Perry Mason - General Discussion

[GHScorpiosRule]

BOOOOOOO!!!! Perry Mason Returns didn’t record!🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

Guess I’ll just pop in the DVD, even though it doesn’t provide closed captioning!

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Last night in a season 1 episode a young woman hitchhiker caught a ride from a business man, then her partner tried to blackmail the business man, but Perry forestalled that by giving the blackmailer a check which appeared falsified but was actually valid. Thus if the blackmailer went ahead with the scam Perry could have him prosecuted for forgery. 

But the thing is, I could swear that is the plot of a later episode. Am I confused or did they actually use the same story twice? 

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 11/5/2022 at 3:39 AM, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

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?

Just watched this last night.

How would Tragg know that Perry had been in Walsh/Carve’s apartment?

The key he stuck in the plant was Anita’s (blonde roommate) copy that she put in Fay’s purse, where Perry and Della found it.
It was Anita who set up Fay, because the guy she was engaged to, used to date Anita, and dumped her. Anita set up Fay so it looked like Fay was the one having the affair, and dosed the hot chocolate. 
 

Perry didn’t get a ride to the private hospital with Tragg. He met him there later that morning. He drove back to the city with Tragg.

On 11/5/2022 at 11:16 AM, Maverick said:

I did a double take at hiding the key and grabbing the killer in the in the gallery was really WTF

And here’s where I disagree about Perry “assaulting” Sarah, the killer. She turned around and Perry pressed the napkin? Paper? against her lips for a second before she pulled away. He didn’t hold it against her mouth as if applying chloroform as one would do when kidnapping or trying to knock someone out. And she killed him because she loved him.🙄🙄 Actually because he had promised to marry her, get a divorce. But he didn’t.

Louise found Fay and Anita around 1:30. It was around 1:30 when Perry and Della arrived. I figure Perry and Della didn’t get any sleep until it was night again. Even Paul told him he needed sleep. And Della really was his Girl Friday.

I LOVE early seasons Perry. Hell, I Love him, period. 

But that’s just me.

[Schnickelfritz]

28 minutes ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Last night in a season 1 episode a young woman hitchhiker caught a ride from a business man, then her partner tried to blackmail the business man, but Perry forestalled that by giving the blackmailer a check which appeared falsified but was actually valid. Thus if the blackmailer went ahead with the scam Perry could have him prosecuted for forgery. 

But the thing is, I could swear that is the plot of a later episode. Am I confused or did they actually use the same story twice? 

They did repeat the same plot a few times. Both this one (Case of the Vagabond Vixen) and S9E14 (Case of the Golden Girls) are based on Gardner's novel The Case of the Vagabond Virgin.

Good catch!

Here is a list of the repeated episode plots...

https://www.perrymasontvseries.com/wiki/index.php/Main/RepeatedEpisodes

[alvajon]

4 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I LOVE early seasons Perry. Hell, I Love him, period. 

But that’s just me.

You’re not the only one, GHSCORPIOSRULE :) 

[dttruman]

11 hours ago, alvajon said:

16 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I LOVE early seasons Perry. Hell, I Love him, period. 

But that’s just me.

You’re not the only one, GHSCORPIOSRULE :) 

There were episodes that didn't have repeated plots, but did have occurrences where Perry try to confuse the police for guns used in crimes. He would take a gun belonging to another client and taking it to a crime scene and firing shots in to different objects to confuse the police.

The very 1st episode

The one where a husband gambles away $60,000 and wife is killed because she was trying to get part of it. Perry wants "Everybody to be Happy"

The other one I remember was a daughter was suspected of murdering her father's killer who was trying to buy property from the daughter for a casino (or race track) for a syndicate.

[sempervivum]

18 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I LOVE early seasons Perry.

Me, too. I was 7 years old when the show began, and I've been star-struck by him ever since.

It's amazing how fast he gained back the 60 lbs. he supposedly lost in order to win the role, though. The series lasted 9 years, but he aged 20 years to my eyes. Paul got a lot bulkier, too.

[GHScorpiosRule]

34 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

It's amazing how fast he gained back the 60 lbs. he supposedly lost in order to win the role, though. The series lasted 9 years, but he aged 20 years to my eyes. Paul got a lot bulkier, too.

