All six have just been made available on a two disc DVD set, so this seemed like a good opportunity to celebrate these stylish and fast-paced legal thrillers previously unavailable on home video. Erle Stanley Gardner was a lawyer of enormous energy with many outside interests, including writing fiction which he undertook under several names as well as his own.
After 20 years in the legal profession and nearly as long as a pulp writer, he created his Perry Mason alter ego.
In these zippy thrillers Perry is much more smooth and upmarket than he was in the fairly hardboiled books Gardner was writing at the time for starters — also, the films quite often spent little or no time in the courtroom, which must have rankled a bit too, though the first Mason book The Case of the Velvet Claws is also unusual in the canon for not having any courtroom scenes.
The Case of the Howling Dog The series begins with what was then the newest tale — indeed, it was so new that it had only been serialised in magazine form and not yet published between hard covers.
Warren William, who had just taken over playing Philo Vance from William Powell, makes a great debut as Mason driving this slick entertainment, notable for sprightly direction from Alan Crosland with some very mobile camerawork; the presence of Mary Astor who keeps us guessing as to whether she is the killer or not; and the complete absence of a musical score not uncommon in early talkies. In this film Della Street is played by Helen Trenholme. It remains my favourite of the series though all of the films have something to offer.
This would be the last of the series to be afforded A status by the studio …. They had started the series with high hopes and the first three pictures are all 8-reel A-pictures with directors and casts taken from the top-tier of the studio rank and file. But on the evidence of The Case of the Velvet Claws it seems that the returns must have been a proved disappointing as the films got downgraded to B-movies.
Running times got cut down by about 15 minutes each to last about an hour or so on the bottom half of the double bill. This was the last to star Warren William as Mason and here he is reunited with Claire Dodd as Della, which is very appropriate because this is the film in which Perry and Della actually get married! Eddie Acuff however takes over from Allen Jenkins as Drake. This film marked a sad end to the career of director Alan Crosland, who began production on the film but after several days of filming was badly injured in a car crash on 10 July , dying six days later William C.
McGann completed the film. The Case of the Stuttering Bishop Perry and Della get new faces again for the sixth and final entry in the series, with Donald Woods, who in Curious Bride had played the weasel second husband of Rhoda, as the lawyer and the elegant Ann Dvorak as his faithful secretary.
Joseph Crehan was the new Drake for a case involving a complex inheritance and inevitably murder too. Understandably, this film has not been included in the new DVD set!
Sergio — Thanks as ever for your perspective. And honestly, his legal strategies are part of what make that character fascinating. I think it would rankle in me not to see them as much on film. Thanks Margot. Certainly by the time they made the second one they were going out of their way to emulate the success of William Powell in The Thin Man , so the style got nearer to the screwball mystery, though of course this makes perfect sense since the Hammet adaptation always felt much more like a fast-paced Warner movie than the product of opulent MGM — Powell had in fact just jumped ship from one studio to the other so that probably had somethign to do with it … Interesting to note how thr Thin Man films got more and more glossy and closer to the Metro style as they progress.
Mason, Street, and Drake are more than a team-- they are a family. The chemistry among them is so good it's almost spooky. Burr's Mason is nothing if not masterful both inside the courtroom and out. He's a strong father-figure, while Hale's Della Street is the perfect secretary, sweet, attractive and highly efficient.
Not quite a mother-figure after all, this is a chaste family , she's the perfect older sister. And Hopper's Paul Drake is clever, charming, and slightly rakish.
All in all, he's the perfect younger brother. Though each is a professional, together they operate as a loyal family unit. And when their final scene rolls around The Final Fadeout, , we're happy to know they will remain together even though we the viewers won't be with them. The key here is Burr's grasp of character. After all, Mason wins week after week-- he never misses.
What's more, he shows up the guardians of law and order week after week. If not done right, Mason would be an easy character to dislike. But Burr's Mason is never smug, never immodest, and always low-key, so we don't resent his near god-like status. This is a real tribute to Burr and the show's producers, who managed to walk a very fine line.
There's one other character point worth noting. Mason's personality is the only one of the five Burger and Tragg included to alter. In the early episodes, he smokes, wears loud jackets, and occasionally flirts.
