This is really a good story, kept you interested. A lot of these early Perry Masons were taken directly from the novels, towards the end 65-66 they were writing the stories sometimes using several books, obviously the writers changed and some have written that a later director was not the best.
This was during the shows prime. Good story , great writers and everyone does a great acting job. I think this is the only Perry Mason that his client does the first part of the episode without a shirt on.
I can recommend, if you are a Perry Mason fan, you need to make sure you see this story
12 Reviews
One of the best names ever for a detective
dixiedragon9 January 2016
I agree with kfo9494 100% on his/her review but HAD to add this one comment - the name of the detective in this episode is epic - Philip "Dick." I cannot, however, determine if this was intentional or if it was a fluke in naming the character. Normally I would have put this in the comments section but cannot find comments for a series this old - and it's OLD --- there are THIRTY NINE episodes - try and find an actor today who will work a series that long OR a studio who will PAY an actor to work that long nowadays!!!! LOL and I could EASILY watch every single one (and intend to) in a marathon watch of all - I think it's nine or 10 seasons. One of the best series ever with just good plain old acting and cool plots.
One of the better Non-Erle Early Shows
DKosty12321 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Often when a writer wrote an original script instead of the creator the show suffers. This one is an exception. A writer from the Hawian Eye series wrote a pretty solid one here.
Mason receives a telegram from Frank Lawton who asks him to come. By the time he reaches Frank, he not only finds out Frank did not send the telegram, but that there is a dead husband (who was his boss) of the wife (Marion) who he has been dreaming of having an affari with.
Since everyone hated Scott Shelby, and Scott was having an affair while being insanely jealous of his wife and Lawton, there are plenty of suspects to go around. Meanwhile Shelby is found out to be carrying a pile of cash and has some accounting problems as a bonus. It actually appears he might have planned his own death, and his body is not found for a couple of days.
Mason receives a telegram from Frank Lawton who asks him to come. By the time he reaches Frank, he not only finds out Frank did not send the telegram, but that there is a dead husband (who was his boss) of the wife (Marion) who he has been dreaming of having an affari with.
Since everyone hated Scott Shelby, and Scott was having an affair while being insanely jealous of his wife and Lawton, there are plenty of suspects to go around. Meanwhile Shelby is found out to be carrying a pile of cash and has some accounting problems as a bonus. It actually appears he might have planned his own death, and his body is not found for a couple of days.
One of the best episodes
kfo949419 October 2011
As a 'Perry Mason' fan there are times when you want to stand up and say "good show". This was one of those times. This will contain no spoiler since this is a show that a viewer must see.
The main character in the show is Frank Lawton (Stewart Bradley) that plays a handyman at a well-to-do estate of Scott Shelby. He is a old war-time buddy of Perry. The main problem is that Mr Scott (Tom Palmer) believes that his wife, Marion ( Phyllis Avery) and the handyman are an item. And this leads the viewer into the situation.
Only problem is that Mr. Shelby is running some kind of 'ponzi scheme' and is about to be revealed as a criminal. So Mr Shelby plans a situation where he disappears leaving the handyman as a suspect. However something goes terrible wrong. Mr Shelby is involved in a very serious crime that is described as one of the bloodiest in any PM episode.
The crime happens away from comfort LA county so we introduced to another detective and district Attorney. Det. Nix( Chad Adkins) does a good job of playing the investigator. Peter Hansen ( Dr Lee Baldwin from General Hospital) is the cast as the district attorney. Both do a good job in their roles.
The crime hinges on some photos. Which will prove that some of the tales being told are not correct. But this one photo- the brightest and most clear picture ever taken during the night hours- reveals the terrible crime. ( Have no fear the photo has been cleared by the TV standards)
I am not giving away too much- This is a good episode that needs to be watched. I think one of the best in the entire 'Perry Mason' series. Good story, good acting and an ending worth the price of admission.
