Perry Mason - General Discussion

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 9/18/2022 at 10:28 PM, Egg McMuffin said:

The same producers hired Chachi to co-star in “Diagnosis Murder” about a year later.

True, but I don't think Chachi had exposed himself as the asshole he turned out to be in real life. I very much doubt Dick Van Dyke would put up with someone of his ilk.

I'm pretty sure the movie (whose name I'm blanking on) with Ken Moses' real life wife at the time, Tracy Nelson, but I know her as Ricky Nelson's daughter-will air soon. Another one about reporters. How many of these movies dealt with sleazy editors, sleazy reporters, asshole reporters and reporters who ended up being the murderer??

Too late now, but I would have loved to have Constance Towers appear in one of the movies, as she was a regular on the original series. And it would have been kewl if one of the cases from the series was tied into a case in the movies. Siiiiiigh.

Edited September 21, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[Maverick]

 Tracy Nelson. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

43 minutes ago, Maverick said:

 Tracy Nelson. 

Right-it’s the movie name I’m blanking on. Oops, looks like I forgot to add Tracy’s name in my original post!

All fixed now!

[Schnickelfritz]

12 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Right-it’s the movie name I’m blanking on.

The Case of the Reckless Romeo

[dttruman]

Did anyone see the one about the Blushing Pearls where Mr Sulu shows up? At the 40:45 mark of the episode, where Perry, Della and Paul come walking down an alley. Did anyone notice Paul's shoes? The last time I saw shoes like that, my father had golf shoes in that style. Were they kind of outlandish for a P.I.?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.36afeb2a-045d-b58f-506f-80d6a49d4ea3?ref=imdb_web&autoplay=1&ref_=imdbref_tt_wbr_fdv&tag=imdbtag_tt_wbr_fdv-20

[peacheslatour]

I'm watching The Case of the Bartered Bikini and I noticed the main thing that has always bothered me about OG Perry Mason. All the women under thirty are portrayed as insipid, whimpering, wishy washy morons. Why did they make this choice. Are they like that in the books?

Edited September 29, 2022 by peacheslatour

[dttruman]

9 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I'm watching The Case of the Bartered Bikini and I noticed the main thing that has always bothered me about OG Perry Mason. All the women under thirty are portrayed as insipid, whimpering, wishy wahy morons. Why did they make this choice. Are they like that in the books?

I would just say very naive and mostly emotional, but Perry is more or less like a trusting uncle to them. There have been a few young heiresses that are head strong in what they want, but it's always Perry who is telling them "what they can do and can't do" or in another way, "what is legal and is not legal".

[peacheslatour]

29 minutes ago, dttruman said:

I would just say very naive and mostly emotional, but Perry is more or less like a trusting uncle to them. There have been a few young heiresses that are head strong in what they want, but it's always Perry who is telling them "what they can do and can't do" or in another way, "what is legal and is not legal".

Maybe it's just young people in general that they show in a bad light. All the young men seem to be impetuous dunderheads as well.

[dttruman]

What I have always liked about the Old Perry Masons are the judges and how they are so well written. Some times the judges have a few lines in the trial that make the courtroom scenes so much better, whether it's related to an objection or there is a little conference up there by the judges bench. The judges actions contribute to good courtroom scenes.

5 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Maybe it's just young people in general that they show in a bad light. All the young men seem to be impetuous dunderheads as well.

Can you imagine a self assured young person who doesn't need help going into Perry Mason's office and asking for help. Kind of defeats the purpose of Perry's job.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

Can you imagine a self assured young person who doesn't need help going into Perry Mason's office and asking for help. Kind of defeats the purpose of Perry's job.

Why not? Self assured middle aged and elderly people did. He was still just as avuncular with them. My favs were when rich assholes tried to order him around and get him to be unethical and would refuse to take their case. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

7 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Why not? Self assured middle aged and elderly people did. He was still just as avuncular with them.

Not all were bumbling dunderheads. Just watched season eight's "The Case of the Wrongful Writ" with the oh so handsome Robert Shigeta as Perry's client.

