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Show179

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Uncredited Actors: This episode features an uncredited black judge, perhaps a daring thing in 1963. The judge does not appear to be Ivan Dixon. Comparison pictures here. Posted by dave, 11/11/2009.
+ And he is completely silent (at least in the syndicated version shown on Me-TV). Is this the only Perry Mason episode where the judge says nothing? And is it the only episode where neither the prosecutor nor Mason voice any objections during the trial? Submitted by 65tosspowertrap, 11/18/2013.
++ This silent, uncredited African-American judge struck me as very sad. His enforced silence also distorted the legal aspects of the courtroom scenes, as no objections could be raised lest the judge be forced to speak and thus fail to remain in his assigned role as a silent "extra."Submitted by catyron, May 15th, 2018.
Even when Perry asks the judge for permission to bring the desk into the courtroom, he stays silent. Indeed rather sad. DOD 02/04/22
+++ The black judge who is uncredited is Vince Townsend Jr. Submitted by Thomas J. Shea 3/06/19
++++ According to IMDb: "Vince Townsend Jr. was born on April 12, 1906 in Arkansas, USA as Vince Monroe Townsend. He was an actor, known for Weird Science (1985), Porgy and Bess (1959) and Never Wave at a WAC (1953). He died on October 16, 1997 in Los Angeles, California, USA. The First African-American Attorney In The City of Los Angeles, California (Post 1930's), Actor and Honorable Reverend/Minster at First AME Church, Los Angeles, California & Municipal Court Judge, Roommates with the late Thurgood Marshall Judge/Justice of the United States Supreme Court (Best known for his historical Supreme Court victory in Brown v. Board of Education) at Howard University School of Law. Vince Townsend (aka "Vince Monroe Townsend Jr., "Vince M. Townsend Jr." & "Vince Monroe Townsend." -- WOW. Submitted by catyron, August 2nd, 2021.

Casting decisions not all black and white Integration was a headline-grabbing issue in 1963, off- or on-screen, and (as reported below) PM's casting choice created some controversy, with the story picked up in the media, first in trade publication Variety, and then by columnists and wire services shortly thereafter. Perhaps of more interest, tho, was a report on what didn't happen: "...(Gail Patrick Jackson)...was reported to have tried to sign a Negro girl to play an elevator operator who becomes a key witness - but the NAACP ...nixed that on the grounds that the girl...would be seen in a menial capacity." Although the story provides scant details - and seems to imply the incident was c. 1963 - the description bears a remarkable similarity to Season One's TCOT Daring Decoy; so was PM attempting to break the Color Barrier as early as 1957 ?? It would, indeed, have been a daring move. But regardless, the issue of how the Perryllel Universe should match the real one remained an active one thruout the show's run. Notcom, 050719.

Pat Finley makes her initial foray into acting here (1963) as Grace Kingman. This would be her only appearance on Perry, and her last screen credit until 1970. Ms. Finley is probably best known for her role as Bob Newhart’s sister, Ellen Hartley, in The Bob Newhart Show, 1974-1976. She also appeared as a judge in three Perry Mason movies in the 90s. Submitted by PaulDrake 33, 16 December 2009.

The tattersall vest from episode 119 The Case Of The Violent Vest makes a reappearance here on Harry Collins when he delivered office supplies to Richard Harris. jfh 21Sep2017.

In the epilogue of this episode, there is a row of law books on the credenza behind Perry's desk. These books are at least a partial set of Corpus Juris Secundum that are held on each end by what look to be brass potpourri containers. The volume on the right end of the row of books is upside down. This can be seen after 49 minutes into the DVD of the episode. Here is a representative picture. Submitted by Charles Richmond, 27 May 2014.
+In episode 24 TCOT Deadly Double, during Perry's first meeting in his office with Helen Reed and Robert Crane, there is a set of law book on the shelf behind Perry, the book nearest Perry (seen over his right shoulder) is turned upside down. jfh 11May2017.
++ Yet another case of The Upside Down Law Books is episode 223 The Case Of The Wooden Nickels as we see Vivian Norman in Perry's office, this time over Perry's left shoulder. jfh 13Feb2018.

