Perry Mason

The original "Perry Mason," in glorious black & white, is in the tradition of the great film noir films of the '40s and '50s. The cases have a poetic reality to them, clashing and understandable motives, psychology, and murder. Because the motives of all involved are understandable, there is not lacking a painful sympathy for those caught up in the circumstances described, even for the perpetrator. But there is a grim darkness to the program as well. The program gradually ran down during its life, so that, when it went off the air, it was probably time. The original 1957-1958 season was the best, with the most intricate plots and with Perry Mason a wiseguy thorn in the side of the police. The cast is perfect, and even the score fits perfectly this brooding and ironic look at life and fate.

Perry Mason is one of the finest shows (courtroom or otherwise) that was ever made. A memorable cast, great scripts, and always a surprise in the courtroom. I watched the shows for years and years in re-runs. Being blessed with a poor memory, I could usually be depended on to forget the final outcome of the trials. There were quite a few shows and guest starts to keep track of. One "highlight" of my life was to get onto a murder trial jury myself during some of my more intense Perry Mason years.

The thing that separated 'Perry' from other shows was it's compactness. It was all story. Personal relationships were hinted at, but took up little time on the screen. If some errand needed to be run, Paul Drake (the detective) would appear with the information in the next scene. Nor car chases, no fistfights, and no love interest in every episode. JUST STORY. I've heard this is one reason Raymond Burr gave up the show. The show was so dependant on him in just about every scene that he had to live on the studio lot in a trailer during filming (and that was most of the year).

In contrast, later 'Perry Mason' attempts HAD the aforementioned elements. There were car chases, fist fights, and Paul Drake Jr. was allowed much screen time for these and to win over the girl too. We got to see all the painstaking effort to get the information his dad just seemed to pull out of the air.

It was good to see Perry back, and I did watch. The 'newer' shows paled by comparison to the all-time classic original. But, it's tough for anything to live up to our memories.....

PS- I even sang along to the very recognize-able theme with lyrics of my own.......

One can tell the timeless longevity of a television series by the condition if it's still playing on TV. "Perry Mason" (1957-1966) is! It followed a tried-and-true formula: the first half-hour the situation is developed, then there's a murder. The second half-hour is filled with courtroom dramatics, to find the killer. But this is considerably heightened by a moody musical score, shadowy, gripping B&W photography, incisive scripts, magnificent guest stars (many who appeared multiple times), and lastly the brilliant ensemble cast headed by Raymond Burr, with Barbara Hale, William Hopper, William Talman and others. The series was re-done (poorly) in 1973, the more recent 2 hour TV movies were padded and don't hold up to repeated viewings. Voted the top dramatic series by TV Guide, it just does not get any better. Case closed.

For nine seasons and over 250 episodes Perry Mason ruled the television roost, it was the ratings flagship for CBS. Saturday nights at 7:30 this show was a viewing requirement in my household.

The show had a built in audience from the start with the millions of mystery fans who loved Erle Stanley Gardner's criminal defense attorney who always defended the innocent and never lost a case. Those parameters for the television series had to be respected. But also the right actor had to be found to play Mason.

One of the highest pieces of praise I ever read was Erle Stanley Gardner himself saying that Raymond Burr completely fitted his concept of the character he created. When you've got that kind of endorsement as well as the ratings to back it up, I'm sure the show could have run forever.

A really solid group of character players made up the cast here. Take a look at the credits on the pages here for Burr, Barbara Hale as Della Street, William Talman as District Attorney Hamilton Burger, William Hopper as Perry's private detective Paul Drake and Ray Collins as Police Lieutenant Tragg seem like they appeared in some of the best movies ever before going to series television.

Collins began experiencing health problems and first Wesley Lau and later Richard Anderson took the load from him. When Collins died in 1965 Anderson was the official cop for the series last year.

So indelible an impression this cast made on viewers minds that when CBS sought to revive Perry Mason in the middle seventies with a younger cast, the public viewed other stations in droves. Even with Collins, Hopper, and Talman all gone at that point, no one would accept their replacements.

The writers given the constraints of an hour television show managed to respect Erle Stanley Gardner's parameters and did a beautiful job with each and every episode.

This is what a good television series is all about.

More than 40 years since the series debut, Perry Mason is still a classic, and is highly watchable today without seeming dated. The first half of the show tells the story of the events leading up to the murder and the preliminary investigation of the crime, while the second half of the hour dealt with the subsequent trial, where Mason exposed the truth in the courtroom. The plots were quite complex at times, but the writers also treated viewers with intelligence. The acting was superb by all, and even the bit players do an excellent job. Probably my favorite character was private detective Paul Drake, whom apparently could dig up any fact no matter how obscure within a short period of time. Much better than the 2 hour movies produced in the 1980s and early 90s, Perry Mason will always be a classic in the history of television.