Warner Bros & Downey Jr team for 'Perry Mason'

Warner Bros.& Downey Jr team for 'Perry Mason'

Fellow fans of Erle Stanley Gardner's eponymous attorney will be interested to read this "exclusive" from entertainment magazine Variety, I should think.  If you're anything like me you'll have fond memories of the 1950s series and later 1980s & 1990s TV movies starring the great Raymond Burr, and one has to wonder if even Robert Downey Jr - who admittedly seems to be at the height of his powers - can follow him.  But if anyone can manage it, perhaps it is Downey Jr.  Everything he's in seems to be box office gold at the moment, from the Iron Man series to the new Sherlock Holmes (sequel's coming in December - I can't wait!) and having watched the opening credits of the Fifties serial a few times, particularly that knowing smile of Burr's, I can see Downey Jr there as well.

Only time will tell if Mr Downey Jr can bring success to a new (series of?) Perry Mason film(s), but the fact that it will apparently be set in the 1930s, as Gardner's original books were, should give it a certain individual cachet - certainly among the likes of us, at least!  A real, gritty Thirties feel combined with Gardner's excellent plots, modern production values and Downey Jr's acting skills could make this a roaring success.

So what do you think?  Is Robert Downey Jr the right choice to play Perry Mason?  If not, who would you like to see in the role?  What about the supporting cast - Mason's secretary Della Street, private eye Paul Drake, and district attorney Hamilton Burger - any ideas for actors/actresses?

Why Sherlock is still sleuthing

Why Sherlock is still sleuthing

Obviously written to coincide with the new B.B.C. three-part series Sherlock, which debuted here in Britain on Sunday night, this little study of Sherlock Holmes' enduring popularity is quite interesting. The Holmes stories have captured the public imagination for well over a century and this new series, set in modern-day London, is just one of several recent adaptations which show that there is plenty of life left in the character yet. So many people have attempted to identify just what it is about Sherlock Holmes that has kept him at the forefront of the public consciousness for more than 100 years that I will not even attempt to add my own theories, which pretty much tally with those already expressed anyway.

Suffice to say that with this new series (which I personally found quite enjoyable and thought worked surprisingly well, despite a few irksome aspects - although if I want canonical accuracy and period settings I'll watch the Jeremy Brett series), the recent Downey Jr. film and the various other portrayals that are currently around the future of arguably the world's most famous fictional detective seems assured.