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Ben Wright makes his third and final appearance here as Clarence Keller. Ben Wright was a famous voice actor on radio in the 40s and 50s. Although he was English by birth, he portrayed Paladin’s Chinese assistant, Hey Boy, on the radio version of Have Gun Will Travel. Submitted by PaulDrake 33. 8 January 2010.
Location: The brief establishing shot showing the Los Angeles airport passenger terminal near the intersection of Airport Blvd. and Avion Drive appears to have been lifted, in part, from #96, TCOT Treacherous Toupee. That’s actually Paul Drake and Dick Hart in the car. Posted by daveb, 3/2/2010. Some pictures here.
Location: Street numbers in Perry Mason episodes are usually real. Consequently based on the “12930” on the Bronson Aircraft shack and the overall topography I would say this location is probably 12930 Pierce Street along side Whiteman Airport in Pacoima, CA. Whiteman Airport is a small airport some Hollywood stars used which is tucked in the north east corner of the San Fernando Valley next to mountains which are visible in this episode. Posted by Eric Cooper, 25 March 2010. Some pictures here.
+ I'm pretty certain that building is actually in the airport grounds on Airpark Way (not Pierce), and is now a diner. Submitted by KGarrett 02/17/2016
Character Names / Anomaly: The “Pathologist” listed in the credits is addressed by Hamilton Burger as “Mr. Willard,” and the “Astronomer” as “Mr. Finney.” Perry refers to the Trial Judge as “Abernathy.” Why their names were left out of the closing titles, or why the D.A. failed to address the pathologist as “Dr.” is a mystery. Submitted by gracep, 11/19/2010.
+ Hamilton Burger addresses the “Pathologist” as “Dr. Willard”. Submitted by BobwloCB, 8/19/2014.
++ For some reason on the CBS/Paramount season sets the astronomer's name is spelled in the closed-captioning as Phinney not the usual Finney. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 11/09/14.
Sightings: Today we see have quite a few courtroom regulars seated in the gallery today. In one cutaway to the Argentinian sisters, we see the beloved Little Old Lady #1 (with her usual hat), Distinguished Gentleman #1 (with glasses), Pencil Mustache Man, and possibly “Miss Carmody” watching evens unfold. Quiet Old Man #1 is on the other side of the aisle. We can also discern another little old lady from the Style P credits, who is dressed all white and sporting a big hat. By now you are asking yourself, just who are these people? Submitted by gracep, 11/19/2010.
+ The Distinguished Lady #4 is seated next to LOL #1 in court. The Quiet Old Man #2 and The Thin Man join the court for the last hearing. At the airport, we spot the Pencil Mustache Man talking with Distinguished Gentleman #1. Bill767, 1/6/16.
++ “Miss Carmody” is definitely seen to the left of Lola when Lola stands and speaks.
+++ I think gracep is referring to "Little Old Lady #2" in her above description. Submitted by JazzBaby, 9/10/2019.
CARS. (1) Bill Ryder's white 1961 Ford Thunderbird Convertible, top down, outside the County Court House as Bill picks up Lola after the opening courtroom scene.
- (2) One of Paul's old cars, the black 1958 Ford Thunderbird Convertible, top down. Ostensibly, Paul is dropping off Perry at the PanAm entrance @ 46:24 but, as Big Dave pointed out in the first "Location" entry above, the footage seen here was originally shot for ep#96.
Of the many background cars, I believe these were intentionally placed in the camera's view:
- (a) 1961 Ford Fairlane 4-Door Sedan police B&W, parked beyond Ryder's Car (1). The same car appeared as Car (4) in Ep#122 with the same "SHERIFF" star pasted on the door.
- (b) As Leander Walker is standing behind the white picket fence watching the test-flight through binos, there's a black '61 Buick beside him. A "V" and a "9" on the licence plate are seen through the fence pickets. It's almost surely the 1961 Buick Electra 4-Door Sedan Licence No VBV 990 (Car (2) in Ep#117).
Added by Gary Woloski, 11/30/12. Parked together on the street in the opening scene appear to be two convertibles, a '48 or '49 Cadillac and to it's rear an early 50's Cad. Joe B. 10/18/2019
Three Airplanes in One: The airplane situation is dire, indeed.
