2016
An all-star cast of former notables make up the faces in this Paris-set adventure for TV's most popular lawyer, Perry Mason. THE CASE OF THE DESPERATE DECEPTION sees Mason and his buddies travelling to France to take on the case of a young man who has been wrongfully accused of murdering a suspected former Nazi. Once there they uncover a sinister conspiracy of hidden identity and motive, while Mason prepares to defend his client in court.

I remember watching these latter-day Perry Masons when I was a kid and really enjoying them. They remain entertaining to this day, with fast-paced and involved story lines and plenty of characters at odds with each other. The use of the Nazi hunter theme and the setting make THE CASE OF THE DESPERATE DECEPTION stand out from others in the series, but really it's the cast that makes this work.

This TV film features a nice role for an aged Ian Bannen as a Nazi hunter and Paul Freeman as the ruthless fellow in his employ. Yvette Mimieux is the ageing wife of the murdered man and Ian McShane a delight as his colleague. British soap star Kim Thomson even has a minor part as a flame-haired beauty. On top of all these, Terry O'Quinn is an investigator. Raymond Burr remains the consummate professional, Barbara Hale cameos, and William R. Moses is involved in a brief romance and car chase. None of it is less than entertaining.
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9/10
"One of Raymond Burr's best latter day Perry Mason mysteries."
jamesraeburn200319 June 2006
US marine officer Captain David Berman (Tim Ryan) has been arrested for killing a former Nazi SS officer called Dieter Krugman, whom was living in Paris in the guise of a successful businessman called Felix Altmann. The prosecution has a strong case against the defendant because it was well known among his friends that he had an obsession with tracking down Krugman as his mother Helene (Teresa Wright) is a survivor from a Nazi death camp in which she saw her two brothers murdered by Krugman before her very eyes. Helene is also a close friend of Perry Mason and she persuades him to fly to Paris and prove her son innocent. Mason believes Berman to be innocent because he tells both him and his mother that he wanted to have Krugman arrested and tried under the Crimes Against Humanity Law, which doesn't suggest he wanted to kill him. Nevertheless, that is not enough to win his case. But Mason soon discovers that Altmann's wife Danielle (Yvette Mimieux) has a strong motive for wanting her husband dead because she was having an affair with one of his former employees Andre Marchand (Ian McShane) and needed her inheritance to support his business interests. In addition, Mason has a mysterious Nazi hunter called Otto Rosen (Ian Bannen) to investigate whom refuses to fully explain why he conducts his activities in hiding rather than with the public, which most other Nazi hunters do.

THE CASE OF THE DESPERATE DECEPTION is one of Burr's better latter day movies as Perry Mason, which is easily his most celebrated role. Between 1985-93 he returned to the role over twenty times in a series of made for TV movies. These varied in quality with several suffering from lacklustre scripts, which threw clues at us out of nowhere with no real insight as to how Mason solved them. In addition, the running time was often padded out since the films more often than not were far too long for their plots with the exploits of Mason's sidekick Ken Malansky (William R Moses) who often raced around the States trying to track down a missing witness that was vital to his employer's case with a few fights and car chases thrown in.

Here, however, we have a stronger plot line than usual and George Eckstein's script doesn't just dream up clues out of nowhere and the story moves neatly and logically to its conclusion. It also makes a nice change to see Malansky's part used more effectively, in which the car chases are abandoned in favour of more straight detective work as not to confuse the plot. Raymond Burr is enjoyable as always especially in his courtroom scenes as he grills the real guilty party at the witness stand and we also have a better supporting cast than usual with veteran British actor Ian Bannen who is very good as Otto Rosen. Teresa Wright offers a sympathetic portrayal as Helene Berman who has to relive her horrifying memories of the concentration camp in order to help Perry Mason prove her son's innocence.
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10/10
Best Deception Ever ****
edwagreen16 September 2008
This is one of the best Perry Mason films ever made. There is no question about it.

Who would ever think that the murderer turned out to be a Simon Wiesenthal like character?

Even though, he has his usual girl-flirting William R. Moses is excellent here. He certainly takes on a more serious tone in a movie dealing with the holocaust.

The constant twists in the plot are wonderfully exercised. Teresa Wright gives a memorable performance as a holocaust victim. Her chilling experience at the Maidanek Concentration Camp is excellently shown.