Sightings: In the opening scene, “Miss Carmody” speaks to someone and then sits down, out of view, behind the men talking in the foreground. A little later she is standing again as Richard Harris (Michael Pate) enters the room (and she sits down again). Apparently she is one of the reporters at the press conference, although she never asks a question. We see the back of her head once more as the scene fades. Submitted by gracenote, 2/7/2011.
++ Although the reporters are collectively addressed by Harris as, "Gentlemen". jfh 07Dec2016
+++ That looks like Distinguished Gentleman #1 helping a customer at Collins’ office supply store. A little later, he turns up as the court reporter. He certainly is busy holding two jobs at once. Submitted by gracenote, 2/8/2011.
++++ The African-American Man and African-American Woman among the spectators are the same man and woman who appeared twice or three times in earlier episodes -- that is, the African-American Couple. As usual, they sit next to one another, as a couple, apparently to avoid the idea that either one of them might be somehow familiar with or related to one of the Caucasian spectators. These were daring directorial decisions at the time, and it is not important to judge those times versus these times. Submitted by catyron, May 15th, 2018
+++++ Distinguished Gentleman #1 is the Uncredited Actor Rudolph "Rudy" Salinger.
++++++ Read more about these and other recurring background players in the Who Is That? section. Submitted by gracenote, 2/8/2011.

When Paul quotes, “Things are seldom what they seem / Skim milk masquerades as cream,” he’s quoting Gilbert and Sullivan, specifically a duet from H.M.S. Pinafore. The duet is full of commonplace sayings that predated Gilbert, but stringing these specific lines together back-to-back identifies it as Gilbert’s lyric. Submitted by alan_sings, 11/23/2011.

CARS. The PaperBoy delivers the Cliffside Heights Sentinel (motto: Primo Veritas) from his:

  • (1) 1954 Schwinn Wasp ('54 or later) with rear rack & newspaper bags. This was the standard mode of newspaper delivery in the 1950s/60s, and was seen in every neighbourhood, every day.

As PaperBoy tosses the newspaper onto the Layton's front walk he pedals by a:

  • (2) med-color 1963 Buick Electra 225 HardTop (2-dr?), Black-Plate No QCV 009 parked on street in front of Layton home; presumably George Layton drives the girls to school in it.

As Margaret Layton comes around the side of her house to meet Dave Weaver at the front, there's a

Later, in the location-setter out in front of the LA County Courthouse:

  • (4) Perry walks from his OLD black 1962 Ford Galaxie 500 Sunliner (top down) into the Courthouse. This is re-used film footage from early Season 6, which explains the expired yellow-plate Lic No XCF 015 on Perry's car. See the Courthouse Location-Setter entry below.

Fifty-plus years after this episode aired there's lots of these cars left to be seen but the genuine bicycle-borne PaperBoy or Girl is, alas, virtually extinct in North America. Added by Gary Woloski, 10/2/13.
+ Indeed, I haven't seen anyone delivering a newspaper in at least ten years. Submitted by 65tosspowertrap, 10/23/2013.

There are two very similar Season-6 versions of a Courthouse Location-Setter showing Perry walking from the driver's door of his 1962 Galaxie 500 Sunliner to the front doors of the LA County Courthouse on Hill St. They were each used in more than one episode. The version seen here in ep#179 is exactly the same shot as used in Ep#156, where I believe it originated. For reference, the cars stopped in the near (traffic) lane in this episode & #156 are, L-to-R:

In the other version (Ep#166), Perry's Skyliner is parked ahead of Paul's '62 TBird and traffic on Hill Street is scant: most noticeable is a white 1959 Cadillac Sixty Special Fleetwood 4-door hardtop, moving L-to-R. Added by Gary Woloski, 10/3/13.