[dttruman]

3 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Why not? Self assured middle aged and elderly people did. He was still just as avuncular with them. My favs were when rich assholes tried to order him around and get him to be unethical and would refuse to take their case. 

What bothered Perry the most were Injustice and clients who thought they owned him "Lock, Stock, and Barrel" with a large retainer.

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

The aspect of the times the show was made that always bugs me is when Paul sees a good looking woman and stands dazed for several minutes all but drooling on his shoes. 

[chessiegal]

10 hours ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

The aspect of the times the show was made that always bugs me is when Paul sees a good looking woman and stands dazed for several minutes all but drooling on his shoes. 

Yes! They have him act like a 12-year-old. It's embarrassing. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Oh blech. "The Case of the Broken-Hearted Bride" aired this past Sunday. Why are most of Perry's clients such petulant whiners?

And please, PLEASE tell me that they were NOT inferring that Caitlyn was Perry's child?! I must have missed all that subtext and constant lines about how her father really loved her and she reallllyyyyy loved her father and that her mother and Perry "knew" each other back in the day when Caitlyn's parents were going through a rough patch.

Oh Really? Must have been offscreen, because I don't remember Perry EVER being involved with anyone during the show's initial run--and this "relationship" along with the one with Jean Simmons's character, would have taken place then.

And Poor Perry. He had such a KEWL car during the show's initial run, and in the movies, now drives a boring sedan.

[alvajon]

16 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Oh blech. "The Case of the Broken-Hearted Bride" aired this past Sunday. Why are most of Perry's clients such petulant whiners?

And please, PLEASE tell me that they were NOT inferring that Caitlyn was Perry's child?! I must have missed all that subtext and constant lines about how her father really loved her and she reallllyyyyy loved her father and that her mother and Perry "knew" each other back in the day when Caitlyn's parents were going through a rough patch.

Oh Really? Must have been offscreen, because I don't remember Perry EVER being involved with anyone during the show's initial run--and this "relationship" along with the one with Jean Simmons's character, would have taken place then.

I thought this too--must’ve been offscreen, if so, but I doubt it.  Kinda like no explanation where Paul Drake, Jr. came from, and not explaining his departure when they added Ken Malansky.  

[alvajon]

I watched "The Case of the Twice Told Twist tonight" (1966).  Loved seeing Raymond Burr’s beautiful blue eyes in this only color episode.

[dttruman]

On 9/30/2022 at 9:52 AM, chessiegal said:

On 9/29/2022 at 11:23 PM, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

The aspect of the times the show was made that always bugs me is when Paul sees a good looking woman and stands dazed for several minutes all but drooling on his shoes. 

Yes! They have him act like a 12-year-old. It's embarrassing. 

Those were different times, that are almost direct opposite of what we have today. Back then when a guy stares or whistles at a girl, it was considered acceptable as long as it wasn't obsessive. It showed a guys interests, but he was still expected to treat a lady with respect. Even the girl accepted it as a form of flattery. As for Paul he was considered a true blue red blooded American and that is what the producers wanted to portray him as a "Knight in Shining Armor".

[GHScorpiosRule]

5 hours ago, alvajon said:

Kinda like no explanation where Paul Drake, Jr. came from, and not explaining his departure when they added Ken Malansky.  

That has ALWAYS aggravated me--no explanation about where Paul Junior went. I also stated up thread, that he had to have been born while the show was still on the air, but we knew Paul wasn't seeing anyone, let alone thinking about marriage. And Paul wasn't a cad.

5 hours ago, alvajon said:

I watched "The Case of the Twice Told Twist tonight" (1966).  Loved seeing Raymond Burr’s beautiful blue eyes in this only color episode.

Oh, me too! I could DROWN in them!

And Della! Barbara was such a beautiful woman, and she looked stunning in that episode as well.

[GHScorpiosRule]

In two weeks we’ll see Raymond’s final episode as Perry in The Case of the Killer Kiss; not sure if they’ll air the remaining movies with Paul Sorvino and Hal Holbrook.

