The Case of the Curious Bride (18 Oct. 1958)

Rhoda Reynolds is blackmailed by Artie Kane for a past indiscretion, which she would like to keep from her weakling husband Carl and his overbearing father Philip. Dr. Michael Harris, who ... See full summary »

Director:

Arthur Marks

Writers:

Erle Stanley Gardner (story), Jonathan Latimer (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
Christine White	...	Rhoda Reynolds / Mrs. Crocker
Max Showalter	...	Carl Reynolds (as Casey Adams)
John Hoyt	...	C. Philip Reynolds
Michael Emmet	...	Arthur Kane
James Seay	...	Dr. Michael Harris
Dorothy Neumann	...	Ellen Crandall
Tommy Cook	...	Frank Lane - Auto Mechanic
Peggy Maley	...	Edna Freeman
Lewis Charles	...	Sidney Otis
S. John Launer	...	Judge

Storyline

Rhoda Reynolds is blackmailed by Artie Kane for a past indiscretion, which she would like to keep from her weakling husband Carl and his overbearing father Philip. Dr. Michael Harris, who practices at the hospital where Rhoda works, offers to help but she refuses. Instead, Rhoda consults Perry Mason about the legitimacy of her present marriage but is not satisfied with the answer. Artie turns up dead, and Rhoda is charged with murder. Perry meddles with the evidence, so the case involves buzzers and bells, and a honky-tonk named "The Oryx".

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 October 1958 (USA)

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paisano Productions, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), TCF Television Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of The Case of the Curious Bride (1935)

User Reviews

Perry uses some sly techniques in this episode

The story involves a woman that was married for a short time to a man that left her. Later she gets a wire saying that he had died and she moves on with her life. After she remarries, she finds out that her first husband is still alive. Now she is paying blackmail money to a rough to keep the whole affair away from her second husband. -- Maybe it is me but why did she not tell her second husband about her previous life's path or why did she just not tell him that she was being blackmailed? But then again we would not have a case for Perry to defend it everything was that easy.

The woman, Rhoda Reynolds, is now married to Carl Reynolds and one evening she sneaks out of the house to meet her blackmail agent, Arthur (Artie) Kane. During the meeting a scuffle breaks out but Rhoda is saved by a ring from the door-bell. The next thing we know is that Artie is dead and Rhoda is the suspect. Tragg will spend little time before issuing a murder warrant on Rhoda and Perry will have a client to defend.

Even though the episode is full with likely candidates who might have wanted Artie dead, there was not that much guessing to the real murderer. The best thing about the episode is the way Perry , ever so slyly, uses the rules of evidence to place doubt in the juror's head. It's a situation that will have Hamilton Burger wanting Perry to testify to the Grand Jury concerning tampering with evidence. But Perry will have one more ace card to play that obviously will have Burger steaming.