My Four Best Perry Mason Episodes

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you’ll realize very quickly that I am a huge Perry Mason fan and a bigger fan of Raymond Burr’s portrayal of the character. Many actors have portrayed the lawyer-detective, Perry Mason, who was created by author Erle Stanley Gardner in 1933.

From 1934-1937, Warner Brothers Studios produced six Perry Mason movies starring three different actors (William Warren in four, Ricardo Cortez and Donald Woods in one each). My opinion of these movies can be found here.

I point out these other cinematic efforts to portray Perry Mason only to show that while Raymond Burr wasn’t the first actor to be Perry Mason; his characterization stands out as being the best. Burr and fellow actors, Barbara Hale, William Talman, Ray Collins and William Hopper created a weekly TV show that is still being broadcast today despite having gone off the air 58 years ago.

Below are what I deem to be the four best of the 271 episodes produced. My criteria was simple. Each episode is based on a Gardner book and all of the original cast actually appeared in the episode. That may not seem like a high bar to reach, but it actually is. All of the principal actors missed some episodes at some point although their names may have appeared in the opening credits anyway. For example:

•  William Talman (Hamilton Burger) was actually fired from the series in 1960 after attending a party at which he was a guest that was raided by the Los Angeles police. Although he denied any wrongdoing, he was fired from the show due to the morals clause in his contract. He missed part of the 3rd and 4th season before the cast and crew lobbied the network to rehire him. He is credited with 225 episodes.
• Ray Collins (Lieutenant Tragg) was on the show sporadically between the 4th and 7th seasons due to ill health. His last on screen appearance was in 1964 in The Case of the Capering Camera. He would pass away in 1965. He is credited with 241 episodes although he did not actually appear in that many.
• Barbara Hale (Della Street) missed 8 episodes during the series run. She missed four consecutive ones in 1964 due to “unexpected” surgery. It is known that she suffered from colon and bladder cancer during her acting career.
• Raymond Burr (Perry Mason) missed four episodes in 1963 due to dental surgery and two episodes in 1964 due to “minor intestinal surgery.”

As for the books, Gardner was a successful lawyer in 1920s California. He wrote of a world of wealth, privilege and racial stereotypes. I’ll be blunt. I don’t read the books because Gardner was a great novelist, he wasn’t. I read the books because Raymond Burr was such a great actor and he is the Perry Mason I see in my mind’s eye when I read the novels. In short, these episodes come the closest to my image of Perry Mason in the books. So let’s get started.

1. The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink – This was the pilot episode and the first one to be filmed, but was the thirteenth episode to be broadcasted. It is a classic film noir piece of art. Perry and Della are having dinner at a restaurant when their waitress suddenly runs into the street and is hit by a car. The owner of the restaurant asks Mason to hold on to a mink coat belonging to the waitress. Mason discovers a pawn ticket in the coat which leads to a gun used in a cop killing. Ray Collins as Lt. Tragg is in rare form as the experienced police officer who knows something is not right, but can’t put his finger on it. Also watch for the parking lot attendant. He is actor Brian Hutton who will be the defendant, Rob Gleason, in The Case of the Sulky Girl. (Season 1, Episode 13)

2. The Case of the Sun Bather’s Diary – Perry is in trouble and Paul Drake and Della Street  wonder how he’s going to get out of it. His client has double crossed him and involved him in a murder. He has to try to clear himself and his client in front of a grand jury investigating a $400,000 bank robbery. This episode features head turning performances from stars of TV’s  Golden age: Paul Brinegar (Wishbone from TV’s Rawhide) and Carl Betz (Doctor Stone from the Donna Reed Show). Raymond Burr is completely comfortable with the character Perry Mason at this point and from this point forward so are we. (Season 1, Episode 17)

3. Case of the Treacherous Toupee – This is the most interesting of all of the episodes in this post. You see, there is no book entitled Case of the Treacherous Toupee. However, this episode is based on Gardner’s sixth book, The Case of the Counterfeit Eye. In the book, Mason’s client has a glass eye and we get a detailed lesson on how glass eyes are made. On TV, Mason’s client wears a toupee and we are treated to a lesson on the construction of hair pieces. In both cases the murder victim is clutching an eye or a tuft of hair from a toupee and everything points to Mason’s client.  Look for a great performance from a young Robert Redford. (Season 4, Episode 1)

4. Case of the Fiery Fingers  – This episode is based on the book of the same name. However,  it is not the faithful adaption of the book that the 1964 remake, “The Case of the Woeful Widower” is. What makes this noteworthy is the chemistry between Raymond Burr (Perry Mason) and Lenore Shanewise (Nora Mae Quincey) that comes across the screen and smacks you in the face hard. You can’t help, but smile whenever those two share a scene together. Apparently, Shanewise was a close personal friend of Burr, whom she directed in his first appearance at the Pasadena Playhouse. She served as the staff director there from 1923-1960. Shanewise’s Nora Mae is the client and her temperament runs the gamut of emotions from naïve little old sweet grandmother to a semi-lucid and demented nurse. It is terrific acting. (Season 1, Episode 31)

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Bonus Favorite – The Case of the Baited Hook –  A stranger calls Mason at home in the middle of the night and says someone has been murdered. He says he has two $1,000 bills as a retainer, as well as half of a $10,000 bill that will serve to introduce Mason’s mysterious client. This is a case where the TV show is infinitely better than the book because of Geraldine Wall’s performance as Abigail Leeds. She commands the screen for the entire time she is on it. As she says, “I have a voice like a foghorn, and when I’m mad, I don’t whisper.” Her interaction with Lt. Tragg will leave you in tears (laughing and crying). The scene where Mason and Drake discover the murder victim pays homage of James Cagney’s scene the in 1931 movie, The Public Enemy.

The reason this is a bonus and not a regular recommendation is only because Hamilton Burger (William Talman) does not appear in this episode, although he is referenced. However, it is still one of my favorites because Geraldine Wall is wonderful in it. (Season 1, Episode 14)

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All of the 271 Perry Mason episodes are now available for streaming from Paramount+, Amazon Prime, Freevee or Peacock. These episodes are now available anytime you want for viewing and these five are excellent entertainment.