The Case of the Impatient Partner (16 Sep. 1961)

Amory Fallon is investigating a fire the previous week at his company Fallon Paints. He's using the services of the Paul Drake Detective Agency to try and find an old woman who may have ... See full summary »

Director:

Arthur Marks

Writers:

Erle Stanley Gardner (characters created by), Adrian Gendot

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
Ben Cooper	...	Frank Wells
Leslie Parrish	...	Vivian Ames
Wesley Lau	...	Amory Fallon
Lucy Prentis	...	Edith Fallon
Peter Adams	...	Ned Thompson
Mary Young	...	Mrs. Agnes Murdock
Cheerio Meredith	...	Mrs. Temple
Jack Betts	...	Bert Nickols
Dan Seymour	...	Carlos Silva
Chet Stratton	...	Charles Grant

Storyline

Amory Fallon is investigating a fire the previous week at his company Fallon Paints. He's using the services of the Paul Drake Detective Agency to try and find an old woman who may have seen someone entering the plant on the night of the fire. The person the old woman identifies however is Fallon himself. He clearly doesn't get along with his business partner Ned Thompson who he thinks is having an affair with his wife. He also thinks that Thompson is somehow behind the fire as he had ordered important company documents moved to the part of the factory where the fire started. When Thompson is found dead however, he is charged with murder and Perry Mason takes on the case.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 September 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 (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Wesley Lau's first appearance on the show. He played the character Amory Fallon in this episode. Interestingly, a few weeks later he would be cast in his more familiar role of Lt. Andy Anderson, which he would play from the 1961 season all the way to the 1965 season.

User Reviews

One of the more dramatic breakdowns.

The future Police Lieutenant Andy Anderson Wesley Lau made his debut on the Perry Mason series as a client. Good thing he hired Paul Drake to investigate a suspicious fire in his paint plant where some confidential documents may have gone up in smoke. I say maybe because it sure looks suspicious and later on Lau's partner winds up dead Lau's looking real good for it. Good thing that William Hopper proved to be a conduit to Raymond Burr.

Lau who is under a great deal of pressure got good and tipsy and passed out from demon rum. The murderer took advantage of that played with the time element to give himself a not quite ironclad alibi which Burr demolishes. I will say that when the culprit does confess in open court it's one of the more dramatic breakdowns in the series history.