Note: On the 15th of every month we take a trip to the Perryverse. Reviewed below are the best episodes from the eighth season of that great legal drama TV series. It's clear that, by the next to the last season, the writers were gasping and panting. Actor Richard Erdman (victim once, perp thrice) praised the professionalism of the whole Mason operation. Sometimes, however, the plots were obscure: “I told Ray Burr that the script didn’t make any sense and I couldn’t understand it.” And Burr replied, “Neither can I. Let’s just say the lines so we can get paid and go home.” By 1964, besides dissatisfaction with the scripts, Burr was feeling under pressure due to his arduous work schedule, battle against weight, health issues, and the closet. But he kept it private and put himself through the wringer of work because he felt responsible for the show's people who would be out of work if he revealed all and thus tanked his career and the show.
The Best Episodes of Season 8 (1964 - 65)
The Case of the Frustrated Folksinger (January 7, 1965). Not a whole lot recommends this episode. The writers return to their same-old same-old theme of the heartlessness and greed of the entertainment industry. This episode is dated by the quaint topic of Sixties folk singing and marred by fake Southern accents, an exasperating client and a confusing ending. But I'm one of three fans in Perry Fandom who like this episode because I'm an admirer of Bonnie Jones. In her first of two turns as the damsel in distress, she acts up a storm as the naïve mark from Armpit, West Virginia. And so do Joyce Meadows (hard-drinking egomaniac) and Lee Meriwether (cold-hearted minion) in a larger than usual cast of meanies and connivers bent on cheating Our Girl Bonnie.
The Case of the Reckless Rockhound (November 26, 1964). So many familiar faces from noir, westerns and Sixties teevee make this a comforting watch. Bruce "Treasure of Sierra Madre" Bennett. Elisha "The Maltese Falcon" Cook Jr. Ted "The Lady from Shanghai" de Corsia. Ben "Shane" Johnson. Audrey "The Postman Always Rings Twice" Totter plays a widow who had to make a living from mining, traditionally a male preserve. Jeff "The Killers" Corey plays con-man Bascom as a nerve-wracking combination of genial, greedy, nervous, and dangerous. Somehow the veteran actors make the small mining town feel like a Simenon examination of a narrow milieu in which people who’ve known each other a long time all have interests in keeping each other’s secrets. The ironic ending is in the tradition of both O. Henry and noir.
The Case of the Lover's Gamble (February 18, 1965). Poor little fool Betty Kaster goes to live with her art professor and his wife, who is recovering from a car wreck and dealing with PTSD. Betty finds out the prof is carrying on an affair. She is alarmed enough to consult Perry Mason after she discovers that her art prof has a motive for knocking off his wife - the inheritance would be in the neighborhood of $2 million. When the cheating prof is murdered – Betty discovering his corpse is in the Hitchcockian manner - she is charged. The ill-starred couple are well played by Donald Murphy and June Dayton, with Margaret Blye as the naïve graduate student. Hal Peary, aka The Great Gildersleeve of radio fame, yuks it up as the goofy uncle type.
The Case of the Murderous Mermaid (March 18, 1965). Pretty and athletic Reggie Lansfield (Jean Hale) wants to make it big in the entertainment industry. Her agent man Ben Lucas (Richard Erdman) has arranged for her to do dangerous feats to draw media attention. Though a daredevil, Reggie feels in a rut and tells Lucas, “Go ahead and find yourself some other little crazy mixed-up girl because me - me, I'm turning square.” But the owner of a chain of swimming schools entices Reggie into a lucrative publicity stunt: impersonating the ageing pool celeb in swimming the Catalina Channel. Reggie valiantly fights exhaustion and discouragement during the 26-mile swim, being alternately berated and comforted by a coach played by Bill Williams (real-life husband of Barbara Hale and as an ex-swim champ himself he suffered at the hands of coaches). Jean Hale plays a likeable mix of guilelessness and gumption, and Richard Erdman is persuasive as the agent who is bungling but confident.
Honorable Mention: The Case of the Golden Venom. Francis Reid’s performance as an angry mother whose son was murdered makes this episode exceptional. Other fine performances are by Noah Beery, Jr. as gruff Tony and Carole Wells as the little town flirt who does the watusi. The Case of the Careless Kitten Louise Latham plays Aunt Matilda Shore, whose husband Franklin disappeared. And, Son, is she still pissed. One of the best episodes of the series due to the performances of Latham, the ubiquitous Allan Melvin, and the Persian named Monkey. The Case of the Grinning Gorilla has Victor Buono and Gavin McLeod tearing up the scenery as well as a gorilla menacing Lureen Tuttle and Our Favorite Lawyer. In The Case of the Mischievous Doll, lots of members of Perry fandom dislike the society madcap in a dual role, but always convincing Paul Lambert plays a dour, dodgy private eye.
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