Customer Reviews

Perry Mason - Season Two, Vol. 1

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Perry Mason fans waited a long time for a DVD release of the finest courtroom drama ever to be broadcast into homes. It was entertainment that kept viewers glued to their seats, waiting for that moment when Perry would nail the killer on the witness stand and free his client. Once the first season was released it was only a matter of time until season two followed, and it finally has.

Raymond Burr had some good roles in films, but will always be remembered for the tough defense attorney you wanted on your side in the toughest jam. Barbara Hale was his pretty secretary, Della Street, who kept Perry human and was in love with him. William Hopper was the dapper detective, Paul Drake. He had a playful and flirtatious relationship with Della but every viewer knew that secretly her heart belonged to Perry.

William Talman as D.A. Hamilton Burger was the perfectly cast guy you almost felt sorry for, as just when he was ready to gloat over his victory in court, Perry would spring his client by revealing the real killer, once again defeating poor old Burger. The relationship of these four people made the mood and mystery of the often gripping conclusion fun to watch. There has never been anything close to it in genre on television since. Its mix of drama, noir, and humor, and its truly likable characters, made for terrific viewing.

Erle Stanley Gardner's original creation of Perry Mason was a bit more two-fisted pulp type reading, but slowly grew into something resembling the show when it became so popular. Gardner's Perry Mason novels, begun decades before the show and continuing for decades more, are still fun to read. The same can be said of every single show in the series.

The second season cemented Perry, Della, Paul, and even Burger and Lt. Trag as weekly visitors into the homes of a large section of Americans. Like the novels, the title of every episode began with "The Case of-" and each one had some wonderful moments, both in and out of the courtroom. Just as with the first release, the second season will be split into two releases, half the season's episodes on each release. The full episode list for season two is as follows:

The Case of the Corresponding Corpse---The Case of the Lucky Loser---The Case of the Pint-Sized Client---The Case of the Sardonic Sergeant---The Case of the Curious Bride--The Case of the Buried Clock---The Case of the Married Moonlighter---The Case of the Jilted Jockey--- The Case of the Purple Woman---The Case of the Fancy Figures---The Case of the Perjured Parrot---The Case of the Shattered Dream---The Case of the Borrowed Brunette---The Case of the Glittering Goldfish---The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll---The Case of the Fraudulent Foto---The Case of the Romantic Rogue---The Case of the Jaded Joker---The Case of the Caretaker's Cat---The Case of the Stuttering Bishop---The Case of the Lost Last Act---The Case of the Bedeviled Doctor---The Case of the Howling Dog---The Case of the Calendar Girl--- The Case of the Petulant Partner---The Case of the Dangerous Dowager---The Case of the Deadly Toy---The Case of the Spanish Cross---The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom---The Case of the Lame Canary

It seems that almost everything on television is getting a DVD release as of late, many of little or no significance. Perry Mason was not only a terrific show, but an important part of television history, and our culture as Americans. TV didn't get any better, and only on rare occasions was it as good. Just a fantastic show, both entertaining and, today, nostalgic. A can't miss.

After getting both volumes 1 and 2 of season one, I can not wait for this release. The stories are every bit as great as I remembered. The picture was clear as crystal. What really impressed me was the quality of the performances. Raymond Burr is Perry Mason. Barbara Hale played Della with a fine sense of character. William Hopper has just the right mischieviousness for Paul Drake. What can I say, These people are the characters they portrayed. This is the grandfather of all courtroom dramas. Many have tried to imitate, but none have duplicated the drama, suspense and humor in these stories. The biggest mystery is how can I hold out until the release date? That's a killer for sure.

This is one of the most interesting television series ever. Although there are complaints about the split season sale of Perry Mason, I remember the VHS (two-episode) tapes going for $20.00 a pop, plus shipping and handling. One season would have cost almost $400.00. At $66.00, this is a bargain. I just hope CBS releases all nine seasons.

I purchased Season 2, Volume 1 separately, unlike Season 1, which came complete with both volumes. There is not much more to add to my review of Season 1, except to say that the screenplays in Season 2 seemed more professional and the non-recurring actors seemed more polished and less melodramatic. However, as with Season 1, the core actors (Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, William Hopper, William Talman and Ray Collins) carry the show. (As a marketing note, Amazon would be well advised to list Raymond Burr as the actor for each of the Perry Mason DVDs, if not the entire core cast. Now, each DVD lists Ray Collins as the sole actor, and he is certainly not representative of the series.) I think I watched Season 2, Volume 1 in several days, making it very clear to my wife and daughter that I could not be disturbed. There is no television today that comes close to the kind of classic television drama portrayed in this series. I think that this was a period of television where the psychological and dramatic interplay of characters predominated as in "The Twilight Zone" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." Television had not yet discovered reality programs and Idol-type contest shows. Moreover, television had not yet abandoned good taste.

