User Reviews

I complained about these replacements for Burr before, so I'll just say again that the main issue is the fact (I believe) is that Perry's a genius, and that's how he figures most of these problems out.

Two people killed, and one of them said she'd never go back to prison; turned out she was right, and so were her prison farm dorm-mates. The other dead guy had it coming due to himself being a complete creep. One thing about these shows; most of the time, the person getting bumped off has it coming, anyway. Cold comfort for the complete idiot he was married to (who thought he was a saint).

Show was okay, but not great.

One point I'd like to bring out now. I've got a real nice Sony Bravia HD TV. Hooked up to High Def Cable (Cox). I also have a Sony DVD player, and I've noticed that the playback from the Amazon collection is clearer that the METV Broadcast. These DVD' are very high quality, and I've gotta recommend them to those who want a good library of Perry Mason.

For the second time in season 8, this episode does not feature Perry. His absents is again explained, by Della, that he is in Europe. So for the second time this season we have a guest lawyer defending a client in this "Perry Mason' episode.

The plot is somewhat complicated but the story is interesting. We have a widow, Amy Reid (Bettye Ackerman), that inherited a lot of money from her husband's boating accident and drowning. With all that money she let her half-sister, Lona Upton (Kathie Browne) live with her in a large house in a great neighborhood.

Lona had her purse stolen and it just so happened a stranger named Maxine Nichols (Nina Shipman), who is also an ex-con, finds the purse and brings it to the house. After a few drinks and the late hour, Maxine is invited to stay the night. But instead of sleeping she opens a safe and steals Amy's necklace worth thousands. But is captured moments later by some routine patrol officers that happened to be in the neighborhood.

The widow, Amy, believes her half sister Lona gave the stranger the combination to the safe. So Amy drops the charges and expects to find out where Maxine got the information about the safe. Before that can happen Maxine is found dead in a playground where Lona just happened to walking. Instead of calling for help Lona high tails it out of the area only to be served a warrant for murder the next day. Since Perry is away we have Ken Kramer (Barry Sullivan) defending Lona for the murder of Maxine.

And with some complicated who-knew-who-and-when testimony we start the mystery of the week to find out who is the true murderer.

I would have rather had Raymond Burr at the defendant's table but I thought Mr Sullivan did a good job as the fill-in lawyer. It did help that the story was interesting and the surrounding cast was top notched. This made, the sometimes timid Sullivan, work easy as he used Hamilton Burger in the same way Perry does every week. Overall his performance in this episode was good.

The only problem I had with the entire episode was the courtroom ending. I know this is TV but no respectable court is going to have spectators in the gallery stand up and start accusing others in the crowd. Nor are we going to have the lawyers asking questions, and expecting a response, to someone in the audience. But I guess it tidies up the ending for the writers and makes viewers gasp- so I am sure it will continue.

Even without Perry this episode is a good watch. And before the 52 minutes end - not only one murder has been solved but two.

Note- Burt Metcalfe, producer of MASH, plays Jeffrey Mills in this episode.

We are informed in this episode that Perry Mason is in Europe so the personable Barry Sullivan gets the services of Della Street and Paul Drake in what he says is a Perry Mason type case.

Sullivan's client is Kathie Browne who has a very rich half sister in Bettye Ackerman. Ackerman's been robbed of a valuable necklace by Nina Shipman who was in their home on the pretext of returning Browne's purse. Later on when Shipman is found dead in a park, Browne is the one that Wesley Lau arrests.

What William Hopper and Barbara Hale find is that Ackerman's late husband a rather rakish playboy of sorts who never returned and was presumed lost at sea was in fact murdered. And what happened to Shipman very much ties in with an exclusive yacht club that the late husband was a kingpin in.

Sullivan gets the job done. And why wouldn't he with the Perry Mason staff at his command.

***SPOILERS*** Perry Mason-less, Raymond Burr, episode with Perry away somewhere in Europe on official business who has defense attorney Kenneth Kramer, Barry Sullivan, pinch-hit for him. This involves the murder of Maxine Nichols, Nina Shipman, who somehow got possession of the combination of rich and a bit batty socialite Amy Reid's, Bettye Ackerman, safe and ended up stealing her $50,000.00 necklace. What is soon found out is that Amy's necklace was a fraud with the precious emeralds having been switched and replaced with fake one's. All the evidence to Maxine's murder leads straight to Amy's half sister Lona Upton, Kathie Browne, who's blood,Lona's, stained handkerchief was found at the murder scene.

As it soon turns out Kramer finds out that Maxine was very close to Amy's late husband Dion a famed playboy yachtsman who drowned in a boating accident a few years ago off Catalina island. It's also found out by Kramer that the accident was to be a fake,in order for Dion & Maxine to collect the insurance money, but somehow went wrong or did it! And it was Maxine in her knowing too much who ended up murdered to keep the truth from seeing the light of day!

***SPOILERS*** As Kramer digs into the case history he discovers that the person who ended up murdering both Dion as well as Maxinew was part on the plan to fake Dion's death but got a bit greedy. That in him feeling that he was getting short changed by Dion and decided to make his death real. As well as get the $50,000.00 worth emerald necklace, that Dion was holding out on him,for his troubles. It's when Maxine showed up, she served a stretch in prison for credit card fraud, he decided to keep her quite and out of his hair by murdering her and making it look like Lona did it.

P.S This is one Perry Mason episode where the accused murderer actually protested his innocence right up to the bitter end and didn't break down admitting it like in almost all the the Perry Mason episodes that I can think of. That in attorney Kramer giving him enough rope to hang himself and making his guilt self evident to everyone but himself!