Show60
There is an awful lot of smoking in this episode. At least two of the characters are never seen without a cigarette in their hand. Submitted by gracep, 8/25/2010.
+ Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek ran against the character-smoking tide of the '60s. Mike Bedard 6.20.16.
++ a quote from a TV Guide article on February 21, 1959:
"Burr chuckled. 'Funny,' he said, 'we've got a cigarette sponsor this season and all of a sudden the scripts are loaded with smoking.' "
OLEF641; 10/19/2017.
Lt. Tragg was in a very playful mood when he delivered the arrest warrant. Submitted by MikeM, 11/01/2012
+ "You're it," the Lieutenant says, as he hands the warrant to Frank. Mike B.
++ Thankfully!! Tragg's bit of levity - small tho it was - along with a similar witticism from Richard Erdman were the only things I found to enjoy in this otherwise lifeless episode. Grumbled by Notcom, 102017.
+++ Funny how different minds differ: I don't like anything about Tragg, but I really enjoy this episode! It's noir-ish without being ghoulish, more like the earlier episodes; it's classy without being stuffy; it's playful; it has a happy ending with the long-married couple being brought even closer by the truth. Great stuff! jfh 11Jul2018
++++ I interpret this scene, beginning at 20:57, very differently than other commentators have. I neither see it as "playful" nor as "a bit of levity." i see it as a clear instance of the actress Joanne Gilbert (Faith) freezing and dropping her cue, and Ray Collins ad-libbing brilliantly (which he did in other episodes as well). Her line should gave been, "Whaddaya want," but she freezes, so Ray laughs, turns away from her and toward Stacy Harris (Frank), and says, "Heh. You know it's ... it's always easier if somebody says, eh, 'Whaddaya want?" Stacy cleverly ad libs "Well, ten to one it ain't a hamburger." Joanne then rouses from her freeze and blurts out, "Whaddaya want?" and Ray, turning back toward her, says, "Thank you, Miss." She blows her next line too, and Stacy steps in this time, with "You got a warrant?" Ray says, "Course," and pulls out his CRIB SHEET. If you freeze frame it, you can see his handwriting all over the paper! Ray then turns toward Stacy, who spoke last, but he has to turn back again toward Joanne who was supposed to have been the recipient of that line. Joanne is still frozen, wringing her hands, and Ray again covers for her by saying, "Miss Foster, I'm sorry to bother you this way," and only then does he turn back toward Stacy, while she continues to wring her hands. Ray slaps Stacy with the crib sheet and chuckles, "You're it." Together Ray Collins and Stacy Harris make a fantastic and hilarious save of an otherwise blown scene, pulling it off without a hiccup as befuddled Joanne Gilbert allows them to roll right over her muffed lines. Submitted by catyron, January 3rd, 2021.
+++++ AND what looks like another ad lib at the end; "Ill eat the sword". Submitted by hojocola Nov 9, 2021.
++++++ I don't buy it. Perry Mason was not performed live, nor did it have the flexibility to be ad-libbed. The scene could have easily been refilmed if an actor flubbed a line. Raymond Burr's medical problems often held up production for days or weeks. Are you saying a five-minute scene would have caused a problem? Any dialogue could have been written into the script and the director could have instructed the actors to say the lines a certain way. Wiseguy70005, 11/19/24.
+++++++It's possible, but not probable as Lt. Drumm might say. As much as I'd like to believe in 'catyron's magic, I think I'll have to go with 'wiseguy' here: adlib's are usually disruptive to other performes, and the idea that they successfully built upon one another seems like a stretch too far. That having been said, since we know nothing about the history of this episode - or almost any other of PM, really - might it not be possible that the end product was a combination of these two scenarios? Who's to say this wasn't the second - or third or fifteenth - shooting of the scene, and perhaps earlier improvisation(s) was incorporated into the final take. And while it's true that retakes are common, eventually there's a limit where a scene is either scrapped, or "good enough" becomes the premise. Notcom 112224.
Two of the lines were very lyrical, almost like they came from some other script. One, when Richard Erdman was describing his love of the theatre. The other when David Lewis was describing the gun he was holding, in the last courtroom scene.Joe B. 01/07/2023
+ Another lyrical speech is Helen Dwight describing their lives in the theater as she's helping her husband on with his slippers. jfh MLK Day 2024
Jury trial?: a couple of the camera shots suggested this was a jury trial. When the judge told the recorder to remove a statement made by West from the record he did not instruct the jury to ignore it. Submitted by H. Mason 10/18/14
Charge her: Did anything happen to Helen? She knew who killed both people. Many of these stories need a few extra lines of dialog in the final scene to let the viewers know some of the other crimes didn't go unpunished. Submitted by H. Mason 10/18/14
2 Flourishes: Perry & Hamilton quote Shakespeare in a Theater case; a Witness identifies the Murderer in Open court. Mike B. 6.23.16.
Unfortunately, we only get to see Gertie for a brief moment. However, it's enough to let us notice her spiffy new hair-do! Ed Zoerner, 9/24/24
Not picking on any specific episode, I find it funny how new evidence is handled by the clerk. Paper is often stamped with some rubber stamp . Submitted by Perry Baby 1/11/18
I thought it was.... Does anyone else notice the resemblance between Stacy Harris and Noah Beery Jr.? Enough for a double look the first time. Submitted Bizyfe0415 09/6/22