THE CASE OF THE FATAL FRAMING is one of the last filmed PERRY MASON TV movies in the year before star Raymond Burr died. Having watched a fair number of these now, I can report that this isn't one of the best; it's quite sloppily written and rehashes old themes that have been done better previously. Most notably it has a complicated back story about an arrogant painter who dies in a motorbike smash in the opening scene only to turn up alive five years later, thus putting everyone's backs up.
Eventually the painter gets murdered and this time he's dead for good. The actor playing him is David Soul in an extremely hammy, occasionally laughable performance. Once the court case kicks in the film becomes extremely clichéd and has some laughable action including an attempt at a chainsaw fight (if you want to see this done properly, check out TIGER ON THE BEAT, a splendid Hong Kong action comedy). The actors go through the motions here although John Rhys-Davies is fun in a minor role as an art expert.
Eventually the painter gets murdered and this time he's dead for good. The actor playing him is David Soul in an extremely hammy, occasionally laughable performance. Once the court case kicks in the film becomes extremely clichéd and has some laughable action including an attempt at a chainsaw fight (if you want to see this done properly, check out TIGER ON THE BEAT, a splendid Hong Kong action comedy). The actors go through the motions here although John Rhys-Davies is fun in a minor role as an art expert.