The Case of the Borrowed Brunette (10 Jan. 1959)

Attractive brunette Eva Martell interviews with Melvin Slater for a special assignment--to pose as Helen Reynolds. Eva takes the job chaperoned by her Aunt Agnes Nulty. Meantime, Slater's ... See full summary »

Director:

Arthur Marks

Writers:

Erle Stanley Gardner (story), Seeleg Lester (teleplay)

Stars:

Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, William Hopper

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Raymond Burr	...	Perry Mason
Barbara Hale	...	Della Street
William Hopper	...	Paul Drake
William Talman	...	Hamilton Burger
Ray Collins	...	Lt. Arthur Tragg
Margaret Field	...	Eva Martell (as Maggie Mahoney)
Paula Raymond	...	Helen Reynolds
Sheila Bromley	...	Agnes Nulty
Adrienne Marden	...	Barbara Slater
John Stephenson	...	Grant Willoughby Reynolds
Joe De Santis	...	Melvin Slater
Morris Ankrum	...	Judge Bates
Herman Rudin	...	Thomas Folsom
Gisele Verlaine	...	Secretary
Howard Van Proyen	...	Officer Samuel Dixon

Storyline

Attractive brunette Eva Martell interviews with Melvin Slater for a special assignment--to pose as Helen Reynolds. Eva takes the job chaperoned by her Aunt Agnes Nulty. Meantime, Slater's wife Barbara is looking for him to collect overdue child support. Aunt Agnes consults Perry Mason about the situation. Eva and Agnes find Slater dead and are charged with murder.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 January 1959 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Stage 4, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

CBS Television Network, Paisano Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Another fine episode

This episode involves a women hired to impersonate someone in order to deceive another. Just by that line we know this is not going to end well for the hired women. Not only for her, but she brings along her aunt that also gets caught up in this spider web of deception.

This episode has a good cast. Beautiful Margaret Fields (also known as Maggie Mahoney after marriage) does a good job casted as the person hired to impersonate Helen Reynolds, played by Paula Raymond. Rounding out the guest actors are Shelia Bromley, who played many bit parts in the 50 and 60's, and John Stephenson, who is Mr voice-over, worked in many roles in the 60's and now is doing voice-overs for cartoons around the world.

Not really much action in this episode other than classic Perry. We do get to see Hamilton Burger's office. (This is a treat that I will leave for the viewer) We also get Lt Tragg at his best when we see him arrest and testify during this episode. And Paul Drake seems to have a lot of face time and more dialog than in other later episodes.

At the end of the show I am left with a feeling that I get many times while watching "Perry Mason"- Why did someone not lawyer up? Anyway I gave this a seven. Not the best of the early shows but one you feel like you did not waste time watching.

PS- If you watch more episodes then get ready to see Paula Raymond and Shelia Bromley again. They each played in five other "Perry Mason" episodes throughout the series run.