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Show152

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Anomaly: Ben Cooper, listed as Davis Crane, is called David or Davey by Charlie Corby, Nelly Lawton, and himself! Submitted via email by Mitch English, 12/27/2004.

Location: The opening scene (and another about 15 minutes into episode) of National Studios is actually General Services Studio where… you guessed it, the Perry Mason TV show was filmed. It still exists pretty much the way you see it except it’s now Hollywood Center Studios. There are numerous references in various episodes to its address at 1040 N. Las Palmas. More information and photos can be found at 1040 N. Las Palmas. Episode #111, TCOT Waylaid Wolf, also features the guard gate shown in the opening scene of this episode. Submitted by Eric Cooper, 5 May 2010.

This studio has gone through many changes in ownership during almost a century.It is now the Sunset Las Palmas Studios. Submitted by Phil Ayling, 13 June 2018

There’s a cup from the Curious Coffee Set on the table when Nelly makers her phone call. Submitted by daveb, 12/30/2010.

Sightings: That might be Distinguished Gentleman #1 seen through the pharmacy window as he walks, bespectacled, down the sidewalk. Additionally, a certain pencil-mustached man appears in the courtroom gallery in several shots. Learn more about these and other favorite frequent faces. Submitted by gracep, 1/6/2011.
+ In addition, the Pencil Mustache Man reappears on the set during the last take. He’s wearing a hat and stands on the right side of the screen when we see the camera. Submitted by Kenmore, 2/5/2011.
+ We get some really fun closer views of him in the same scene, as part of the crowd gathered around Charley celebrating the wrap-up of the shoot. He's grinning and having a good time. Submitted by JazzBaby, 3/15/2019.
+ Quiet Old Man #1 also appears in the courtroom gallery, in a brief shot. Submitted by gracenote, 7/22/2011.

Star Trek Alert: The stenographer is (uncredited) Clark Ross, who also played an uncredited alien in the original series Star Trek episode, "A Piece of the Action." IMDb Clark Ross Credits. Submitted by MyFavoritePolarBear, 11/18/22.

First of two PM appearances for Ivan Dixon, who later played Sgt. James Kinchloe on "Hogan's Heroes". jfh 31Oct2016.
+Ivan Dixon also starred in the brilliant 1964 indie film "Nothing But a Man" about a railroad worker who meets and falls in love with a schoolteacher who is a preacher's daughter. If you have never seen this film, do seek it out it. Submitted by catyron, April 18, 2018.
++ To a large extent Dixon's appearance here marked the apogee of the show's efforts to portray African Americans in less stereotypical roles (he's an expert witness*). A year later it would take what might seem to be the ultimate step - an even loftier professional position (judge vs. a pharmacy inspector) - but that also marked something of a regression as the character never spoke (why he didn't speak is open to speculation, but it's noticeable that he doesn't). Notcom 042821. .*Perhpas a stretch as his observations don't really involve any expertise, but he's a witness because of his professional status, as opposed to simply being an incidental witness.

Character Names: The autopsy surgeon is presumably Dr. Hoxie since the same actor, Michael Fox, is portraying him as before. Board of Pharmacy inspector Parness’s first name is Maurice. Submitted by gracep, 1/6/2011.

Music: The jazzy “Big Band” music that begins after Mike Flint shoots the final Mr. Nobody scene (approximately 16:50 on the DVD) is the same music that features prominently in Episode #108 TCOT Envious Editor. Submitted by Dan K, 17 February 2019.

CARS. (1) 1961 Chevrolet C60 Truck, light color, covered Stake Bed, "NATIONAL STUDIOS" markings. In the opening scene, Herbert Simms gets onto the studio lot by hitching a ride in the back of this truck. Hey! Keep your eyes on the truck's cargo - I think we've seen one of those crates before!

Amongst the tons of cars parked on the National Studios lot, these stand out:

Since it's likely that the "National Studios lot" is the real-world Paisano Studios, I'm inclined to say that the Paisano staff had very good taste in cars!
      The large crate carried by the Chevy C60 Truck is labelled "NATHAN CLAVER COLLECTION - RIO DE JANEIRO"! The exact same crate is in the first and the last two screenshots here. The Claver Collection also appears in Episodes 118, 127 & 166 being burned, sunk, salvaged and/or warehoused. This ep roughly falls between the "salvaged" and the "warehoused". Added by Gary Woloski, 4/13/13.

