Show182
I've been watching Perry Mason on MeTV for several years now. I've appreciated that the episodes are shown in order, with a few exceptions for the death of a guest star, etc. This morning was an exception: instead of airing this episode, S7Ep1, MeTV aired S7Ep4 The Case Of The Deadly Verdict. This episode is not scheduled to be aired, at least not as shown on the preview guide. Does anyone know why? jfh 13Jan2020
On the phone, Irene mentions her husband is in Ithaca, NY, at trapshooting contest. Ithaca is where they used to make Ithaca Guns (shotguns, that is), which Annie Oakley used. The brand still exists but the factory has been destroyed, replaced by a parking lot for student housing for Cornell Unversity. Many students and townies walk or drive along the rather steep Gun Hill Road, where the abandoned factory sat, decaying and probably polluting the groundwater, on their way to campus. Though long an eyesore, its demise is kind of sad, too. The smokestack that says “Ithaca Gun” is still there, however. Submitted by gracenote, 2/11/2011.
Two thumbs up for Della Street’s spiffy new hairdo on this first episode of the new season. Submitted by gracenote, 2/11/2010.
+ DellaFan also approves! Submitted by DellaFan, 11/21/2013.
++ I've been watching this season, with a careful lookout for Della's sleek new coiffure, but from episode two through six Annabell seems to have reverted to the fuller version of last season. JohnK, 17 January 2018
++Yes but did you notice that she reverted to her old hairstyle in the last scene? Perhaps it was filmed during the previous season before she changed her hairstyle? DellaMason 12/23
On the DVD release of Season 7 Part 1, the credits which run at the end of this episode are actually the credits for episode #233, TCOT Sad Sicilian. Submitted by alan_sings, 8/21/2012.
+At 50:20, you can even see the copyright date as MCMLXV (1965). That was quite a goof by the DVD manufacturer. Thanks, Alan, for finding the episode the credits were lifted from. - Submitted by 10-year-old-fan, 2 January 2014.
Season 7 (63-64) is the last one for "Perry Mason" in the Top 30 ratings. It came in at #26 for the season. Submitted by Bill-W2XOY on 08/01/2013.
+ As for the "quality" of the shows Perry Mason was competing against in the 1963-64 season, a senior Advertising Industry executive predicted in the 16 Sep 63 issue of SPONSOR magazine (p58, 8MB pdf) that "The new tv season will not be better than last year's or any any other year before. . . . The critics will pan most shows, deplore their low intellectual content and applaud those that uplift the mind. . . . Viewers will stay away from these latter in droves." Added by Gary Woloski, 11/22/13.
One of the better episodes, with a real Agatha Christie quality to the tight plot - we even find the body in the library! The only episode I recall with a credit for the airline. That staircase set makes yet another appearance. Must have been the third most used set after Perry's office and the courtroom. DODay 12/18/17
Having just watched this for the second (or is it third time?) I was impressed that almost every scene has some subtle clue or element of misdirection, like Hugh Marlowe’s raised eyebrows when talking about young Caleb’s pony. I’d rank this as one of the better scripted shows. DOD 01/25/21
Uncle Ernest coached him in all the details before dropping the "imposter" off. He even had a model of the house made with which to train him. Submitted by JazzBaby, 4/5/2019.
"THE STARS' ADDRESS IS CBS!" was CBS TV Network's slogan for the 1963-1964 season. The network ran an impressive series of ads for the season's premieres in THE NEW YORK TIMES from Sunday 22 September to Sunday 6 October 1963 (dates inclusive, no ads on 3 & 5 Oct).† The "STARS' ADDRESS" slogan headed the section of ads for each evening's premieres. The ad for each show was about 1/8 of a page in size and incorporated a large (approx 4"x 5") Al Hirschfeld caricature of the star(s). The Network's line-up and the ad campaign itself were featured in the SPONSOR magazine issue of 16 September 1963 (8MB pdf download), pages 23-33, with ten pages of montages of the Hirschfeld drawings. The Mason caricature is on Thursday night's page 28.
