The Case Of The Curious Bride - The Big Reveal
Perry Mason now has four suspects in the Moxley murder case. First, Rhoda Montaine who was married to him before he faked his death and was being blackmailed by him after he showed up. The district attorney has already concluded she’s the culprit - he has her locked up awaiting trial. Second, her husband Carl Montaine who is desperate not to have a scandal besmirch the family name.
Third, Rhoda’s current squeeze Dr. Millbeck (Philip Reed), on the left, who clearly knows more than he is prepared to admit to, and fourth, Oscar Pender (Warren Hymer) whose sister was also married to Moxley and who was recently under threat from him.
So, who did it? Mason must have been a reader of mystery novels because, in true Agatha Christie style, he decides to throw a party and include the husband, the doctor and the roughneck. After accusing first one, then another without eliciting a confession, he turns to Carl Montaine, dramatically accusing him of being the murderer.
Montaine vehemently proclaims innocence then describes what really happened in a flashback that for the first time gives us a close look at Errol Flynn in this, his debut American film. After following Rhoda to Moxley’s place Montaine saw him knocking her around and intervened, prompting a desperate fight. A thrown chair shattered a mirror, punches were traded, Moxley (Flynn) fell back against a knife-edged glass shard and, stabbed, dropped dead. The account fitted all of the clues; Mason was convinced, Rhoda was absolved and the D.A. once again was one-upped.