Law Student: In this story we learned that Perry took some courses in the L. A. area. In episode 245 (TCOT Cheating Chancellor) we will see his alma mater. Submitted by H. Mason 12/11/14

Perry's (Not so) "Old Buddy": if IMDB is to be believed, Linden Chiles (Herbert Simms) was young enough to be Raymond Burr's son...still the right side of 30 when this episode was filmed. Submitted by Notcom, 012616.
+ I believe, Notcom, that a closer listen to the script will convince you that Perry was the friend of Herbert Simm's father, the late pharmacist, and was cared for, motheringly, by Herbert's mother, Mrs. Simms. In other words, he fell between the two generations and was a college student when he met the Simms family. I would also like to note that despite the name Simms, Mrs. Simms' character dialogue, right down to the chicken soup at the end, is played as "stage Yiddish," or Jewish-American. Submitted by catyron, April 18, 2018.

This is the first of four PM appearances for Dianne Foster who, like Raymond Burr, was born in Canada...MikeM. 10/31/2016

This is the only PM appearance for Geraldine Brooks, who was married to writer Budd Schulberg...MikeM. 2/6/2017

According to IMDb, the Peter Martin who wrote this episode has one other writing credit, in 1955 for the television series "I Spy", which featured Raymond Massey as Anton the Spymaster...MikeM. 2/6/2017

The Case of the Missing Jews: This episode is highly strange to me, a Jewish-American woman. I have no idea of the ethnicity of the relatively unknown screenwriter Peter Martin, but this script is filled to the brim and overflowing with old-school Jewish / Yiddish jokes and phrases, many of them mouthed, very poorly, by non Jewish actors.

  • Phrases like "the whole megillah" (the entire scroll, a reference to the Book of Esther and the reading of the whole megillah at the festival of Purim),
  • The Stan Lee like character Corby calling everyone "Baby" and wearing a white shirt and dark cravat (Stan Lee was Jewish)
  • The Jewish-appearing and speaking bartender named Chico (a shout-out to Chico Marx, a Jew who famously played a Sicilian / Italian)
  • The Simms family pharmacy (at that time, there was a preponderance of Jewish-owned drug stores in America)
  • The repeated mentions of Rod Serling (Serling was a well-known Jewish screen writer of the era)
  • Mrs. Simms with her home-made chicken soup in an obvious dill pickle jar inappropriately foisted on the non-Jewish Perry (dill pickles are a Jewish stereotype food, as is chicken soup, and motherly women forcing Jewish-ethnic food on non-Jewish friends of the family is a typical Jewish comedy stereotype)
  • Repeated Germanic / Yiddish sentence constructions ("You should [verb], already" is typical)
  • The whole bit at the end where Mrs. Simms says it's "like Grand Central Station" (a reference to the large number of Eastern European Jews who settled in New York City)
  • Even the name of the Ivan Dixon character -- Mr. Parness -- is Jewish, because a parness (also spelled barness) is the Ashkenazi Jewish equivalent of a deacon in a synagogue -- the person responsible for the physical building and for expenditures

These, and many more slices of nonessential dialogue are clearly New York Jewish jokes and shtick of the 1920s - 1950s, easily recognizable to me.
I mention all of this with no intention to offend anyone -- but, as a Jew, it was crazy watching this episode, just wondering how much farther the screenwriter would take it in the script without any character actually being played by a Jew with a New York accent! It was almost insane to watch.
Submitted by catyron, April 18, 2018.

++ This post brings back some fond memories of growing up in the Lawndale area in Chicago; the local drugstore, right around the corner from my home was owned by a Mr. Galler: it even had a working soda fountain all the way up until the mid-seventies; I didn't know until I got older that the neighborhood had been pretty much all Jewish until about the late fifties. And that explained those square boxes my friends and I would see on some doorways were mezuzahs and what they meant! Submitted by MikeReese, 1/13/2021.

+++ Wandering In Plain Sight: Prolific character Dan Seymour has a small part in this PM (one of seven appearances), providing a brief exposition about delivering some film stock or whatever. Wikipedia tells us Seymour was Jewish (ne Katz, albeit in Chicago), but in my view he's not one of this episode's broadly faux-Jewish characters. JohnK, 29 December 2021. Happy New Year!

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