I've been a fan of Erle Stanley Gardner's lawyer, Perry Mason, ever since college, and that was too long ago for me to remember. When the TV series appeared, and I first saw Raymond Burr cast in the lawyer role, I was a bit surprised, since he had previously played "heavies" in the movies. But I quickly adapted to his style, and discovered how deliciously angry was his constant opponent, District Attorney Hamilton Burger. For years, whenever these shows were re-run, I watched them. But a few years ago they ceased to be re-run in my area, and I was sad. Now with the release of DVDs of the old show's first season and a half I can lean back at the end of a hard day's work and enjoy them all over again. The quality of the r eproduction in the DVDs is excellent: good sound, sharp picture. But as a senior citizen, I have discovered that it is dangerous to watch them after about 9 PM, since I have a tendency to doze in the easy chair. And if there is one thing that always characterized the tight plots transferred from books to TV, it is that viewers need to be very alert and keep in mind all the characters and what was said about them earlier in the show. So if you are young and alert, or if you are older but can watch the shows in a straight-back chair and early enough in the evenings, I wholeheartedly recommend the Perry Mason DVD series. Personally, I can't wait for the next one (season 2, vol. 2) to become available!

When Paramount released the first season of Perry Mason in two parts, I picked it up and enjoyed the heck out of it. I may not be the consumer they were looking for as a nigh-30 year-old, but thankfully I love noir and Perry did a great job on atmospherics. It's aged extremely well. I wasn't happy about them splitting it in two, but I understood. After all, a modern series only has 22 episodes per year and the first season offered nearly that per volume.
The second season is a different story, however. With fewer episodes in this season, it's unacceptable for Paramount to divide the show and still charge the same amount. The same thing has been done with Gunsmoke, but that's even worse because the early episodes were only half an hour long. I understand that "classic TV" is a bit more niche than the latest huge blockbuster of a series and it won't sell as well. (In many instances, I'm thrilled just to see some of the '50s classics that don't even show up on TV Land anymore.) It's just not worth the high cost for many of these series. I plan to pick up the rest of the Perry Mason releases, but without a large sale, it won't be soon and will probably be used.

With all of the cast excepting Della now dead, it is pleasant to return to those times. I began watching Perry Mason on TV when yet in high school and after military service and college he was yet on TV!

After purchasing the first two DVD sets can still feel happy about purchasing them, and will get this one too. I not only watch the shows but read the books, just recently finishing The Case of the Caretaker's Cat. The Persian cat of that book was named 'Clinker' but none of the TV shows, however, can be called that!

Great TV from long ago, and for me growing up in the 1950's, it's fun to revisit a world of cars, clothes, and people that other than in these shows, no longer exist. Perry and the gang are than actors and in many ways seem to have become our welcome friends.

Semper Fi.

One of televisions' most entertaining and popular series enters its second season on DVD with this great release by CBS Video.

Raymond Burr is Perry Mason and he imbues each performance with his special combination of toughness & sophistication. Along for the ride are his sidekicks, the ever beautiful Barbara Hale as Perry's confidential secretary Della Street and the constantly smoking William Hopper as the well informed private detective Paul Drake. The opposition is played by the formidable William Talman as the constantly losing DA Hamilton Burger, though he somehow keeps getting re-elected along with the aged beyond all comprehension Ray Collins as the constantly passed over for promotion Lt. Tragg.

Less is implied about Perry & Della's personal relationship, but overall the episodes are better and have more snap in the writing. The episodes look very sharp, almost "too" sharp in a way since many of the scenes involve a technique called "deep focus" where characters are both in the foreground and background and inevitably we see a blurry Perry or client while the judge in the back is perfectly in focus.

This set has only two DVDs with 15 episodes total as opposed to the previous sets that contained 3 DVDs & 19 episodes each. And the menu pages are the same, featuring promo photos of the cast, though without the Perry Mason theme playing in the background. You can also play all the episodes on each DVD, which is nice if one episode doesn't satisfy your "Perry fix". And in a very tiny, but nice touch the curser is in the shape of a judge's mallet.

And while we still have no extras (not surprising I suppose given the age of the series), we do have original airdates of each show printed with the episode description. The back cover of the box is also nice indicated that both Raymond Burr & Barbara Hale's Emmy wins for that year.

For any fan of the series I heartily recommend this set and give it the full five stars. But I do hope that someday we get a few extras, even if they're just old commercials for the series.


