Perry Mason: The Case of the Corresponding Corpse

[andveryginger]

As noted previously, I've been reliving my youth a bit, rewatching the Perry Mason series I watched in reruns as a kid. I started watching them in order, but have since jumped: I've seen them all at one time or another, so now I'm just watching the ones that sound interesting at the time. I picked up season 2 today at Barnes and Noble; season 3 arrived today from Amazon.

First ep I watched was "The Case of the Purple Woman," which dealt with a rather Thomas Crown-like art theft. Currently watching "The Case of the Corresponding Corpse" -- where a man thought dead turns up murdered. It's a bit cliche, but then again, Gardner and Mason reflected a lot of the old mystery cliches; it was what he did with them that made the stories stand out. In the case of the series, it's also a matter of the acting. As far as I and many others are concerned, Burr, Hale, and Bill Hopper were Perry, Della, and Paul.

Now, I'll qualify my comments by saying that Della and Perry were my first and most enduring one true pairing -- OTP. It's no surprise, then, that my first observation is one of a 'shippy nature.

When we first see Perry in the episode, he is entering the office as Della is already there, having just completed a phone call:


And then there's Della:


Why does it seem as though this isn't the first time they've seen each other that morning? Or perhaps it is, but they had a very nice evening, dining and dancing the night before? That's one of the great things about the series -- it's very apparent that Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale had a good time playing up the are-they/aren't-they aspect of Perry and Della's relationship.

The second thing that struck me (typing this as the credits roll), was that, despite the cliche, the episode was entirely watchable. The acting was well done, and the twist at the end, while predictable, wasn't blatantly so; Mason had a more-than-adequate pool of suspects to pull from. Seeing this makes me wish there were shows equally as good on these days. There are a few -- but not so many.

Next up: "The Case of the Pint-Sized Client." I've just watched the Mason movie, "The Case of the Defiant Daughter." I wanted to see how things went with Perry and Della and their first run-in with a kid in the middle of a case.