Jelevision

I'm rating this episode a low 5, because of a flaw that makes it confusing. Perhaps you will enjoy it more, because I'll explain the problem here. (Don't worry, no spoilers.) For almost the whole episode, I thought the story revolved around one skinny, grumpy, old white businessman with a gray mustache - land developer Adam Thompson.

In fact, there are two skinny, grumpy, old white businessmen with gray mustaches - one named Mr. Adam Thompson and another named Mr. Victor Logan.

Mr. Thompson is the uncle of Harry Thompson; Mr. Logan is the father of lovely Lydia Logan.

Unfortunately the producers cast two nearly identical old guys in these roles, so a lot of the episode didn't make much sense, because I didn't realize they were different characters until about 12 minute were left.

You know now, so enjoy. :) Sometimes I think the Perry Mason producers did this on purpose, like if a plot involved witnesses being confused between two hot blonds.

But in many cases - like this one - I think it was just careless casting. I realize that in 1960 it never occurred to anyone to hire a non-white actor unless race was part of the plot. But they could have tried harder to pick actors who didn't look so confusingly similar. Or give one of them different facial hair or something.

The story also features two young white male cousins. They look a lot alike too. This gets easier, though, if you realize one of them, Harry Thompson, is Bert Convey from Tattletales and other awesome 1970s game shows.

It's always fun when Perry gets out of town and into the country. This time Della even gets to come along - although she doesn't get to do much besides grudgingly go on a distracting lunch date.

The plot and conclusion actually make sense, which doesn't always happen, so I appreciate that. And the young wife of Perry's client is Gidget's friend!

As an aside ... Has there EVER been a Perry Mason episode where someone on the stand doesn't do that thing where they accidentally call someone by their first name and then - embarrassed that they sounded too intimate - quickly correct themselves to say Mr. Or Mrs. So-and-so?

In this episode it went like this: "... those empty cartridges that Hazel - Mrs. Bascombe - found ..." Did people in 1960 really stress out so much about first names??

Unfortunately this episode is relatively hard to find because it is one of several not available on Amazon Prime/FreeVee (where I normally watch Perry) nor on Paramount+. I was able to record it off of MeTV on cable.

Good episode, but not great. Main drawback is that most of the action takes place off-screen and is just explained by dialogue after the fact. What I love most about this episode is the representation of old LA. As of this writing, the Hollywood Center Motel off Sunset Blvd, where Betty holed up, apparently is still standing. Amazing considering what a relic it looked like in 1960.

The peek into gambling in 1960 Rowena, CA, (based on teal-life Gardena) is interesting.

Classic cars in action too.

This story is based on an Erle Stanley Gardner novel and has some nice Perry shenanigans, to Burger's chagrin.

Unfortunately this episode is relatively hard to find because it is one of several not available on Amazon Prime/FreeVee (where I normally watch Perry) nor on Paramount+. I was able to record it off of MeTV on cable.

Fun episode. Everybody suspects everybody else. Great over-the-top film noir video - particularly the gun-and-staircase scene about a third of the way in.

Brooding comedian Danny Ross seems to be patterned after Danny Thomas, though I'm not sure what "Daddy" ever did to deserve that.

Dig the "beatnik" jazz piano player, portrayed by the guy who actually wrote the song "Route 66." I love the late-'50s Hollywood outfits too - especially those of Danny and Perry's smarmy client Freddie.

This episode features the early, edgier Perry, who apparently is willing to lie to his own client to get to the truth.

One of the best Perry Mason courtroom scenes, with technical sparring between Perry and Burger. Great witness-stand battle between Burger and the comedian. Fun, technical courtroom testimony and cross examination regarding a criminology book. (How does Perry Mason understand all this medical stuff? And how does Raymond Burr remember these lines? :) The scene with Perry and the cops in the Purple Wall is completely hokey. But I love the atmosphere, so I'll take it. And Tragg's mocking of the hipsters makes it all worth it.

Kids, Lt. Tragg does NOT approve of marijuana!

Great, fun episode. Contains so many of the elements we love about Perry Mason: melodramatic courtroom procedurals, a sneaky trap set by Perry and Della to trick a witness into the truth, exterior shots in a neighborhood of old LA (which you can still look up and compare with modern LA on Google Earth), a super-Trumpy evil business family, Paul Drake punching and taking punches ... and, unlike so many episodes, this plot is actually easy to follow and makes sense. And of course, the unique crisis: Our beloved Paul Drake has his life and liberty in Perry Mason's hands. The idea of making Paul the defendant could have been hokey, but the producers made the premise believable and provided a worthy script.

Unfortunately this episode is relatively hard to find because it is one of several not available on Amazon Prime/FreeVee (where I normally watch Perry) nor on Paramount+. I was able to record it off of MeTV in cable.

