User Reviews

Last episode, it was Bette Davis doing the Lawyer thing. Here it is Michael Rennie, one of the fine actors at this time. He is out of his element as an academic trying a case. He has to work really hard to not be taken down by Burger. The case is rather drab and hard to believe. A young woman is threatened by a dance instructor who refused to take no for an answer. Perry is in the hospital. I believe that Raymond Burr had some kind of ailment at this time and needed to skip a few shows.

This is the second Perry Mason episode with the guest-lawyer, this time law professor Edward Lindley is played by Michael Rennie. But he has no 10 foot robots in tow this time and nobody to yell "Klaatu Barada Nikto", whether to tell a 10 foot robot that can destroy the Earth to back off, or to open a book of evil in "Army of darkness".

What sets people off about this episode is that the guest-defendant Janice Norland is played by an unremarkable Patricia Manning in a very wooden, stiff, and unconvincing performance. I hate to say this, but really, she was not very good. I had seen this woman in other TV shows in the 60s, but she is most noted for playing Anne Russell in "the hideous sun demon" in 1958, which was written directed and starring Robert Clark.

In fact the script actually calls this woman a wallflower, that is accurate at least. I don't know if the "actress" was picked specifically for that quality, but it worked. If she had been a better actress, it would have been better. Perry Mason had a literal gaggle of middle-aged woman that played all kinds of interesting crooks and "Housewife/Maid Fatales", but this actress was not good enough to be accepted into those honorable ranks of black widows. In fact this is the only Perry Mason episode that she ever did, and that is saying a lot, as Perry Mason employed every single actor that worked in Hollywood at the time- so if somebody was not ever invited to come back, it must have been for extraordinary circumstances.

What is interesting about this episode is that Rennie, as a lawyer defending Janice Norland- is also chasing something very interesting about himself in relation to the mother-in-law of Janice, Maureen Norland played by Patrice Wymore.

But the way this conundrum unfolds is interesting as this episode starts off with a gag put on by crooks Ruta Lee and Carlos Romero... Who have some kind of blackmail racket involving hidden cameras. This is where the gag about the "9 foot tall Martian" comes in, and it was known even on February 7, 1963 this was a reference to "The day the earth stood still"

I am rating this as high as I can because regardless of any of the other flaws in this episode, the mystery was good, the story was good, and Michael Rannie really played his part- this was a man with secrets, who finally had to risk bringing them out into the open to clear his client- and at the same time clearing himself.

I think Perry has graduated from being in a hospital bed to wearing a bathrobe in this episode.

You all know the storyline and why it doesn't work and where the groaners are. You might as well pour yourself a refreshing beverage (perhaps a Pina Colada in view of the south of the border theme), sit back, and enjoy this mishmash as an entertaining and nostalgic look at some of the best character actors of the sixties. Ready for your dance lesson now? Hold on to my shoulder and moving to the right: Right - Left - (in place) cha-cha-cha; moving to our left: Left - Right - (in place) cha-cha-cha. And again; you've got it now. You practice while I go talk to Michael Rennie.

Law professor Michael Rennie is not a believer in that philosophy, in fact from his academic ivory tower he's of the belief he's somewhat superior to those grubby ambulance chaser types who make a living practicing the law. But when his student Patricia Manning needs help with a blackmailer whom she thinks she has killed and later turns up really dead he calls for help.

The help here is William Hopper who while Perry Mason is out with illness gets a shot at some independent case work which he seems only rarely to do with the Drake Detective Agency. The blackmailer is Carlos Romero, part time dance instructor, full time gigolo and all heel. He and partner in dance Ruta Lee are a pair of heels actually.

Manning and Rennie find that her father John Hoyt and stepmother Patrice Wymore have some connections to Romero as well. And there are a few other suspects as well. In fact Rennie himself has a connection that could torpedo Manning's chances in court.

In a previous guest lawyer episode Bette Davis beat William Talman, now law professor Rennie without trial experience takes out Hamilton Burger. How do they keep electing this guy in Los Angeles County?

Michael Rennie is the special guest star as he plays Professor Edward Lindley who is a law teacher in a prestigious school. One of his students, Janice Norland, comes to him for help after she believes she killed Raul Perez with a fire-place poker after a struggle. When Professor Lindley and Janice go to the apartment where the murder was to have happened- everything was in place and Perez body was no where to be found.

Later Janice receives a photo in the mail standing over the body of Perez with the poker in her hand. She is going to be blackmailed for $10,000 or the photo will be exposed to the police.

When Janice agrees to pay the blackmail, she returns to the apartment. She finds Perez's body in the same position as when she did when she hit him over the head. Now Janice will need an attorney for the charge of murder that Hamilton Burger's office files. But with Perry in the hospital it will be Professor Lindley, with the help of Paul and Della, that defends Janice in court on the charges.

During testimony in court we learn that most the information given was incorrect. We will have to reevaluate the entire mystery as it makes many twist along the way.

With the story getting amusing - we then get one of those cheap confessions that make you want to pull on your hair. Without any suspicion someone from the gallery confesses without the slightest bit of evidence. The viewer feels cheated for the way this mystery comes crashing down.

Other than William Hopper, the rest of the cast seemed almost robotic in their performance. Michael Rennie, a fine actor, make his guest appearance seem stuffy and boring. I do not think he changed facial expressions the entire time.- The defendant Janice, played by Patricia Manning, seemed more suited to play character #8 - 'woman on sidewalk'- than to be given a lead part on this show. Her performance was lacking in emotion and interest that tend to make the show almost unwatchable.

Here is to Perry making a quick recovery.

This was one of the weak episodes of Perry Mason where Raymond Burr, recovering from some surgery, literally "phoned it in." He is seen only speaking from a hospital bed. A series of guest stars took over the defense for a short while. In this case, Michael Rennie. Another one had Bette Davis taking a cameo turn as the defense lawyer. The plot of this one had huge holes and Rennie, portraying a law professor, failing to object numerous times to Hamilton Burger conducting improper examination of witnesses. A rare blip in the several hundred good episodes of Perry Mason.

A Perry lite episode. Maybe Raymond Burr was being burned out by his punishing work schedule. Here Perry only appears in several brief scenes as he gives advice from his hospital bed.

The heavy lifting is done by law professor Edward Lindley (Michael Rennie) who thinks that a trial lawyer is a cross between a parrot and a jackass.

His student Janice Norland tells Lindley that she killed her boyfriend and dance teacher Raul with a poker. When Lindley and Janice go to the apartment to take a look, the body is gone. There is no sign of a struggle taking place.

Raul and his accomplices planned to blackmail Janice who eventually receives a photo of her standing over Raul's body with a ransom demand.

Then Raul actually turns up dead in the apartment and Janice is accused of murder.

Despite having no seeming trial experience, the dry professor defends her as Perry is in hospital. Paul Drake who made an early call that this was all a blackmail attempt by a gigolo now needs to unearth some evidence to help out Lindley.

It was a pretty shoddy and boring episode. Poorly written and executed. The last minute confession by the actual killer was laughable.

If this was the quality of the television series, I think I will stick with the later glossier television movies.