User Reviews

The story involves a woman that was married for a short time to a man that left her. Later she gets a wire saying that he had died and she moves on with her life. After she remarries, she finds out that her first husband is still alive. Now she is paying blackmail money to a rough to keep the whole affair away from her second husband. -- Maybe it is me but why did she not tell her second husband about her previous life's path or why did she just not tell him that she was being blackmailed? But then again we would not have a case for Perry to defend it everything was that easy.

The woman, Rhoda Reynolds, is now married to Carl Reynolds and one evening she sneaks out of the house to meet her blackmail agent, Arthur (Artie) Kane. During the meeting a scuffle breaks out but Rhoda is saved by a ring from the door-bell. The next thing we know is that Artie is dead and Rhoda is the suspect. Tragg will spend little time before issuing a murder warrant on Rhoda and Perry will have a client to defend.

Even though the episode is full with likely candidates who might have wanted Artie dead, there was not that much guessing to the real murderer. The best thing about the episode is the way Perry , ever so slyly, uses the rules of evidence to place doubt in the juror's head. It's a situation that will have Hamilton Burger wanting Perry to testify to the Grand Jury concerning tampering with evidence. But Perry will have one more ace card to play that obviously will have Burger steaming.

Be it the fictional Perry Mason or be it real life attorneys I'm sure they all get clients who initially come up asking questions in the abstract about a situation they're themselves in. In this episode Raymond Burr inherits Christine White as a client that way.

White is now married to Casey Adams who is the son of wealthy John Hoyt who doesn't like his daughter-in-law a bit. And she's being blackmailed by Michael Emmett her former husband that she thought dead. So when Emmett winds up dead there are other suspects including those already mentioned and a girlfriend for Emmett, the voluptuous Peggy Maley.

A little legal legerdemain happens in court as Burr makes a monkey out of Hamilton Burger involving a doorbell and a clock with a witness's recall. Poor William Talman was left with an omelet on his face.

I have to say I guessed wrong here as to the real murderer. That for me is a good Perry Mason episode.

Rhoda Reynolds has just married Carl Reynolds who is the son of a wealthy man, Philip Reynolds (John Hoyt), who despises her, probably because this marriage was the first time Carl stepped out from the shadow of dad and thought for himself.

Rhoda has been paying blackmail money to her first husband whom she never divorced because she had been told he was dead. It's clear this guy is not going away until he bleeds her dry. One night in the middle of the night Rhoda goes to let her first husband know she can't get the money he wants now. He threatens to take a family heirloom off of her finger in payment. The scene switches to a neighboring apartment where the scuffle wakes the resident who calls the police. When the police arrive, they find Rhoda's first husband, Arthur Kaine, has been murdered. They quickly trace things back to Rhoda and she is arrested for the murder. Perry is on the case.

Considerable time is spent on some games that Perry Mason plays with a doorbell to the victim's apartment. Specifically, he muddies the water as to whether it was a buzzer or a bell, and if it was a bell, was what was heard in fact an alarm clock? None of this clears Rhoda of guilt, but it does cast doubt on how reliable a crucial prosecution witness is, which infuriates D. A. Hamilton Berger.

I'm not sure why Berger tried Rhoda for first degree murder rather than second, degree because any sentencing portion of the trial would definitely show the victim up as an unconscionable liar and blackmailer who was constantly menacing Rhoda, probably winning her the sympathy of the jury.

This same Perry Mason mystery was made into a movie in 1935 by Warner Brothers and directed by Michael Curtiz. It is interesting to compare Warren Williams' light-hearted interpretation of the role of Perry Mason versus Raymond Burr's more dramatic presentation. That film had Erroll Flynn in his second American film in a bit part as a corpse.

Once again a blackmailer gets wasted as he is dealing with his victim. This time it's a new bride who did something in the past that would destroy her marriage to a weak kneed guy who has an overbearing father. The legalities of the case are a little cloudy. Perry uses more histrionics than usual. Not the best episode, but OK.

The curious bride is Rhoda Reynolds married to a son of a wealthy businessman.

Her husband loves but her father in law dislikes her.

The trouble for Rhoda, she was briefly married to Artie Kane and later thought he had died. She even paid for his funeral.

Artie is alive and well which means her present marriage is not valid. Now Artie is blackmailing his wife and soon ends up dead.

Rhoda may not be that bright but at least she went to see Perry Mason for advice.

She needs Mason again when she is arrested by Tragg.

There are some cunning ruses played out by Mason in the courtroom. At least there is no breakdown and confession in the dock.

The story was too formulaic and a tad weak. You would think Rhoda's latest chump of a husband would be more understanding of her predicament if she had come clean.