In the process of planning the previous posts, I learned just what huge, long-standing contributions the Perry Mason character has made to pop culture.
I decided to do review one last set of eight – in this case miscellaneous things relevant to his history.
The Case of the Black Cat (1936) – In the 1930s Warner Bros. produced a half-dozen feature film adaptions of the Erle Stanley Gardner novels that introduced Mason to the world. The movies aren’t really available for any sort of streaming – if you want to watch them your only option, short of monitoring AMC and TCM religiously, is to buy the whole DVD box set of them Warner Bros. put out years ago. However, I did find a digital copy of this that someone uploaded.
This was the only one of the six films featuring Ricardo Cortez as Mason. The actors in the other movies may or may not have been similar, but Cortez will jar anyone expecting something like Raymond Burr’s stoic version of the character. This flamboyant, mischievous Mason is much more someone you’d expect played by Tyrone Power or Ricardo Montalban than Burr.
Different doesn’t mean worse though. A charismatic Mason works perfectly well for the story, which actually includes a tinge of horror to go along with the usual complex mystery that keeps you guessing.
Granny Get Your Gun (1940) – I’ve liked Garfield Minus Garfield. This is Mason Minus Mason. For whatever reason, Warner Bros. decided to adapt the Mason novel The Case of the Dangerous Dowager but tweak it by removing Mason and the regular characters from his stories. What’s left is a grandma who raised her adult granddaughter now pulling out all the stops to get said granddaughter off the hook for the murder of the douchebag former grandson-in-law. Octogenarian May Robson really personifies the words “spunky” and “spry” in this part, and while the movie might overdo the whimsy a bit, it’s barely an hour long and not an awful way to spend your time. It would have been the lower half of a double bill in the theaters back in the day, or of a double bill at the UCLA Film Archive nowadays. God, I want screenings there to resume (stupid pandemic) but I digress.
Edge of Night (1956-1984) – Continuing the whole “Mason Minus Mason” motif there was a Perry Mason radio show in the golden age of radio (read: pre-television) but it differed enough from Gardner’s vision that he withdrew his support for the TV version that started in 1956. Thus the characters were changed and this new title was given.
I know this name because, back in 1993, when TV Guide did a 40th anniversary issue proclaiming the best TV shows of every genre in every decade, Edge of Night was chosen for soap operas in the 50s. Even though there were videos from decades later on YouTube, I chose to watch one from the early years. People who know me well know I’m obsessed with everything about 1950s America – the clothes, the music, the food, the cars, the TV shows!*
I loved seeing the vintage commercials from the sponsors, and also, I surprisingly enjoyed some of the soap opera. There was actually captivating dialogue from a suffering widow talking about the pain caused by her adult stepdaughter whom she had raised.
The Jack Benny Program: “Jack on Trial for Murder” (11/5/61) – This was a long-running TV show that followed an even longer-running radio show. For over three decades Jack Benny was a fixture in American homes, and if this episode is any indication I’m not surprised.
Apparently in the series Benny played himself, and a variety of others played characters in his wacky misadventures. That included legendary Looney Tunes voice actor Mel Blanc, who, among other things, played Jack’s parrot.
In this episode, when Jack gets in legal trouble for noise his parrot is causing, he has a dream where he gets tried for the parrot’s murder – and his attorney is Perry Mason, played by Burr himself! At the zenith of his popularity (the season this episode aired Perry Mason was TV’s fifth most-popular show and Burr was the reigning Emmy winner for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series), Burr parodies his character brilliantly. We see Mason’s knowledge either being useless or actually hurting his client, while he himself acts rather childish. Good stuff!!
The Flinstones: “Little Bamm-Bamm” (10/3/63) – In this episode the Rubbles**, longing for a child, are ecstatic when an astonishingly strong toddler gets left on their doorstep. They must go to court for adoption rights, though, and unfortunately “Perry Masonry”, the unbeatable lawyer over whom women swoon, agrees to represent the rich couple who had first dibs on a baby boy. What’s particularly hilarious about this is that the Rubbles’ lawyer is “Bronto Berger”, a reference to Perry’s always defeated opponent Hamilton Burger.
Perry Mason: “The Case of the Deadly Verdict” (10/17/63) – Maybe I spoke too soon about Hamilton. The Washington Generals have sometimes beaten the Harlem Globetrotters, and similarly our DA friend has sometimes beaten Perry Mason. I picked at random one of the three episodes where it happened, and we see the jury decision at the beginning of the show. Of course, that’s not the end of the story, but what happens next in this tale about a dead rich lady and her numerous heirs will keep you on your toes!
The New Perry Mason: “The Case of the Frenzied Feminist” (12/16/73) – This short-lived revival again made a marked change in the Perry Mason character, as he was suave and flirtatious. Much more James Bond than Perry Mason in Monte Markham’s portrayal. Otherwise, he was the same old Perry. Brilliant attorney who bonded with Paul and Della, achieved justice, and kicked Hamilton’s butt.
This particular episode was pretty star-studded as far as TV show episodes go. We had the mom from The Addams Family, the title character from the original Fly movie, and goofy Felipe from Three’s Company. The latter amazed me with how well he could act when not playing a dumb Meixcan caricature, LOL. Did his character commit the murder though, or was it one of the several other suspects? You’ll have a terrific experience finding out!
Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host (1993) – One of the dozens of TV movies started two decades after the original series and continued for a decade (ending shortly after Burr’s death). I just picked the most highly rated one on IMDB that I could find on YouTube – but it was a good one! Some famous people act in it, including Regis Philbin, Montel Williams, and…G. Gordon Liddy?!***
A radio station owner (Philbin) who’s full of himself gets killed, and all of the hosts he wronged had motive. One woman seems to be the culprit, but of course in Perry Mason stories the number one rule is nothing is what it seems. Lots of fun!
That can honestly describe both that movie and just about everything else involving Perry Mason. I should read one of the many books in his series; that’s basically all I haven’t been exposed to yet.
In any case, just like with my similar series on Scooby-Doo, I’ll conclude by rating the character’s overall contribution to pop culture.
*Before anyone gets on my case for my rose-colored lenses, a friend has already pointed out a couple of times how I wouldn’t be allowed in some public places back then.
**Who would have thought Mel Blanc would come up twice in a Perry Mason post but he was the voice of Barney in this series!
***Wow, what injustice that Frank Wills died penniless after he caught the Watergate burglars while the burglars themselves got to do things like this.
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