Edited October 17, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[GHScorpiosRule]

Cross posting! On my Face Book feed this morning came the memory that Raymond Burr and Angela Lansbury starred together in Please Murder Me! (1956) and now I'm disappointed that neither of them appeared on the other's show! Angela on this show (original series OR the movies) and Raymond on Murder, She Wrote!

Of course I'm going to hunt down this movie!

[GHScorpiosRule]

I found a a great price for Please Murder Me! So yay! Raymond Burr’s performance that would let viewers see what Perry Mason would be like. the movie came out a year before the series premiered!

[dttruman]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I found a a great price for Please Murder Me! So yay! Raymond Burr’s performance that would let viewers see what Perry Mason would be like. the movie came out a year before the series premiered!

It's got a little resemblance to Double Indemnity at the end. Angela Landsbury kind of reminds me of Constance Ford who was in 3 episodes of Perry Mason "The Deadly Double", "Potted Planter", and "The Shifty Shoebox".

[dttruman]

I hope you didn't pay for it yet, because it's on Youtube for FREE!

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 hours ago, dttruman said:

I hope you didn't pay for it yet, because it's on Youtube for FREE!

I don’t mind buying the DVD. I’m not a fan of watching on YouTube if I can avoid it.

[dttruman]

7 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I don’t mind buying the DVD. I’m not a fan of watching on YouTube if I can avoid it.

No problem, just trying to save you money. It's getting a little tight where I live.

[Egg McMuffin]

On 10/13/2022 at 3:35 AM, alvajon said:

I watched "The Case of the Twice Told Twist tonight" (1966).  Loved seeing Raymond Burr’s beautiful blue eyes in this only color episode.

It’s a treat to have gotten at least one color episode of the original series. Too bad they didn’t do a whole 10th season in color, but we have that one episode. I’ve always wanted to see a true color episode of other B&W series, like “I Love Lucy” or “Leave it to Beaver” (and not colorized versions - it’s not the same).

[dttruman]

If you're a big fan of Raymond Burr and you have GetTV on your cable, Dish or whatever, then I hope this makes you happy. Ironside will be shown on the GetTV channel in the middle of November sometime around the noon hour.

[Milburn Stone]

22 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

It’s a treat to have gotten at least one color episode of the original series.

I will have to attempt watching it again. The one time I did, I went "My eyes, my eyes!" and had to stop. It just seemed wrong, and I don't think this was due only to my not being used to it. Something about the noir-ish drama of the original series works in black-and-white and vanishes in color.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Milburn Stone

[chessiegal]

5 hours ago, dttruman said:

If you're a big fan of Raymond Burr and you have GetTV on your cable, Dish or whatever, then I hope this makes you happy. Ironside will be shown on the GetTV channel in the middle of November sometime around the noon hour.

It will be on 11 am ET starting November 14. It's replacing Hart to Hart.

[GHScorpiosRule]

5 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

Something about the noir-ish drama of the original series works in black-and-white and vanishes in color.

I agree with this. Yet, yet. As someone who was desperately in love with Perry and Raymond Burr* when I first discovered this show as a teenager, I LOVED seeing the one episode in color because Burr’s eyes are so striking and beautiful. I could lose myself in those gorgeous eyes. Even in black and white, I can see how beautiful his eyes were.

Even later, when I saw him in Rear Window, the camera never focused on his eyes. For obvious reasons.

*I didn’t learn that he was gay until after he passed away.

[dttruman]

7 hours ago, chessiegal said:

It will be on 11 am ET starting November 14. It's replacing Hart to Hart.

Thank You!

[Egg McMuffin]

On 10/23/2022 at 8:17 AM, Milburn Stone said:

I will have to attempt watching it again. The one time I did, I went "My eyes, my eyes!" and had to stop. It just seemed wrong, and I don't think this was due only to my not being used to it. Something about the noir-ish drama of the original series works in black-and-white and vanishes in color.

I feel the same way about The Fugitive, which got a whole final season in color. But those color episodes satisfy my curiosity about how the show looked in color and makes me appreciate those first three B&W seasons even more.

