User Reviews

Robert C Dennis, veteran writer of many TV scripts for a lot of series wrote this one about the creator of a comic strip being killed. There are quite a few suspicious circumstances around the death. Especially noteworthy is the guest appearance of one Victor Buono. Burr & Buono facing off is a pretty worthy exchange to watch.

The creator of the script runs off with the cartoonist girlfriend which gets Mason involved at a party breaking up a fight. The jealousy escalates into murder. This one includes a courtroom confession. The creator tries to sell the strip to the cartoonist to make up for running off with his girlfriend. The sale doesn't work out too well when he is killed before he can make the sale.

**SPOILERS** It's always interesting watching one creep getting outcreeped. Dead guy Otto Gevaert is seen only as a guy wearing a black sweatshirt, 501s, and Converse hi-tops; very cool. The plot's been covered by other reviewers, so I'll just talk about Victor Buono repudiating almost everyone, including himself.

I'm also gonna just say that the other star is Arlene Martel (Fiona Cregan). There are words, of course, but how to center on which ones to use in describing the naughty, hot, little Beatnik she plays in this twisted tale of greed and cheating are really sexist. Also, she was the other end of the double sex triangle Otto/Gabe was indulging himself in. She was the definition of COOL here, her disinterest shows rather plainly that she'll have zero problems replacing her absent lover, so-long idiot. She's a sweetheart.

Victor, of course, does what he's legendary for; dialogue. He "repudiates" right and left, making everything trivial. On the stand, I thought Perry was gonna fix him with a murder, but when he saw how little was involved, there was no chance. I don't think they'll even burn him on perjury or transporting a body/removing evidence, if he testifies in the second trial. Richard Erdman plays Taxman/Killer, and he does his usual terrific job of capturing the part perfectly. Not really hard to believe his confession, either; he probably realized the ship was sinking. Won't help. He lured Pete up to Port Harmony to set him up. Murder One.

Dead creep drives a sweet Mercedes 300SL convertible, a VERY pricey full-out sports car; the envy of everyone except Jaguar and Ferrari back in the day. The last scene is Pete looking in Fiona's direction. If he doesn't take Paul's advice, she chop him up for fish bait. (R.I.P. Ms Martel) You're missed :(

Lots of unresolved red herrings in this episode. Why did PM's client drive to Port Harmony that night if he didn't know about the victim's double life? Two shots but how many were found in victim? How did killer get hands on victim's gun?

Didn't like PM's smarmy joke about landlady's age, as though he couldn't imagine such an old dinosaur had ever driven a car.

***SPOILERS**** Confusing as well as typical "Perry Mason", Raymond Burr, episode with Perry trying to figure out who murdered cartoonist Gabe Phillips, Mark Roberts, whom his client Pete Manders,Wynn Pearce, is accused of knocking off. It soon turns out-No surprise at all if you read the episode's credits-that Phillips has been leading a double life as the beatnik like Otto Grevaert in the artist colony town of Port Harmony on the Pacific Coast. It's when Perry discoverers Phillips secret identity he soon realized that this was all done by Phillips to avoid paying taxes as well as skip out of the country to far off Majorca with his girlfriend Leslie Lawrence, Pamela Curren,who was Phillips' best friend and fellow cartoonist Peter Manders' lover! This lead to an altercation between Manders and Phillips at a going away party where he got punched out by an outraged Manders.

With Manders now left hanging out to dry Perry checks out the late Phillips tax returns and his sudden reason to retire from the business, as a cartoonist, before the IRS finds out that he's been cheating on his taxes as well. This leads to his double life back in Port Harmony as the mysterious Otto Grevaert whom we, the audience, only get to see from behind as if he were a major historical figure- like a founder of a major religion or an American President- whenever he appears on the screen.

***SPOILERS**** It's was Phillips decision to quit his job as a $100,000.00-That's well over a million in 2017 dollars-a year cartoonist not his affair with Leslie that in fact lead to his murder. We also get to see here the late great Victor Buono as the town philosopher and beatnik Alexander Glovatski who spends almost all his time sitting on the beach watching the waves roll in and out and taking in the fresh sea air. It's the dirt poor Glovatski-who lives off other peoples hand outs- who despite making a big deal out of how he has no need for money who did take $500.00 from Phillips' killer to hide the evidence, Phillips's dead body, of his crime!