Featured TV on DVD Review: Perry Mason: Season Six, Volume Two

December 2, 2011

Perry Mason: Season Six, Volume Two - Buy from Amazon

The end of Perry Mason draws a little bit nearer with the release of Season Six, Volume Two. Fans of this courtroom drama know that there is a pretty strong formula that I don't need to describe here. So is the latest volume just more of the same? And is that a bad thing?

The Show

To answer the first question... No. It isn't more of the same. Due to health reasons, Raymond Burr was unavailable for part of the season, so Perry Mason only makes token appearances in a few episodes and the show switches focus to a series of of guest actors as the lead defense attorneys. The first episode of the DVD, The Case of the Prankish Professor, has a professor asking Perry Mason for help dealing with his soon-to-be ex-wife, but he's such a dislikable person that Perry Mason only agrees to be an independent arbiter. Then when the professor winds up dead, he works to help his now widow prove she didn't do it. The guest roles start with Bette Davis, which was certainly a highlight episode on this DVD. (On a side note,the last DVD had a guest appearance by Adam West, a.k.a., Batman. This time around the DVD has a guest appearance by Neil Hamilton, a.k.a, Commissioner Gordon. It's a fun coincidence.) As was The Case of the Libelous Locket, which had Michael Rennie as Professor Linley. (Michael Rennie is best known as Klaatu in the original The Day the Earth Stood Still.)

Disc two begins with Walter Pidgeon helping a young woman who has two men interested in her. Maybe. They might be pretending to be suitors in order get an in with her rich uncle. When her rich uncle is murdered, she's the prime suspect. In The Case of the Golden Oranges, Perry Mason gets involved in a land dispute, while Lee Van Cleef and Vic Perrin make appearances. (You might not recognize the latter's name, but his face and voice are more memorable.) The Case of the Velvet Claws has Perry Mason going against a tabloid magazine, even though he doesn't like his client, because the magazine pulled some dirty trick on a friend.

The final two discs only have three episodes each and sadly there are fewer highlight episodes. The Case of the Elusive Element is arguably the best of the rest, while The Case of the Greek Goddess has a guest appearance by George Kennedy. Most of the rest were merely average. However, it is important to note that merely average for Perry Mason is still better than most courtroom dramas made in the nearly 50 years since it started.

The Extras

The are no extras on the DVD. It does have the usual DVD authoring: play all buttons, proper chapter placements, and subtitles.

The Verdict

Perry Mason: Season Six, Volume Two is not quite as good as the previous volume, but it is still definitely worth picking up for fans of the show or of the genre in general.


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