Even though I watched the original TV version in real time, I don't have a lot of memories of it. My main familiarity with the character now is from the movies made in the 30s, which vary in quality. Some of them are set in Los Angeles, but at least one is in San Francisco. Sometimes he's operating a one-lawyer firm, while in others, he has a vast network of associates, investigators, and telephone operators, and takes only the most interesting cases. In most of them, Allan Jenkins plays "Spudsy" Drake, who's kind of dumb, but persistent, so Perry ends up having to do a lot of the investigating himself.
The main saving grace of the series (most of which are pretty good) is Warren William (king of the pre-Codes) as a wolfish Perry (who seems more concerned with his cooking skills than murder in one film) and Claire Dodd as Della. There is little-to-no doubt as to the nature of their relationship, even if the Production Code didn't allow them to fully spell it out. I recommend almost all of them, but the last one with Donald Woods as Mason is a little bland (as is Woods). I once had a dream that I was standing on the porch of my childhood home and Fred Steiner's theme music came up. A convertible drove down the street, and Monte Markham was sitting on the top of the rear seat like he was in a parade. I thought "They tried to make us think Monte Markham was Perry Mason, but it was really Raymond Burr." Then I woke up. --Dave Sikula On Sunday, April 19, 2020 at 2:24:34 PM UTC-7, PGage wrote: > > A while ago I started a rewatch of the original Perry Mason series from > S1E1 (thanks CBS Access). I got derailed a while ago, and am only midway > through season 3 (still, a lot of episodes considering how many they made > each season in those days - 39 in season 1!). > > I think Tom’s description is mostly right, but I would modify a bit. A > typical episode is about 1/4 set up of the murder, usually with little or > no Mason, 1/4 investigation, and while Drake is usually given a lot of this > to do, most often he just reports back what he learned. Camera time is > given to Perry (sometimes with Paul, sometimes with Della, often solo) > interviewing key players, often including his client (who usually begins by > telling Perry some lie that later makes the client look bad). The third > quarter is the opening of the trial, which almost always starts out looking > very bad for Perry. This portion of the show often still has investigation > featured, with either Perry or Paul finding some key evidence. The last > portion of course is the set up for the big moment when Perry breaks a > witness on the stand, often, though not always the guilty party. > > So, I think a modern Mason that spent 25-50% of its time on investigation, > with Perry doing much of it, would not be too far from the original. Of > course Perry himself hardly ever is involved in anything that would qualify > as “action”, though there are a few exceptions. Indeed, I have been > surprised how much the structure of a typical Perry Mason episode resembles > a Colombo episode, except of course the audience does not know who the > murderer is until the penultimate scene. > > The last time we talked about Mason here there was some discussion of how > his relationship with Della is presented. Through Season 3 I would say it > with some ambiguity. There have been a couple of scenes of them having late > night meetings in his apartment, and they often go to dinner together, > sometimes though not always with Paul. It has some elements of a more > mature Donna/Josh relationship, with both clearly loving the other, but > teasing and encouraging each other about possible romantic relationships. > It also has some of the flavor of a late 50’s Will and Grace relationship, > and it would be totally believable if the backstory is they were young > lovers, for whatever reason realized that wouldn’t work, but remain totally > committed to each other. So far I have not seen any indication of either > going out on a date with anyone else. Drake has a diluted Bond/Moneypenny > relationship with Della, but seems no serious romantic partner. > > I seem to remember that in the re-makes Della is presented as a widow, but > so far see no sign of her on the marriage trail. > > I think I have read that Hale was aware of Burr’s homosexuality; not sure > if anyone in production was. I have read that the real concern was with > Burr’s weight, and they kept pressuring him to diet. > > On Sun, Apr 19, 2020 at 7:50 AM Tom Wolper <[email protected] <javascript:>> > wrote: > >> On Sun, Apr 19, 2020 at 7:56 AM Melissa P <[email protected] >> <javascript:>> wrote: >> >>> They couldn't get access to the original music? >>> >>> On Sun, Apr 19, 2020 at 7:32 AM Steve Timko <[email protected] >>> <javascript:>> wrote: >>> >>>> https://youtu.be/CwURtbhpm60 >>>> >>>> The trailer looks great. >>>> >>> >> As good as the series may turn out to be, this isn't Perry Mason. Though >> I know better than to expect remakes to be faithful to their originals, >> Perry Mason's genius was in a courtroom. Mason stories were about gathering >> evidence and presenting it in court. Whatever had to be done outside the >> office, aside from witness interviews, would be done by Paul Drake. In the >> 1950s/60s series Drake was all attitude and rare action. In the later Perry >> Mason TV movies, William Katt's Drake got into car chases and fistfights >> and that looks more like concessions to network suits as to what should be >> in a crime drama. I hope this version of Mason works for what it is but it >> isn't what Perry Mason is supposed to be. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] <javascript:>. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiG6ZXtOenMs25zaoVmxi8KLkfASZLpJ9OLQz8iSCgSCfA%40mail.gmail.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiG6ZXtOenMs25zaoVmxi8KLkfASZLpJ9OLQz8iSCgSCfA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > Sent from Gmail Mobile > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/8d31684d-fff8-4395-b82f-869fa1cadbda%40googlegroups.com.
