The Case of the Envious Editor (7 Jan. 1961)

Aitken magazines are not profitable, and former editor-in-chief Edmond Aitken no longer controls the company. New CEO Donald Fletcher changes the tone of each mag, which appalls the ... See full summary »

Director:

Laslo Benedek

Writers:

Erle Stanley Gardner (characters created by), Milton Krims

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
Ray Collins	...	Lt. Arthur Tragg
Philip Abbott	...	Edmond Aitken
James Coburn	...	Donald Fletcher (as James H. Coburn)
Paul Lambert	...	Ben Nicholson
H.M. Wynant	...	Deputy D.A. Sampson
Barbara Lawrence	...	Lori Stoner
Jennifer Howard	...	Milly Nash
Vinton Hayworth	...	Wendell Harding
Sara Shane	...	Alyce Aitken
S. John Launer	...	Judge
Sid Tomack	...	Rudi Tripp
Dave Willock	...	Jay Robinson aka Philip Robinson

Storyline

Aitken magazines are not profitable, and former editor-in-chief Edmond Aitken no longer controls the company. New CEO Donald Fletcher changes the tone of each mag, which appalls the executive committee. At a party in his home, Fletcher insults Milly Nash, Edmond's sister-in-law, then his wife, Alyce Aitken, and Edmond punches him in the face. Poet Ben Nicholson consults Perry Mason about his firm, Pleiades Press, closely followed by Edmond Aitken, who discusses his problems with Perry. Later, Ben and Edmond meet at the writers club. Ben quotes the cynical E. A. Robinson poem "Richard Cory," which resonates with Edmond. Wishing to protect her investment and unaware of Edmond's plan to fight Fletcher, Alyce gives her proxy to the new CEO. That evening, Alyce sets out to retrieve her proxy, Edmond and Milly are in and out of the house, and Fletcher winds up killed with his own gun. Lt. Tragg arrests Alyce, who asks Perry to defend her but is less than forthright with her attorney.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 January 1961 (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)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Hugh Heffner Gets Murdered on Mason

James Coburn guest stars as a magazine editor(?) who wants to change the format of his magazine into a Playboy type of tabloid. As the established magazine is not traditionally this format, there is resistance by the other folks involved in ownership of the publication. This creates a group of people who are mad at Coburn, right from the start of the episode as he is trying to steamroller everybody to get the changes he wants.

Coburn gets the proxy of one co-owners wife to support a proxy fight to get the changes he is after. Then, he gets murdered, by the wife?

Mason's client gets framed by the actual murderer who kills off Coburn about halfway through the episode in the usual Mason format. Coburn hardly gets any chance to enjoy the women doing the provocative poses for the magazine. Mason, & Drake et all. have to work quite hard to find out who framed the co-owners wife.