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It’s a bit unfair for Patricia and her mother to blame Bertie for parking too close to the driveway. Although he did, Patricia, a.k.a. “Batgirl,” could have negotiated it easily if she weren’t driving a bit like a “bat out of hell.” Submitted by billp, 1/18/2009.
+ Bertie parked in a NO STOPPING zone. See the signage on the curb. Kilo 6/27/2020.
+ Patricia claims she missed Bertie's car but if you look
close the car actually rocks as she zooms around it as if
it had been sideswiped. Submitted by Kilo 6/5/2017.
++ And if you look close it's a man (Lee Miller?) driving and not Patricia. Submitted by Kilo 3/25/2018.
After the murder, when Lt. Tragg is at the Faxon-Allred home to arrest Mrs. Allred, there’s a knock at the door. Tragg tries to open it by pulling it towards him. This is wrong; the door opens the other way. He recovers nicely, though. Submited by billp, 1/18/2009.
Tragg has borrowed Della’s file cabinets - the ones with a single drawer for each letter. That hairpin turn with the hotel sign has been the seen of many a near miss. DOD 08/02/22
There’s a fair amount of humor in this episode. Some of it seems to poke fun at the Mason “formula.” When Patricia Faxon tells Perry that after retaining him she thinks it is foolish to (1) not fully inform him, (2) not do what he says, and (3) not go to the police if he advises it, Perry says she's “a singular person.” And so she is since almost all Perry’s clients violate at least one of the above causing quite a bit of unnecessary difficulty. I also like the scene in Tragg’s office where Perry tells the lieutenant he’d like his cooperation noted. Tragg then asks him how he’d like it noted: carved in stone or etched in bronze. Perry replies “whichever is more expensive.” The whole “wife” scene with Della is hysterical, too. Submitted by billp, 1/18/2009.
+ Lucky Bob Fleetwood gets smothered in hugs and kisses from the lovely Della. Submitted by DellaFan, 23 April 2014.
++ I liked Tragg's line speaking to Perry: "Are you Mrs. Allred's attorney, Mason, or are you just acting as an emcee?". Submitted by Kilo 3/25/2018.
Perry wore his spiffy raincoat again, but, alas, we get no glance at his checked lining. Submitted by gracenote, 9/6/2011.
Della's Shoes: Della wears, and actually runs and on soft ground, in her high-heeled mules in this episode --- and she does it quite well. jfh 19Jun2019.
Another appearance as judge by Kenneth R. MacDonald, who may have been trying to live down his roles in various Three Stooges shorts such as con man Ichabod Slipp. Doubtless there was talk of old times on the set with Connie Cezon, another Stooges veteran. Submitted by francis 1/20/12.
This episode is unusual in that the identity of the murderer is never definitively determined. We have only Perry's assertion about who the murderer is (although I guess you could say that that's good enough!). Submitted by 65tosspowertrap, 24 April 2014.
+ Actually, Burger makes the assertion, Perry facetiously denies it, but, as soon as Burger is beyond earshot, concurs. Another humorous touch in this episode. jfh 07Jun2018
“Fan Dancer’s Horse“ is the only other episode I recall in which the killer is not definitely determined, just hypothesized. DOD 06/19/
Question: Bob was rushed off to the motel (about a one hour drive from L.A.) on a Saturday night. How did Mrs. Allred get a check to Perry's office early Monday morning? When did she send the telegram? Submitted by H. Mason 10/9/14
No problem - as we’ve seen in other episodes, there were 24 hour messenger and delivery services in Los Angeles, and telegrams could be ordered over the phone. DOD72/20
Della Dialogue Etymology: She refers to the check for 2500 "Clams": "'Clam' is short for 'Clamshells' another Slang term for a Buck, Simoleon or Dollar. Clamshells, in the form of many small ones strung together, were a currency used by NATIVE AMERICANS, mostly in California" [GoogleAnswers.com]. Mike Bedard 5.19.16 MeTV airing.
Mollusk Moolah: "Clams" were also the currency underlying the economy of Bedrock in "The Flintstones." JohnK, 7 June 2018
How does Mason know Overbrook's dog's name is Prince? His name is never mentioned while he and Della are at Overbrook's place looking for Fleetwood. Submitted by Kilo 3/25/2018.
+ When Overbrook opens his door to let in Della and Perry, Prince growls at them. Overbrook then says, "It's okay, Prince. They're all right." See and listen to the 2006 Paramount DVD at about 19:52 of the episode. Submitted by (lowercase, with a comma and period) masonite, 06/02/18.
Bernice Archer closes Paul's ID twice when she hands it back to him. Submitted by Kilo 3/25/2018.
A most unresolved ending, and not just because it lacks the classic confession. Fleetwood and his [repulsive] girlfriend framed Mrs. Allred for the murder, even though Fleetwood didn't do it. Was their motive just to protect him or were they indeed, as Perry charged, scheming to defraud someone? Were they charged for their crimes? We often see peripheral crimes unresolved in the episodes but what they did was crucial to the case. I wanted to see them collared and charged! Submitted by JazzBaby, 7/25/2019.
+Bernice Repulsive? She’s ridiculously catty, but I found her somehow seductive. wick 11/30/2021
Fleetwood’s explanation of events makes no sense. He is attacked by Bertie, who then pulls him into the house and saves him. He claims Bertie wanted to kill him, yet takes no advantage of many opportunities to expose him or get away. All in all, a gimmicky and unsatisfying episode. DOD 07/02/20. +Yes, Bob F. told several different stories but maybe his actions make sense if he was lying to profit from the initial attack by Bertie and to cover being an accomplice to the murder. What do people think about this idea: Bertie did hit Bob in surprise at the discovery of mine fraud and yet balked at cold-blooded murder -- hence, he temporized with the motel plan to think things over. (My guess is that Bertie would eventually decide to try to buy off Bob with mining profits). As Perry said in court, Bob not running away strongly implies that Bob soon saw a chance to profit from the attack by taking over the mining scam. Maybe after a while Bertie decided he had to kill Bertie (he could have been trying to pin it on Lucille somehow, I suppose, by having her stay at the motel; certainly, she was not coercing Bob). But more likely I think instead Bob simply got the drop on Bertie when Bertie was coming back to the motel (Lucille was at the motel but saw nothing of this). We can be sure Bertie did not have a gun because neither Bob nor Overbrook produced it as evidence of self-defense against Bertie. Bob may have had his own gun, or he just knocked out Bertie. Bob then took Bertie to Overbrook's farm, claiming to Perry and Tragg he knew Overbrook had threatened to kill Bertie (a nice knife in Overbrook's back, but this statement would not be likely to be mentioned in court [hearsay, etc] so Overbrook would not find out about it and strike back at Bob. Both had the goods on the other!). Overbrook did kill Allred (we have Perry's word on that, and evidence of car and tracks suggests Bob did indeed bring Allred to Overbrook's farm). Overbrook acted from hate, or maybe also for a cut of the fraud profits. In any case, Overbrook and Bob at some point became accomplices in fact because until Perry put the screws to Overbrook, he and Bob were not telling the whole story about what each knew about the other and the events at Overbrook's farm. This helps explain Bob's genuine outrage in court when Overbrook turned on him, even though he had previously turned on Overbrook to Perry and Tragg. Nice. With visions of mining fraud dancing in her head, Bernice showed herself a worthy partner for Bob by improvising the trunk story to implicate Lucille, but that was added after the murder, according to Perry's accusation and Bernice's non-denial. Sorry for the long posting, but does this seem plausible, at least? --- Fred Flintstone, 12/22/2020.