BURNED BY BURR

Perry Mason turned up once again with one of his plodding two-hour vehicles on March 11. If you’re a fan of Raymond Burr, you could describe his acting as laid back and underplayed. If not, you could call it stilted, ponderous and boring. Whatever, “The Case of the Desperate Deception,” which was filmed in Paris, seemed carelessly done. If Burr comes to life at all in this series of movies, it is usually during the trial scene. This time out, he couldn’t manage that. Mason’s secretary, Della, seemed uncaring about her few telephone scenes. And William Moses is no substitute for William Katt, who had pizazz.

The Gargantuan gaffe of the film was Burr’s line (misread, perhaps?): “The court-martial begins tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the morning.” Can anyone recall when 10 a.m. came in the afternoon?

Randy Fitts, West Hollywood