Location. If you keep a mental image of the houses & street details from the PaperBoy scene, you will notice that the Laytons' street, "South Farrington" in "Cliffside Heights", is transported to the next episode as the Tarrs' street in "Palmetto" and that the Layton house (#622½) becomes the Tarr house. The camera was moved across the street for ep#180 (a bit more distant). Also, in ep#180 be observant as Andrea delivers Melinda home to the Tarr house. There's a mysterious structure in the shot that's not here in ep#179! Unless the structure was optically masked-out, I suppose the reason that we can't see it here in ep#179 is because the camera was located closer to the roof-lines than it was for ep#180. Added by Gary Woloski, 10/3/13.
+ If you observe the shadows cast by the sun, I think you will agree that the Layton house can only be:

  • on the North side of an East-West street (ie, facing South) or
  • on the West side of a North-South street (ie, facing East).

Added by Gary Woloski, 11/14/13.
+ With (quite) a bit of research, I've identified this location in the PaperBoy Scene as the North half of the 1300-block N. Sycamore Ave in Hollywood. The "Layton House" and its immediate neighbours still stand 50+ years later, as seen in this streetview on Sycamore just South of De Longpre Ave. The garage that housed Margaret's '54 Chevrolet is seen around the back to the right. You can also match the roofs and eves of the row-houses to the right of the garage to those seen when Margaret comes around the side of her house at 9:40. If you look North (to the Right) across the T-junction with De Longpre Ave, you'll see a fenced parking compound and the rear of a large building complex that had a very close relationship with the Perry Mason series!
      By the year 2013 the house neighbouring the "Layton House" to the South has grown a tall hedge. The houses further South beyond the neighbour's were replaced by apartment buildings in 1987 or later. Roof details of the neighbour's house visible above the hedge match what is seen during the PaperBoy's delivery.
      This finding was made by identifying and backtracking from the "mysterious structure" looming over the Tarrs' street in the next episode: see Comments Ep#180. Added by Gary Woloski, 12/08/13.

Names: The Pitt Herbert character was given the name Dr. Desmond in the credits. In episode 79 TCOT Lucky Legs he was identified as Dr. James Latham. Submitted by H. Mason 2/10/15

This is the first of two PM appearances for Linda Marshall,...MikeM. 12/7/2016

This is the second of two PM appearances for Diane Mountford, who was a regular with Barbara Hale's husband, Bill Williams, on the television series "Assignment: Underwater"...MikeM. 3/15/2017

Magic Bullet Six-and-a-half months after this episode was aired, an historic, tragic event would make headline news around the world of another magic bullet.

This is the only PM appearance for Toby Michaels whose mother is Pat Barto, costume designer. Toby Michaels was the first wife of Richard Michaels, noted script supervisor, director and producer...MikeM. 4/4/2018

This is the first of two PM appearances for Keith Andes, who might be remembered for playing the brother to Barbara Stanwyck, and the love interest to Marilyn Monroe, in the 1952 melodrama Clash By Night. Notcom 070423.

This is the second of two PM appearances for Peggy McCay is best known for playing Caroline Brady, matriarch of the Brady family on Days of Our Lives from 1983 until her passing in 2018. Submitted by Apofisu 3/1/2023

Mr. McCann's office is outfitted with the same model of "UFO" style hanging light fixture we see in Perry's office, and which we also once saw at a motel where Perry stayed, but McCann's is brushed aluminum, not black. I seem to recall that Perry's was aluminum too in the first or second episode, went away for for a week or so, and came back with a paint job by episode four. Submitted by catyron, May 15th, 2018

Publish AND perish methinks the victim/villain (Michael Pate) bears more than a little resemblance to James Coburn, who, it might be recalled, starred in TCOT Envious Editor an episode that also dealt with people who profit by publishing trash (tho Coburn's character was a publisher, not an author). Notcom 071824

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