Perry Mason: 50th Anniversary Edition

Starring: Burr, Raymond N', Collins, Ray N', Hale, Barbara N'

Product Description

Perry Mason is an attorney who specializes in defending seemingly indefensible cases. With the aid of his secretary Della Street and investigator Paul Drake, he often finds that by digging deeply into the facts, startling facts can be revealed. Often relying on his outstanding courtroom skills, he often tricks or traps people into unwittingly admitting their guilt.

• Format: DVD
• Language: English
• UPC: 097368920040
• Release Date: April 2008
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Publisher: Paramount-Sds
• Starring: Burr, Raymond N', Collins, Ray N', Hale, Barbara N'
• Runtime: 11 hours, 54 minutes
• Number of Disks: 4
• Other Video Info: DVD
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

The case of the defense lawyer who skirts the law.

This is a series of programs based on a character in the writings of Erle Stanley Gardner. The CBS TV series stretched from 1957 through 1966. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is a defense lawyer who is always thought of after it is too late for him to save the defendant from being accused of murder. Supporting Perry is his trusty, more than friendly but professional secretary, Della Street (Barbara Hale). And their trusty and sneaky private investigator, Paul Drake (William DeWolf Hopper), the son of the actress-turned-gossip-columnist Hedda Hopper. On the other side of the courtroom is the district attorney, Hamilton Burger (William Talman), assisted by the not-so-neutral Homicide Lt. Arthur Tragg (Ray Collins). You wonder how they get away with manufacturing evidence, and the defendant usually has a “foot in mouth”. Then there are the signature courtroom demonstrations. Be sure to re-watch these programs, as you can then see that even in TV programs, they can sprinkle in subtle clues. There was a Mad Magazine mock that had a Boy Scout immediately confess from the back of the courtroom upon seeing Perry Mason. Many of the subsequent programs allowed many TV actors of the time to become different characters and even replace the Burger and Tragg characters. You find yourself not only trying to outguess Mason but also saying, “Hey, I saw that actor in…” Even though the characters are from Erle Stanley Gardner, the actual programs are written by many different TV writers of the day. I have, on occasion, read some of the Erle Stanley Gardner Masons, and they are closely related. The TV version has a few fewer characters and has to write in some of our favorites. You may find that in some of the last episodes, they try to bring the timeline up to date, 1966, and lose some of the magic that holds you in. The DVDs themselves usually have four episodes each, with a glaring lack of the extras that are so popular nowadays. The plus is that there are no a-d-v-e-r-t-i-s-e-m-e-n-t-s.