Writer: Various (Based on Books by Erle Stanley Gardner)
Director: Various
Cast: Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, William Hopper, William Talman, Ray Collins
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Paramount Home Video
Release Date: November 13, 2007
The black and white picture, the swelling crescendo as the live orchestra plays the notes of the theme song, and one detective who never lost a case excluding one time in his career where he had to appeal to prove his client’s innocence. There is only one person in television history with such a show, and that is Perry Mason. I watched the Perry Mason reruns as a child. The show is a classic, dating back to the 1950s and offering a bright new world and a new hero to some of whom had only had a television set for a handful of years.
Perry Mason changed television with the innovative storylines and ability to entertain. Sure, the show had a formula, but every episode was a little different and every whodunit was never quite as easy to solve as you’d imagine. Based on the Perry Mason series of books by Erle Stanley Gardner, the television version of Perry Mason (and star Raymond Burr) would go down in infamy as the man to change the way people perceived lawyers as the show set the standard for future law, crime, and police dramas.
Release Information:
Perry Mason first aired on television on September 21, 1957. It aired for nine seasons and was one of the most popular series on when it aired. The last Perry Mason show aired May 27, 1966. During the 1980s and early 90s, a series of Perry Mason TV movies aired. These movies brought back two of the original cast members, Raymond Burr as Perry Mason and Barbara Hale as his loyal and dutiful assistant, Della Street.
Paramount Home Video has been releasing the Perry Mason seasons in two DVD sets per season. On November 13, 2007, Perry Mason – Season 2, Vol. 2 was released. Included in the set are four discs and over 774 minutes of Perry Mason episodes and footage. Season 2 of Perry Mason originally aired between September 20, 1958 and June 27, 1959. There were 30 episodes in the second season, which is why they were split up amongst two discs. This disc contains 15 of the 30 episodes.
The Perry Mason – Season 2 Vol. 2 Plot
For those who do not know what Perry Mason is about, the story revolves around the sleuthing ways of a criminal defense attorney, Mr. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr). Perry and his team, Della Street (Barbara Hale), his dutiful assistant and perceived love interest, and Paul Drake (William Hopper), the womanizing investigator, help Perry on all his cases. Of course, it wouldn’t be Perry Mason if the prosecutor and police weren’t working to prove Perry’s clients were guilty of the crimes Perry knew they didn’t commit. Played to perfection is prosecuting attorney Hamilton Burger (William Talman) and head of the police, Lt. Arthur Tragg (Ray Collins).
It wasn’t just the storyline, which was written to perfection in nearly every episode, that made Perry Mason so successful. It was the spot on acting by Raymond Burr that really sold the show. Burr, used to playing the burly, bad guy in movies and other productions up until this role, plays the intellectual, hard hitting Perry with aplomb. Add to it the chemistry he has with Barbara Hale and William Hopper and a star show is born. This was a breakthrough television show and one that should live on in television history for its neatly woven plots and excellent storytelling. Not one episode is boring or unoriginal. Each story has you rooting for Perry, even when it looks like he’s the underdog.
The shows all have a set formula, but that is what makes Perry Mason work. The show starts when some sort of crime is committed. You may see part of the crime, and when you do, it often implicates Perry’s client. However, that most definitely isn’t how things happened. There are other elements missing from the story. After the client is accused or if they are afraid they might be accused, they (or their family members) go to Perry asking him to represent them. From there, the Mason crew is off to the races. Perry has Della and Paul do most of the dirty work as he works at the forefront, trying to find a loophole in his client’s arrest. Typically, the cases go to trial and it is always a classic episode of Perry Mason when he confronts the real criminal on the stand.
There are four episodes on each disc excluding the last one. The episodes included on this disc all air in the order in which they aired on television. The list of episodes is as follows: “The Case of the Fraudulent Foto”, “The Case of the Romantic Rogue” (this was my personal favorite in this set), “The Case of the Jaded Joker”, “The Case of the Caretaker’s Cat”, “The Case of the Stuttering Bishop”, “The Case of the Lost Last Act”, “The Case of the Bedeviled Doctor”, “The Case of the Howling Dog”, “The Case of the Petulant Partner” (another great episode!), “The Case of the Dangerous Dowager”, “The Case of the Deadly Toy”, “The Case of the Spanish Cross”, “The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom”, and “The Case of the Lame Canary”.
It should be said that Perry Mason was filmed at a time when fingerprint evidence was viable evidence, but there was no DNA evidence, which is an integral part of the crime shows of today. Mason and his team had to use ingenuity, intelligence, deductive reasoning, sometimes luck, and occasionally faith (that they were right) to solve each crime.
Storyline/Plot: 
Replayability: 
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
The visual elements of the Perry Mason – Season 2 Vol. 2 DVD are stunning. I’m a sucker for a great black and white television show or movie. It looks like any possible flaws in the quality of the original video were cleared up. I didn’t see any flickering. There are no compression artifacts, and minimal screen flaws. The full frame video was transferred at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. For the time in which this show was first filmed and when it aired, the quality is absolutely stunning.
Visual Quality:
The audio quality was also excellent. The sound came through loud and clear. While the sound was transferred as Dolby Digital mono sound that didn’t really bother me in the least. The theme song swelled in all the right places though it did sound a bit heavy in the front. Still, again, for when this show was created, the audio quality is amazing. I have very few complaints in either department.
Audio Quality:
Bonus Features:
There are no bonus features included on Perry Mason – Season 2 Vol. 2. While it is great to have the series available in these excellent box sets, Paramount could at least include the occasional biopic on Raymond Burr or a “Making of” on the series. While this may be hard, due to the fact that Barbara Hale is the only remaining cast member alive, some archived footage of interviews with cast members would have made this box set complete.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
I have always been a fan of Perry Mason. That being said, I have heard some complaints about how Paramount has split up the Perry Mason seasons into two volumes. Most seasons of a television show have between 15-20 episodes. These DVD packs generally include 5-7 discs. With Perry Mason, most of the seasons have at least 30 episodes. I cannot even imagine how big the DVD box set would be and how much it would cost as a result.
Paramount did the right thing when they chose to split them up. While it can be a pain to have to purchase two DVDs just to have one season, I believe Perry Mason is worth it. If you love crime, law, and police dramas, you need to check out the grandfather of the shows of today. It isn’t predictable (other than knowing Perry will get his client off) and it is entertaining. This one is a must have DVD.
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: Perry Mason, Season 2 Vol. 2, Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, Lawyer, Drama, TV Show