The SPONSOR montages only include selected details from the ads. You won't be disappointed if you take time to view the full originals in the NYT issues at your public library's microfilm archive (the microfilm viewers are easy to use but if you have a problem, a librarian can give you a demo in a couple of minutes!). You'll notice that the HIRSCHFELD signature block is absent from most of these ads; it only appears in the 30 Sep and 1, 2, 4, and 6 Oct issues. The later dates tend to be reprises of the previous week's ad but are worth looking at (eg, Wed 2 Oct has Danny Kaye head-to-toe rather than just waist-up and Sun 6 Oct has Judy Garland with critics' comments from the previous Sunday's premiere, both Hirschfeld-signed). Hirschfeld's characterizations of the stars in these ads are generally like those in authorized reproductions available today but the the drawings are distinctly different; an obvious example is the phone receiver that Perry is holding in the STARS' ADDRESS drawing. There are quite a few "NINA"s to be spotted! (bonus: Nina's Revenge)
In my opinion, these CBS ads with the Hirschfeld caricatures completely demolish the visibility of
NBC's (lame) "Another Big Night on NBC This Fall" ads in the same days' newspapers. It seems that reproductions of the drawings in these ads are not available (Pity!). The only free internet record of them that I can find is in SPONSOR magazine. Added by Gary Woloski, 11/26/13.
† NEW YORK TIMES page references LATE CITY EDITION (number of shows on page is in brackets): * Sun 22 Sep sect2 p21 (1) * Mon 23 Sep p58 (2) * Tues 24 Sep p78 (4) * Wed 25 Sep p86 (4) * Thurs 26 Sep p70 (4) * Fri 27 Sep p58, full page (8 incl Sat's 4) * Sat 28 Sep p44 (4) * Sun 29 Sep sect2 p18, full page (7) * Mon 30 Sep p56 (6) * Tues 1 Oct p79 (1) * Wed 2 Oct p83 (1) * Fri 4 Oct p71 (1) * Sun 6 Oct sect2 p21 (2).
Buick Riviera was born in General Motors Project XP-715, by which GM aimed to take on Ford Thunderbird in the Personal Luxury Car niche. Since 1958, Thunderbird had been able to define its own market and enjoy a free ride in it without any significant US-built competition. GM Management offered XP-715 to its five Divisions. Cadillac and Chevrolet, already at capacity, declined. Buick, with declining sales and unused capacity needed a boost with a prestige project and took it on. Pontiac joined the Deliberate Attack on TBird from the lower price range with its new Grand Prix in 1962 ($3490), even re-styling it with sharper body lines and dropping in bucket seats as standard the next year: 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix (still $3490). Read this excellent & comprehensive (8-page) account of the XP-715/Riviera project at howstuffworks.com. Thunderbird total model-year output, all models, dropped from 78,011 for 1962 to 63,313 for 1963 but rebounded in 1964 to 92,465. Riviera production was an even 40,000 (1963) and 37,958 (1964). Grand Prix production was 30,195 (1962), 72,959 (!963) and 63,810 (1964). Added by Gary Woloski, 12/18/13.
CARS: On a personal note, the 1963 Ford Galaxie 500 (very similar to the TAXI) was our family car as I was growing up. My dad was a Perry Mason fan. Perhaps the product placement really was effective! -Submitted by 10-year-old-fan, 2 January 2014.
+ Just to be clear: The TAXI, Car(2) is a Galaxie, which has one trim line on the body side. The next level up was the Galaxie 500 with a double trim line plus seven hash marks just forward of the taillights. GSW.
++ Thanks for the correction! My family car had the seven hash marks of a Galaxie 500, but the rear taillights of the Taxi look very much as I remember them. 10yearoldfan 18 January 2014
A number of observations:
- The murder happens remarkably late in the episode;
- The fraud scheme is so well developed that they actually construct a model of the house !
- The plot twist - I won't give it away, though it might be guessed by carefully studying the cast - while being both endearing and well in keeping with the show's subtle display of social consciousness, is pretty implausible, given the location of the orphanage.
Notcom, 032217.
+ An excellent point. Perhaps that is why it was made a Catholic, not public orphanage. [unsigned, undated]
++ I agree, in prociple, but the execution of the "twist" was so well done, it was worth any bit of implausibility.