Some of the last few years if Perry Mason, were just ok, this one was pretty good, different than other Perry Masons. Anthony Eisley played the heel very well and Ed Nelson and Julie Adams did a good job. This is a very 1964 television show, enjoyed the outdoor scenes, and Julie Adams actually had a scarf over her head riding in the back seat of Perry's Lincoln Continental Convertible
9 Reviews
Della to the Rescue
darbski29 January 2018
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** It's always been my thought that when there is a weak story, it can be propped up by strong acting, or strong characters. This one has two of my favorites: Barbara Hale, and Mike Mazurki. Barbara, for obvious reasons, and Mike, because he had essentially one type that he was so expert at. That type was the dim-witted bodyguard, goon, wrestler, pug, etc. he had the size, build, and raspy voice that fit those parts perfectly. even when he's a bad guy, he evokes sympathy.
His character also takes attention off some rather glaring faults. One, right away, the kid, "Button" is way too big, and way too old for training wheels, and the bike is way too big for them. Two, her father is too dumb to be in charge of any kid; I mean, he entrusts her to a complete scurve like Vince Rome? Now, THERE'S a character. Played to the slimiest by Anthony Eisely, his check was cashed in quite nicely by one of the unfathomably worst actresses in one of the worst parts ever on this series. This was partially explained later, but still ...
The business with the check? This is 1964. No way could they I.D. a bank check from a partial number off a torn corner of same. Perry and Paul in a dinky little rowboat? No motor? I don't think so. The pretty boy with the out of season lobster traps? What? he didn't have to watch where he was going? No harbor watch? Iffy, at best. Also, WHY throw the case overboard? why not just load it up, and take it on in? Further, why were they using Rome's yacht in the first place? How was he gonna extort them, when the goods were on his boat? Pancho would have known this, easily. Any attorney would only have to get Cully "Moose" on the stand to prove that he couldn't possibly have engineered and operated a smuggling business, but the slithering, conniving Rome? There's your creepy crook. Perry stopping on the L.A. Freeway for any reason in what was pretty crowded high speed traffic? Really?
****SPOILER**** One really good thing was the fact that the killer was gonna get off because she was nuts. I can't recall if that ever happened in this series before or after. There certainly have been episodes where it could have been set up and used. The "happy ending"?? Disgusting. The episode was saved by good acting and good characters. Mike Mazurki anchored his in the movie "Murder, My Sweet", and carried it through his career. He was great. Barbara Hale needs no explanation. This is the second time Della has saved a child in need. I give it a 9.
His character also takes attention off some rather glaring faults. One, right away, the kid, "Button" is way too big, and way too old for training wheels, and the bike is way too big for them. Two, her father is too dumb to be in charge of any kid; I mean, he entrusts her to a complete scurve like Vince Rome? Now, THERE'S a character. Played to the slimiest by Anthony Eisely, his check was cashed in quite nicely by one of the unfathomably worst actresses in one of the worst parts ever on this series. This was partially explained later, but still ...
The business with the check? This is 1964. No way could they I.D. a bank check from a partial number off a torn corner of same. Perry and Paul in a dinky little rowboat? No motor? I don't think so. The pretty boy with the out of season lobster traps? What? he didn't have to watch where he was going? No harbor watch? Iffy, at best. Also, WHY throw the case overboard? why not just load it up, and take it on in? Further, why were they using Rome's yacht in the first place? How was he gonna extort them, when the goods were on his boat? Pancho would have known this, easily. Any attorney would only have to get Cully "Moose" on the stand to prove that he couldn't possibly have engineered and operated a smuggling business, but the slithering, conniving Rome? There's your creepy crook. Perry stopping on the L.A. Freeway for any reason in what was pretty crowded high speed traffic? Really?
****SPOILER**** One really good thing was the fact that the killer was gonna get off because she was nuts. I can't recall if that ever happened in this series before or after. There certainly have been episodes where it could have been set up and used. The "happy ending"?? Disgusting. The episode was saved by good acting and good characters. Mike Mazurki anchored his in the movie "Murder, My Sweet", and carried it through his career. He was great. Barbara Hale needs no explanation. This is the second time Della has saved a child in need. I give it a 9.
