User Reviews

As a child in the 1950s, I avoided watching the Perry Mason series because I found courtroom dramas boring, Now, decades later, and thanks to MeTV (which shows two episodes every weekday), Perry Mason is my favorite show on TV. Why? For one thing, the quality of the writing, direction and acting of the series regulars is first-rate. And while all 271 episodes basically follow the same format (the first-half hour sets up the whodunit and introduces a plentitude of characters who may or may not have 'dunit', the second-half resolves each generally baffling mystery in the courtroom via the dynamic warfare between the d.a. handling the case and the defense lawyer Perry Mason, whose clients are ALWAYS innocent). Most intriguing of all to me is the line-up of each episode's guest stars, usually a well-chosen mixture of fading stars of Hollywood's golden past, the finest of filmdom's 'character' actors and actresses, and the good-looking young male and gorgeous female newcomers of that particular era when the episode was filmed, only a few of whom were destined for future stardom. And while "The Case of Constance Doyle" may be one of the series' more uninspired hours (its confusing plot, lack of any genuine suspense and only very brief appearance of Perry Mason himself have been sufficiently covered by the other commentators), the outstanding performances of a trio of memorable actors at various stages of their careers make it an example of spellbinding TV that shouldn't be missed (hence, my highest rating of 10). First, of course, is the formidable Bette Davis (age 54,since the episode's early January 1963 telecast indicates it was filmed at the end of 1962). Fresh off the totally unexpected, huge success of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" the previous year, Ms. Davis got the career boost back into the A-list she hadn't enjoyed since 1950 and extended her expiration date by another 15 years. Via her delightfully candid, good-humored appearances on TV talk shows, Ms. Davis found herself beloved by a brand-new young audience (of the hip collegiate crowd) and gives a lovely, intelligent performance as a female lawyer Constant Doyle that remains one of her best--restrained, warm-hearted, sharp-tongued and witty simultaneously. Her newfound glow required a new kind of leading man--and she certainly got one in a handsome, strikingly talented 22-year-old newcomer Michael Parks. Already being promoted as "the new James Dean" and sneeringly put down by another character in the show as a "juvenile delinquent", Parks was neither and he hit it off so beautifully with his co-star that Ms. Davis happily told the press that he was "the finest young actor in America". Another person here commented that he found it cringeworthy that Ms. Davis acted like what today is called a "cougar" by the way she often touched one of Parks' broad shoulders or gave him (her client) $20 after tenderly brushing his hair across his forehead and ordering him to "get a haircut". In the final scene, she even playfully swats his behind. Please! This was 1963. And. Ms. Davis' maternal affection for this misjudged young fellow, and his admission that he had once met her late husband provided one of the clues needed for her to prove his innocence. It was obvious that Michael Parks was headed for movie & TV superstardom and, a few years later, when his casting as Adam in the much-hyped "The Bible" provided moviegoers with the first glimpse of male nudity since Hollywood's pre-code days (his impressive physique led to even more favorable newspaper headlines), the now 28-year-old was confirmed as the most popular actor of the time with his casting as the motorcycle-riding hero of the smash-hit TV series "And Then Came Bronson". But as the Vietnam War raged on, Parks objected to the show's producers' intention to make the show much more violent and stood his ground. As a result, the show was cancelled, Parks was fired on the grounds that he was "difficult" to work with, and by his 30th birthday, he found himself broke, washed-up and, worst of all, blackballed. (Check out his IMDb page to find out how he is faring today.) The third actress to find her participation in this PM episode a mixed blessing is Peggy Ann Garner. Probably the most talented and natural child actor of the 1940s, Ms. Garner was honored with a special miniature Oscar for her incandescent portrayal of the child of a kind, loving, but alcoholic father through whose eyes we see "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", followed by her moneymaking and still-delightful teenage comedies as "Junior Miss" and "Home Sweet Homicide". 15 years later, Ms. Garner had not made the kind of transition from child to young adult sweetheart that her studio 20th Century-Fox had hoped for and, at 30, was reduced to playing guest roles of diminishing quality such as her one in "Constant Doyle". Nevertheless, she imbues her one scene in the courtroom as a ravaged alcoholic with heartbreaking honesty. A decade later, she was dead. The above comments are the reasons I believe the current revival of classic and not-so-classic TV shows of the past so popular on such cable channels as MeTV and Antenna and GetTV. Even if the particular episode of a series you're watching is not one of the best, stay tuned anyway, and watch the end credits. If there's an actor listed in the credits who may not be one of the stars, but perhaps looks vaguely familiar or captures your attention at first glance, jot down the name and look the person up on the IMDb website and see what's become of them. And cross your fingers while you're at it.

It was such a treat to tune into Perry Mason and see one of my favorite actresses - Bette Davis - in the lead role. Perry only shows up briefly in this episode (Raymond Burr was having surgery). Bette plays a widowed lawyer who defends a young client with the help of Paul Drake. It's a typical Perry Mason case with a big courtroom scene and some shocking reveals. Bette gives a wonderful Emmy worthy performance! There were so few female lawyers on TV in the 60s. I just wish someone had given her a spin off series.