But with the show's success, he's transformed into a paragon of virtue, probably because his character has come to stand for the quality of criminal justice in America. Shrewdly, the producers would take no chances with their golden egg. The engaging quality of the stories varies little, an unusual feature for any formula show.
That's likely because the script-writers worked with variations on six or seven basic plots. After all, they had to come up with thirty-plus mysteries every year for nine years.
And each episode had to have a plausible list of suspects with a story line to unravel, which is a pretty heavy load. Then too, each entry had to have a larger than average cast of capable actors as suspects.
Watching the re-runs, we see just about every familiar face from that era one of the joys of catching the re-runs. Executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson deserves a lot of behind-the-scenes credit, since I'm sure this was not an easy series to put together week after week. I had never thought of the show as film noir. But other reviewers have correctly pointed this out.
Indeed, there are elements of noir in many of the first half hours, where the mystery sets up. Many of these were done in shadow, with strong emotions and a heavy atmosphere of doom, which distinguishes the series.
For, overall, there was very little noir from any series during that sunny era. Frankly, it's that part I always enjoyed more than the courtroom scenes with their high-key lighting and extended dialogue.
The general excellence of these first half- hours is another reason, I think, for the show's unusual success. In a reddit AMA, he had this to say about the project. Regardless, which of these facts about Perry Mason did you already know, and which ones caught you off-guard? Also, what were some we may have forgotten?
Sound off in our comments section! I have been a Perry Mason fan since I was a very young girl. However, it was not to be. I became a Special Education Teacher instead, but I still watch all the reruns. I enjoy the show every week night at on ME T. In my opinion I think the old Perry Mason episodes are better than many on the new shows. I was reading that the the series consists of more than episodes that ran between and It was a real shame when Raymond Burr died of cancer in and they recast for the final movies.
RIP Ray. You were the best! Awesome read! I have to admit I did not know any of those facts. Thanks for the interesting article. The soap opera fact is funny and interesting. Guess I have to watch the entire series, set aside ten days of my life;. Wow, I had no idea Perry Mason was not the original name!
That was absolutely worth the read! Perry Mason, what a man! I loved his show. High hopes for Downey though. Pretty sure that 8 is wrong. Otherwise cool stuff. You might want to double check Gunsmoke for syndicated appearances, too. The color episodes have been in syndication as long as Perry mason. Right now, TVLand is broadcasting 4 or 5 episodes every weekday.
Starz Western channel has one to three episodes every day of Marshal Dillon. Arthur Tragg. I cringe at the thought of anyone else playing Perry Mason. No one else can ever replace him. There was one episode in which Perry Mason was rushing to the aid of someone in a field.
Years ago, I bought one and could not get the scene and theme music out of my head. Perry came roaring downhill as the music began and he rescued the situation. Moses , Ronny Cox.
The owner of a cosmetics company is unveiling a new cream which she claims she's been using. She's been keeping her age a secret and now reveals that she's 60 and owes her appearance to the Moses , Carmen Argenziano. Dr Sheila Carlin is good friends with Della who calls Perry in when she is being pestered by someone. On the theory that it could be somebody that she works with at a radio stations she Moses , Regis Philbin. On the set of a popular daytime soap opera 'Mile High', actress Kris Buckner is being forced off by co-star Mark Stratton.
When she says that she'll 'kill him before she leaves the show', Moses , Stuart Damon. She's married to famed photographer David Morrison, who wants to shoot a photo featuring his Moses , Maud Adams. Bill McKenzie is a retired lawyer who prefers to spend time working on his ranch. But he occasionally takes on a case wherein the defendant is wrongfully convicted or falsely accused, and Moses , Dixie Carter. When gubernatorial candidate Harlan Richards is murdered, the suspicions fall on the incumbent Governor Ryan Allison but when he, too, is murdered the plot thickens.
Moses , John Spencer. Bill McKenzie's niece works as a production assistant for controversial television personality Josie Joplin, who publicly accuses her of having an affair with her husband. One night Moses , Tony Roberts. Sign In. Copy from this list Export Report this list.
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