"Perry Mason" The Case of the Fifty Millionth Frenchman (1964)

Director:

Arthur Marks

Writers:

Robert C. Dennis (teleplay) and
Jackson Gillis (teleplay) ...
(more)

TV Series:

"Perry Mason" (1957)

Original Air Date:

20 February 1964 (Season 7, Episode 19)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Number In Title | Courtroom | Secretary | Perry Mason | Two Word Title

Cast

Raymond Burr	...	Perry Mason
Barbara Hale	...	Della Street
William Hopper	...	Paul Drake
William Talman	...	Hamilton Burger (credit only)
Ray Collins	...	Lt. Arthur Tragg (credit only)
Wesley Lau	...	Lt. Andy Anderson
David McCallum	...	Phillipe Bertain
Jacques Bergerac	...	Armand Rovel
Roxane Berard	...	Ninette Rovel
Janet Lake	...	Carole Ogilvie
Jackie Coogan	...	Ron Litten
Coleen Gray	...	Linda Sutton
Don Collier	...	Peter Hayes
Arthur Franz	...	Ray Ogilvie
Naomi Stevens	...	Mrs. Kransdorf
Gene O'Donnell	...	Prosecutor
Tom Greenway	...	Dick Jenkins
Stuart Randall	...	Sheriff Max Taylor
Kenneth Patterson	...	Judge
Lisa Davis	...	Girl Skier
Clark Howat	...	Tower Man
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Don Anderson	...	Man at Ski Lodge / Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Chuck Hamilton	...	Prosecutor's Assistant (uncredited)
Robert Wegner	...	Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)

Directed by
Arthur Marks

Writing credits
Robert C. Dennis		(teleplay) and
Jackson Gillis		(teleplay) and
Samuel Newman		(teleplay)
Robert C. Dennis		(story)

Produced by
Jackson Gillis	....	associate producer
Arthur Marks	....	producer
Gail Patrick	....	executive producer (as Gail Patrick Jackson)
Art Seid	....	producer

Original Music by
René Garriguenc		(as Rene Garriguenc)

Music Department
Lud Gluskin	....	conductor

Other crew
Samuel Newman	....	story consultant

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Erle Stanley Gardner		creator

Production Companies

• Paisano Productions
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Distributors

• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1964) (USA) (TV) (original airing)

Runtime:

USA:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Paisano Productions

Trivia:

The title refers to the 1927 song "Fifty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong" by Willie Raskin, Billy Rose, and Fred Fisher.

The Man from Bad A.C.C.E.N.T.S.

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

A decent script is ruined by a slew of bad accents as Perry comes to the aide of young Frenchman Phillipe Bertain (David McCullum) who is accused of murdering ski instructor Jacques Bergerac (Armand Rovel, who 99 almost lost her heart to on "Get Smart") to protect the woman he loves and loaned money to, Bergerac's wife, Ninette.

The murder involves the drugging of a coffee thermos (an idea recycled in a "Columbo" episode), a plane crash and the murder of another man by Jacques Bergerac. The ski setting is a nice change as well, but the episode is ruined by the annoyingly theatrical accent of Roxanne Berard. She is so vaudevillian and over the top in her characterization that I think it embarrassed McCullum into really toning down his own French accent. In any case, he leaves far too much of the British showing.

Seeing how tiny McCullum is as the nerdy and clumsy Bertain also shows how really carefully they cast "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." to make him appear to be strong enough to handle threats from THRUSH agents. In this he looks like a strong wind would blow him down as Perry and Paul tower over him.

Rovel comes out okay in the battle of the accents and Jackie Coogan is mostly restrained (other than one outburst in court) as a bartender, but that's not saying much.

In summation, I can only repeat the murderer's final line on the stand "I wish I could have killed him ten times." That emotion should have been reserved for the show's dialect coach.