While this is the last of the original Perry Mason series, I would not call it the strongest episode. This final fade out plays some things fast and loose with an interesting guest cast cast, and some very staged production shots.
Still, this is a satisfying ending to a classic series which established court room drama for many other series to come. Raymond Burr's Mason is a little calmer in this episode. He doesn't seem on his mark in grilling witnesses in the court room. William Talman's Hamilton Burger is in good form.
The story is OK though not one of the best scripts in the series. The biggest surprise to me is Denver Pyle who seems to be totally different in this role as one of the two murder victims. It is his face I recognized as he used a different voice in this episode.
William Hopper and Barbara Hale are in decent form here though it appears Paul Drake has little to do in this episode. Still, you can feel that this is a send off for a wrap party after the shoot. Estelle Windwood who would go on to live to be 101, was already around 80 and looks it here.
In a way, Dick Clark plays a shifty middle level movie executive. While the shifty is out of character for him, the executive type is not far from his emcee persona. Still, this is one of the few times that you find Clark being an actor instead of himself, the host.
It would be another successful Ironside series before Raymond Burr would get back into the Mason character. Long before that happens, both William Hopper and William Talman would be dead. This episode is an appropriate way to bid them a fond farewell.
Still, this is a satisfying ending to a classic series which established court room drama for many other series to come. Raymond Burr's Mason is a little calmer in this episode. He doesn't seem on his mark in grilling witnesses in the court room. William Talman's Hamilton Burger is in good form.
The story is OK though not one of the best scripts in the series. The biggest surprise to me is Denver Pyle who seems to be totally different in this role as one of the two murder victims. It is his face I recognized as he used a different voice in this episode.
William Hopper and Barbara Hale are in decent form here though it appears Paul Drake has little to do in this episode. Still, you can feel that this is a send off for a wrap party after the shoot. Estelle Windwood who would go on to live to be 101, was already around 80 and looks it here.
In a way, Dick Clark plays a shifty middle level movie executive. While the shifty is out of character for him, the executive type is not far from his emcee persona. Still, this is one of the few times that you find Clark being an actor instead of himself, the host.
It would be another successful Ironside series before Raymond Burr would get back into the Mason character. Long before that happens, both William Hopper and William Talman would be dead. This episode is an appropriate way to bid them a fond farewell.