Somewhat Pushes Our Buttons
Hitchcoc15 February 2022
This is an ugly case where a little girl is being pulled right and left. She is a cutie but we know this is not healthy. Enter some characters pulled in because the little one will receive a four million dollar inheritance at some point. Many of the interactions are over played and hard to swallow.
The case of Richard Donners lost marbles
XweAponX9 September 2020
I had been waiting for this review to appear so I could edit it somewhat. I wanted to mention how this show had changed from season one to season nine. The decade from 1957 to 1966 included a lot of changes especially in the way crime stories had moved out of the 50s film noir toward the 60s more contemporary social issues. But even during this major upheaval, it appeared that the writers for Perry Mason were struggling to find relevant stories for the early to late 60s. Each subsequent season of Perry Mason showed new styles of cars, new styles of clothing, even new styles of music. Season eight has several very good episodes, this being one of them, but you will notice that the writing style is changing even from the first episode here to the last episode of season nine. Also, we start noticing that sometimes the episodes are basically rebooted from earlier episodes of Perry Mason from seasons one and two. in some cases the reboots are improvements, in other cases, they didn't work out so well. but this episode is an original and it has a very sinister subplot going on underneath all of the other MacGuffins.
This is a fine Perry Mason episode, complete with a gangster, a hitman, kidnappers, and other unsavory types: with hidden psychological thriller built-in.
What appears to be a battle over a child named "Button" by Julie Adams (as Janice Blake) and Ed Nelson (as Dirk "Jirk" Blake), has other aspects, there is an underworld connection, there is Mike Mazurki, and there is also Stanley Adams sans Tribbles (He left them at deep space station K7), playing the Hispanic host of a resort, very well I might add.
This is where I include a small TOME(tm) about Stanley Adams playing something other than the race he was born as: This was back when actors could play other races without a whole bunch of people yelling about it, although i feel it is actually preferable to assign racial parts to actors of the appropriate races-in the 60s I think it would be accurate to say that sometimes an actor of the proper ethnic persuasion was not available, and so there were many fine character actors like Stanley that could do these ethnic parts, to me it always represented the capacity and abilities of an actor that could play something other than what he was born as, and I think the Wachowski brothers/sisters turned this whole concept on its ear when they cast "Cloud Atlas" with a small group of actors playing different races, even different genders. This is why it does not bother me in the least that Stanley Adams represents a crooked Hispanic Host in this episode.
Otto Krueger, who at one time played a Sycophantic Nazi fifth columnist in Alfred Hitchcock's "Saboteur" is the judge in this hot mess, and he is coerced into making a poor decision about the temporary placement of the child named Button (Claire Wilcox).
But seething and writhing underneath these disparate plot lines is something very threatening: "Jirk" Blake's secretary "Naomi" (Lysa D'Anjou, who has very little information about her in IMDb) is getting more and more neurotic as the episode continues and none of us noticed this, not even Perry Mason.
Will Perry be able to stop something horrible from happening before the pressure cooker lid blows off and men with white coats show up to carry away a person as they start singing "they jiggle, they jiggle" and somebody is tragically hurt?
It is interesting to look at the shots where they have boats and docks, I wonder where this was filmed. I would swear some of these locations are San Diego.
Richard Donner directs this as Richard D Donner, this surprises me greatly as I never knew Donner as being a television director although he has directed several of my favorite movies and I even liked his "Timeline" from 2003. Actually that film appears to have been his last movie other than his fine Directors cut of Superman II. But this episode here, as an early work for this director, is very noticeable and very interesting.
This is a fine Perry Mason episode, complete with a gangster, a hitman, kidnappers, and other unsavory types: with hidden psychological thriller built-in.
What appears to be a battle over a child named "Button" by Julie Adams (as Janice Blake) and Ed Nelson (as Dirk "Jirk" Blake), has other aspects, there is an underworld connection, there is Mike Mazurki, and there is also Stanley Adams sans Tribbles (He left them at deep space station K7), playing the Hispanic host of a resort, very well I might add.
