Show29
In Episode 15 (TCOT Fan Dancer’s Horse), Robert Bice plays Detective Faulkner. But here in Episode 29—the same season—Gil Frye plays Faulkner. Submitted by Ed Zoerner, 6/8/09. For the record, Robert Bice's character was Frank Faulkner and Gil Frye's character was called Ralph Faulkner. Either one of the actors or someone in script supervision made sure that the names were different. Submitted by FredK 18 May 2012.
+ In Desperate Daughter, Paul Drake referred to Faulkner as "half Bird Dog," but the character did not appear. Mike Bedard 4.29.15
++ When Ralph Faulkner led Inez into the courthouse, I did a double and then a triple take. Ralph Faulkner looked enough like Perry to be his brother. Submitted by PaulDrake 33. 29 April 2015.
The opening shot of the dance hall is obviously old stock footage - not a car in the scene is much later than 1940 or so. Also, just before Inez goes into Martha’s office, there is stock footage of the interior of the hall. The women’s clothes are all of 1940’s vintage. The exterior shot of the Las Vegas motel is taken from the Marilyn Monroe movie "Niagara". Saunders never is cleared of the robbery charge, and we never learn how Kim was killed. DOD 05/30/18
Danceland uses Della’s unique filing system - a single drawer for each letter of the alphabet. 07/25/22
Couldn't Perry arrange for his client to get a shave and a suit or at least get his hair combed before his appearance in court? Perhaps because Perry didn't get a fee for this case? Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 7/25/12.
I believe this is the earliest episode where Perry plays his "What if I told you..." trick on a witness, in this case, Martha Rayburn. Submitted by 65tosspowertrap, 15 April 2014.
+ He does it again in #46 TCOT Married Moonlighter. 65tosspowertrap, 5-10-2014.
++ He also uses the phrase "Suppose I told you..." in other episodes. As a matter of fact at the end of this episode, this is what he tells Burger and Tragg. Submitted by HamBurger, 9/10/2017
Della has an "Undercover" assignment outside the office & courthouse; Paul refers to dropping "Cyanide pellets" rather than saying "Gas Chamber." Mike Bedard 4.29.15
+ Interesting observation. Paul is talking with Inez (22:20 on the 2006 Paramount DVD): "You have a change of heart, and an innocent man pays for it, huh?" Inez, sarcastically: "Oh honey, send him my regrets." Paul: "He'll appreciate that, right up to the time they drop the cyanide pellets." And in #36 TCOT Prodigal Parent Paul is telling Perry and Della (20:49 on the 2006 Paramount DVD): "I understand Burger's uncovered a hunk of evidence that's guaranteed to put Harrison in the gas chamber." Per http://deathpenaltyusa.org/usa1/state/california5.htm California was averaging between 8 and 9 gas chamber executions a year during 1941-1957, evidently enough to keep the morbid thoughts in contemporary screenplays. lowercase masonite, 1/30/16.
This episode has some of the best music of the entire series, at least in my opinion -- in particular the jump number when we first see the ballroom. Sounds a bit like the late 40s material of Bob Wills. JohnK, 3 December 2015
When Perry is examining the purse in his office he opens the purse's flap but the mirror on the inside of the flap has been removed. Either that or the mirror's surface has been sprayed with a dulling agent so there wouldn't be any accidental light reflection into the camera when Perry opens it. Likewise, when Paul is putting stuff back into the purse there is no reflection of his hand in the mirror. Submitted by Kilo 3/19/2018.
+ The mirror is covered with heroin powder, blocking its ability to reflect. That's how Perry figures out what the modeling agency is really up to; he tastes the powder. Submitted by JazzBaby, 7/19/2019.
++ Any residue would be on the backside of the mirror, of course. Kilo 9/23/2019.
Powerful Paul: At about 24 minutes on the DVD, Paul Drake breaks through a locked door by kicking it open (on the first strike). Apparently a superior method to what Tragg's boys resort to -- bumping doors open with repeated blows from their shoulders. This reflects William Hopper's military training, I suppose. JohnK, 12 March 2018
Pushy: In the opening scene inside Danceland you can see a girl with a striped top being spun around by her dance partner. Coming out of the spin she uses a stiff arm and pushes another dancer completely out of the shot. I'm not sure if that was supposed to be part of the scene or not but it makes me laugh every time I see it. Kilo 12/19/2018.
It seems implausible that, even in 1958, someone would think it a cost-effective method of smuggling heroin by flying someone to Rio to bring back a few grams of the stuff, for it would seem that's all the "secret compartment" in the handbag could hold. Submitted by francis, 1/17/12
The word "snow" has been used for "heroin" for over 100 years. See for example the 1989 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, #4.d. of its definition for snow: "slang (orig. U.S.). Cocaine; occas. heroin or morphine....1915 Policeman's Monthly Dec. 17/3 [page 17 column 3] 'One day, his pal found him depressed and told him to take a little sniff of "snow", as heroin is known to the vernacular of the criminal.'" Submitted by (lowercase, with a comma and period) masonite, 05/14/18.
In the syndicated version recently shown (July 2012) during Martha Rayburn's final testimony, in between Perry asking her "Was Kim Lane alive at the time of the robbery?" and her answer there is a frame with a white background and black upside down letters reading "SPLICE HERE" with an arrow pointing downwards. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 7/25/12.
This show contains no murder trial. Perry is still working on a robbery trial when the identity of the guilty party is revealed. Submitted by PaulDrake33, 6/3/2009.
+ The novel on which this episode was based had some oddities as well. The court case was already in progress at the start of the novel and the only murder had occurred before the novel began. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 12/30/14.
In the epilogue, Della tells Perry that he solved two crimes in one: a murder and a robbery. She failed to include that he also broke up an international heroine-smuggling racket. jfh 23Oct2019
+ I think the final score is correct: it's true that he didn't get credit for breaking up the heroin-smuggling ring that "has enraged every thinking person in America" but he also did credit for "solving" a robbery that he didn't ("So who did rob Mr. Archer?" Della asks. "Who knows?" Perry relies...correctly) In fact it's unrealistic that the case would have been so readily dismissed, since all the testimony established - as it pertained to the actual robbery trial - was that Martha Rayburn had been impeached. Notcom 102419.
++ Perry didn't solve the robbery, but he did absolve his client, saying that the evidenced has simply been dropped in Albert Sanders's trashcan. jfh 24Jun2020