Perry Mason (TV Series) The Case of the Missing Melody (1961) User Reviews

Jazz and society

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 24 July 2012]

The world of jazz and society barely mix and they have a rough go in this Perry Mason episode. Jo Morrow leaves James Drury at the altar with a lot of questions and Drury who is a jazz pianist turns to Perry Mason for answers.

Composer Grant Richards who has a nice sideline in blackmail and who has designs on Morrow in the best Snidely Whiplash tradition, is doing his thing with Morrow because he has incriminating pictures involving her underage sister. When Richards turns up dead, Drury is suspected.

Good thing Perry Mason and the team were on the job which included young Karl Held who was a law student who Raymond Burr had defended in an earlier episode. Held was added on to the show for a while to attract younger viewers, but he was kind of like a fifth wheel and didn't last long.

One really nice treat was Constance Towers who came to films after musicals had run their course gets to sing a couple of nice standards like The Man I Love and The Thrill Is Gone. That's reason enough to watch this Mason episode.

The Scourge of Bongo Music Foretold

[BigSkyMax · 8/10 · 25 April 2016]

Once again a Perry Mason episode leads the charge in the cultural wars, warning of the perils of bongo music to our Youth.

This episode features another PM appearance by jazzman Bobby Troup, this time playing a Beatnik character named "Bongo" if you can believe it. He smokes cigarettes too, letting them dangle suggestively from his lips. I wonder what that means? And he calls everybody "baby." Ugh.

Anyway, our heroine, innocent, pure Polly Courtland, played by the luscious Jo Morrow, is beguiled into trying to marry a hipster, one Eddy/Eddie King (James Drury, shortly before his ramrod ride as The Virginian). She wisely dodges him, only to be later entangled in the murder of a degenerate musician, one George Sherwin. What music do we hear in the background as Polly flees the murder scene? Bongo music of course! Do you need it spelled out for you?

The forces of law and order, in the person of Lt. Tragg, arrest Eddie, who then becomes Perry's client. There is some confusion as to who was trying to blackmail Polly's father, a wealthy businessman as always. That should be a warning to you too. You never read about anybody blackmailing poor people.

Perry uses one of his favorite tricks on the prosecution by sending a similar but different young lady to "test the recollection of a witness."

"A typical attempt to throw dust in the prosecution's eyes," thunders Hamilton Burger. But the liberal judge lets it slide. Why does Mason always get away with this?

There are several traps laid bare for our youth to see in this show. French cigarettes. Young ladies with uncovered heads tossing 'bones' with gamblers. Photographs. Fins on automobiles. Walter Burke.

But in the end, the murderer is exactly who you think it should be- someone degraded by years of listening to bongo music. There's no melody to such trash, hence our episode's title. If only we had listened, the Vietnam War and so many other disasters could have been avoided.

We need a president like Perry Mason who would build a wall between decent Americans and bongo music. He'd make the Beatniks pay for it too!

Some messages here for contemporary politics

[ebertip · 8/10 · 6 November 2020]

The actions of the episode revolve around compromising pictures of the daughter of a prominent politician Templeton Courtland. The episode begins with said daughter about to married to jazz musician Eddy King (played by James Drury, later to be the "Virginian".) Daughter runs away from ceremony, having seen evil George Sherman the blackmailer. One irony, understated in the episode, was that Sherman was motivated by a $25k bounty put out by gambler Jack Grabba (ably played by Walter Burke) for "dirt" on Courtland. But Grabba had scruples and would not use such material related to a family member. Sherman already figures he can get more than $25k on his own. Sherman is murdered; Eddy King is charged and Perry defends. Another understated point is the lack of credibility assigned to the identification testimony of the old janitor Mr. Boysen as to Jonny Baker (played by Contance Towers). If Boysen were believed, the case would have immediately pivoted. Old people are presumed incompetent. Instead the judge (played by. Frederick Worlock) called Perry in for an ex parte chat. That chat led to some unusual evidence presentations later. Berger was not informed of this, which was improper. The chat did keep the pictures from being presented as evidence. One implausible part of the story was why the tape was not destroyed. The reason given was unbelievable. In the episode, Perry has a gun pulled on him by Bongo White, only to be saved by Paul. The David Gideon character is in the episode. Also the Jonny character tells Della that she should be in show business.

Youth perils of the 1950s

[albo-23025 · 3 January 2017]

A couple of days after I watched this episode, the same channel (METV) ran an episode of Our Miss Brooks that featured the dangers of the Mambo. There were rumors going around that crazy dancing and music were the main attraction at the local malt shop, and Miss Brooks went undercover to investigate. Yep, the "yutes" were flinging themselves around with wild abandon. (The dancers in the malt shop were amazing, and obviously professionals, although what they were doing didn't look like my idea of the Mambo -- more like Jitterbug -- but what the heck.)

The Mambo disease had even spread to the Lady's Auxiliary -- which was raided by the police (on suspicion of Mamboing), and the school principal's wife was arrested.

Them were the days!

Bongo Cool

[darbski · 10/10 · 29 September 2017]

**SPOILERS** Loved it. One of my favorite actors is Bobby Troup. In this one he plays a conga-bongo player called "Bongo White". He played a pot smoking composer/piano player in "The Jaded Joker". He actually WAS a composer/pianist; well known and respected for imaginative compositions, one of which is "Route 66". He was married to Julie London, a seriously beautiful, and very talented jazz/torch vocalist who had an acting and singing career right along side Bobby's. She could have easily played the part of Johny, only for real. The music in this episode could have actually been Bobby's, too. Coolest of the Cool. The bongos/congas look like Gon Bops; some of the very best top quality drums in the business.

