Perry Mason 

The cases of a master criminal defense attorney, handling the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.

Creator:

Erle Stanley Gardner

Stars:

Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, William Hopper

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Raymond Burr	...	Perry Mason / ... 271 episodes, 1957-1966
Barbara Hale	...	Della Street 271 episodes, 1957-1966
William Hopper	...	Paul Drake 271 episodes, 1957-1966
Ray Collins	...	Police Lt. Arthur Tragg 241 episodes, 1957-1965
William Talman	...	Hamilton Burger / ... 225 episodes, 1957-1966
Don Anderson	...	Courtroom Spectator / ... 128 episodes, 1957-1966
Lee Miller	...	Police Sgt. Brice / ... 119 episodes, 1957-1966

Storyline

Perry Mason is an attorney who specializes in defending seemingly indefensible cases. With the aid of his secretary Della Street and investigator Paul Drake, he often finds that by digging deeply into the facts, startling facts can be revealed. Often relying on his outstanding courtroom skills, he often tricks or traps people into unwittingly admitting their guilt.

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Plot Keywords:

attorney | defense | courtroom | legal drama | verdict | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 September 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Perry Mason

Filming Locations:

Chaplin Studios - 1416 N. La Brea Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

CBS Television Network, Paisano Productions, TCF Television Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min (271 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Episode 9.21) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Initially, when Raymond Burr was selected for the role of Perry Mason he was sixty pounds overweight. Burr then went on a crash diet and lost a considerable amount of weight, and that helped him earn the role.

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Goofs

In the episode "Case of the Crying Comedian", actress Sue Ane Langdon is seen sitting at the bar, then she comes down the stairs and moments later is seen sitting at the bar again.

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Quotes

Hamilton Burger: Incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial!

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Connections

Referenced in Rocky and His Friends: The Ruby Yacht: Parts 5-6 (1963)

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Soundtracks

Park Avenue Beat
(uncredited)
Written by Fred Steiner
(series theme)

User Reviews

Still on, in monochrome

Bear in mind that Perry Mason and I Love Lucy are the only black & white programs still showing in syndication on broadcast television.

Also note that Law and Order (the original series) took the same first half investigation/second half in the courtroom format, except of course doing it from the perspective of the forces of repression (cops & D. A.s).

Caveat Emptor: The episodes available for broadcast syndication are often (especially the earlier seasons, when network shows ran several minutes longer than now) edited, and the Hallmark Channel showings (when P. M. was running there) were even more edited. Anyone who'd like to know what's been cut should visit www.storrer.com and go to the esg/perrymason page therein. Dr. Storrer obviously has too much time on his hands, as he has written detailed synopses of every single episode, and kindly made them available to all through the miracle (being sarcastic here) of the information superhighway.

One last note: Many others who've commented here refer to the fine B&W cinematography, but it seems as if every night exterior was shot day for night, which I always find highly amusing, especially when they almost always throw crickets on the soundtrack, just in case we can't figure out it's supposed to be night.