Perry Mason

[BettyLouSpence]

My dad loves Perry Mason. Has anyone here seen it?

Here's a cool photo - William Hopper and Gail Patrick Jackson in 1936. 20 years after this photo was taken, William Hopper (Hedda Hopper's son) would play detective Paul Drake, and Gail would become the executive producer of Perry Mason. In fact, she was one of the first women producers, period - pretty significant.

[Kitty]

I've heard of Perry Mason, but I have never seen it. That's a lovely picture!

[donnie]

Yes! I've seen reruns of the old Perry Mason show. That was an excellent show, though I have to confess that the plots were sometimes so complex that I would get a little lost. I think that may have been because some of the episodes were based maybe on a whole Erle Stanley Gardner novel—? Not sure.

Anyway, Raymond Burr was great in that role, and I remember all the characters, including Paul Drake. That's amazing to see William Hopper that young. I can definitely recognize him, but probably have noticed it was he if it hadn't been pointed out. His hair was very light on the Mason show, also.

[Mrs. Danvers]

Me and the mister watch Perry Mason pretty much every morning, right after Leave it to Beaver. We LOVE Perry Mason, I remember my parents watched it faithfully who I was a wee lass.

We love the show, what a time capsule of an almost forgotten decade, the 1950s. The clothes, the cars, the attitudes. And the smoking The Perry Mason show is like film noir lite. Shady characters, trashy tarts, gold diggers, black-mailers, murderous spouses and money hungry relatives much too eager to wait. But it's comforting, no long drawn out graphic to the max autopsy scenes and no serial killers who can never seem to be caught. Even by a genius law enforcement character, who has been pursuing them for far too many episodes.

Wow I've never seen a picture of William DeWolf Hopper Jr. with dark hair. What a contrast! and crikey, what an ostentatious name.

Paul and Perry (William and Raymond)

paul and perry.jpg (551.44 KiB) Viewed 4730 times

[Kitty]

You know, that sounds very similar to Monk, where he always gets his man. Perry Mason seems like a good show, although I've never seen it. I mean, it *must* have been a popular show... it was on for over a decade!

[Mrs. Danvers]

Similar in the sense that there are nice clean fun murders so to speak. And nobody gets away with anything if Monk is on their trail, same as Perry Mason, if Mason and Paul Drake are sniffing around nobody can escape their detective skills, even though Perry is a lawyer, he is also a consummate detective. Paul Drake seems more like eye candy.

I bet you'd like Perry Mason Kitty.

[donnie]

Years ago I used to watch some of the reruns and liked it—wonderful characters, great look-and-feel, but... often the plots would confuse me. I got the impression that they'd take about all of one of the Erle Stanley Gardner novels and pack it into one episode. The complexities of the plot with all its twists and turns would usually leave me behind in the dust at some point. Or maybe I just wasn't concentrating enough!

[Kitty]

I got the impression that they'd take about all of one of the Erle Stanley Gardner novels and pack it into one episode.

I've not heard of this guy.

[donnie]

I got the impression that they'd take about all of one of the Erle Stanley Gardner novels and pack it into one episode.

I've not heard of this guy.

He’s a novelist whom I believe created the character the TV series is based on.

[Kitty]

Ooooh. That makes sense