He hated having to lose all that weight. I think Barbara Hale talks about that in the interviews with her. I think what he was comfortable with was the look in seasons 2-6? Toward the end he got heavier due to his back issues, I think.

I didn't notice it that much with William Hopper, though. Then again it ran for nearly 10 years, and Hopper was a Navy Seal, I think? Or was he in the Marines?

I think Barbara was the only one who stayed the same--

Interestingly enough, we got Wesley Lau as Perry's client in the second episode of the fifth seaon; and he would show up as Lieutenant Andy whatever until the end of season 8. But no mention of him whatsoever when Richard Anderson took over as Drumm. But Sgt. Brice stayed through the end.

[chessiegal]

My husband likes the early episodes because they have a film noir feel.

[dttruman]

6 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

But Sgt. Brice stayed through the end.

Brice never said a word for a few seasons. He was always seen but never heard until he got to say some lines every now and then. My first impression of Brice was he looked like a tough cop who could handle himself, but when he spoke, he sounded like a nice pleasant guy.

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Speaking of repeated plots, Perry has now had 2 girls chased by guard dogs onto his boat, which happened to be passing at the time. What are the odds? 

I've read that this was one of the first long-running series in tv history and I guess they were were working out the rules for this sort of thing as they went. Does anyone know how audiences at the time reacted to recycled plots? 

[Milburn Stone]

39 minutes ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Does anyone know how audiences at the time reacted to recycled plots? 

This is just an educated guess, but I think at most they would have a vague sense of deja vu without knowing exactly why. 

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Never pick up hitchhikers. It just never ends well. 

[dttruman]

On 11/11/2022 at 2:35 PM, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Speaking of repeated plots, Perry has now had 2 girls chased by guard dogs onto his boat, which happened to be passing at the time. What are the odds? 

I've read that this was one of the first long-running series in tv history and I guess they were were working out the rules for this sort of thing as they went. Does anyone know how audiences at the time reacted to recycled plots? 

Since there were a multitude of episodes per season back then, you were lucky to see a specific episode twice in a season, you could only see it between 8pm and 11pm, and you may see it next when it went into syndication 5-10 years later. So by the time you saw an episode with a similar plot, you would be having vague thoughts of Deja Vu.

Edited November 26, 2022 by dttruman

[roseha]

Yes and of course there were no VCRs or DVRs or Tivos back then.  If you missed the show when it was on, you missed it!   Other than one more showing for the summer re-run I would think. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

I know I’ve said it before, but watching season one on feTV, Raymond is just soooo❤️💗❤️😍😍💗❤️ We really need a swooning emoji.

And I can’t believe I had forgotten that Richard Anderson appeared twice before he was cast as Steve Drumm.

And I continue to 🤬🤬🤬🤬at the moronic and idiotic clients who lie to Perry and don’t tell him the truth, AND expect him to get them cleared.

And now after umpreenth viewings, realized no Della or Barbara Hale in season 7’s “The Case of the Frightened Fisherman” just Gertie.

Other things:

While we’ve figured out why some words and names like Dick, Hispanic, Suspicious, Cocktail are censored, I’m trying to figure out why MeTV censors Winnipeg. because of “nip”? Yet feTV doesn’t censor any of those words. And both are HD channels, but the former has the episodes shaped like a square, not filling my entire teevee screen, so I can see about two inches of the black on the left and right sides. With the latter, the show fills the entire screen!

[GHScorpiosRule]

OH! I don't remember if I mentioned this, but in season 7's "The Case of the Missing Button" we have the parents of the wee girl, Button, played by Julie Adams and Ed Nelson--who would 20 odd years later, play a married couple, Senator Mark Denning and Paula Denning (faking being an agoraphobic) on the short lived soap, Capitol. And Denning was in love with Clarissa--who was played by...(drum roll please) Constance Towers, another Perry Mason alumni!

[GHScorpiosRule]

feTV will be airing the movies from Sunday - Friday night through Christmas Eve. They will also be airing the non-Raymond Burr movies, from what I could see on the schedule.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Well, this is odd. It seems that feTV is only airing the first non-Perry movie with Sgt Phil Cerreta Paul Sorvino, and then the next movie will be Perry Mason Returns.

