Show53
CARS: No cars. From The Cars by Greg Cockerill.
Nora Huxley’s apartment in this episode is the same apartment that was occupied by Grant Reynolds in the previous episode, “TCOT Borrowed Brunette.” They have added different furniture, but the large plant is the same as well as the statuette of the bull on the table by the door. Submitted by PaulDrake33, 25 June 2008.
Gill fever is an actual goldfish ailment. Submitted by Craig, 3/27/2010.
Cecil Kellaway’s cousin is the accomplished Edmund Gwenn, who played Kris Kringle in A Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Kellaway was initially offered this part, but he turned it down. At least they kept in in the family! Submitted by gracep, 8/12/2010.
Sightings: The ubiquitous Little Old Lady in a Hat quietly appears in the courtroom gallery next to Darrell Metcalf. Distinguished Gentleman #1 is in the back row near the door. Submitted by gracep, 8/12/2010.
+ Little Old Lady #2 is also there. Submitted by JazzBaby 8/8/2019.
++ The following day, the Gentleman reappears next to the Lady and behind the victim’s widow. Quiet Old Man #1 is also there to watch Burger play with some fish in court!
Submitted by gracenote, 2/21/2011.
Where's Lee? Another episode where the stoic Sgt. Brice is played by Chuck Webster. Still wondering why the homicide sergeant in the script wasn't given another name if Lee Miller wasn't available. Submitted by francis, 07/09/14.
+ Lee Miller plays a homicide police officer with Tragg. I guess he has not yet been promoted to Sgt Brice at this point in the series. Submitted by BigBill767, 2/4/17.
Cecil Kellaway received credit on a card all by himself, the way Raymond Burr does throughout the series. (He was rather an important character actor at the time.) Only a few guest stars were honored in this way. Submitted by gracenote, 2/21/2011.
+ Bette Davis, Michael Rennie & Hugh O'Brian were honored in a different way: at the opening credits after the regular cast. Mike Bedard 6.13.16
++ Frankie Laine also got a separate credit. DOD 07/15/19
Quotation: The poetry Metcalf recites ("Awake!") when he stumbles into Huxley's office and addresses Huxley is from the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. The script adds the phrase "promiscuous Prometheus," which is a literary way of saying "slutty trickster"! OldDave, 7/30/20
Zoom! The director featured a lot of zoom shots in this episode including one on Myers as he walks in on Huxley and Sally, one on Metcalf as Huxley brings the fish mixture to him, one on Nora as she tells Myers to get out and even Perry gets a zoom as he objects to Burger's question to Tragg. And although not technically a zoom, after Rollins ends his phone conversation with Mason, he almost walks into the camera so that all we see is an extreme closeup of his tie. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 8/05/12.
Also several unusual angles, especially in the courtroom - a few dramatic shots looking up at the judge and another with the camera looking straight up the main aisle toward the bench. The closing scene with Perry and Della chatting in the dark is also unique. All in all, the director seems to be using all the tricks in the film noir playbook. DOD 07/15/19
Jerry Goldsmith's Jazz Theme pops up again in this episode as Mason tests his fish mixture in his office and again as Metcalf testifies. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 8/05/12.
Syndication cuts: Huxley goes to Metcalf's office, drinks the whiskey, sees Huxley dead and phones Myers; scene with Perry, Paul and Della joined by Metcalf, Perry asking him who could have killed Huxley and Metcalf telling Perry of Huxley's women. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 8/05/12.
Closed-captioning: When the judge refers to "parlor games" in his discussion with Burger and Mason, the closed-captioning reads "power games." Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 8/05/12.
+ I should point out that the previous comment concerns the syndicated version's closed-captioning. The DVD's closed-captioning has the correct wording. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 7/29/13.
Judge: In some of the stories the judge was given a name in the credits. In this episode the judge had his name, Thomas J. Hood, on the courtroom door and not in the credits. Submitted by H. Mason 10/16/14
+ In the third season's "The Golden Fraud" another shot of the door with "Thomas J. Hood" is seen at case involving a judge played by S. John Launer. On the other hand in "The Grumbling Grandfather" in the fourth season, a different shot of the door with the same name is seen but John Gallaudet plays the judge. Which (if either) is actually playing Thomas J. Hood may be impossible to determine. The name was apparently affixed to the door on the set (and on the fictional courtroom) no matter which actor (or judge) was presiding over the case. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 11/03/14.
Gifts: This was the second time Perry received a gift from the murderer after the court case. It also happened in episode 6 TCOT Silent Partner. Submitted by H. Mason 10/16/14
This is the second of four PM directing credits for Gerd Oswald, who was born in Berlin , Germany, in 1919. He was the son of German film director Richard Oswald...MikeM. 9/20/2016
This is the only PM appearance for May Wynn (Donna Sherwood), who started her film career acting under her birth name of Donna Lee Hickey. After landing the role of May Wynn in the 1954 film "The Caine Mutiny" Hickey began acting under the name May Wynn. She was secretary Liz Clark on all 24 episodes of the 1956-1957 television series "Noah's Ark". Now age 90, May Wynn is said to be the only surviving cast member of "The Caine Mutiny"...MikeM. 7/2/2018
--- As an aside regarding May Wynn's name change: Dawn Evelyeen Paris changed her name to "Anne Shirley" after playing that character in "Anne Of Green Gables", and Byron Elsworth Barr changed his name to "Gig Young" after playing that character in "The Gay Sisters". jfh 15Jul2019.
This is the second of three aapearances for Jacqueline Scott (Amelia Armitage in the Daring Decoy #28 3/29/58; here; Kathi Beecher in the Violent Village #80 1/2/60) She reminds me of Mercedes McCambridge who starred with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson in Giant. jfh 21Jun2023
TCOT Substitute Coffee Cups: While we await the arrival of the Canonical Curious Coffee Set, we are treated the Substitute Set #2, which my husband and I are becoming convinced is the Syracuse China airbrushed restaurant ware pattern called "Aquarium, which features seaweed and fishes, and would be quite appropriate for this episode. (For the record, the other early cup sets are the art deco conical set with striped rings and 7-shaped handles, and the rather fussy set that came complete with sugar, creamer, tea pot and plates and seems to feature hand-painted chickadees.) Submitted by catyron, December 27th, 2020.
Check Your Maps - During his questioning of Myers, Perry says "So you drove almost 50 miles to see the deceased at his home in Santa Monica . . ." It's 25 miles from Pasadena to Santa Monica by the route most likely back then. I guess Perry meant, "So you drove almost 50 miles round trip . ." OLEF641 1/8/22
Non-Gavel Use - Instead of using his gavel or his pencil to rap for order, the judge uses his eyeglasses. This is probably a good place to comment on what occurred to me as I have been conducting this survey: I'm guessing that pencils came to be used more and more as time went on because, since the judge is supposed to look as though s/he is taking notes, a pencil is often in his/her hand, easier to just use that than putting it down and then picking up the gavel. OLEF641 1/17/22