The main character in the show is Frank Lawton (Stewart Bradley) that plays a handyman at a well-to-do estate of Scott Shelby. He is a old war-time buddy of Perry. The main problem is that Mr Scott (Tom Palmer) believes that his wife, Marion ( Phyllis Avery) and the handyman are an item. And this leads the viewer into the situation.
Only problem is that Mr. Shelby is running some kind of 'ponzi scheme' and is about to be revealed as a criminal. So Mr Shelby plans a situation where he disappears leaving the handyman as a suspect. However something goes terrible wrong. Mr Shelby is involved in a very serious crime that is described as one of the bloodiest in any PM episode.
The crime happens away from comfort LA county so we introduced to another detective and district Attorney. Det. Nix( Chad Adkins) does a good job of playing the investigator. Peter Hansen ( Dr Lee Baldwin from General Hospital) is the cast as the district attorney. Both do a good job in their roles.
The crime hinges on some photos. Which will prove that some of the tales being told are not correct. But this one photo- the brightest and most clear picture ever taken during the night hours- reveals the terrible crime. ( Have no fear the photo has been cleared by the TV standards)
I am not giving away too much- This is a good episode that needs to be watched. I think one of the best in the entire 'Perry Mason' series. Good story, good acting and an ending worth the price of admission.
10-4-10
darbski15 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
**SPOILERS** Abound in this one, so if you haven't seen it, don't read this review. Point one: Did the detective have a search warrant when he went snooping around the defendant's quarters? I mean it was nowhere near the crime scene, and they really didn't have evidence of a crime at that point, did they?
When Dix Points out the telephone receiver, both the cop with him, and then he handled it, thereby wrecking any chance of recovering fingerprints; REAL good work, detective.
Next: did they have the local crime lab do a paraffin/GSR test on the two closest subjects to see if either had fired a weapon?
Did they investigate where, when and who actually sent the telegram in question? It was a big part of the opening scenes, and should have been easy to track down.
Did anyone notice blood (or lack of it), on the jetty? If someone suffers a head wound, there is always a lot of blood (stuck pig city). Getting a part of one's head blown off would produce copious amount of it.
Did anyone ask to check the size of the wet shoes they found compared to the sleazebag bookkeeper. Yeah, I know they were his, but shouldn't they at least check?
One more; did anyone notice how incredibly beautiful Barbara Lawrence is? Huh? Because the first question I had was "What the hell is SHE doin' with that short creep"?
How many crimes do you think both of them were charged with besides aiding and abetting, perjury, concealment of a felony.. etc.,etc.....
Barb Lawrence was in a couple of other episodes of Perry Mason, and I gotta say she is terrific, her acting is solid, but her looks, well ...wow ! Lovely Della didn't have much in this one, but Paul did. Now I think I mentioned this in another opinion. I believe Perry actually is in partnership with Paul Drake Detective Agency. He may even be primary owner, and that explains WHY he is always available to assist Perry personally on these cases.
Loved the fact that this wasn't one of those "happily ever after", dripping with good karma endings. Most of the time, when a violent crime has happened, there are NO happy endings.
Great courtroom drama, fabulous acting, especially from the Brylcreem bookkeeper. Loved it ...
When Dix Points out the telephone receiver, both the cop with him, and then he handled it, thereby wrecking any chance of recovering fingerprints; REAL good work, detective.
Next: did they have the local crime lab do a paraffin/GSR test on the two closest subjects to see if either had fired a weapon?
Did they investigate where, when and who actually sent the telegram in question? It was a big part of the opening scenes, and should have been easy to track down.
Did anyone notice blood (or lack of it), on the jetty? If someone suffers a head wound, there is always a lot of blood (stuck pig city). Getting a part of one's head blown off would produce copious amount of it.
Did anyone ask to check the size of the wet shoes they found compared to the sleazebag bookkeeper. Yeah, I know they were his, but shouldn't they at least check?
One more; did anyone notice how incredibly beautiful Barbara Lawrence is? Huh? Because the first question I had was "What the hell is SHE doin' with that short creep"?
How many crimes do you think both of them were charged with besides aiding and abetting, perjury, concealment of a felony.. etc.,etc.....