Edited November 30, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Two tidbits about last night's MeTV episode (the name of which I forgot to note). Firstly, the flag in the courtroom only had 48 stars, which is correct for the time (Alaska and Hawaii became states part-way through the show's run) and I thought it was interesting. But there may be a continuity error in that the defendant of the week was said to be in Perry's "company" during the war, while other eps tell us Perry was in the Navy and the Navy only uses the term "company" for a few kinds of special purpose units. The term "company" is far more common for Army and Marines. Maybe nothing. Just discussing. :) 

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Last night's ep surprised me with one of my first crushes, Nita Talbot. 

That's what she looked like in 1958 and she actually got better looking as she got older. 💘

[peacheslatour]

On 12/23/2022 at 3:35 PM, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Last night's ep surprised me with one of my first crushes, Nita Talbot. 

That's what she looked like in 1958 and she actually got better looking as she got older. 💘

Patricia Berry was in quite a few and later she was even in an episode of Columbo.

 

[dttruman]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

On 12/23/2022 at 6:35 PM, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

That's what she looked like in 1958 and she actually got better looking as she got older. 💘

Patricia Berry was in quite a few and later she was even in an episode of Columbo.

 

The last time i saw her and a couple of the other ladies from this era was together in the Beauty Shop of Cabot Cove on Murder She Wrote

[dttruman]

I once mentioned which actors have been the murder victim, the accused who stood trial, and the murderer. Sort of the Trifecta of the Perry Mason tv series. I just now wonder which actor has been the murder victim the most, the accused the most, and the murderer the most?

[Schnickelfritz]

According to the Perry Mason wiki-

Actor as victim - George Neise  (four times)

Actor as accused - Lurene Tuttle appeared as a defendant 4 times

Actor as the murderer - 9 actors tied for that honor with 3 times - Malcolm Atterbury, Joan Banks, Richard Erdman, Alan Hewitt, Dabbs Greer, Robert H. Harris, Jeanette Nolan, Denver Pyle and Mary La Roche

There were also 12 actors who appeared as all 3 during the run of the series - Robert Armstrong, John Conte, Robert H. Harris, Stacy Harris, Hugh Marlow, Diana Millay), Mala Powers, Denver Pyle (accused twice, murderer 3 times and victim once), Herbert Rudley, Vaughn Taylor, Bill Williams  and H. M. Wynant.

Edited January 31, 2023 by Schnickelfritz

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

The musical score is somewhat over-the-top at times in season 2. Also, what's with the odd habit of casting actresses with much older actors as their husbands? 

[peacheslatour]

On 1/31/2023 at 5:30 PM, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

The musical score is somewhat over-the-top at times in season 2. Also, what's with the odd habit of casting actresses with much older actors as their husbands? 

Ask Leonardo DiCaprio.

[dttruman]

On 1/31/2023 at 8:30 PM, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

The musical score is somewhat over-the-top at times in season 2. Also, what's with the odd habit of casting actresses with much older actors as their husbands? 

Gloria Talbott was probably one of those actresses who was young, but she played a married lady who was some what naive in all her parts

[dttruman]

Another thing I always liked about Perry Mason was the way they developed or wrote for the judge. It always seemed like a realistic type trial where different situations occurred and the judge was honestly and objectively trying to sort out each legal complication. Even when each judge was cast, they always chose someone who portrayed a competent and knowledgeable judge, and over the years, they became more progressive where gender and race didn't matter.

Edited February 22, 2023 by dttruman

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

On 2/22/2023 at 8:14 AM, dttruman said:

Another thing I always liked about Perry Mason was the way they developed or wrote for the judge. It always seemed like a realistic type trial where different situations occurred and the judge was honestly and objectively trying to sort out each legal complication. Even when each judge was cast, they always chose someone who portrayed a competent and knowledgeable judge, and over the years, they became more progressive where gender and race didn't matter.

In one episode the judge is black, and he was played by... an actual black judge. This was in 1963. 

https://reelrundown.com/tv/Perry-Mason-The-Case-of-the-Silent-Black-Judge-and-More 

Meanwhile, last night's METV offering was The Case of the Bashful Burro. Did I hear correctly that the assayer was supposed to be from Wales? Because judging by that bizarre accent, I would have guessed he'd grown up in Mumbai. 

