Featured TV on DVD Review: Perry Mason: Season Seven, Volume One

August 21, 2012

Perry Mason: Season Seven, Volume One - Buy from Amazon

The first half of season seven of Perry Mason comes out on DVD this week. The show lasted nine years and nearly 300 episodes, not to mention countless TV movies later on. I've previously reviewed many DVDs from this show and I've always been very impressed by the show's consistency. Was the first half of season seven just as strong as the previous six seasons? Or is the show finally showing its age.

The Show

The season starts with The Case of the Nebulous Nephew, which has one of the most complicated cons in the show's history. It involves a man pretending to be the lost relative of a rich family, and there are so many twists it is hard to know where to begin. In The Case of the Deadly Verdict Perry Mason loses a case! A woman was convicted of killing her aunt for her inheritance and she got the death sentence. She lied to Perry about her alibi and when confronted with her lies, she refuses to say where she was. The Case of the Shifty Shoebox features a guest appearance by a pre-Lost in Space Bill Mumy. The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito involves a con about a "salted" gold mine. "Salting" refers to planting gold in a worthless mine to make it look valuable. However, in this case, the worthless mine is worth more than what the conman salted it for.

In The Case of the Decadent Dean, a prep school's finances are falling apart and all of the head staff are a little tense, especially the dean, Aaron Stuart. When the dean finds out it was his best friend, Tobin Wade, they fight and Tobin falls off a cliff into the ocean to his death and Aaron Stuart confesses to killing him. But Tobin faked his death, at least he faked it the first time. The Case of the Reluctant Model involves a $130,000 Gauguin painting, but when rumors surface that it is a forgery, the art dealer who claimed it was a fake is killed, just about everyone involved is accused of his murder. In The Case of the Bigamous Spouse, a lady finds out her best friend's husband is married to another woman. When the man is killed, the best friend is suspected of his murder. The Case of the Floating Stones has a guest appearance by James Hong.

In The Case of the Festive Felon, a woman on her death bed gives $1 million to her long-time nurse, but the rest of the heirs conspire to cover it up. Her daughter learns the truth, but when she goes to confront the lawyer who helped cover it up, she winds up being suspected of killing him. In The Case of the Devious Delinquent, a rich kid gets involved with some delinquents, but when his so-called friend starts to blackmail him, he doesn't know who to turn to. In The Case of the Bouncing Boomerang, a wife tries to force her husband to sell worthless land, but falls for a scam instead. When the scam artist ends up dead, that's just the beginning of the case. (On a side note, the scam artist is Alan Hale, Jr., the Skipper on Gilligan's Island.) Sibling rivalry over the family business turns deadly in The Case of the Badgered Brother, but there are a lot of people who would benefit from both brothers being out of the business.

The Case of the Wednesday Woman begins with a woman trying to visit her husband in prison, but he refuses to see her. He is in prison for accidentally killing a man, a man accused of stealing a very valuable diamond. Now that he's about to get out of prison, a lot of people think he has the diamond. When an insurance investigator looking for the diamond dies, the man is charged with his murder. In The Case of the Accosted Accountant, a widower has been using his company money is less than wise ways, but his son-in-law has had enough and works to throw him out of the company. But when the tycoon winds up dead, his son-in-law is charged with murder. The Case of the Capering Camera involves a model who is being blackmailed and she thinks the photographer is the one doing it. However, when she confronts him, with his gun, someone else shoots him.

The Extras

Again, there are no extras on the DVD.

The Verdict

Of the 15 episodes on Perry Mason: Season Seven, Volume One, there are only a few that are not quite up to the show's impressive average. Maybe the mystery is a little weak, or the final twist comes from nowhere, but overall it is easily worth picking up for fans of the show or of courtroom drama's in general.


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