Walter Burke plays a businessman/gambler in this one; another great actor who can play any role he's given, and another episode with Bobby.

Perry actually conspires with the judge to introduce taped testimony that gets Johny to confess, but really, it could have been part of his defense case. Bongo was trying to protect Johny (pronounced Joanie), when Paul knocks him down, saving the evidence of the murder. Now, if I was prosecuting the case, I'd have Bongo take a rap for concealing evidence, get his truthful testimony in the record, and give him probation. He actually didn't know about the tape, so my case would be weak, but his testimony strong against her. He'll walk.

Johny, though? well, the tape clearly has her warning Sherwin to stay away from her, and them struggling over the gun. That's probably Man 2. She'll face another charge for the cover-up, and concealing evidence, but I'd wash that in exchange for a guilty plea on the Manslaughter charge. Again; she didn't go there to kill him, and these trials can be expensive... Man 2.

Midge (Polly's sister; the cause of the extortion problem), needs a verbal spanking for being so foolish. Polly may be wealthy, but she's too dumb to get a lawyer over the extortion, let her marry the piano player. He's actually smart, and honest, maybe he'll keep her out of trouble. Enid, who had an unspecified position in the Courtland household, but was obviously dirty and disloyal? So long, traitor; don't expect references, right? BUT WAIT!! Does anyone but the audience actually KNOW anything about Enid's involvement in anything? With Sherwin croaked, her part in anything is dimly hazy, at best. She might just skate on her dirty deeds; if she plays it cool.... sneaky, huh? Sometimes, life is like that, isn't it?

Found the Missing Melody

[turtlebackstudio · 6/10 · 6 April 2022]

The female singer has to be the basis for the episode title. Really bad. And that stupid off key last note. Jeezz not a bad story otherwise. Just lousy singer.

Put that thing down! It might go off!

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 10 November 2012]

***SPOLIERS*** It's when the bride Polly Courtland, Jo Morrow, freaked out and charged out of the church where she was to be married to jazz pianist Eddy King, James Drury, that it became apparent that something was bothering her. Something so stressful in that it was connected to both her kid sister Midge, Lorrine Richards, and her pop religious reformer Tempelton Courtland, Graham Denton. A number of shocking photos popped up of the 17 year old Midge in a secret envelope that Polly was handed prior to her aborted wedding ceremony that caused her to suffer an emotional meltdown. It was Midge who was tricked into being in a number of compromising positions at a Las Vegas motel casino that were secretly photographed. It's those photos of Midge that will destroy Tempelton's life long crusade to put an end to the gambling establishment in the state in it trying to get laws passed to make gambling legal. It, the photos, can also very well cause the old man to suffer a massive heart attack and drop dead as well in showing his underage daughter Midge rolling dice at the crap tables!

The person who had the incriminating photos and planned to use them music composer George Sherwin,Grant Richards, is later found shot to death in his pad with Polly being spotted running from the scene just prior to him getting it! The fact that Eddy was also there made it seems as if Sherwins' murder was a conspiracy, by Eddy & Polly, to knock him off and cover up the evidence of them doing it. It's later that Perry Mason, Raymond Burr,who was Polly's defense attorney came up with a vital piece of evidence, a spool of audio tape, that was left at the scene,that the police confiscated, by the killer that can not only clear both Polly and Eddy of Sherwin's murder but actually uncover whom his real killer was!

***SPOILERS*** Using the miracle of modern 20th century electronics Perry was able to expose Sherwin's killer without even the use of cross-examination. As the missing tape was played to a hushed courtroom Sherwin's killer broke down and confessed his or her crime. A crime that stemmed from more out of misguided love then anything else! The love that the killer expected but never got from the dead as a doornail George Sherwin.

The music, especially the singing, is AWFUL!!!

[dbrandt-73848 · 3/10 · 7 April 2024]

My wife and I are Perry Mason devotees, at least of the Raymond Burr variety. We have watched the entire encyclopedia of episodes, multiple times-multiple of multiple times. We can't get enough of Perry! Except for a very few episodes, they all meet our seal of approval. One of those exceptions is the third episode from Season 5. Up until tonight, we have never made it past the jazz wedding opening. Gauche is one way to describe the music and wedding march. Tacky is another. But our disdain tonight for that segment after watching the entire episode is nothing compared to the horror we experienced from the painful singing voice of Miss Baker. Truly grating on the nerves. We're glad that such musical monstrosities are very few and far between in Mason episodes. Otherwise, we may have never become devotees.

Jazzed-up Wedding March

[jeffhanna3 · 3/10 · 10 November 2018]

Interesting episode featuring the always reliably hard-edged toughie Andrea King and handsome young Karl Held as David Gideon. The very unusual opening sequence of a church wedding is notable because the wonderful jazz guitarist Barney Kessel and his trio play lightly swinging versions of "Oh Promise Me," and "Here Comes the Bride." Who would've thought that such stodgy old standards could be delightfully swung by masterful jazz artists?

Not hearing friendly

[fybamgd · 1/10 · 23 November 2021]

This episode had too much of a woman singing and she had a terrible voice. I gave up after15 minutes😕wish the producers could have had a better singer than the one they used.