The Case of the Purple Woman

This is an interesting one. The plot is weaved well, the performances exceptional, the red herrings well-placed. My only issue with it is the saturation of egos, conceit and vanity are enough to drown half the audience. I suppose due to the subject matter, it was inevitable, but for me it seemed a bit off-putting. My issues are personal, so for the general audience it will be a good watch.

The group of suspects suffered degrees of vanity.

At the final scene, Perry quotes a law review article by Hamilton Burger: a well-tried criminal case is a credit to all involved ..." as Hamilton is invited to sit down with the Perry gang.

At the end of the hearing, the judge says adjourned, rather than dismissed.

The art world is the setting for this Perry Mason story. In it George MacReady makes the first of several appearances on the show, in this one an art dealer. He sells a bogus rare painting off on collector Rhys Williams. Williams is like the king in the emperor's new clothes, so proud of his reputation as art collector that he won't go to the cops to expose MacReady.

Then there's Robert Harris who thinks of himself as a great artist on his own right but can't get any other work than as a high priced forger of great works. He's who MacReady hired to make the forgery he passed off on Williams.

But when MacReady is killed it's his estranged wife Bethel Leslie who becomes the Perry Mason client. She's been seeing art critic Donald Murphy. MacReady not one to let grass grow under his feet has Doris Singleton for comfort.

So lots of folks had reason to do in MacReady who is his creepiest best in a true George MacReady part.

It is vanity and Raymond Burr has to overcome that to gain Leslie's acquittal. The perpetrator is definitely in the top three you might suspect.

Perry Mason enters the art world. More specifically the world of art forgeries.

Rufus Varner is a proud art collector. He has paid $86,000 for the painting, The Purple Woman through art dealer Milo Girard.

However an art expert takes one look at the painting and tells Varner that it is a forgery. Girard got frustrated artist Aaron Hubble to produced the forged painting. In return Girard promised Hubble a one man exhibition if his forgery could would fool Varner.

Fearing humiliation that he might end up looking like a chump. Varney demands his money back from Girard.

When Girard is found dead, his wife Evelyn is arrested. She hated her husband and was having an affair.

Perry Mason runs rings around Hamilton Burger. The latter wants to shy away from the subject of forged paintings but Mason forces him to open the door a little.

Mason also uses psychology to get one deluded person to open up. The confession was abrupt and too sudden, but normal for the course in these Perry Mason episodes.

This is a neat plot with a couple holes. It is Mason's foray into the art world. It would be interesting to know how many masterpieces out there are actually fakes. This settles around the pomposity of a couple of big time art collectors who clash over a painting thought destroyed years ago. There is also a man who is a masterful forger and a masterful drunk. Good courtroom drama with the usual suspects.