Arthur Marks Movies
- 1962
Producer Alex Chase (Jeff Morrow) hopes to persuade Broadway star Mona White (played by a young Ellen Burstyn, then billed as Ellen McRae) to headline his new musical by allowing her to preview the score. Instead, Mona angrily accuses Alex of stealing the music from her composer husband Damion White (David Hedison). The real song thief is two-bit tunesmith Phil Schuyler (James Forrest), who ends up electrocuted in his bathtub on Halloween night. Though Damion White was identified fleeing the scene of the crime, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) intends to prove that White is innocent by pointing out the heavy traffic in costumed trick-or-treaters--any one of whom could have been the real murderer. This episode was originally scheduled to air on October 25, 1962. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
While vacationing in the small town of Price Hill, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) agrees to speak before the local board of education on behalf of English teacher Jane Wardman (Mona Freeman), who may lose her job because of an anonymous letter accusing her of "playing around" with her male students. Things get worse for Jane when local barkeep Gus Wiler (Chris Alcaide) is killed, and the townsfolk are reminded of an earlier incident wherein a troubled student befriended by Jane likewise died under mysterious circumstances. The outcome of the story takes place during an impromptu hearing in the school gymnasium, presided over by avuncular judge Edward Dally (the ever-popular Edgar Buchanan). This episode is based on "The Man with Half a Face", a short story by Hugh Pentecost. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Moving from Saturday to Thursday evening for its sixth season on CBS, Perry Mason kicks off the new year with another baffling murder case. This time the victim is Joseph Kraft (Maurice Manson) a crooked book dealer who traffics in forgeries of rare first editions. Not long after firing his clerk Ellen Carter (Phyllis Love) for misplacing a copy of Tristam Shandy), Kraft is found dead in a locked room, apparently the victim of a gas leak. Ultimately, the police decide that Kraft was murdered, and that Ellen is the most likely suspect. Enter Perry Mason (Raymond Burr), who intends to prove Ellen's innocence while setting a trap for the real killer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Wilma Gregson (Kathryn Givney), imperious owner of the Gregson Cannery Company, is outraged when details of a secret merger with Super Brand Foods is made public. It turns out that the information was accidentally leaked by Wilma's little granddaughter Sandra (Chrystine Jordan) while corresponding to her pen-pal. Refusing to take Sandra's age and innocence into consideration, Wilma threatens dire conseuqences to the girl and her parents--thus setting herself up as a perfect candidate for murder. Accused of the crime is family friend Karen Ross, whereupon Sandra begs Perry Mason to defend Karen in court. Inasmuch as the hearing takes place in San Francisco, Mason's usual nemesis Hamilton Burger is supplanted by the local DA, played by Everett Sloane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Playboy Douglas Hepner has been murdered, and the principal suspect is Eleanor Corbin (Mary Murphy), who claims to be suffering from amnesia. As she tries to put the pieces of her memory back together, Eleanor arrives at the conclusion that Hepner was her fiance, and that they were working together on behalf of the US Treasury Department to break up a smuggling ring. This of course does not prevent Eleanor from being charged with murder, and it is up to Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) to determine if any portion of her incredible story can be believed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Pete Manders (Wynn Pearce), chief assistant to cartoonist Gabe Philips (Mark Roberts), cannot believe his good fortune when Philips sells him the rights to his popular comic strip "Zingy" at a bargain rate. Philips claims that he wants to retire from the daily grind and set up residence in the tiny artists' colony of Port Harmon, where he intends to become a serious painter under the name of Otto Gervaert. But that's only part of the story: Philips also wants to claim Manders' girlfriend Lesley Lawrence (Pamela Curran) for himself. When Philips--or Gervaert--is murdered, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) must seek out clues amongst the denizens of Port Harmon in order to keep Manders out of the Death House. The supporting cast offers a wide and varied range of acting styles, from the fluttery mannerisms of veteran comedienne ZaSu Pitts to the pompous pontifications of perennial "heavy" Victor Buono. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Schoolteacher and maritime historian Philip Andrews (Jeremy Slate) incurs the wratch of shipping-company owner Ben Farraday (Herbert Rudley) when he insists that Evelyn Farraday (Joan Patrick), Philip's fiancee and Ben's niece, deserved a portion of the company's profits. It inevitably follows that Ben is murdered and Philip is charged with the crime. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) must wade through a morass of corporate intrigue and sibling rivalry to save his client and expose the real killer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Perry (Raymond Burr) and Della (Barbara Hale) return to their office to find that someone has left a four-month-old baby on Perry's desk. Soon thereafter, Ginny Talbot (Kaye Elhardt), claiming to be the child's mother, shows up--and not long after that, Perry receives evidence that the infant may be heir to the celebrated Kerrick fortune. The key to the child's true identity is the St. Christopher medal around its neck, but before this matter can be cleared up, Perry must defend Ginny on a charge of murdering one Lester Menke (Corey Allen). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
