The Case of the Betrayed Bride

I am an avid Perry Mason watcher, and have been so for years. I've waited a very long time before writing this review, and it is written with regret. But this episode came on tonight, and I could hold back no longer. I am in complete agreement with Irishtom99; this is an awful episode. Examples: (1) the rarely-so-subtle Neil Hamilton is the model of restraint compared to the overacting of the rest of the guest cast. A prime example is John Larkin, who was quite memorable (among a cast of acting heavyweights) as Colonel Broderick in "Seven Days of May", gave terrific support as General Crowe on TV's "Twelve o'Clock High" and portrayed Perry Mason on radio for eight and a half years; he is absolutely manic in this episode as one of the nephews. The only guest cast member who came across as believable was the always enjoyable Jacques Aubuchon as the jilted paramour of Jeanette Nolan. (2) Speaking of Jeanette Nolan, perhaps her wig was meant to be that of a widow attempting to recapture her youth; that being said, even by 1960's standards, it is still pretty frightening. I think Phyllis Diller wore it when she went to Vietnam with Bob Hope. If Phyllis did, she should have dropped the wig out of the plane over the Pacific Ocean. (3) The French accents make Pepe' le Pew sound like he's speaking the Queen's English. (4) It seemed to me that the main cast, especially Raymond Burr, realized this was a stink-bomb in the making as it was being filmed, and they seemed to be going through the motions, which is rarely ever the case. I could go on and on, but I will leave it to others who are more eloquent or more schooled in acting, casting and directing than me to comment. Let me end with this; when I think of the tragedy of all the lost DuMont kinescopes and films that were dumped in Upper New York Bay, and when I think of all the tapes of BBC programs there were wiped to reuse the tapes, why couldn't this moldy lump of Roquefort join them in TV oblivion?

This may not be the high water mark of the series but I thought it was a hoot! Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and we were along for the ride. Neil Hamilton and Jeanette Nolan in particular were so much fun to watch and the "Faux French" bits were so over the top they were hysterical. Pay attention to Hamilton and the judge during the trial. Their expressions are priceless.

This episode was poorly directed and acted. I can only guess that some focus group said that the Perry Mason series needed more emotion. This episode has it in spades. Melodramatic, overdone, unbelievable, and just plain bad. Couple that with a highly implausible story, and you have one of the worst PM episodes on record.

This episode begins with the Meachum clan waiting for their eccentric Aunt Nellie (Jeanette Nolan) to arrive back from Europe. While in Europe her husband, Harry, had died and the family has been waiting for sometime for Nellie to return in order to sell some property for development which will mean millions of dollar for the entire family.

However at the airport Aunt Nellie arrives with a new young french husband named Pierre Dubois (Michael Forest). All this to the disgust of the Meachum Family.

Everyone wants Pierre out of the way so they hire a young french maid named Marie Claudet (Annie Forque). By putting the young maid in a nice uniform this will be a way to lure Pierre from the older aunt's vows. But no one knew that the maid and Pierre had a history which did not end well. So Marie, the maid, is out to get some things straightened out before return to Paris. And Pierre wants her gone at any cost.

Anyway Pierre ends up dead in a swimming pool. And Marie is seen running from the house at the time of the murder. She even steals Perry's car during her flight but is soon caught by the clever Paul Drake. Now Perry will defend her for the charges that was brought by Hamilton Burger's office.

In this show you have suspects galore. The three Meachum family members all wanted Pierre gone. Roger Brody (Jacques Aubuchon) who wanted to buy the land from Nellie at a discount would have done anything to get that land.- And Victor Billings (Neil Hamilton of Batman fame) who was the butler but also had some interest in the estate of Harry and Nellie land. (I really did not understand his role in the entire property)

During the finals of the court scene we get a exciting twist to a Perry Mason plot. Without giving it away we have what I refer to as a surprise ending. This really helped the show since it seemed to be lagging with all the talk of the property. You will be glad you watch the episode to the end.

There are some notable things about this episode. This was the seventh and last time that Neil Hamilton played a part in a 'Perry Mason' episode. I do not know if that was a record but he was good every time and soon moved on to the Batman series.- Since this episode contained some french accents it is believe that Jacques Aubuchon was casted as Roger Brody. When he is on the witness stand he starts off with an french accent. Then later talks without an accent.- I will not say who, but at the end of the show we get a person that says "Noooooooooo". I will say it was the longest drag for the word 'no' in any Perry episode.- I am sure that CBS had better special effects than the back drop that was used for Paris street scene. Twice during the show we see the scene set in Paris, along the same street, with one of the worse unreal filmed back-drops I have ever witnessed.

Even with all that the show was good. Make sure you stay till the end.

Paul flying to Paris.

Bigamy.

What happens to the property?

What happens to anything?

Silly and not in a fun way.

How did they get the girl into the house?

What happened to the tape recorder to get blood on it?