[roseha]

Speaking of the music, which I really like in this show, i was watching "....Gallant Grafter" again last night and there's a certain "haunting" musical passage that I swear was also used at times in episodes of Star Trek.  But I really don't know how I'd go about trying to confirm that.

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

I could just swear I heard a bit of suspense music from a Twlight Zone ep, but I don't remember which Perry it was in. 

[roseha]

The commercials for Perry Mason on MeTV are very clever.  There's one that features a bunch of Hamilton Burger clips, one of 50s era Perry's style, and best of all the Perry/Della are they or aren't they romantic moments.   

[shapeshifter]

7.15 "The Case of the Capering Camera" just aired on MeTV.
Looking up the actors I discovered one of them died before it aired in circumstances that sound like a Perry Mason plot, except it seems it was never resolved:

From Wikipedia about Karyn (Cookie) Kupcinet:

Quote

Kupcinet's last onscreen appearance was on Perry Mason in the role of Penny Ames, in an episode entitled "The Case of the Capering Camera". The episode aired on CBS on January 16, 1964, nearly two months after her death.[citation needed]

 See more details: wikipedia.org/wiki/Karyn_Kupcinet#Death

 

About the episode: 
It was about blackmailing models who had done "calendar art" photoshoots to make extra money.
During the trial, the wife of a prominent politician who was also blackmailed years earlier said she told the wannabe blackmailer to go ahead and publish the pictures, that she was proud of her body. 
One of the better lines spoken by a woman in the series who was not Della Street.

[Fool to cry]

Going through Season 1 Volume 1 DVD and am halfway through "The Case of The Moth Eaten Mink" and I haven't looked it up but this must be the pilot episode but they aired it later in the season. Am I right? It just seemed suddenly different from the previous episodes.

Edited May 8, 2023 by Fool to cry

[Egg McMuffin]

Yep, it’s the pilot. Check out some more details about the pilot here:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0673338/trivia/

[Fool to cry]

On 5/9/2023 at 5:28 PM, Egg McMuffin said:

Yep, it’s the pilot. Check out some more details about the pilot here:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0673338/trivia/

Thanks! Besides Perry's shorter hair, and the more noir-ish style, another tip off for me as the show went on was it didn't have variations of the title theme constantly playing throughout! It probably wasn't written yet when they made the pilot. One thing I noticed watching the episodes in season 1 is they really worked the theme more often than later seasons. 

[Fool to cry]

Season 1 watch continuing:

Case of the Lonely Heiress:

The murder victim is played by L.Q. Jones who I've only seen before as an old man in Casino and Mask of Zorro. It's crazy seeing him so young.

Case of the One Eyed Witness:

Angie Dickinson! 

Scooby Doo ending!

Case of the Deadly Double:

First episode that doesn't have "Earl Stanley Gardner's.." before the title. Instead it says "Based on characters by Earl Stanley Gardner" So I guess this wasn't based on one of the books. 

The Three Faces Of Eve came out a year earlier in 1957. The writers must have seen it and gotten ideas for this one.

Edited May 18, 2023 by Fool to cry

[Fool to cry]

Earlier in season 1, I spotted two of James Mason's henchmen from North By Northwest each in back to back episodes, "The Case of the Vagabond Vixen" and "The Case of the Runaway Corpse":

Just watched "The Case of the Screaming Woman"  and it has both the real Lester Townsend and the woman pretending to be his wife!

[Fool to cry]

Watching "The Case of the Prodigal Parent" and thought one of the actresses in it looked familiar and then I saw in the credits that it was Fay Wray! Ann Darrow from the original King Kong herself. This might be one of my favorite episodes of season 1 despite it not being based on one of the books. I love when a mystery has a big soap opera element.

Also want to talk about how the previous episodes had 1960s TV Commissioner Gordon AND his daughter Barbara aka Batgirl playing a stepfather and stepdaughter!

[shapeshifter]

I've started watching the series from the beginning on FreeVee. I'm not binging. It might be years (if ever) before I finish. 