Edited October 25, 2022 by Egg McMuffin

[roseha]

I was thinking about The Fugitive myself, it was such a wonderful noir series so I guess we should be grateful that the first three seasons remained in black and white before the pressure started for all of the television networks to go to color.

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Tonight's MeTV offering is the one about a fictional tv show in which the real show's production crew plays the part of the fake show's production crew. The Mason-character's creator Earle Stanley Gardner is the judge. It's also the series finale, though as I understand it they didn't know it would be at the time. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

12 minutes ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Tonight's MeTV offering is the one about a fictional tv show in which the real show's production crew plays the part of the fake show's production crew. The Mason-character's creator Earle Stanley Gardner is the judge. It's also the series finale, though as I understand it they didn't know it would be at the time. 

Yep- the series finale.

[dttruman]

2 hours ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Tonight's MeTV offering is the one about a fictional tv show in which the real show's production crew plays the part of the fake show's production crew. The Mason-character's creator Earle Stanley Gardner is the judge. It's also the series finale, though as I understand it they didn't know it would be at the time. 

Earle Stanley Gardner is the judge in the second preliminary hearing.

[dttruman]

Did anyone watch "The Case of the Treacherous Toupee" today on MeTV? They are usually written and crafted so well, but there is one thing that wasn't really explained so well. Hartley Basset was gone for two years, but no reason was given. Just that he went to Manila with an assertion, that he ran off with an employee's wife. There was no communication from him at all, yet when he returns, he acted as if he did nothing out of the ordinary.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Looks like they won’t be airing the non-Perry Perry Mason movies. Next week they are airing Perry Mason Returns. I’ll make sure to have my hankie close by because that reunion and hug between Della and Perry always has me tearing up.

[dttruman]

12 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Looks like they won’t be airing the non-Perry Perry Mason movies. Next week they are airing Perry Mason Returns. I’ll make sure to have my hankie close by because that reunion and hug between Della and Perry always has me tearing up.

I can't remember for sure, I know they used different lawyers, but they still used Della and Malanski right? So I don't know why MeTV doesn't show them, they should.

[GHScorpiosRule]

6 hours ago, dttruman said:

I can't remember for sure, I know they used different lawyers, but they still used Della and Malanski right? So I don't know why MeTV doesn't show them, they should.

Yes, Della and Ken were used, but PERRY wasn't there-he was out of town or someplace else, because Raymond Burr had passed away. And they're not airing them because Raymond/Perry isn't there. Even on the original series, when Raymond couldn't do the episodes, and they had other actors filling in, we always got a scene or two of Raymond.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I KNEW I wasn't crazy!

Perry KISSED Della in the second to last movie that Raymond Burr appeared in: "The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host" which aired last week! Della, after trying to get Perry to drink ghastly teas, made him some cocoa, and after saying he hadn't had it since he was a boy, he said he'd been waiting. For a long time. And Perry and Della KISS!!!!

Whaaaat?

[GHScorpiosRule]

Oh Man. “The Case of the Killer Kiss” made me weepy. You could see how I’ll Raymond Burr was-he’d lost weight-you could see it in his face.

I think I remember reading or maybe it was Barbara, who said that he was so Ill that he sat in practically every scene. But he was determined to finish. For US. It was in that special after he died. And at he time, because he was popular-Bill Cosby hosted the special. I was hoping it would have been included in one of the DVDs-like maybe the one of this movie. And the dedication.

Sadness aside, it was great to see all those soap stars! And that Genie, Stuart, and Sean were on General Hospital at that time together! Linda Dano would show up a few years later.

Sigh…

Edited November 3, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

I'm watching The Case of the Crimson Kiss and I am utterly bewildered. The aunt finds two drugged women she can't wake up, and her first call is to a lawyer rather than a doctor or the police? The answering service directs her call to Perry, who is eating at a diner at 1:30 in the morning? He calls Della, who is also ready to go at a moment's notice despite the hour and joins him at the location. Perry then calls the police and reports the dead lothario, but he then attempts to play dumb when Tragg arrives despite the fact that Tragg will already know that Perry was in the apartment to see the body and make the call, right? And then Perry discards the key to the lothario's apartment, which I believe is tampering with evidence and a crime. Later as Perry gets a ride with Tragg, they appear to be driving through a rural orchard. Sure, LA was less built up in 1957. But orchards on the route to the hospital? Then Perry more or less assaults what's her name right there in court to get a print of her lipstick for comparison, and the judge is only mildly annoyed? Am I missing something or is this all just plain weird? 

