Product: Perry Mason: Season Six, Vol. 2 (2011)
Rating: 5.0
The Original Courtroom Drama
Perry Mason Season 6 Volume 2These fourteen TV shows from 1963 are based on the novels of Erle Stanley Gardner. The books are more complete and informative, they tell about life that is not experienced by most people. The books explain why some things are done, the films only show you what happened. The books tell you about "ropers", rough or smooth shadows, how to evade surveillance, and avoid leaving a back trail. Some questioned the legality and ethics of Perry Mason's tactics but the stories were written before modern legal rules. The background tells about life in Los Angeles and America. There is nothing like these dramatic stories on today's broadcast TV. When was the last time you saw a trial lawyer as a hero? Erle Stanley Gardner was a founder of the "Court of Last Resort" which sought to free the unjustly convicted. Gardner sought to use scientific means to find the guilty rather than using hunches or guesses alone.The seeming reality of these stories is due in part to characters who don't look like Hollywood actors. Some of the original stories were modified for TV. The theme music is typical for the late 1950s. Note the style of clothing and culture; ladies wore white gloves. People seldom lock their doors. The prices date these films. One advantage is seeing the many automobiles from that era. How many can you identify? Note the slimness of people, the smoking, and the familiarity with pistols. Watch how the actors express their emotions by their facial expressions. The camera sharpness and quality is excellent, but these films have a higher contrast than in earlier seasons. These stories often use the misinterpretation of circumstantial evidence to provide dramatic effects. The courtroom scenes are usually the Preliminary Hearings and often tell about the law. The titles begin with "The Case of The". A story adapted from a novel has the year. Most are not from the novels; a year after the title shows the Gardner novel. Four shows had actors to fill in for Raymond Burr."Prankish Professor"; "Constant Doyle" Bette Davis;"Libelous Locket" Michael Rennie; "Two-faced Turnabout" Hugh O'Brian."Surplus Suitor" Walter Pidgeon; "Golden Oranges";"Lawful Lazarus"; "Velvet Claws" (1933)."Lover's Leap"; "Elusive Element";"Greek Goddess"; "Skeleton's Closet";"Potted Planter"; "Witless Witness".