But I noticed how much more svelte both Perry (Raymond Burr) and Paul (William Hopper) were in this first season, and that Burr was actually noticeably slimmer in the first episode than even the second. 
This bit on Wikipedia seems to confirm that my observations are correct:

Quote

...had been impressed with Burr's courtroom performance in the 1951 film A Place in the Sun, and told him he was perfect for the title role in Perry Mason, but at least 60 pounds overweight. Over the next month, Burr went on a crash diet. When he returned, he tested as Perry Mason.[8][d] Burr's tryout performance as Mason was a triumph, according to White: "He was so great that everybody looked at each other and said, 'What do we do now? This guy is far superior. He'll give this thing a dimension that Zimbalist could never give it.'"[20] By July 1956, word was out that Burr had the role,[21] and an announcement was made at the beginning of August.[22]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Mason_(1957_TV_series)#Casting

 

The plotting of 1.3 "The Case of the Nervous Accomplice" reminds me more of the 2020 Perry Mason reboot, with Perry being more of a badass than in the later episodes, when he was pretty much a law-and-order straight arrow. I wonder if the earlier episodes were the model for the reboot? 

Quote

Sybil Granger's husband is having an affair with Roxy Howard who lives in the lone model home in a future subdivision. The property was to be subdivided but with the belief that oil has been found there those plans have been canceled. Sybil hires Perry to buy shares in the project to stop the project with the hope of getting her husband back. Perry buys shares in the project from George Lutts. Perry uses the bylaws of the organization to stop the oil exploration. Lutts based on information he receives from his daughter and her husband Herbert Dean meets with Sybil to try to buy the shares back from Perry. As they meet at a site overlooking the subdivision, Lutts is shot. Sybil runs to her car. However, she runs it into a ditch trying to get away and is forced to take a cab to escape. After Meeting with Perry, he has her and a friend take the same cab to confuse the police. Her gun is missing and the police believe she used it to shoot Lutts from a short distance but she insists he was shot from a distance. Perry has to disprove the police version of the shooting with courtroom tricks.

 

I think it was in 1.2 "The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece" that Perry and Della openly flirt.

 

Edited June 28, 2023 by shapeshifter

[shapeshifter]

I just caught 9.29 "The Case of the Crafty Kidnapper" on MeTV in which:

Quote

After an incident at a party, Greg Stanley goes outside to drive a drunken Danny Shine home. When they arrive at Shine's home, Stanley is arrested for shooting Shine, who is dead. The case is difficult to solve due to a baby's kidnapping.

It went darker than most, IMO, and seemed like perhaps the germ of the idea for season 1 of the 2020 reboot.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Am I going crazy? I could have sworn the defendant/Perry’s client in “The Case of the  Captain’s Coin” was played by Bill Williams, real life husband of Barbara Hale. He appeared in “The case of the Crippled Cougar” also in season five and a few other episodes. But according to the show’s credits and ImbB, Phillip was played by Jeremy Slate. But I SWEAR, it looks like Bill!

Ans I’m thinking it was a glitch on the recordings, as this week’s episodes aren’t doing it, but the last two weeks on feTV, scenes have pixelated, as if the scenes were supposed to be edited out. I was pissed, because this channel didn’t do that before.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Am I going crazy? I could have sworn the defendant/Perry’s client in “The Case of the  Captain’s Coin” was played by Bill Williams, real life husband of Barbara Hale. He appeared in “The case of the Crippled Cougar” also in season five and a few other episodes. But according to the show’s credits and ImbB, Phillip was played by Jeremy Slate. But I SWEAR, it looks like Bill!

The 2 actors could have convincingly played brothers, although Bill Williams' eye color seems darker than Jeremy Slate's.

   

But, IMDb is correct:

Also, note their relative ages:

• Bill Williams  1915-1992
• Barbara Hale 1922-2017
• Jeremy Slate  1926-2006

[GHScorpiosRule]

15 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

The 2 actors could have convincingly played brothers, although Bill Williams' eye color seems darker than Jeremy Slate's.

   

But, IMDb is correct:

Also, note their relative ages:

• Bill Williams  1915-1992
• Barbara Hale 1922-2017
• Jeremy Slate  1926-2006

Thanks. Like I stated above, the closing credits had Slate when I watched. They could be fraternal twins! Talk about a real life Doppelgänger!

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

They could be fraternal twins! Talk about a real life Doppelgänger!

Jeremy Slate’s childhood is virtually unknown except having been born in Atlantic City, whereas Bill Williams was from Brooklyn. Maybe there was a connection?

