Rather better than its B-movie reputation, the fifth entry in Warner Bros.' Perry Mason series may not deliver the glib repartee of its predecessors, but a strong and rather intricate plot that keeps the audience guessing makes up for this shortcoming. Ricardo Cortez makes a fine Mason, closer, perhaps, to Erle Stanley Garner's original character than his suave predecessor, Warren William. June Travis, as adoring secretary Della Street, is pure B-movie, however, and the supporting cast is also mainly culled from the studio's program division, operated in those years by Bryan Foy. A troubled production, The Case of the Black Cat suffered a change of director when the veteran Alan Crosland was killed in a car accident. His replacement, William McGann, seems to have been little more than a competent traffic cop.