Barb Lawrence was in a couple of other episodes of Perry Mason, and I gotta say she is terrific, her acting is solid, but her looks, well ...wow ! Lovely Della didn't have much in this one, but Paul did. Now I think I mentioned this in another opinion. I believe Perry actually is in partnership with Paul Drake Detective Agency. He may even be primary owner, and that explains WHY he is always available to assist Perry personally on these cases.
Loved the fact that this wasn't one of those "happily ever after", dripping with good karma endings. Most of the time, when a violent crime has happened, there are NO happy endings.
Great courtroom drama, fabulous acting, especially from the Brylcreem bookkeeper. Loved it ...
Was one of the better early Perry Mason
RichN3624 April 2015
This as actually quite a good episode and was enjoyable to watch the twist and turns as you try to figure out Who Done It. As is normally the case in the early Perry Mason Episodes you are kept guessing till the very end. Something I have always enjoyed about this show. Some interesting added actors who never made it back to Perry Mason Land. The one I was shocked at was Claude Adkins in an early roll biggest surprise was here he was actually one of the Good Guys something he rarely played on TV or in the Movies. In the later years he would of been a good regular instead of John Anderson who we ended up getting but that is in my own Opinion.
Over all I give this episode 10 out of 10.
Over all I give this episode 10 out of 10.
Excellent
thomrobbin-18 September 2021
Perry's army buddy
bkoganbing18 July 2014
Stewart Bradley is the Perry Mason client in this episode. He's a former army buddy of Raymond Burr's who calls up Burr long distance from some rural part of California. He works on an estate as a handyman for Tom Palmer and his wife Phyllis Avery. He thinks maybe he has a thing for Avery though he has never approached her.
Palmer disappears and the police in the person of Claude Akins believes it murder. Turns out to be murder when Palmer's body is found in a lake. Which gives Bradley a real need for a defense attorney and makes Perry Mason have to revise his own theory of the crime.
A hint of background is given for Perry Mason. We learn that Bradley was in the Army Air Corps during World War II and he was at Normandy as a pilot. I assume they served together as Bradley was a pilot and Perry could have been a paratrooper.
As is usually the case the deceased was not a nice person and had a lot of folks out there who would like to have seen him dead. The culprit was a bit of a surprise though.
Nice to get a bit of personal insight to Perry Mason.
Palmer disappears and the police in the person of Claude Akins believes it murder. Turns out to be murder when Palmer's body is found in a lake. Which gives Bradley a real need for a defense attorney and makes Perry Mason have to revise his own theory of the crime.
A hint of background is given for Perry Mason. We learn that Bradley was in the Army Air Corps during World War II and he was at Normandy as a pilot. I assume they served together as Bradley was a pilot and Perry could have been a paratrooper.
As is usually the case the deceased was not a nice person and had a lot of folks out there who would like to have seen him dead. The culprit was a bit of a surprise though.
Nice to get a bit of personal insight to Perry Mason.
Photo Finish
zsenorsock20 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Based on an original story by Erle Stanley Gardner, this is a well written and well acted story. Perry is summoned in the middle of the night by a telegram from an old friend from D-Day, Frank Lawton (Stewart Bradley, who really should not have been performing his early scenes shirtless) saying he's about to be accused of murder. When Perry gets to Frank, he denies sending the telegram, but IS about to be arrested for the murder of his boss, Scott Shelby (Tom Palmer in the first of his 7 Mason appearances!). When the Sheriff (Claude Akins) makes an illegal search of his room and seizes Frank's diary, he discovers Frank was secretly in love with Shelby's wife Marion (Phyllis Avery), giving him an excellent motive for killing Scott Shelby.
The plot takes some nice twists and benefits from the unlikely relationship between sultry man eater Ellen Waring (Barbara Lawrence, terrific here, doing a lot by not doing much) and her wormy amateur photographer boyfriend (Jonathan Hole). One has a hard time believing this relationship, which turns out to be a nice diversion rather than a tell.