This is where I include a small TOME(tm) about Stanley Adams playing something other than the race he was born as: This was back when actors could play other races without a whole bunch of people yelling about it, although i feel it is actually preferable to assign racial parts to actors of the appropriate races-in the 60s I think it would be accurate to say that sometimes an actor of the proper ethnic persuasion was not available, and so there were many fine character actors like Stanley that could do these ethnic parts, to me it always represented the capacity and abilities of an actor that could play something other than what he was born as, and I think the Wachowski brothers/sisters turned this whole concept on its ear when they cast "Cloud Atlas" with a small group of actors playing different races, even different genders. This is why it does not bother me in the least that Stanley Adams represents a crooked Hispanic Host in this episode.
Otto Krueger, who at one time played a Sycophantic Nazi fifth columnist in Alfred Hitchcock's "Saboteur" is the judge in this hot mess, and he is coerced into making a poor decision about the temporary placement of the child named Button (Claire Wilcox).
But seething and writhing underneath these disparate plot lines is something very threatening: "Jirk" Blake's secretary "Naomi" (Lysa D'Anjou, who has very little information about her in IMDb) is getting more and more neurotic as the episode continues and none of us noticed this, not even Perry Mason.
Will Perry be able to stop something horrible from happening before the pressure cooker lid blows off and men with white coats show up to carry away a person as they start singing "they jiggle, they jiggle" and somebody is tragically hurt?
It is interesting to look at the shots where they have boats and docks, I wonder where this was filmed. I would swear some of these locations are San Diego.
Richard Donner directs this as Richard D Donner, this surprises me greatly as I never knew Donner as being a television director although he has directed several of my favorite movies and I even liked his "Timeline" from 2003. Actually that film appears to have been his last movie other than his fine Directors cut of Superman II. But this episode here, as an early work for this director, is very noticeable and very interesting.
I have no experience with children I'm a bachelor!
sol121824 November 2012
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS** Perry Mason, Rymond Burr, gets involved in a child custody case that leads to murder with a little bit of expensive Swiss watch smuggling on the side for good measure. It's little Button Blake, Claine Wilcox, that all the fuss in this Perry Mason episode is all about. Not that Button is so cute and adorable but that she's to inherit her grandpa's estate estimate to be worth four million dollars and everyone, but Button, wants to get their greedy hands on it. It's the unscrupulous and oily, as a can of sardines, yachtsman Vince Rome, Anthony Eisley, who came up with this plan to get his hands on Button's inheritance by blackmailing and marrying her mom Janice Blake, Julie Adams, in him framing her as being and unit mother. With Janice's estrange husband Dirk, Ed Nelson, trying to pay Rome off to keep the information about Janice, in her fooling around with other men and partying all night, out of the court record a fight ensues where Rome ends up shot to death on his yacht the "Blue Nymph".
You think right away that you already know who Rome's killer is, Dirk Blake, but as things turn out there's more to his murder then meets the eye. He was killed all right but only after the person who we were lead to believe killed him Dirk Blake, who only wounded Rome, left the scene and then someone else came on to the yacht and finished him off! Perry Mason who was reluctantly called into the case as a mediator in both Dirk & Janice custody battle over Button ends up defending Dirk in Rome's murder instead. There's the usual as well as unconnected side plot involving the late Rome's deckhand Cully Barsto, Mike Mazerki, and his good friend motel owner Poncho Morado, Stanley Adams, who are involved in some Swiss watch smuggling that just confuses things even more in what's the real issue in the cas, Who shot Vince Rome,is!
***SPOILERS*** The episode ends on a very unconventional note with the killer checking out of the courtroom just before Perry even has a chance to cross-examine him or her! Kidnapping Button and threatening to drop her to her death off a highway overpass Romer's killer finally breaks down and releases the terrified girl. That's when Perry's personal secretary Della Street, Barbara Hale, rushes over and knocks some common sense into his very disturbed head with some women or better yet motherly advice!
