It's like the six degrees of Kevin Bacon!Perry Mason
Re: Perry Mason
I'm mostly familiar with this show because it seems that at least one actor in every movie that Svengoolie features on his program has been on Perry Mason at one time or another! 
It's like the six degrees of Kevin Bacon!
It's like the six degrees of Kevin Bacon!You trying to tell me you didn't hear that shriek? That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't want to be here when it does. - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Perry Mason
I've lately been binge-watching the old Perry Mason shows from the late 50's.
The plots of most of the episodes are very involved, with lots of characters and twists and turns, sometimes so much so that I have trouble keeping up. And the endings are always interesting and unexpected.
Erle Stanley Gardner was the creator of the character and the author of the novels on which the show is based. I think one reason the plots are so complex is that most of the episodes are kind of a condensation of an entire Mason novel.
Raymond Burr was so good in that role, as were all the regulars. I was reading about William Hopper who played Paul Drake, my favorite character, next to Mason (to the right in the lighter coat in the photo). I'd never realized that he was the son of the famous Hedda Hopper. And another interesting fact, his first role was as an infant in a silent comedy from 1916!
It's extant and is on YouTube, though I've not watched it yet.
Another interesting fact: the one I just watched had Dennis Patrick, the actor better known for his later role as the villainous Jason McGuire on Dark Shadows. Believe it or not, the character he plays here is even worse than McGuire! He does end up getting what's coming to him a little ways in, though. 
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The plots of most of the episodes are very involved, with lots of characters and twists and turns, sometimes so much so that I have trouble keeping up. And the endings are always interesting and unexpected.
Erle Stanley Gardner was the creator of the character and the author of the novels on which the show is based. I think one reason the plots are so complex is that most of the episodes are kind of a condensation of an entire Mason novel.
Raymond Burr was so good in that role, as were all the regulars. I was reading about William Hopper who played Paul Drake, my favorite character, next to Mason (to the right in the lighter coat in the photo). I'd never realized that he was the son of the famous Hedda Hopper. And another interesting fact, his first role was as an infant in a silent comedy from 1916!
It's extant and is on YouTube, though I've not watched it yet.- Ray-Collins-William-Talman-Barbara-Hale-Raymond-Burr-William-Hopper-032525-bc925a68cba34d429f9541bf95daa82e.jpg (119.26 KiB) Viewed 1074 times
Another interesting fact: the one I just watched had Dennis Patrick, the actor better known for his later role as the villainous Jason McGuire on Dark Shadows. Believe it or not, the character he plays here is even worse than McGuire!
He does end up getting what's coming to him a little ways in, though. - Screenshot 2025-08-12 at 8.23.24 PM.png (11.23 MiB) Viewed 1074 times
Re: Perry Mason
I haven't ever watched an episode, but it's a running joke on Svengoolie that every character in every movie they show was in Perry Mason.
Cool!! I always love seeing Dark Shadows characters in the wild.
You trying to tell me you didn't hear that shriek? That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't want to be here when it does. - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Re: Perry Mason
I just watched an episode from season 3 (1960), and when the credits were scrolling at the end, I was amazed and delighted to learn that one of the characters was played by the famous Francis X. Bushman! He is the elderly man seen in the screenshots below. If you know what he looked like in his heyday, he is recognizable in the last photo.
I had no idea he was still alive and acting at that point, since his time as a matinee idol was primarily in the teens. But apparently he appeared in a number of TV episodes up into the '60s, including several Perry Masons. Here he is playing the uncle of the girl seen with him. Unfortunately, he is murdered later in the episode (bludgeoned to death with a fireplace poker
), and she is falsely accused of the crime (represented and exonerated by Mason, of course. )
It's amazing the people you see guest starring on that show that were better known for other things.
I had no idea he was still alive and acting at that point, since his time as a matinee idol was primarily in the teens. But apparently he appeared in a number of TV episodes up into the '60s, including several Perry Masons. Here he is playing the uncle of the girl seen with him. Unfortunately, he is murdered later in the episode (bludgeoned to death with a fireplace poker
), and she is falsely accused of the crime (represented and exonerated by Mason, of course. ) It's amazing the people you see guest starring on that show that were better known for other things.
Yep. Seems so.
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Re: Perry Mason
How cool!!! Yes, that last photo looks like a 50 years older Francis X. for sure!
You trying to tell me you didn't hear that shriek? That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't want to be here when it does. - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Re: Perry Mason
I watched another PM episode (1960, "The Case of the Nine Dolls") featuring Francis X. Bushman. Here he plays the same sort of character. Again, he plays the elderly rich uncle of the girl seen with him. And—again, he ends up being bludgeoned to death...with a fireplace poker! What tough luck. Maybe next time he'll at least get killed a different way.
The niece, by the way, who again is accused of the murder and exonerated by Mason, is played by Maggie Mahoney, mother of actress Sally Fields. Do you see a resemblance? I don't, except for maybe the eyes.
Maybe next time he'll at least get killed a different way. The niece, by the way, who again is accused of the murder and exonerated by Mason, is played by Maggie Mahoney, mother of actress Sally Fields. Do you see a resemblance? I don't, except for maybe the eyes.
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Re: Perry Mason
I really do!! The face is a different shape but the features are really similar. I didn't know any of her family acted!
You trying to tell me you didn't hear that shriek? That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't want to be here when it does. - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Re: Perry Mason
Another Dark Shadows Perry Mason alum: Diana Millay aka Laura Collins turns up in "The Case of the Resolute Reformer" (1961). She is not a very pleasant character here, either.
I've been trying to figure out why the man on the right is so familiar. The actor's name is John Hoyt, but nothing in his filmography stands out to me. I guess he's just one of those character actors who looks familiar because he's been in everything.
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I've been trying to figure out why the man on the right is so familiar. The actor's name is John Hoyt, but nothing in his filmography stands out to me. I guess he's just one of those character actors who looks familiar because he's been in everything.
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Re: Perry Mason
I had to come back to this because he's in tonight's movie in Svengoolie, Curse of the Undead!
You trying to tell me you didn't hear that shriek? That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't want to be here when it does. - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Re: Perry Mason
Another major silent star turns up on PM (well silent/sound): Conrad Nagel! I kept having a nagging suspicion I'd seen that face before—there was something very distinctive about his mouth and chin—and was surprised to see his name in the closing credits. He did turn out to be the murderer, though. 
But at least he was a polite, gentlemanly murderer. 
His career covered 1918-1963. I remember him mainly from the late 20s/early sound pictures.
I kept having a nagging suspicion I'd seen that face before—there was something very distinctive about his mouth and chin—and was surprised to see his name in the closing credits. He did turn out to be the murderer, though. But at least he was a polite, gentlemanly murderer. His career covered 1918-1963. I remember him mainly from the late 20s/early sound pictures.
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