The Case of Paul Drake's Dilemma

Yes, I rated this 10 of 10. I rarely do that. This episode is as worthy of the honor as are only a handful of other episodes from the entire nine-season run. Paul Drake is a victim of soicumstance, as Jerome Howard would have said (nyuk, nyuk!) and even the authorities seem apologetic for having to do their duty. It's up to Mason to unravel this Gordian knot of intrigue, and after having done so - Mason does what he rarely does, which is to tell a third party just exactly what he thinks of him.

One can see, in this show about three years into the series run, Mason's gradual evolution from an attorney who works on the edge of the law to that of greater respectability and acceptance by his fellow court officers. No more film noir, merely film grise. By Season Seven, he'd be wearing the white hat in full force. While I liked the first two seasons the most, Season Three still was full of shows worthy of the time to watch.

This episode of Perry Mason got good and personal as Raymond Burr is called on to defend his own private investigator Paul Drake on a murder charge. All because Drake has some ethics.

The Dameron family does not have any ethics, they take their cues from corrupt old family patriarch Basil Ruysdael. His son-in-law Bruce Gordon has been seeing his old girlfriend Vanessa Brown on the side. Not that he cares that much, he's like Joe Kennedy that way. But Gordon is good for the company.

But after a quarrel with Brown, Gordon leaves his love nest and runs down some poor innocent victim who was walking to a service station after his own car got a flat. What to do, but cover it up.

So Gordon hires William Hopper who does take outside jobs away from Perry Mason. He gives him a cock and bull story about staying anonymous but to deliver a $25,000.00 check for the widow. Hopper has a great scene with the widow Sheila Bromley and learns what Gordon has been feeding him.

Some private eyes have ethics and Paul Drake does not like being a messenger boy to deliver hush money. He and Gordon fight and Gordon sucker punches him and knocks him cold. It was in his love nest with Brown and when Hopper wakes up he's accused of Bruce Gordon's murder.

This was one of the best Perry Mason episodes ever done. Even defending his best friend Raymond Burr remains unflappable in his pursuit of the truth. And his final scene with Ruysdael is a great one.

There is a rich family in Los Angeles. The father is a whip cracker and 2 sons are troublemakers. Then, there's the son in law, who cheats on the old man's daughter. One fateful day, the son in law accidentally kills a man walking on the side of the road. But, rather than face the police, he drives off and hides the car. Then, he hires Paul Drake to deliver a lump sum of money to the widow, telling Drake a false story. Later, Drake realizes he's been used and goes to confront the bad son. But, someone knocks Paul out and while unconscious, the Son in law is murdered. Now, Paul is charged with murder and Perry rushes to defend him. What can be better than having Mason as your lawyer? This episode is one of the better ones of am outstanding show. Having Paul as the defendant in a murder case is a deft touch while the supporting cast is wonderful. Look for it.

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.

Definitely one of Jackson Gillis' best mysteries, and for all us fans of Paul Drake -- we want answers.

Drake basically is played for a fool, and yes, some of the most obvious cases nevertheless turn out to be complex for Perry, regardless of the client. A big shot named Thatcher (Bruce Gordon) is cheating on his wife and having an affair with a young singer (Vanessa Brown). As luck would have it, Thatcher accidentally runs over and kills a man, needing to cover it up ASAP. This is where Paul comes in, hired and used as a patsy to deliver money to the victim's widow. Paul without too much surprise has a run in with this crafty guy, he's knocked unconscience and wakes up a murderer -- his gun used to kill Thatcher.

If you're a cop show fan, you've seen this scenario played out a hundred times, however clever, it's a first here and rather intriguingly carried out. The cast deserves much credit, particularly Bruce Gordon, known for his tough roles on the UNTOUCHABLES. He fits the part. Pretty Vanessa Brown later appeared on GENERAL HOSPITAL. Simon Scott guest stars as Charles and veteran actor Robert Cornthwaite (Anders), a staple in sci fi films; WAR OF THE WORLDS and the THING.

Deep voiced, dead serious Kenneth MacDonald returns as the judge, one of our favorite barristers.

Did you catch it... Thatcher's Lincoln is in "park" while he is driving the car. Kind of surprising director William D. Russell would miss that, but still 10 Stars for atmosphere. Russell later directed most of the episodes for HAZEL.

A surprise courtoom ending, with some "thoughtful" comments from Perry. This case got under his skin. Again thanks to Jackson Gillis, writer for COLUMBO in the 70s.

SEASON 3 EPISODE 6 remastered CBS dvd box set. Vol. 1 and 2. 4 dvds. Released 2008.