'Tis murder most foul when actor Franz Lachman (Jeff Morrow), starring in a stage production of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", is stabbed to death during Romeo's duel with Paris. There needs no ghost come from the grave to tell you that the police charge Steve Brock (Rex Reason), the actor playing Paris, with murder. In his efforts to save the star-cross'd Brock from the gas chamber, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) concludes that "the play's the thing," wherein he'll catch the conscience of the real murderer. Thus, Perry moves the trial to the scene of the crime--then asks the "Romeo and Juliet" troupe to re-enact the events leading up to the moment that Lachman shuffled off his mortal coil. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
A man wearing dark glasses steals a valuable necklace from the showroom window of a jewelry store--then returns the item and walks away. It turns out that this is a mere "dress rehearsal" for an actual robbery planned by store employee Karl Addison (John Conte), who intends to use the fact that an upcoming operation will render him temporarily blind as his alibi. Alas, things go terribly wrong, and Addison is killed. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) enters the scene when his client James Kincannon (Jack Ging) is charged with Addison's murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Eve Nesbitt (Gloria Talbott) contacts Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) to determine the progress of the insurance settlement related to the drowning death of her husband Willard (Les Tremayne). As it happens, however, Willard is only pretending to be dead so that Eve can collect on the policy's "double-indemnity" clause. But when his business partner Lloyd Castle (Edward Binns) cheats Eve out of her share of a gold mine, Willard emerges from hiding--only to be bumped off for real. Accused of murdering her husband, Eve once again puts her fate in Perry's hands. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Peter Caine (Douglas Dick), the dissolute son of prominent building engineer William Harper Craine (John Hoyt), is being blackmailed by Debra Bradford (Diana Millay), who claims that Peter was involved in a hit-and-run accident while drunk. This act of extortion is somehow tied in with the murder of building contractor Roger Quigley (James Westerfield), for which Peter's father is charged. Initially hired by a citizen's group to prevent the construction of an aqueduct named after William Harper Crane, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) ends up defending the man in court. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
When a baby gorilla named Toto is stolen from a zoo, curator Tony Osgood (Fred Beir) begins questioning his employees. One of them, a visiting dentist named Dr. Braun (Leslie Bradley), accuses Tony's girlfriend Hilde (Carol Rossen) of stealing Toto. Not long afterward, Braun is found dead in the lion's cage--and once it is determined that lion didn't do it (hence the episode's title), suspicion immediately falls upon Tony. In his efforts to mount Tony's defense, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) unearths several unsavory secrets, among them the fact that the dead man was a bigamist--and that there's a drug-smuggling ring at the center of all the intrigue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
After she escapes from an asylum for alcoholics, Anne Gilrain (Gloria Talbott) is sent right back by her husband Tom (Liam Sullivan). Sensing that she is being mistreated by her husband, Anne's former boyfriend, comedian Charlie Hatch (Tommy Noonan), vows to "rescue" her. When Tom Gilrain is murdered, Charlie takes the rap for the crime, assuming that Anne is the guilty party--an assumption that proves quite problematic for attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
While deep-sea fishing with his colleague Paul Drake (William Hopper), Perry (Raymond Burr) receives word from his old friend Scott Cahill (Jeff York) that the Coast Guard has boarded Cahill's vessel looking for stolen gold bullion. Unfortunately, the officials not only find the gold, but also the body of Cahill's alleged partner Karl Magovern (Arch Johnson). This is the episode in which Perry inveigles his "friendly enemy" Hamilton Burger (William Talman) to take a crucial voyage on a Coast Guard cutter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Charles Cromwell (Karl Weber), president-elect of Euclid College, arranges a meeting with Robert Haskell, who is handling a million-dollar college grant provided by wealthy James Vardon (Will Wright). Alas, the deal may be nullified if a woman named Maizie Frietag (Barbara Stuart) reveals Cromwell's unsavory past as "Curly Oliver." But the poor pedant's troubles are just beginning: Haskell is murdered, and Cromwell is charged with the killing. Sounds like Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is going to have to invade the sacred halls of Academia to clear his client. