The Case of the Prudent Prosecutor (30 Jan. 1960)

In a remote hunting and fishing village, Jefferson Pike tries to confront Denver Leonard, but Leonard refuses to see the old man. Pike steals a revolver from Leonard's car and shoots ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Ellis Miller

Writers:

Jackson Gillis, Erle Stanley Gardner (characters created by)

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 (credit only)
William Talman	...	District Attorney Hamilton Burger
Ray Collins	...	Lt. Arthur Tragg
Philip Bourneuf	...	Asa Culver
J. Pat O'Malley	...	Jefferson Pike
Barbra Fuller	...	Joan Leonard (as Barbara Fuller)
Ruta Lee	...	Vita Culver
Walter Coy	...	Denver Leonard
Dabbs Greer	...	Hal Kirkwood
Dennis Patrick	...	Prosecutor Darryl Teshman
Ron Foster	...	Fred Pike
Frank Albertson	...	Duck Hunter
S. John Launer	...	Judge

Storyline

In a remote hunting and fishing village, Jefferson Pike tries to confront Denver Leonard, but Leonard refuses to see the old man. Pike steals a revolver from Leonard's car and shoots himself in the leg, intending to implicate Leonard. Leonard's ranch foreman, Hal Kirkwood, helps Pike dress the wound. Pike's son, Fred, was once a professional ice skater, but was injured in a car accident and can no longer perform. Leonard accuses Fred of forging his name to checks to cover his medical expenses. Asa Culver, the angel for a new ice show, rightly suspects his wife Vita of carrying on with Leonard. Leonard is killed and Pike arrested. By coincidence, Pike's friend District Attorney Hamilton Burger is vacationing in the area. Burger calls Perry Mason to defend his friend and recuses himself from the case.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 January 1960 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Saddle Peak Lodge - 419 Cold Canyon Drive, Calabasas, 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

Burger Recuses

This episode of Perry Mason has William Talman recruiting clients for Raymond Burr. An old friend of Hamilton Burger who once saved his life is on trial for killing a neighbor Walter Coy who truth be told wasn't making much of a positive contribution to the species. He married Barbra Fuller and gained control of her ranch, he's carrying on with the married Ruta Lee who is married to the much older Philip Bourneuf. They're working a nice con on the old guy to star Lee in an Ice Review that Bourneuf will finance. Also involved in that is Ron Foster a former Olympic ice skater now sidelined permanently with injuries.

The last is the most important because Burr is representing J. Pat O'Malley who is Foster's father and who resents Coy's hold on Foster. There are a couple more suspects, but it's O'Malley that the cops settle on.

William Talman has to sit in the back of the courtroom and root for Perry Mason to win, a most unusual situation to say the least. Life does have some interesting twists even for Perry Mason. The prosecutor is Dennis Patrick, but Burr has no trouble handling him.

Nicely constructed story with an eventual murderer you won't think of at first.