[Milburn Stone]

4 hours ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Am I missing something or is this all just plain weird? 

I 😂 'ed your post, GoTP, because it accurately points out how in the early episodes of Season 1, you can see the show finding its way in real time as it were. Mason at times seems to vacillate between the heavies that Burr was accustomed to playing in the movies, and some kind of Philip Marlowe wannabe. His relationship with Tragg is infused with hatred, not the congeniality-in-the-cause-of-justice it would later take on. The show eventually became something unique in television history, but at the beginning you can see it trying to imitate an existing genre (if it could just figure out which genre). I've never read the novels, but was it perhaps, in the early days, trying too hard to replicate their tone? 

[Maverick]

 I did a double take at hiding the key and grabbing the killer in the in the gallery was really WTF.  The rural part didn't bother me; Perry had them transferred to a sanitarium, which presumably would have been out of town in a country setting.   What was odd about it is surely by the time ambulance got there the cops would have been all over the building.  Also, Perry tells Tragg he'll meet him at the sanitarium in the morning but then they're riding together.

 Of course I wasn't paying enough attention because I missed how the killer got ahold of the glass and clothing to frame Perry's client.  More importantly, I missed why she framed Perry's client and not her roommate, who was the one actually having the affair.    The whole episode was odd.

[GHScorpiosRule]

9 minutes ago, Maverick said:

Of course I wasn't paying enough attention because I missed how the killer got ahold of the glass and clothing to frame Perry's client.  More importantly, I missed why she framed Perry's client and not her roommate, who was the one actually having the affair.    The whole episode was odd.

I have this in my queue to watch. But if I recall correctly, didn’t the roommate set her (client-sorry blanking on the names) up as being the one having the affair with the victim? And that’s why the killer-ex-lover? Ex-wife? set up Perry’s client for the murder?

I just remember yelling “Aunt Bea!” when I saw the aunt.

[dttruman]

9 hours ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

The aunt finds two drugged women she can't wake up, and her first call is to a lawyer rather than a doctor or the police? The answering service directs her call to Perry, who is eating at a diner at 1:30 in the morning?

I think Perry is a very close friend of the aunt who was coming in for a social event (wedding or just to meet the other family) and she didn't know anybody in L.A. except Perry.

10 hours ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Then Perry more or less assaults what's her name right there in court to get a print of her lipstick for comparison, and the judge is only mildly annoyed? Am I missing something or is this all just plain weird? 

At the end, when they fill us in, Perry was suspicious on why a women would rent apartment at a larger price than what a normal lease is.

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 10/26/2022 at 10:09 AM, dttruman said:

Did anyone watch "The Case of the Treacherous Toupee" today on MeTV? They are usually written and crafted so well, but there is one thing that wasn't really explained so well. Hartley Basset was gone for two years, but no reason was given. Just that he went to Manila with an assertion, that he ran off with an employee's wife. There was no communication from him at all, yet when he returns, he acted as if he did nothing out of the ordinary.

Just watched this. It wasn’t stated that Bassett left for Manila. Or that he left with Woodman’s (the plant superintendent) wife. She happened to have left around the same time. When Woodman accused him of that, Basset looked confused.

I think he left because the company was going bankrupt and he came back for reasons not explained-he was murdered before he could to his wife. At least that’s what he said he would do.  And it turned out he didn’t steal the $6,000 that went missing at the same time.

Woodman said he had proof that his wife left with Basset, but he didn’t say what the proof was.

Sometimes this show doesn’t give us all the details. 

But YUM!!! A very dashing ❤️💕💗❤️Robert Redford!!❤️💗💕❤️

[dttruman]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

And it turned out he didn’t steal the $6,000 that went missing at the same time.

I can't believe Bassett was killed for just $6000