 

About:

3 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

the last two weeks on feTV, scenes have pixelated, as if the scenes were supposed to be edited out

This happens to me frequently when I’m watching channels via antenna. 
But you weren’t doing so?

[GHScorpiosRule]

12 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Jeremy Slate’s childhood is virtually unknown except having been born in Atlantic City, whereas Bill Williams was from Brooklyn. Maybe there was a connection?

 

About:

This happens to me frequently when I’m watching channels via antenna. 
But you weren’t doing so?

Nope. I have this channel as part of my cable. I blame the new “box” they said all customers had to get-if they wanted to be able to stream and watch on demand. But this pixelation seems to have been a one-off from last two weeks. Nothing but issues since getting the new box.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Nope. I have this channel as part of my cable. I blame the new “box” they said all customers had to get-if they wanted to be able to stream and watch on demand. But this pixelation seems to have been a one-off from last two weeks. Nothing but issues since getting the new box.

Hrrmmmm. Any chance the box is picking up OTA (Over The Air) stations?
That is: Could the box be a glorified antenna that's supposed to give customers more channels and only cost the cable company the price of the box?
If so, I guess the cable signal is supposed to be somehow boosting the OTA signals, but not be doing it very well. 
Maybe your cable guy can fix it?

[GHScorpiosRule]

No idea and no. All they’re doing is sending a signal to the box. I don’t care enough to spend any more time on it. As these episodes will eventually air on MeTV. And it’s only happening with THIS show.

[shapeshifter]

Today 1.15 "The Case of the Fan Dancer's Horse" aired here.
It's a very complicated episode, but Raymond Burr adds some notes of humor by means of his facial expressions.

A tragic coincidence is that the episode opened with a car accident, and then actor Judy Tyler, who played one of the 2 look-alike characters in the episode (Cherie Chi Chi aka Lois Fenton 2.0), died at just 24 in a car accident 6 months before the episode aired  (wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Tyler#Death).😔

The other "real" Lois Fenton fan dancer in the episode was played by actor Susan Cummings. The casting was good, but it's unintentionally amusing that the 2 characters are styled identically and dressed in the same outfit in any scene that references their being look-alikes, even when the scenes are supposed to occur days, or even weeks apart. I suppose those scenes were shot in one go:

Judy Tyler left, Susan Cummings right.

Oddly, at the moment of the look-alikes reveal in the trial, the judge remarks:

• [JUDGE] Ms. Fenton, over there, please. The two of you together.
  ...This is indeed a strange situation. There's no great facial resemblance, but as far as figures are concerned, these two women are almost identical.

Perhaps it's supposed to be a commentary on the judge noticing their figures more than their faces? Or the opposite? Or a fourth-wall joke to the audience about them being dressed identically? 🤷🏻‍♀️

If anyone wants a plot refresher, from IMDb:

Quote

When Perry Mason finds some fans and shoes that belong to a fan dancer, he places an ad that several people mistake for a missing horse. Not only does another fan dancer show up, but so does her husband...dead, leaving Perry confused.

Storyline
After a robbery attempt at the Callender ranch, a shot is fired at the robber leaving on a horse. Later, Perry and Della, returning to Los Angles, witness a car turnover. Perry collects a box of possessions which contains a couple of ostrich feathers and a pair of shoes with the initials LF. He places a blind ad in the paper that brings first John Callender and then Arthur Sheldon followed by Cherie Chi-Chi looking for a seven year old palomino horse. The horse used in the robbery attempt belonged to Lois Fenton who is married to John Callender. Perry learns Cherie is a fan dancer who took over the name and act of Lois Fenton when Fenton married. Lois' brother is thought to have tried to steal some checks Callender is holding over Fenton. Sheldon, trying to help Lois, took a hotel room across from Callender. Perry has him leave and Paul's men take over watching Callender's room. When Perry and Paul try to contact Callender, they find him stabbed with his own sword. Perry's case is looking difficult as Paul's men are identifying Lois as visiting Callender last.—Anonymous

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0673254/

And I just realized there's all this info too:   perrymasontvseries.com/wiki/index.php/EpisodePages/Show15

Edited July 21, 2023 by shapeshifter
date correction