"Perry Mason" The Case of the Scandalous Sculptor (1964)

Director:

Jack Arnold

Writers:

Erle Stanley Gardner (characters created by)
Philip Saltzman (written by)

TV Series:

"Perry Mason" (1957)

Original Air Date:

8 October 1964 (Season 8, Episode 3)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Perry Mason defends Mona Stanton Harvey who is accused of murdering her sculptor-husband's model, Bonnie...

Plot Keywords:

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

Cast

Raymond Burr	...	Perry Mason
Barbara Hale	...	Della Street
William Hopper	...	Paul Drake
William Talman	...	Hamilton Burger
Ray Collins	...	Lt. Tragg (credit only)
Wesley Lau	...	Lt. Andy Anderson
June Lockhart	...	Mona Stanton Harvey
Stuart Erwin	...	Everett Stanton
Sue Ane Langdon	...	Bonnie
Sean McClory	...	Hannibal Harvey
Dan Tobin	...	Dickens
Nydia Westman	...	Ivy Stanton
Simon Scott	...	Rex Ainsley
Carlos Romero	...	Nonno Volente
Isabel Randolph	...	Lottie Porter
Willis Bouchey	...	Judge
Jonathan Hole	...	Whitey
Ellen Atterbury	...	Secretary
Ralph Manza	...	Yard Man
Frances Morris	...	Matron
Don Washbrook	...	Messenger
Don Anderson	...	Bartender
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shirley Mitchell	...	Mrs. Banks (uncredited)
Robert Wegner	...	Door Bailiff (uncredited)

Directed by
Jack Arnold

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Erle Stanley Gardner		characters created by
Philip Saltzman		written by

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

Original Music by
Richard Shores

Cinematography by
John M. Nickolaus Jr.		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Richard W. Farrell

Casting by
Harvey Clermont

Art Direction by
Lewis H. Creber		(as Lewis Creber)

Set Decoration by
Carl Biddiscombe

Makeup Department
Annabell	....	hair stylist
Irving Pringle	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gordon A. Webb	....	assistant director

Art Department
Ray Thompson	....	properties

Sound Department
Herman Lewis	....	production sound mixer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Evelyn Carruth	....	wardrobe supervisor
Edward McDermott	....	wardrobe supervisor (as Ed McDermott)

Music Department
Herschel Burke Gilbert	....	music supervisor
Richard Shores	....	conductor
Fred Steiner	....	composer: theme music

Other crew
Samuel Newman	....	story consultant
George Rutter	....	script supervisor (as George A. Rutter)

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:

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

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Near the end of the final scene, when Sean McClory is saying goodbye to Perry Mason and Paul Drake, he accidentally says, "Goodbye, Ray" (referring to actor Raymond Burr). Then he catches himself and quickly says, "Goodbye."

This is a complete mess

After seven seasons I can understand the writing getting stale. In this episode we have another blackmail situation that has been at the center of Perry episodes since day one. So the trick is to find different ways, with different characters, to write a interesting 'Perry Mason' show. They failed.

Here is a complex way of summing up this forgettable episode- A guy blackmails himself because he is being blackmailed and an innocent person is caught in the middle. That is the plot.

A sculptor, Hannibal Harvey (Sean McClory) is married to Mona Harvey (June Lockhart) who happens to be away visiting a sick friend. Hannibal is using a ditsy blond named Bonnie (Sue Ane Langdon) as a model in his most recent sculptor and he uses her to blackmail himself. Thus he gets money from his wife's business to actually pay the real blackmailers that has love letters from his previous girlfriend.

When Mona arrives home she finds the blackmail note and goes to see Bonnie. Well, Bonnie ends up dead and all fingers point to Mona. And Perry is left to defend her as the courtroom fight begins.

The acting in this episode is highly suspect. I thought Sean McClory , that played Hannibal, was on methamphetamines. He was all over the stage trying to play a part that was over his head. His acting might have been good at the local community stage play but for a cast in an series well out-played. And for the blond Bonnie with that high-pitched, chalk-board annoying voice made me glad that she was the murder victim.

The show settled down we we got to the courtroom with Perry and Hamilton Burger battling. But again went to pot when we got a real silly confession on the witness stand. Without the slightest evidence, a person confesses to the murder just because Perry said that he was guilty. By this time, there was little interest in finding anyone guilty or innocent only ending this poor performance.

The only good thing I have to say about the episode is June Lockhart. She does another find job in making her character interesting and believable.

Here is hoping for better shows down the road.