- The first plane that Bill and Lola take off in is seen at at 3:57 - 4:08. It taxis by at 7:03 with one person inside. It goes aloft at 8:08 - 8:13. It is white on top with a medium thin stripe at mid-line and a light-medium belly. The wing number is N3575D.
- At 9:18, when Bill and Lola are in the air, the plane is dark on top and has multiple stripes: dark top, white mid-line, thin dark mid-line, and white belly. No N-number is visible. It is flying over uninhabited terrain. The sound in this clip is similar to the audio-files in the contemporaneous show "Sky King.'' We cut to inside the plane at 9:20 and the engine noise changes.
- From 10:32 - 10:40 we see Bill and Lola in a plane that is white with a medium mid-line stripe, a white belly, and an N4680E wing number. It does acrobatic stunts.
- And that's not counting the jaunty test-plane or the diving model plane that crashes. Submitted by catherine yronwode 1/19/2018.
Wardrobe Note: At 2:34, we see Mason wearing a striped tie. This strikes me as very unusual. Submitted by 10yearoldfan, 29 December 2012.
The Case of the Missing Minute: A close-up of the clock in Bill Ryder's house shows the time at 11:50 with the second hand crossing the twelve. Immediately after there is a long shot of the clock and the time is about a minute later and the second hand is between the six and the seven. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 11/09/14.
Judge: Sydney Smith was listed in the credits as "Trial Judge". It was a preliminary hearing. There is a difference between a hearing and a trial. Submitted by H. Mason 11/10/14
+ That was to distinguish him from the other judge in the episode, the divorce judge, who also presided over a hearing. The second hearing looked more like a trial so the word trial was used in the credits so that viewers would know one from the other. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 11/29/14.
Aviator's Abode: The boozy test pilot, Bill Ryder, lives in a house that is quite upscale -- French doors, even -- and lovingly decorated in American Colonial style. I would have expected a grubby apartment dotted with a few empty bottles and cans. JohnK, 10 October 2015
+ Confusions? This episode has three on-screen drunks in three different scenes,plus one more character that says she wants to get drunk! Don't know of another episode with so much heavy drinking throughout. Two of them keep referencing "confusions" - there is such a rum drink but it doesn't seem like they are drinking that. Rick P 12/1/21
++ from Google: "Drink confusion to someone is actually an old obsolete saying,(see Google Books) which, as suggested, is meant to bring bad luck.
From In the reign of terror By G.A. Henty
“Drink, drink, my garcon,” a woman said, holding a silver goblet full of wine towards him, “drink confusion to the tyrants and liberty and freedom to the people.” Harry drank the toast without hesitation, and then, heartsick at the destruction and ruin, wandered out again into the streets." jfh 05Dec2022
That Guy in the Sky following in the mulesteps of Frankie Laine, 50's pop singer Guy Mitchell (nee Albert George Cernik) makes his PM debut here. As with the former, his performance is neither brilliant nor terrible, and the writers somehow avoided the temptation to squeeze in a few gratuitous songs. Submitted by Notcom, 121715.
Jumping Jewelry: At 16:30 on the DVD, Conception's pearl necklace has a '50s dynamic space age-galaxy arrangement, but by 19:30 it has calmed down to a simple series of loops. JohnK, 29 June 2017.
+ Conception's necklace collection looks to me to be the same at the two times, with the later look only straightened out so that the strands no longer overlap. I do wonder why she and Lola were sitting in their apartment dressed to the nines, with all of their jewelry, unless they were planning to go out nightclubbing later. Submitted by (lowercase, with a comma and period) masonite, 03/08/19.
This is the third of three PM directing credits for Lewis Allen, who was born in England in 1905. He passed in Santa Monica in 2000, aged 94...MikeM. 9/20/2016
This is the first of two PM appearances for Barbara Stuart, who was once married to actor Dick Gautier, who played Hymie the Robot on the television series Get Smart...MikeM. 12/27/2016
This is the only PM appearance for prolific television actor William Mims, who would appear as "General Grant" in three episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies...MikeM. 9/26/2017
Gavel and Other Statistics For Season Four: Gavel: not used in any episodes, Pencil Tapping: 13 episodes, Military Court: 1 episode, two different courts: 4 episodes, gavel on judge's bench: 0 episodes. Note: At one point during the military court in Episode #120, TCOT Misguided Missile, one of the judges pounds on the table to call the court to order. He is using the flat of his hand. -- OLEF641 5/23/22