As always, there are so many people that you can accuse of the murder here? There was deception all around here but deception in this film was never better.
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10/10
The best of all the PERRY MASON films
perkins123 November 2001
This is the best film in the Perry Mason series. Wonderful guest stars like Paul Freeman and Marcy Walker bring glamour and power to he story set in Paris. A complicated case - but Perry will handle it. William R. Moses is at his best as Ken Malansky. You have to like the recurring characters like Ken, Perry and Della, and you have to accept the way the Perry Mason - movies are made. Only than you can appreciate this fine movie. Wonderful. Thank you for this one !
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10/10
What a cast!
harloon-6827825 October 2020
This story couldn't miss as it featured several big screen stars - and big ones at that: Teresa Wright (Mrs Miniver), Ian Bannen (Flight of the Phoenix), and the still-stunning and almost too-beautiful Yvette Mimieux (The Time Machine and countless others). And that they could act is an understatement. Part of the wonder of the original Perry Mason series was the creative use of senior movie stars. Here that was carried through with great effect - a wonderful relief from the mediocrity of soap opera actors who frequently populate low-budget made-for-TV movies. The story itself was somewhat reminiscent of A Place Called Midnight in the original black and white series. But here there were many new twists but still with the sinister darkness of the Nazis at every turn. This is well worth a watch for Mason fans.
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5/10
Perry In Paris
bkoganbing14 September 2008
For it's one and only time the Perry Mason series went abroad and where better than Paris to defend the Marine son of a Holocaust survivor charged with the killing of a former S.S. captain who personally killed members of his mother's family and crippled her. It might have been nice had Raymond Burr and Billy Moses taken Barbara Hale along, but I guess someone had to tend to the office.

An old film favorite Teresa Wright plays Tim Ryan's mother and her testimony on the stand is the best part of this TV film. Her experiences going to the death camps is most moving.

For reasons I'm not quite sure, the French cede jurisdiction to the US military in this case. Ryan is a guard at the US Embassy in Paris, but the killing was definitely not in the line of duty. I would think the French would insist on trying him. In any event Perry Mason represents Ryan at a military court martial which he's permitted to have civilian counsel should he choose.

The murderer is a choice from way out of left field or in this case I should say right field. It does have to do with the events in the concentration camp, but in a most oblique way.

I think there have been better Mason films, but this one should satisfy the legion of fans of Erle Stanley Gardner's unbeatable attorney.
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10/10
It's about Ken Melansky
hisarrow30 June 2017
I loved it, but then, I've been a Raymond Burr fan since 1957, so my opinion is a tad biased. My only comment is that I'm glad Ken Melansky is no longer with Amy Hastings, unless he was cheating on her in this one. (Not really!) I think somebody must have decided she didn't help the plots and quietly ditched her. Good idea!
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A solid break from formula but not totally successful
bob the moo10 April 2004
Captain Berman is in France as he tries to hunt down the Nazi war criminal who took members of his family in the concentration camp years. He is pointed to the location of this `Krugman' and confronts him - only for him to be shot by an unseen killer. As a friend of the family, Mason comes to France to defend him - and gets drawn into a world of deception in the underworld of Nazi hunters.

The films of Perry Mason usually follow the same formula every single time and, in some regards, this film does too. However the plot bravely strikes out into France and a military court-martial hearing involving Nazi's. In doing this the film appears to be more interesting but actually doesn't really succeed in what it is aiming to do. The stuff surrounding the Nazi hunt makes for more than just the usual twist at the end, but it is all a bit tidy and easy and I wasn't really gripped by it. The film scales back on Malansky's investigation and Mason's questions in order to bring in this element in terms of flashbacks, but it only seems to take the pace out of the film and make it seem rather ill at ease with itself.

The Holocaust is a difficult subject and not one that can be easily just `used' as a background for a murder mystery. The film tries to deal with it sensitively but it doesn't really know what to do with it and in the end just slots it into the formula the best it can. Aside from the weakness, I was drawn in by the film attempting to do something different for a change and enjoyed it for having the formula with a reasonable twist.

The cast is pretty average despite having quite a few well known faces. Burr is OK as Mason but parts of the film doesn't really fit his character - particularly the final shot doesn't sit well. Moses is given much less to do than normal but seems happy to just be around. Hale is not in France but, funnily enough, actually gets more lines than usual as a result! An `all star' cast is not that well used, including Ian `Lovejoy' McShane. O'Quinn is pretty good despite hamming it for all he is worth towards the end; fans of Gerry Anderson may recognise the voice of Paul Maxwell or know him from the few big American films he did (Aliens for one).

Overall this film weakens itself by trying to do something different from normal but is still worth seeing for Mason fans as the formula is still recognisable.
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3/10
So MANY clichés
theonejackdry7 January 2022
Not a great episode. They could have spared us the long list of clichés about Paris, including a mime in the street... Anyway, a murder is committed in Paris and obviously the French police is in no way involved... that was really absurd.

Aside from that, Ken Malansky is his annoying useless and charmless self, except he's now hitting on a girl when it's never been established that he is not engaged/married anymore.

His girlfriend was not in the previous episode but it was never established that she was out of the picture. She was the only good thing about the introduction of that incredibly bland character. It's in poor taste. She was beautiful, charming, funny, competent, courageous and intelligent. Too good for him?
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