Tidbits:

- Some interesting math is used in "The Case of the Sardonic Sergeant". The character Ricky Stevens was apparently a "stripper" while living in Manila (Philippines). Yet her age as revealed by a character on the witness stand along with the date in which she left for America would mean that she was 15 or so at the time...ewww.

- Perhaps due to the complex set-up of the murder, "The Case of the Perjured Parrot" does not have a trial, but a Coroner's Inquest run by Edgar "Uncle Joe" Buchanan. Needless to say, the explanation of all the events is still pretty wacky.

- "The Case of the Borrowed Brunette" uses the same exterior footage of an apartment complex as Season One's "The Case of the Long-Legged Models" where the murder happens. Furthermore, the victim in both episodes was played by the same actor Joe De Santis.

- In "The Case of the Glittering Goldfish" we see a number of camera zooms and a very interesting tracking shot where we enter the courtroom to see Hamilton Burger question a witness that lasts a good minute before it dissolves to another shot. That episode was directed by Gerd Oswald who later became associated with "The Outer Limits".

- In the same episode, Lt. Tragg compliments Della to the point where he almost...well, we can imagine the rest.

My evidence professor at the University of Georgia Law School was an expert on scientific evidence who had taught many years at the University of Southern California. Professor Ball knew Erle Stanley Gardner well, and would sometimes have him speak to his classes there.

Ball was somewhat dismissive of Gardner however saying that Gardner would insist on talking about how individual blood droplets at a crime scene could point to the killer. Time has proven that Gardner was right and that blood splatter evidence even in pre-Dexter, pre-DNA days could be effectively used to convict murderers. The best real life example of this is contained in Joe McGinniss' classic account of the investigation of Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald.,[ASIN:0451165667 Fatal Vision]],

My point is that Perry Mason has aged well. This enormous collection of episodes, many based on original work by Gardner, shows Mason continuing his incredible victory streak over Hamilton Burger, who in today's legal climate would be run out of town on a rail in the manner of Marcia Clark and Chris Darden.

Trial lawyers understand that no DA ever gets it as wrong as Burger and no lawyer can hope to represent only the falsely accused. Mason's show gives us something to savor and learn from. Mason's success is the product of incredible preparation and mastery of details. Even if the experts (like Professor Ball) think something can't be done, Mason is unafraid to try. This is what separates real lawyers from cartoon lawyers like Denny Crain.

Forty years from now, people will still be watching Perry Mason. You can't say that for Boston Legal - Season 2.

Perry Mason defined criminal defense shows, and what it accomplished has never been equaled, let alone surpassed. There are two reasons I say that. Although shows like "L. A. Law" or "Boston Legal" were engaging and fun, most of their charm involved the soap opera, not the law stories. Perry Mason had no "continuing story", as was the case with most TV series of the era. Each show offered an interesting murder mystery, normally giving the viewer enough clues to solve the case as Mason does. Second, there has never, before or since, been a legal show where the courtroom law was presented more solidly. Even "Law and Order" at times presents some absurd law, along with direct and cross examination sequences that wouldn't actually impress anyone in a courtroom.

The acting in the Perry Mason series is superb. As was the case for a lot of TV series which started in the 50s, most of the cast were veteran film performers. Even the guest stars are rock solid, offering a mix of veteran talent and young up-and comers who would go on to make major names for themselves.

The complex and entertaining relationships between the main characters is another element that made the show such a success. Perry Mason, Della Street, and Paul Drake are given a definite sense of relaxed comfort as friends. Even though Lt. Tragg is always an adversary, once the case is over Tragg and Mason share grins and a feeling of mutual professional respect. Hamilton Burger, the DA, is constantly frustrated and infuriated by Mason's tactics. However, even Burger and Mason share friendly moments at times during the series. And when Burger himself ran into a legal problem on a couple of occasions, who did he go to?

The TV series is based on the most popular series of lawyer/murder mysteries books in history. Erle Stanley Gardner, himself a talented lawyer, wrote enthusiastically received mysteries for almost forty years. In this second season, some of the shows are still loosely based on actual novels, such as the very surprising "Case of the Caretaker's Cat". Perry Mason TV shows, much like the novels themselves, are very even. Although a few shows stand out, I never saw what I considered to be a stinker.

If you are a long time fan of the Perry Mason series, you can buy this presentation with confidence. Not only does the transfer to DVD make this show look great, but a few minutes of footage are included on each show that probably have not been seen since the original run. Subsequent showings on local or cable channels normally had a few minutes chopped out to get more time for commercials.

The pricing on this series has been reduced dramatically over the last couple of years, making it an even better deal. Obviously, unless you find yourself always bored by black and white TV shows, or shows with more "old-fashioned" moral sensibilities, I can highly recommend this series to you.