Show247
Location: Right after the scene where Della says Paul is dying, there’s an establishing shot of a building. It’s the L.A. County USC hospital in Boyle Heights known as “Big County.” See here. Submitted by Mitch English, 5/21/2005.
+ Though the iconic building is still standing, all the medical operations have been moved to newer surrounding buildings, due to a combination of factors, primarily earthquake concerns about the old building and the need for more modern facilities that will support the technology now part of medicine. OLEF641 9/8/21
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. An establishing shot of the arena appears early in the show. See here. Submitted by Scott Pekeris, 7/1/2005.
+ Sadly, the Sports Arena is no more; it was torn down in 2016 to build a soccer stadium. Many, many significant events took place there, with the Democratic National Convention that nominated JFK in 1960 probably the top of the heap. OLEF641 9/8/21
Location: About 36 minutes in, Paul says he’s on Sycamore and Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, and lo and behold he is. If you look to his left you can see a woman with some kids and to the left of them you can see the Travelodge at 7051 Sunset. It is still there. See Google maps street view here. Want more proof? Look closely at the top corner of the building. You can clearly see the little “sleepy bear in PJs,” which was Travelodge’s logo in the 1960s, painted on the top left corner of the building. Posted by Eric Cooper, 9/2/2009. Some pictures here.
+7051 Sunset is now a Comfort Inn. Submitted by HamBurger 06/10/2017
Location: About 37 minutes in Paul gets dropped off at the YMCA which is still at 1553 N. Schrader Blvd. in Hollywood. If you look closely you can see “1553” on the building as Paul enters. The YMCA would be about 8 blocks east of the previous Sycamore and Sunset location. Posted by Eric Cooper 9/2/2009. Some pictures here.
Location: About 8 minutes in we see the exterior of Nappy’s and a sign below it that I think reads “Sunset Grill.” If so, that would be the place made famous by the Don Henley song of the same name. The place still exists next door to Guitar Center on Sunset but it has been drastically remodelled, and I can’t find a vintage photo to compare. Anyone have a photo? Submitted by Eric Cooper, 17 September 2010.
+ No photo, but the sign definitely says “SUNSET GRILL.” But it looks so temporary; could that really have been standing for forty-six years? Submitted by gracenote, 5/14/2011.
++ Nappy's is a classic burger stand of a type that used to be common, and quite a few still exist today. There are three of them that I know of near where I live, two within about a mile of each other, and all still in business. I'm guessing "Nappy's was a temporary name slapped over the original -- note that there are only quotes at the beginning of the name on the sign. And 7439 is the address for the Sunset Grill, you can see the number down by the sidewalk on the scene from the show. I'm guessing the business did so well they tore down the stand and built a larger building some time between when PM was filmed and today. Note that the following scene, which is an interior that the stand clearly doesn't have, was obviously shot on a sound stage. OLEF641 9/8/21
Location Question: When Paul gets the fake construction job, does anyone know WHERE and WHAT the building crane actually "built" in that area? Looks like a big project!!! Thanks in advance! Submitted by mesave31, 02/16/15
Early in the episode, Nappy reads a completely blank newspàper.
+ There is printing on the newspaper but it's very light with no apparent headlines at all. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 12/12/17.
Weary Watchdog? In the scene in Perry's apartment, is that the weary watchdog statuette on the mantelpiece from the episode of that name? Submitted by Miss Carmody, 17 April 2024
Uncredited Actors: Don Anderson appears as a Paul Drake operative in this episode. Don and William Hopper keep Jerry Ormond (Benny Baker) under observation at the construction site. Submitted by FredK, 11 January 2011.
+ In a subsequent scene, Anderson plays a patron at Clay’s Grill who leans back to stare as something happens. Submitted by gracenote, 5/14/2011.
Sightings: At the doctor’s office, our “Miss Carmody” plays the nurse who retrieves the oxygen and consoles Mrs. David. Submitted by gracenote, 5/14/2011.
+If you look carefully, Miss Carmody is wearing an engagement and wedding ring on her left hand. Submitted by Mrs(?) Carmody, 17 April 2024.
