User Reviews

When the producers of a long running show learn they are about to be canceled, sometimes they just phone it in. Other times, they free themselves to have fun. This may not be the best episode in the Mason canon, but it is fun.

The story involves a patent case Mason is trying in court for the lovely Barbara (Indus Arthur, who has haunting good looks). The case is in trouble and soon we see Perry smoking a cheap cigar handing instructions and $10,000 in an envelope to a key witness, Sandra Dunkel (Arlene Martel, memorable as Spock's bride T'Pring in "Amok Time" on "Star Trek"). Nervous and upset, Dunkel confesses she's lying on the stand and points to Perry as the man who tried to bribe her. Perry loses the case (though he immediately appeals) and his reputation is suspect. When the man who won the patent case is found dead, Barbara becomes the prime suspect and Perry has to defend her while clearing his own reputation.

Burr is wonderful as Grimes, the man hired to pretend he's Mason. He creates a very colorful and fun character, something that must have been much more fun to play than the proper Perry Mason. The split screen effect is very good as Burr cross examines himself on the stand, and the dialog between Mason and Grimes about playacting and they are the only two real men here is full of double meaning.

The mystery is pretty good too, but it really takes a back seat to this show by Burr.

SPOILER ALERTS THROUGHOUT.

All right. A bad guy hires a look-alike seaman to impersonate Perry Mason and implicate him in a nefarious scheme. Perry unravels it. You don't have to know more about the plot.

Burr, of course, plays both roles. Since Perry is such a stiff, he lets loose with everything in his acting repertoire when playing the impostor. Who knew that Burr could let loose with such a dramatic "ARRRGHHH"?

For a minute toward the end, I thought that the writers were going to avoid the obvious culprit, but they quickly reverted to the one that 99.9% of the viewing audience picked in the first ten minutes of the episode.

While this was not the last episode broadcast in this last season of the series, I suspect that it was the last one filmed. Why? Because Burr left no scenery unchewed.

Oh, heck. Why complain? It's utterly stupid and still great fun for fans.

**SPOILERS** In the epilogue, Paul Drake is singing in a British accent? Also, Hamilton is having drinks with Drumm, Perry, and Paul. The actress Indus Arthur, who plays Barbara Cramer looks quite a bit like Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul, and Mary.

When the dirtbag creeps were looking up Grimes in the dockside tavern "the Lagoon"? there was a beautiful woman sitting at the bar smoking a cigarette who looks a hell of a lot like Barbara Hale whoever she is, she's uncredited.

Also. Arlene Martel does a great job of playing a supposedly demure sexpot (she's anything BUT demure). She is one of the most exotic actresses on this show. She's played in other episodes, and always a pleasure to watch. There is one thing I'd like to point out, and if you get a chance to see this episode, watch for it. When Mason is interrogating Grimes on the stand, they either have an actor who has a remarkably close resemblance to Perry's facial profile, or (and I think this is the case) they've done an excellent job of film editing. It's only for a moment, but important. Check it out, if you get the chance.

Raymond Burr does a great job with this episode, and I recommend it to all. When I can I'll add it to my collection from Amazon

Yup. I finally was able to complete this collection, and I'm very happy with it. I'd still like to know if that was Barbara sitting at the bar, doing a smaller dual role, uncredited...

This was a strange one. This is really 2 episodes in one., Where Perry occupies not only his normal presence, but the link to the main protagonist and catalyst, Mr Grimes.

There are 2 points of note, one already mentioned. First, why Raymond Burr rec'd no credit for Grimes, understood. But it's a major oversight

But the second is this is a rarely noticed and subtle buried "lost case" tho appealed on a mistrial (18 min). A patent case albeit not a murder (yet), but the patent case takes nearly a third of the episode and obviously leads to the main case.

Still, a great episode and hopefully Ray got paid for both roles.

***SPOILERS*** Perry Mason is personally besmirched and discredited in this "Perry Mason" episode when handling a civil case of patent fraud ends up with him not only losing it but in danger of being disbarred.That's when the person that Perry's client was suing Otis Swanson, Oliver McGowan, got a dead ringer off a boat from Liverpool "The Lady Liverpool" to impersonate him this drunken and unclothe Cockney mariner, the exact opposite of the well spoken and fine mannered Perry Mason, Sailor Grimes also played by Raymond Burr. Being cleaned up with a shave bath and new suite of clothes Grimes is instructed by Otis Swanson's nephew Danny, Stewart Moss, to go to the local Bobson Arms Hotel and be seen giving a payoff to star witness Sandra Dunkel, Ariene Martel, of $10,000.00 and note in how to answer questions in the case that Perry Mason is now handling! Grimes even goes so far as in showing what a big sport he is by buying a cheap & smelly, even back then in 1966,.25 cent cigar and leaving a big .75 cent tip! When this is made public in court by Miss Drunkel the entire case against Otis Swanson falls completely apart with a confused and not so happy Perry Mason standing there almost, figurative not literately, bear a** naked with nothing but egg on his face!

It's only later when Otis Swanson is founded murdered and Miss Barbara Kramer, Indus Arthur, who was suing him for patent infringement at the scene of the crime with both the victim's blood on her hands and clothes and the murder weapon a .45 revolver. That ironically has the licking his wounds Perry gets a second chance or shot to finally redeem himself. Not by not only getting Barbara off on the murder charge but by getting his double or dead ringer-Sailor Grimes- on the stand and thus exposing his attempt to impersonate Perry and cause him to lose the Kramer Vrs Swanson case! But first Perry has to prove who really murdered Otis Swanson and that's not going to be that easy for him. In that his client Barbara Kramer was caught red handed at the scene of the crime by Perry's own private investigator Paul Drake, William Hooper, who the prosecuting D.A Hamilton "Ham" Burger, William Talman, will very likely use as a hostile witness against her!

***MAJOR-Don't read unless you already known the ending-SPOILERS*** Worth watching just for the explosive court confrontation between Perry Mason and the once dead drunk and now somewhat sobered up merchant marine Grimes that just about brought the roof down. It was Grimes' greed that in fact did him in by not getting enough, $2,000.00, in impersonating Perry Mason and by feeling he needed much more payoff money that in the end tripped him up. And Grimes was so brainless and clueless in what he was doing that he in fact had the incriminating evidence right on him, in the court room no less, when Perry Mason exposed him for what he was as he tried to make a run for it only having to fall on his face.