Product: Perry Mason -- the Collector's Edition - Volume 1 (1957)
Rating: 5.0
The Classic Courtroom Drama
Perry Mason, Volume 1 Collector's Edition DVDThe `Perry Mason' show lasted for nine seasons, a record then. Out of its 271 episodes 120 were used for sixty VHS tapes around 1994. Later 108 of these were used for twenty seven DVD discs in four volumes. In 2006 they started to release the whole series on DVDs, a half season at a time. The First Season was the best as most of its stories came from Gardner's novels. A [year] identifies the original novel."The Case of the Restless Redhead" [1954] follows the novel of the same name. A young woman found a pistol hidden in her room. Evelyn Bagby had been recently cleared of an unjust charge of burglary (a fact important to this story). Perry Mason advises her to leave her rooms and spend the night at a motel. On the road a hooded man tries to force her off the road; she fires two shots at his car. When a body is found, Evelyn Bagby is arrested for murder. Mason's investigation finds two pistols bought at the same time by a wealthy man; his girlfriend had claimed Evelyn stole her jewels. [There is a hidden story here, as in many of Gardner's novels.] Ballistics can't determine if the gun fired the fatal bullets. The murdered man had received a $10,000 payoff from that wealthy man earlier, but this money is missing. Perry Mason gets an admission from a witness on the stand that clears Evelyn Bagby. [Note the casual handling of pistols at that time.]"The Case of the Baited Hook" [1940] starts when an anonymous man hires Perry Mason with two $1,000 bills, and gives him half of a $10,000 bill as a retainer to defend a veiled woman who doesn't speak. Mason accepts with the condition he can decline once he learns more about this case. Paul Drake traces the serial number on that bill to an Investment Counselor. [Those big bills were not in general circulation.] The Investment Counselor is found murdered. A woman whose investments have been swindled by Tidings is the main suspect, along with his partner. Was there any other swindler involved? There is the question of the parentage of the young woman who was the beneficiary of a trust fund. There is a reference to the "baby farms" of that day. [Some of the names were changed from the novel.]"The Case of the Prodigal Parent" begins in an office where the secretary, Laraine Stevens, refuses to date Mr. Phillip Larkin. Laraine is sent on an errand, when she calls George Durrell for information she finds a problem. Mr. Larkin can't answer either. The police were called and find the body. The fingerprints on the gun case belong to Joseph Harrison. Mrs. Ethel Harrison visits Perry Mason for her divorced husband. Mr. Harrison explains his behavior. Mrs. Harrison has disappeared. If the gun case was polished how did the fingerprints get on it? A silent home movie shows a conflict. Perry questions a witness and gets a hidden secret revealed. There is a surprise ending that frees Perry's client. [This was not adapted from a Gardner novel but seems similar in plot.]