And Acting. She was such a precise actress, every move, every inflection calculated for best effect, the consummate professional.

These four Perry Mason episodes, filmed when Raymond Burr was ill, mark the era of the "guest defence army", these were allegedly friends of Perry Mason who were just as good as he was although sometimes their fields of law we're not exactly the same as Perry's.

I have to correct something though, somebody maintained that Bette Davis got "special billing" in this episode, as it turned out all of the guest lawyers for the next three episodes got the same special billing. Next weeks guest lawyer was Dr. Morbius from forbidden planet. 🌎

This is the first of four very interesting episodes, and the ending of this one certainly has an unexpected twist. But, it was kind of expected because of a certain person's actions and speech. Usually in Perry Mason episodes when we have a person who acts and speaks like this, it is a MacGuffin, it is a distraction to keep our attention away from the real murderer. But this time, we are able to zero in on the murderer due to some clever clues.

What boggles me here is that this defendant, this kid was Michael Parks! Very young and very handsome. Michael Parks from many Quentin Tarantino movies, where he plays not only a southwest sheriff but also a Mexican drug lord in the same movie. That is if you watch the entire four hour special edition of that film. I believe he is also in "planet terror" playing the same sheriff.

But here he is, maybe this is one of his very first acting jobs and he is good, he is amazingly good and you can see the chemistry between old timer pro Bette and this young, brazen kid. It was magic. It was the birth of something incredible.

Of course the episode is filled with our standard guest stars that we used to see on Bewitched, I dream of Jeannie, or Batman, I recognize the deputy from "the case of the violent village"- I was halfway expecting to see Sergeant Landro in this, but he only shows up when they go out toward the desert.

I was hoping that dear Bette would show up in more episodes, but alas, that was never to be... this was a special thing during a time when Raymond was recovering from an operation, but the cool thing here was that they actually filmed him in the hospital.

These four special episodes weren't the last time that we had guest-lawyers, there were a couple of other special defenders that would show up occasionally, but this was the only time that we had four major and wonderful guest lawyers in a row.

Perry's under the weather for this episode and he is only in two scenes, both telephone conversations with guest star Bette Davis and he's in a sickbed. In fact Bette is no doubt the biggest guest star that series ever had. She even got special billing at the beginning of the show.

Raymond Burr maybe under the weather, but he lends the trusty assistance of William Hopper and Barbara Hale to Davis. She's a widow and during her marriage was the partner of her husband. When Michael Parks who did a good impersonation of James Dean in his career is caught breaking and entering a plant, this looks like a simple case of juvenile delinquency.

Parks was on a mission though, he believes the owner of said plant cheated his father out of an invention he designed. Later on Jerry Oddo who worked there and is a cousin of Parks is killed with Parks on the premises. In fact he was caught and detained by Paul Drake.

Davis defends him in court and proves that Raymond Burr is not the only capable of defeating William Talman. I do have to say that the actual murderer was one truly dragged out of left field.

The presence of Bette Davis makes this an episode worth watching, but it's far from the best Mason story out there.

Bette Davis is mugging for the camera throughout this entire episode. I know she is a great lady of cinema, but her character here is kind of tiresome and pompous. The case itself is uninteresting. The boy here is another one of those stereotypical TV delinquents.

I am sure that many people are going to love this episode just because the incredible Betty Davis plays the lead character in this show. And yes, she does an outstanding job playing the widow lawyer that defends a young man on murder charges. But the show was actually lackluster. The best part of the show was the last ten minutes when Ms Davis (Constant Doyle) breaks the case in open court but how we get to the real killer is what is called 'writers TV magic'.

The story is more complicated than needed as Constant Doyle (Ms Davis) defends a young, Carl Leonard, of murder when he is found stumbling over the dead man by none other than Paul Drake. But it is not a regular boy inside Carl Leonard, he is nearly a savant as he can remember numbers like he is some kind of 'Rain Man'.

This will be of most importance as Constant gets close to the end of the trial with things looking bleak. It will be Carl's magic with numbers and a use of a raincoat that will bring the case to a close.

Betty Davis was terrific as the woman lawyer who also had a small stake in the case. But it was everything in-between that was slow and complicated. Enjoyed watching Ms Davis take on the big boys at the court house but one time may be enough. Yet, we have three more weeks before Raymond Burr will return to take his rightful place as the lead defendant's lawyer on the series.

PM is always poorly written with ridiculous and often convoluted plots and the worst excuse for dialogue in TV history. The acting in midling at-best, not helped by the ham-fisted direction this show is known for. Now, add a old, overacting, well-past-her-prime Bette Davis and you've got a real laugh-fest that gets old within minutes.

Her "style" of acting worked well in the heyday of Hollywood (40s and 50s), but was visibly outdated by this time and didn't work well on the small screen anyway. If you didn't know who she was, you'd think her to be a joke here (I do, anyway).

Think I'll go watch Ozzie & Harriet on another channel. No great actors there either, but then they're not pretending to be.