You think right away that you already know who Rome's killer is, Dirk Blake, but as things turn out there's more to his murder then meets the eye. He was killed all right but only after the person who we were lead to believe killed him Dirk Blake, who only wounded Rome, left the scene and then someone else came on to the yacht and finished him off! Perry Mason who was reluctantly called into the case as a mediator in both Dirk & Janice custody battle over Button ends up defending Dirk in Rome's murder instead. There's the usual as well as unconnected side plot involving the late Rome's deckhand Cully Barsto, Mike Mazerki, and his good friend motel owner Poncho Morado, Stanley Adams, who are involved in some Swiss watch smuggling that just confuses things even more in what's the real issue in the cas, Who shot Vince Rome,is!
***SPOILERS*** The episode ends on a very unconventional note with the killer checking out of the courtroom just before Perry even has a chance to cross-examine him or her! Kidnapping Button and threatening to drop her to her death off a highway overpass Romer's killer finally breaks down and releases the terrified girl. That's when Perry's personal secretary Della Street, Barbara Hale, rushes over and knocks some common sense into his very disturbed head with some women or better yet motherly advice!
Who has the Button?
bkoganbing22 November 2012
As we know Perry Mason never gets involved in divorce cases, that's a rule he's established for himself. But the late grandfather of Claire Wilcox who plays little Button Blake made her his heir and Perry Mason guardian of the fortune she has. Apparently grandfather neither liked his daughter Julie Adams or her now estranged husband Ed Nelson.
They're going through a divorce now and Raymond Burr is part of the action as guardian. Involved in everything is society yachtsman Anthony Eisley who is playing the villain like a stock company Snidely Whiplash. He'd like to marry Adams and get his mitts on the fortune. Eisley also has a couple of other illegal activities on the side as well. No one really mourns when he dies. But it's Nelson who is arrested and who becomes the Mason client.
Not one of the better episodes, especially since they pulled the culprit from way out of left field. As for Button Blake, one hopes that's just a nickname. I have a feeling that she'll grow up to be one screwed up kid.
They're going through a divorce now and Raymond Burr is part of the action as guardian. Involved in everything is society yachtsman Anthony Eisley who is playing the villain like a stock company Snidely Whiplash. He'd like to marry Adams and get his mitts on the fortune. Eisley also has a couple of other illegal activities on the side as well. No one really mourns when he dies. But it's Nelson who is arrested and who becomes the Mason client.
Not one of the better episodes, especially since they pulled the culprit from way out of left field. As for Button Blake, one hopes that's just a nickname. I have a feeling that she'll grow up to be one screwed up kid.
Here's hoping Season 8 improves
kfo94944 November 2011
I have never really like a story that deals with a small child in a middle of a nasty divorce. Most of the time, I end up feeling so sorry for the child I could give a care about the other people involved. In this episode, the first show of season 8, the whole ugly situation returns and I am left with a sick feeling in my gut.
Button- in the show is a small girl, maybe 7 years old, and her parents are going through a divorce. Things are so bad that the father, Dirk Blake (Ed Nelson of Peyton Place fame)has hired a person Vince Rome (Anthony Eisley) to find out where his wife, Janice Blake (Julie Adams) has been seeing and where she has been going. The twist here is the small child is set to inherit millions of dollars and now Vince is playing both sides of the fence hoping to cash in on who ever finally gets custody of the child.
This finally become the end of Vince Rome when he is murdered on his ship out in the lagoon. And a witness can identify the father, Dirk, on the boat about the time of the murder. Perry is to defend Dirk in court on the charge.
From then on we are mainly in the courtroom as Perry is calling witnesses by the dozens in order to get his client released from the charges. And you will see a lot of testimonial evidence has to do with the ship and the tide. This is interesting when reading a book but always seems to come across as confusing when just words on screen. Perhaps if they had went to the boat and let the viewer see the changing tide and location of the boat instead of a cartoon cut-out in court. But that did not happen.
In this episode the writes tried to make Perry come across as a sweet old softy that loves children. To me it appeared more like in the movie 'Frankenstein'- when the monster meets the child by the lake. It looked uncomfortable and some what robotic when the child grabs Perry by the hand.