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Inventor Walter Randall (Jerome Thor) is saddled with a nasty wife named Laura (June Vincent), who is insanely jealous of her husband's romance with Phyllis Hudson (Marianne Stewart). Setting a time bomb to destroy Walter's newest invention, an underwater sounding device, Phyllis decides to literally kill two birds with one stone by knocking out Phyllis and leaving her to die in the explosion. Fortunately, Phyllis escapes in the nick of time; unfortunately, she is subsequently charged with Laura's murder. Attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) relies upon an elaborate (and expensive) courtroom demonstration to save Phyllis from the gas chamber. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Paint manufactuer Amory Fallon (played by Wesley Lau, who later joined the Perry Mason cast as Lt. Anderson) suspects his partner Ned Thompson of embezzling funds, setting the fire which wrecked their plant, and worst of all, cheating with Fallon's wife Vivian (Leslie Parrish). Intending to confront Thompson in the man's apartment, Fallon not only brings along a threatening letter, but also gets good and drunk to bolster his courage. Passing out before Thompson returns, Fallon wakes up to find his partner's dead body on the floor beside him. In defending Fallon on a murder charge, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) must somehow get his client to remember exactly what happened on the fatal night. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Carter Gilman (Walter Kinsella) abruptly vanishes from his home while he is having breakfast with his daughter Muriell (Kaye Elhardt). Investigating Gilman's disappearance, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) finds evidence of a struggle in the man's workshop. He also finds a great deal of money--and before long a greater deal of money, specifically two million dollars, will enter into the proceedings, along with such diverse elements as blackmail and false identities. Ultimately, Perry must defend Gilman on a charge of murder. This episode is based on a 1960 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Determined to make contact with her late son, wealthy Sylvia Walker (Virginia Field) contacts spiritualist Philip Paisley (James Forrest), never suspecting that the man is a crook who intends to leech off of Sylvia's fortune. But Bonnie Craig (Sonya Wilde) knows that Paisley is a phony--and when Paisley is murdered in a particularly gruesome fashion, Bonnie is charged with the crime. To clear his client, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) relies upon the powers of ESP. . .not to mention a powerful electric device called the Faraday Cage. Dr. Andrija Puharich, the real-life physical researcher who brought such famous psychics as Peter Hurkos and Uri Geller to the public's attention, appears as himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Gambling-casino owner George Anclitis (Henry Lascoe) has two big problems on his hands: His second-in-command Slim Marcus (H.M. Wynant) has been caught cheating in a high-stakes card game, and Slim's girlfriend Vivian (Jeanne Moody) has been murdered. Hoping to kill several birds with a single stone, Anclitis uses a hot gun and a few ounces of marijuana to frame Betty Roberts (Joan O'Brien), a cigarette girl who "knows too much", for Vivian's murder. Lucky for Betty that she'd previously engaged the services of Perry Mason (Perry Mason) because she'd figured that Anclitis and Marcus were up to something fishy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Widow Carol Taylor (Rebecca Welles) hires Perry (Raymond Burr) to prove that her late husband didn't steal $130,000 before his death in a plane crash. As it turns out, Carol will need Perry more than she imagined: when Howard Walters (Simon Oakland) turns up murdered, Carol is arrested for the crime. While mounting Carol's defense, Perry unearths a hotbed of intrigue involving (among other things) a double murder and some VERY creative bookkeeping. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Lewis Martin (Wynn Pearce) considers himself lucky to be alive; he has been kidnapped, driven way in the country, and forced to get drunk, apparently as part of an elaborate frame-up. After his ordeal, Martin contacts Perry Mason (Raymond Burr), accusing his stepfather Judson Bailey (Bruce Gordon) of arranging the abduction in order to get Martin out of the way so that Bailey could take over the family business. Perry is asked to locate a photograph showing Bailey conspiring with the mysterious kidnapper--but the lawyer ends up defending Martin when Bailey turns up dead. H.M. Wynant makes his first appearance as Deputy DA Sampson, one of several temporary replacements for absentee series regular William Talman (DA Hamilton Burger). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
There's intrigue aplenty aboard the USS "Moray" when Navy submarine commander James Page (Hugh Marlowe) accuses seaman Robert Chapman (Jack Ging) of murdering a nightclub singer. Things get worse for Chapman when Cmdr. Page himself is killed. In his efforts to defend Chapman, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) exposes evidence of a complicated blackmail scheme involving an electronics firm owned by the victim's father-in-law Anthony Beldon (Robert F. Simon). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
At the height of a nasty corporate power struggle, embezzling accountant Robert Doniger (Phil Terry) is murdered. The man accused of the crime is Edward Nelson (Herbert Rudley), who had earlier hired Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) to protect him from threats he'd received from his spiteful wife Sylvia (Virginia Arness) and from business rival Frank Avery (John Stephenson). Now Perry must assemble enough evidence to prove that Nelson is not a murderer,and that someone else in his circle of "friends" is the guilty party. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
