The Case of Paul Drake's Dilemma

Great, fun episode. Contains so many of the elements we love about Perry Mason: melodramatic courtroom procedurals, a sneaky trap set by Perry and Della to trick a witness into the truth, exterior shots in a neighborhood of old LA (which you can still look up and compare with modern LA on Google Earth), a super-Trumpy evil business family, Paul Drake punching and taking punches ... and, unlike so many episodes, this plot is actually easy to follow and makes sense. And of course, the unique crisis: Our beloved Paul Drake has his life and liberty in Perry Mason's hands. The idea of making Paul the defendant could have been hokey, but the producers made the premise believable and provided a worthy script.

Unfortunately this episode is relatively hard to find because it is one of several not available on Amazon Prime/FreeVee (where I normally watch Perry) nor on Paramount+. I was able to record it off of MeTV in cable.

This episode has some interesting legal points. The case cited on results of the paraffin test being inadmissible (Brooke v State of Colorado) is real, and was decided June 1, 1959, just months before this Mason episode first aired. Perry won the legal point. The now outdated concept of res gestae also appears. Perry has to contend with a family patriarch who spends lots of money to hide some pertinent details, which details would help Paul. The last few minutes of the episode are worth waiting for.

Frank Thatcher (Bruce Gordon) married his wife for her father's large fortune and the business opportunities being his son-in-law would bring. He threw over his fiancee at the time, but he's still been seeing her as long as he's been married. She's a sentimental soul and keeps hoping he'll divorce his wife - Not going to happen.

On Frank's way home one night, after having a fight with his girlfriend over her unhappiness with the situation, he hits and kills a pedestrian, out in the country. He tells his wealthy father-in-law, and his in-laws arrange to have everything covered up, but say that Frank must pay the family - if there is one - 25 thousand dollars anonymously as a kind of restitution. Frank has this done through Paul Drake, telling him it is payback for some loan the deceased made to a person who is now a prosperous miner. But Drake figures out what happened when he goes to the widow's home, and is told that her husband was very recently killed by a hit and run driver. Drake confronts Thatcher, they fight, and Thatcher knocks Paul unconscious. He awakens to the police pounding on the door and Frank Thatcher dead in the next room, shot by Paul's gun. Paul is arrested for Thatcher's murder. Of course Perry is on the case.

The situation has the D. A. thinking this was murder over money Paul was trying to extort from Thatcher over the hit and run accident, after he found out that was what the money was for. The dead man's rich father-in-law, Henry Dameron, is helping this theory along by bribing everybody in sight because he thinks one of his children may have committed the murder. He's not troubled about an innocent man going to jail if it spares him embarrassment. Watch and find out how Perry figures this one out.

It's no surprise that Perry, Della, and Paul are very close, having a friendship that transcends their working relationship. But it appears that fondness for Paul Drake extends to the D. A.'s office and the police as well as both Tragg and Berger both tell Perry that they are so very sorry they have to prosecute Paul, but that the evidence indicates an open and shut case. I don't see these two normally shed any tears over people they arrest and prosecute, so they must have at least thought of Paul as an honest PI.

Wealthy patriarch Henry Dameron is a piece of work as he makes Scrooge look like Gandhi. Maybe that's a bad comparison as Dameron is not so much tight fisted as he is afflicted with a messiah complex. He thinks his money can rid him of any problem - and it almost could. He has his daughter marry a man who doesn't love her - this episode's corpse of the week - just so he can have somebody reliable to run his businesses. He's turned one son into a drunk and the other into a bagman. And Perry, the problem that he could not buy, has some harsh closing words for him.

This episode turns out to be a refreshing change of pace from the regular 'Perry Mason' mystery. The writers came up with a new way for Perry to defend a client who is accused of murder, even if the client is his old friend, Paul Drake.

The episode centers around a middle-aged wealthy man named Frank Thatcher. He has been having an affair with a saucy singer named Donna Kress. On a way back from one of their rendezvous, he kills a pedestrian and flees the scene.

He then hires Paul Drake, under false pretenses, to delivery money, under the disguise of winnings, to the widow of the dead man. It is not long until Paul realizes that he is being played and goes to confront Mr Thatcher.

A fight breaks out between the two men and Paul is knocked unconscious. When he awakes the police are at the door and Mr Thatcher has been shot. To make matters worse, the murder weapon was a gun that belonged to Paul.

From the jail house Paul calls Perry to defend him for charges brought by Hamilton Burger's office. So Paul is now the middle man in court sitting beside Paul and Della. Only bad thing is that he is charged with the murder.

The key to the case comes in a different situation from other Perry shows. It becomes a refreshing change from the other rehashed tales from other stories. The writers find another way to bring the case to an end while maintaining the series classic courtroom confession. -- A good episode to watch and enjoy. A good show from season three.

PS- make sure you watch the ending of this episode. After the trial Perry has some strong words for one character of the cast.

This is my favorite episode. When Paul Drake is arrested notice the resignation of Tragg and Burger in performing their duty. Also notice the lack of zeal of Burger during the courtroom scenes. Mix into the drama a large supply of suspects and this is a great episode. The denouncement by Perry at the end to the rich man is as good as anything Perry has ever said.