There's some laughably bad photo shop or whatever they called it back then as photos Waring's boyfriend took of her on a picnic are introduced into evidence. There's also seems to be a scene or two missing between Lawton and Perry as they fail to mention their prior relationship or even what must be Perry's embarrassment in seeing his old friend employed as a mere handyman 12 years after the war. I wonder if Bradley himself wasn't some sort of last minute replacement for the part of Lawton. He doesn't seem to be the hunky/dumb type that the part seems to be written for. He certainly should not be acting with his shirt off.
The plot takes some nice twists and benefits from the unlikely relationship between sultry man eater Ellen Waring (Barbara Lawrence, terrific here, doing a lot by not doing much) and her wormy amateur photographer boyfriend (Jonathan Hole). One has a hard time believing this relationship, which turns out to be a nice diversion rather than a tell.
There's some laughably bad photo shop or whatever they called it back then as photos Waring's boyfriend took of her on a picnic are introduced into evidence. There's also seems to be a scene or two missing between Lawton and Perry as they fail to mention their prior relationship or even what must be Perry's embarrassment in seeing his old friend employed as a mere handyman 12 years after the war. I wonder if Bradley himself wasn't some sort of last minute replacement for the part of Lawton. He doesn't seem to be the hunky/dumb type that the part seems to be written for. He certainly should not be acting with his shirt off.
The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife
Prismark1031 March 2020
This case was based on a story by Erle Stanley Gardner. This might explain why the set up takes it time and it also has a crime noir element.
Frank Lawton is an old army buddy of Perry Mason. He works as a handyman for wealthy Scott Shelby and Lawton has aspirations to be a writer.
Shelby though seems to think that Lawton is getting a little too friendly with his wife.
The viewer sees Shelby setting something up and plans to leave Lawton as a patsy.
When Shelby disappears, Lawton is a suspect and Perry Mason is called in. Perry thinks that Shelby has faked his own disappearance because his company was in financial difficulties. Later Shelby's corpse is found.
Unusually here Detective Sgt Phillip Dix is prepared to consider that Shelby might had faked his disappearance. There are several references in the courtroom scenes that Perry might have been hoisted by his own petard.
It is difficult to buy though that someone who claimed to have taken photos on a particular day could be said to have a cast iron alibi. After all those photos could had been taken on some other day.
Shelby's manner of death was nasty so the reveal of the murderer might be shocking.
Frank Lawton is an old army buddy of Perry Mason. He works as a handyman for wealthy Scott Shelby and Lawton has aspirations to be a writer.
Shelby though seems to think that Lawton is getting a little too friendly with his wife.
The viewer sees Shelby setting something up and plans to leave Lawton as a patsy.
When Shelby disappears, Lawton is a suspect and Perry Mason is called in. Perry thinks that Shelby has faked his own disappearance because his company was in financial difficulties. Later Shelby's corpse is found.
Unusually here Detective Sgt Phillip Dix is prepared to consider that Shelby might had faked his disappearance. There are several references in the courtroom scenes that Perry might have been hoisted by his own petard.
It is difficult to buy though that someone who claimed to have taken photos on a particular day could be said to have a cast iron alibi. After all those photos could had been taken on some other day.
Shelby's manner of death was nasty so the reveal of the murderer might be shocking.
Not So Eternal Triangle
Hitchcoc7 December 2021
Once again we have a man who has seen trouble much of his life, being played by a married woman who has a nasty husband. The guy is sort of an innocent and keeps his distance, despite being urged on by his libido. Soon he finds himself in the courtroom when the husband dies. But the death is a twisted mess of events. Pretty good, but sometimes pushes the envelope.
Other reviewers never read the book
jabboreid25 February 2018
I'm use to the television shows changing the whole concept of the Perry Mason books in order to fit the time slot. In this case they made the defendant in the book the murderer in the television show. The defender here has an almost non-existent role in the book. The book is a well written complicated plot with a lot of legal jargon. I did not care much for this show.
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