Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

In their first scene of the second season, the broad grins on both Mason and Della Street speak volumes to the success of the series' freshman season. After a career of kicking around the B-movie circuit for a dozen years, television had made Raymond Burr an overnight sensation. The show's popularity increased with the first few seasons (along with Burr's waistline); despite a strict adherence to its rather constrictive formula.

Admired by viewers and critics, both Burr (Best Actor in a continuing dramatic role) and co-star Barbara Hale (Best Supporting Actress in a continuing dramatic role) were awarded the Emmy for their performances in the 1958-59 season.

Perry Mason – Season 2, Volume 1 contains the first 15 episodes of 30 produced – 9 episodes shy of the first season tally. For season 2, composer Fred Steiner's killer theme (Park Avenue Beat) has been slowed-down and cleaned-up; losing its muddy reverb, along with the drive and appeal I find irresistibly primal to its chic/bohemian dichotomy.

The episodes contained within originally aired between September 20, 1958 and January 24, 1959. All the episodes in the series were filmed in black and white. While they cannot be classified as film noir in the literal qualification, a small-screen hybridization of the genre is evident – giving the resulting murder and mayhem a visually lush and timeless quality; despite the obviousness of the period setting. To criticize any alleged faults in regard to its inevitable 1950s immersion would be "incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial" to quote the burly barrister, himself.

The Case of the Corresponding Corpse

Crestview City is the venue for murder and blackmail (for insurance fraud) when George Heartley Beaumont, a previously dead guy, dies again. Suspects include his widow, girlfriend, business partner, the blackmailer and a red-herring or two.

Murder weapon: Revolver of unspecified caliber and manufacture.

13 Baltic Ave.: The Fox back lot seems to have a monopoly on seedy tenement sets.

Talent Recycled: Character actor Vaughn Taylor (the blackmailer) also appeared in the Season 1 episode The Case of the Restless Redhead.

The Case of the Lucky Loser

When poor rich kid Ted Balfour is convicted of manslaughter, his grandfather hires Mason to clear the kid's name upon retrial. Interesting episode where the legal technicalities of Double Jeopardy intervene.

Icky plot point: Could Ted have been romantically involved with his step-mom?

Murder weapon: Which came first - the .22 caliber bullet or the rear-wheel of Ted's 1958 Pontiac convertible?

The Case of the Pint Sized Client

Second-tier film noir icon Elisa Cook, Jr. (The Maltese Falcon) lushes-it-up with relish as the washed-up safe-cracker enlisted for a mortgage company heist. Despite his diminutive stature, Cook is not the titular “Pint Sized Client” - that honor being bestowed upon the 14 year-old boy who finds the satchel of stolen loot under floorboards in the abandoned house next door.

Murder weapon: Pry bar monogrammed with the defendant's initials.

Seedy digs redux: This episode is a testament to why cabbage-rose wallpaper is currently out-of-style.

Talent Recycled: The murder victim played a blackmailer in the Season 1 episode The Case of the Vagabond Vixen.

The Case of the Sardonic Sergeant

American currency allegedly destroyed in Corregidor during WWII is back in circulation at Grace Army Base. Was the perpetrator's death a suicide, or was it murder staged to look as such? Perry gets to practice a stretch of military justice outside the jurisdiction of D.A. Hamilton Burger (William Talman) and the irascible Lieutenant Tragg (Ray Collins).

Murder weapon: Automatic pistol of unspecified manufacture and caliber.

Dead again: By the middle of the series' sophomore season, actor Larry Jackson had already appeared as different characters in 3 episodes, playing both perpetrator and victim (the latter role, twice!).

The Case of the Curious Bride

Not so much curious as unlucky, a newly monied bride gets a visit from her deceased blackmailing husband, Artie. Mason's successful defense of the damsel-in-distress goes to the well once too often (in this reviewer's opinion) but is considered a series staple.

Murder weapon: Fireplace poker.

No kids?: Just adopt a pair of his-and-hers Pontiacs in sedan and convertible guise – which provide a key plot point – as is Mason's purchase of the four-family dwelling that served as the scene of the murder. The next-day closing on the property has to be an all-time record for such a transaction.

The Case of the Buried Clock

When son-in-law Jack Hardisty embezzles a hundred grand from the family bank and travels to their country retreat to boast of said act, a whole host of suspects (including his boss and father-in-law) gather to make life interesting for Perry Mason. As always, Mason never actually defends anyone guilty of murder, just victims of circumstance suffering from the occasional bout of poor judgment.

Additional poor judgment: Why does everyone in southern California keep a disappearing gun in the glove compartment of their unlocked vehicle?

Can't win for losing: The victim drives a 1958 Edsel convertible.

Déjà vu: The actor who plays Jack Hardisty also appeared (with a faulty British accent) in the Season 1 episode The Case of the Vagabond Vixen.

The Case of the Married Moonlighter

Danny's job as a school teacher doesn't provide enough income to pay for his infant daughter's medical bills, so he moonlights at a local diner. When he assists a drunken and abusive customer home who is later robbed and murdered, the flustered fry-cook gets grilled by district attorney Burger.

This episode introduces a sultry, saxophone-heavy jazz soundtrack that will assume the default standard as the series' run progresses.

Murder Weapon: Bronze bookend.

“That thing got a Hemi?”: Victim's 1958 Chrysler 300D convertible is a most-valuable player.

Art imitates art: The opening scene shows the repossession of a front-loading washer for lack of payment. This week's featured guest star is Jesse White, who, for several years, played the original Maytag Repairman.