Foreshadowing I couldn't help but think while watching this episode that in just a few years, William Hopper really would die from cardiac complications. Makes the show sad and poignant to me. Submitted by Welshwoman 02/16/15
+ Life was to follow art all too well: in less than five years from this episode William Hopper was dead, although from complications of a stroke rather than a heart attack...a sad ending that must have seemed every bit as shocking to his audience as Paul's demise would be to Perry. Recorded by Notcom 060716.
++ Indeed: Early in this episode, airing October 1965, we have Paul, Burger and Perry musing over the untimely death of the boxer, saying "He seemed as healthy as you or I." William Talman died in August 1968, and William Hopper in March 1970. JohnK, 12 February 2018.
+++ Especially poignant, since the comment was made by Paul to Hamilton, both of whom would be dead inside of five years, Hopper at 55 and Talman at 53, both youngish ages for that time. OLEF641 9/8/21
Whit Bissell appeared in 4 original & 2 "New Perry Masons" ("TCOT Jailed Justice [Trial Judge]," "TCOT Prodigal Prophet [Judge]"), 2 Ironsides, an "FBI," a "Star Trek: The Trouble With Tribbles" & All 30 "Time Tunnels" as General Kirk [IMDb]. Mike Bedard 2.11.15.
+ Speaking of Star Trek <grin>, Lawrence Montaigne plays Dr. Chauncy Hartlund, possibly best known in Star Trek for Amok Time (1967), playing "Stonn". Submitted by mesave31, 02/16/15
++ Yes, Lawrence Montaigne is an uncanny Leonard Nimoy look-alike. Submitted by catyron, July 22nd, 2018
+++ And as Trek fans know, Montaigne also had a more extensive role in the first season episode "Balance of Terror", playing the Romulan Decius. He would be one of two actors to have a major role as both a Romulan and a Vulcan, the other being Mark Lenard, who played Decius' commander in that episode, but would go on to more lasting fame as Sarek, father of Spock, in "Journey to Babel", a role which he would continue in the film franchise and TNG. TriviaSleuth, 8/13/19
Credit anomaly: Alexander Lockwood, identified as "Deputy" in the episode's closing credits, actually plays the Coroner who presides over the inquest. Submitted by alan_sings, 1/18/2013.
+ The credits say Dr. Chauncy Hartlund but the name on his office door is Chauncey. Submitted by Kilo 1/22/2018.
Continuity: When the little boy rings the doorbell of Jack David's house (with Paul and his operative apparently watching from across the street), the lighting changes suddenly from the wide shot to the close-up. Then we (and once again Paul and his operative) see David and the little boy in what appears to be the back yard of the David house. But there's no way Paul and his operative could watch both the front and the back of the house from the same location across the street. Submitted by Alan Smithee, 1-31-2014.
Continuity: When we first see Arthur Wendell he is standing in a doorway of the hospital with a plain background. Then we see a close-up of him already in the room before he enters. This brief shot was taken a minute later in the episode after he threatens Perry. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 12/12/17.
This is the second of two PM appearances for actress Tracy Morgan (Doreen Wilde)...MikeM. 3/13/2017
This is the fifth of five PM appearances for Shirley Mitchell (Marilyn David), whose second marriage was to composer Jay Livingston. Jay Livingston passed in 2001, and Shirley Mitchell passed in 2013 at the age of 94...MikeM. 3/19/2018
This is the fifth of five PM appearances for Bruce Bennett, better known to some of us as Herman Brix, a star shot-putter in the 1928 Olympics, and one of several actors who portrayed Tarzan. Submitted by catyron, July 22nd, 2018
TCOT Substitute Coffee Set: Della no longer pours coffee for Perry and Paul from the Curious Coffee Set. She now simply refills their West Bend Thermo Serv plastic mugs from their matching West Bend Thermo Serv plastic carafe. Submitted by catyron, July 22nd, 2018
This is the third of three PM appearances for Robert Emhardt (Arthur Wendell), who was a stage actor in the US and England before transitioning to television and movies. Emhardt's marriage to an American actress ended in divorce. His British actress wife survived him when he passed in 1994 at the age of 80...MikeM. 7/23/2018
I guess Benny Baker and Joseph Sirola like appearing in Perry Mason episodes together. This is the second one they appear in. See TCOT Shifty Shoe-Box Submitted by HamBurger, 7/25/2020
David Lewis and Hal Baylor also appeared in TCOT Devious Delinquent Submitted by Steve Fox, 9/28/23