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?