The Case of the Jilted Jockey

Jockey Tick Barton seeks a second chance at fame and fortune by riding Bright Magic to victory in the Pacific Derby. When the gangster who wants Tick to throw the race is murdered, Tick must talk, or wind-up in the glue factory.

Murder weapon: Tick's Saturday-night special.

Stupidest thing for a defendant to say out loud in a crowd: “Did you ever feel like you could... kill someone?”

A moody oboe joins the sultry sax to improve the already hip scene-transition score.

The Case of the Purple Woman

Murder ensues when an egotistical lush recreates a masterpiece sufficient to fool and professionally embarrass an expert collector. When the gallery owner responsible for the deception is murdered, his wife (Bethel Leslie) is booked for upping his expiration date.

Murder weapon: Undefined sharp pointy object.

Best Line by an adulterous spouse to his secretary: “Doris... rub my neck. I'm afraid I'm getting one of my headaches”

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: The lovely Bethel Leslie also appeared as a different defendant accused of killing a different husband in the Season 1 episode The Case of the Fugitive Nurse.

The Case of the Fancy Figures

When theatrical agent Charles Brewster absconds with $300 grand from his Hollywood clients and a co-worker takes the rap, murder takes center-stage. An unremarkable episode that proves even a classic series cannot hit a home run every time at bat.

Men in Hats: The soon-to-be-forgotten Fedora is still alive-and-well in mid-century Los Angeles.

Directed by Arthur Hiller, Academy Award-nominated pilot of the classic 1970 weeper Love Story.

The Case of the Perjured Parrot

Edgar Buchanan (of Petticoat Junction fame) plays a cranky, small-town coroner whose mission is to unmask the killer of businessman Charles Sabin, whose remote-cabin weekend has been permanently interrupted. He's determined not to have some “big city lawyer” making long, winded objections to delay the proceedings. Sabin's pet parrot, Casanova, may hold the key, but is he the real Casanova, or the Maltese falcon of his generation?

Cliff Notes: One of the best of Erle Stanley Gardner's original novels, this labored adaptation suffers from too much plot stuffed into too small a time frame.

For the birds: “Am I to understand that you're adopting this parrot as a witness?”

Notable guest star: Joe Kearns, who played Dennis Mitchel's harassed neighbor Mr. Wilson in the 1960s Screen Gems series Dennis the Menace.

The Case of the Shattered Dream

To satisfy a gambling debt, Hugo Warner (alias Hans Breel) offers his girlfriend $15 grand for the Pundit Dream - a large diamond that could be worth six times that amount if properly cleaved. When the widely despised Hugo is finally demised, the list of suspects includes wives, ex-wives, girlfriends (past and present), mobsters, jewelers and half the poker players in Los Angeles.

Hung jury: Enjoyable, but a diamond-in-the-rough this one ain't.

Best establishing shot: Nighttime view of mid-century L.A. with the Capitol Records building in the foreground.

The Case of the Borrowed Brunette

Eve Martel is hired and well-compensated to impersonate a wealthy and beautiful woman. When the agent of this deception is murdered, Miss Martel wears the frame like the Mona Lisa. A complex script full of technicalities adapts well to the one-hour dramatic format.

Murder weapon: .32 caliber revolver.

Department of Redundancy Dept.: “Oh... and there are more men following me. I'm not sure if they're following me, or following the other men who are following me...”

The Case of the Glittering Goldfish

Red herrings rule the day when tropical fish shop worker Tom Wyatt invents a cure for Gill Fever. Seeing that he did his research on company time, new owner Jackson Huxley considers the valuable formula his, by default – that is, when he's not chasing his female employees around the desk. When he turns-up dead-as-a-haddock, it's up to Mason to reel-in the killer. One of those rare episodes where the quality of the product is much greater than the sum of its parts.

Murder weapon: Morphine sulphate (administered in whiskey – no chaser).

Coolest crib: The Art Deco digs of Huxley's not-so-grieving widow.

Notable guest-star: Cecil Kellaway as the chemist – philosopher – drunkard whose sage advice always includes a fish reference - (“You'd be surprised what you could learn about people... from fish”). His tale of “guppy libido” told in Mason's office inspires unscripted laughs from the three principal players (and myself).

The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll

One of Gardner's best novels gets a haircut – and survives to tell the story. This tale of trouble in Marshal City involves assumed identities and damsels-in-flight, with more angles than a crooked politician – and there's one of those in here, too! Thankfully, Perry Mason has the genius to sort it all out in time to, once again, make an absolute fool of Hamilton Burger. I wonder if these two kooky guys have yet met for drinks in the afterlife?

Murder Weapon: Ice pick (administered to the chest).

Well... the verdict is in. As weapons go, the southern Californian mid-century modern murderer prefers firearms by a wide margin over fireplace pokers, bookends, a 1958 Pontiac, ice picks, other unspecified sharp, pointy objects and doctored cocktails.

Non-legal technicalities . . .

The 4 disc DVD set contains only advertising trailers for CBS merchandise, such as discs for CSI NCIS and other acronymical network fodder. For the second season, the incessant menu-loop of the show's theme has been killed-off – no doubt convicted of annoying viewers during kitchen, bathroom or texting breaks between episodes.

Video and sound quality are very good; although occasional spotting occurs on random frames. Initial cost is high, but a DVD released in 2007 has had time to generate a healthy second-hand market.

Perry Mason – Season 2, Volume 1 (1958-59)
CBS Television / Paisano Productions / TCF (Twentieth Century-Fox) Television
DVD: CBS / Paramount (2007)

Season 1, Volume 2

Mason in novel form:

The Case of the Sunbather's Diary
The Case of the Deadly Toy

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older