What I love about these teen movies from the 1950s: It doesn't matter how much of a cad you are ... or how much of a criminal you are .. or how poor you are ... or that you're out stealing a car ... or that you are armed with a knife on a murderous mission of vengeance ... or that you're still in high school. ... None of that has to stop you from dressing smartly in a neat sport coat and tie.

This movie is not fine cinema, but it's a fun watch, and does tug at the heart strings.

My one suggestion for the folks who run the reform school: Give the male teacher an office with an interior window.

This film makes be want to travel back in time and see if people in the '50s really dressed that nicely and spent that much of their household income on suit jackets. Or maybe I'll watch this again with my mom and dad and ask them.

I rate this movie highly because the filmmakers did a pretty good job of sticking to Agatha's Christie's original plot while throwing in a few 1940s surprises to keep it interesting.

I read the 1939 book and then watched this 1945 film back-to-back about 8 decades after they came out. It's interesting to see the difference in what made it into books vs. What made it into films in that era. For example, in the movie, references to pregnancy and child murder were out. Religious fanaticism - and criticism of it - was toned way down. Romance, goodness, and happy endings were in.

The producers for some reason decided to set the film in a stereotypical old creepy house, rather than in the sleek, modern 1930s house Agatha very intentionally set it in. I would have preferred to see the filmmakers' vision of the modern house.

I was curious to see how the killer's strategy would be explained in the end - and the film did a good job of that.

I'd love to know how scary the film was to moviegoers when it first came out. In 2023, the movie is entertaining, interesting, and visually impressive. But it's not scary at all.

The previous episode, "End Game," was so dark and somber that the producers seemingly wanted to balance it off the next week.

So this episode, with its back-and-forth plot, plays like a Mannix parody - and I think that's intentional.

To maximize the comedy, most of the guest stars are given English accents and say things like "old chap" a lot. The rest wear over-the-top Mexican sombreros.

As for Mannix, they dress him up like a cross between a cowboy and Fred from Scooby-Doo.

(By the way, what's with the neighborhood where Joe's office is located? It looks like Paramount just grabbed every fake building they had - regardless of business type or architectural style - and dropped them randomly together with no regard for proportional scale or how the streets would have to snake around them. Pretty funny.) Anyway, I hope Mannix and Peggy weren't exposed to asbestos when he pried out those acoustic ceiling tiles.

A few observations on this episode, all made with love: >> Mannix had the cheesiest sets. Hard to believe it wouldn't have been easier to use real streets and buildings. (Maybe ultra high def doesn't do these episodes any favors.) >> Mannix and the bad guy had way better walkie talkies than my brother and I had back then.

>> If you don't like this credulity-straining over-the-top episode, you just don't like Mannix.

All the fun that happens when LA Mannix travels down south. Complete with a good, believable plot that keeps you guessing. Plus some mid-'60s racial politics. And shootout in a multi-level lumberyard.

Evans Evans is a blue-eyed actress so cool they named her twice.

And Peggy gets an edgy boyfriend. Excited to see how that relationship plays out in upcoming episodes. ... Oh well.

It's always fun when Perry gets out in the country to beat someone besides the pathetic Hamilton Burger.

The problem with this episode, though, is that the ending - and the revelation of the real killer - comes out of nowhere. What's with the woman the hotel? Confusing and unfair to viewers who watched the episode trying to decipher the killer and the motive.

I like this episode because it's so delightfully dark - on both sides. The prosecution (namely Burger and Tragg) uses unethical methods to railroad an innocent suspect, and Mason calls them out on it in open court. Meanwhile, Mason pulls some of his trademark questionable shenanigans to try to regain the upper hand.

Very much in the spirit of the original Erle Stanley Gardner books.

This is a subpar episode, mainly because the plot is so hard to follow. The characters are hard to keep straight. Who are these missing people and why do we care? And wait, who was murdered? I can't even remember. This episode was hard to follow even on streaming video with the ability to rewind and cross-check characters with IMDB.

God knows how anyone followed this on broadcast TV in 1959.

Anyway, the cars were beautiful, and it was fun when I realized the defendant was Mrs. Cunningham from Happy Days.

My wife and I made it less than halfway through this movie. The acting was children's theater quality. The script was awful and padded: They would take a joke that might be funny at 3 seconds and extend it for 3 minutes.

Awesome classic Mannix. LA Joe flies to Manzana County, New Mexico, where he testifies badly as an expert witness, but makes up for it by enduring a couple of good beatings, wasting a perp in gravitational fashion, and mansplaining lovely lawyer Joanna Barnes and her "girl reporter" out of a tough bind.