One performance was so bad that i just had to mention. The secretary of Dirk Blake is Naomi Sutherland, played by Lysa D' Anjou. I looked up her name on the date base and it claims she was only appeared on TV twice. After looking at her performance in this episode - it was one time too many. In one scene she enters wearing something that may have been leather (it was in B&W) and tells Perry that Dirk, her boss, is innocent. That was one of the worse acting jobs I have ever seen. Why it was put into the show I will not understand. The only thing I can think of is that someone on the set designed the outfit so they had to get it on screen. The entire scene should have been left on the cutting room floor.
This episode is lacking. The shows have to get better in season 8. I feel they cannot get much worse.
Button- in the show is a small girl, maybe 7 years old, and her parents are going through a divorce. Things are so bad that the father, Dirk Blake (Ed Nelson of Peyton Place fame)has hired a person Vince Rome (Anthony Eisley) to find out where his wife, Janice Blake (Julie Adams) has been seeing and where she has been going. The twist here is the small child is set to inherit millions of dollars and now Vince is playing both sides of the fence hoping to cash in on who ever finally gets custody of the child.
This finally become the end of Vince Rome when he is murdered on his ship out in the lagoon. And a witness can identify the father, Dirk, on the boat about the time of the murder. Perry is to defend Dirk in court on the charge.
From then on we are mainly in the courtroom as Perry is calling witnesses by the dozens in order to get his client released from the charges. And you will see a lot of testimonial evidence has to do with the ship and the tide. This is interesting when reading a book but always seems to come across as confusing when just words on screen. Perhaps if they had went to the boat and let the viewer see the changing tide and location of the boat instead of a cartoon cut-out in court. But that did not happen.
In this episode the writes tried to make Perry come across as a sweet old softy that loves children. To me it appeared more like in the movie 'Frankenstein'- when the monster meets the child by the lake. It looked uncomfortable and some what robotic when the child grabs Perry by the hand.
One performance was so bad that i just had to mention. The secretary of Dirk Blake is Naomi Sutherland, played by Lysa D' Anjou. I looked up her name on the date base and it claims she was only appeared on TV twice. After looking at her performance in this episode - it was one time too many. In one scene she enters wearing something that may have been leather (it was in B&W) and tells Perry that Dirk, her boss, is innocent. That was one of the worse acting jobs I have ever seen. Why it was put into the show I will not understand. The only thing I can think of is that someone on the set designed the outfit so they had to get it on screen. The entire scene should have been left on the cutting room floor.
This episode is lacking. The shows have to get better in season 8. I feel they cannot get much worse.
The 4 Million Dollar Button
gkimmarygleim25 June 2019
Button's estranged parents should never have been allowed to have a child. By the middle of the episode you really dislike both of them. But what I'd like to add is that part of this episode was shot at Marina Del Rey. However this was a year or so before it was completely rebuilt into the present boat marina. In addition there is a drive-by shot of downtown LA's MacArthur Park, and a short scene over the Hollywood Freeway.
Lame as lame can be....
pmike-113127 April 2023
As usual, a convoluted, largely non-sensical story from the PM "writers". The stuff of supermarket tabloids and paperbacks, adding horrendous dialogue, poor direction, and mediocre-at-best acting.
This one lacks the usual ridiculous "courtroom confessions", the result of the overbearing pressure Perry puts on the perpetrator (LOL)- unfortunate, as it always brings about the heartiest of laughs. This one shows the PM writers going beyond their usual silliness and lack of legal or investigative procedure to give an especially badly conceived plot (with the usual horrible dialogue, bad acting, and ham-fisted direction). But, I DO get a bellyful of laughs from each episode.
This one lacks the usual ridiculous "courtroom confessions", the result of the overbearing pressure Perry puts on the perpetrator (LOL)- unfortunate, as it always brings about the heartiest of laughs. This one shows the PM writers going beyond their usual silliness and lack of legal or investigative procedure to give an especially badly conceived plot (with the usual horrible dialogue, bad acting, and ham-fisted direction). But, I DO get a bellyful of laughs from each episode.
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