Perry Mason (2020 Creators Rolin Jones & Ron Fitzgerald)

Perry Mason was a long-running TV show with Raymond Burr, 1957 - 1966, originally a criminal defense lawyer written by Erle Stanley Gardner in 82 novels (a couple of which I'm surprised to find I own.) It was also made into a series of films, a radio series and a later TV incarnation. I don't know then if this is the 'early' Perry Mason or a reimagining.

I became interested in the artist Sam Peffer, who painted these. If I remember rightly, the model for the lady on the left was Mrs Peffer!

Robert Downey Jr was initially supposed to play the detective (which is what he is now, with a tough WWI background and a dishonorable discharge), who is now Matthew Rhys, and the case involves a kidnapped and murdered baby, a religious cult and corruption in the police force. It's 1931 and LA is moodily evoked like a good film noir (except that you don't get stripy shadows through blinds, I've noticed) or Chinatown. Robert and Susan Downey remained on as exec producers.

Rhys's employer is John Lithgow, with Shea Whigham as another investigator and Juliet Rylance (Mark's step-daughter) as a useful assistant. The baby's parents are Nate Corddry (Fosse/Verdon, The Circle) and Gayle Rankin. Eric Lange and Andrew Howard are LAPD detectives, Chris Chalk a struggling and honest cop on the beat, Tatiana Maslany is the religious group leader, Lili Taylor (Six Feet Under, High Fidelity, Short Cuts, Dogfight, Say Anything..., Mystic Pizza) her associate / mother.

On Lithgow's suicide we realise we are in Origin Story territory, as Perry Mason then has to take over in the courtroom to fight for the lady's innocence (if she is innocent - she seems mighty guilty of something). It's at the funeral we meet Ian Lithgow, son of, which is why his voice sounds so damn familiar.

It's beautifully shot (by David Franco at al) and designed (John Goldsmith - good article here). Loved the cars. And that great jazz trumpet score is both composed and played by Terence Blanchard, a frequent Spike Lee collaborator. An HBO eight part production.