The Case of the Fanciful Frail

I'm baffled as to how Peggy Sutton came by the $51,000 in counterfeit money in the first place. So, she somehow stole it from the mob, who was laundering it for Ethel's boss? @_@ Then she immediately demonstrated more of her bad driving/judgement by crashing Ethel's car, getting burnt beyond recognition?

Peggy had a horrible gambling habit and supposedly was just cut off by her rich stepfather. So, where did that cash come from?

Was she laundering counterfeit money for the mob? Why did she look so blissfully happy in the opening scene, smoking in bed without a care in the world?

Then you are either a genius or crazy!

It's like they took twenty plot lines, threw them out onto a table and said, "Pick ten, splice 'em together and We got us a show...".

It's taken me several viewings to figure out the link between the characters played by Jack Betts and Barry Kelley. Only thing, to me, which could bridge the two seemingly unrelated crimes is a case of mistaken identity, and mistaken by more than one person! Otherwise, the episode itself is too fanciful for belief.

One thing about these last shows from Season Nine which I really love is the producer's fairness in picking out the automobiles shown in each weekly show. Most producers stuck with the Big Three - Ford, Plymouth and Chevrolet - in their choice of autos, although "My Three Sons" featured cars from the Pontiac Division of General Motors. "Perry Mason" acknowledged the existence of the #4 automaker in the United States - American Motors. The last nine or ten episodes of the series very prominently showcased the 1965 Rambler Ambassador 990 4DR sedans as police cars (I know the model, my parents' family car for eight years was the identical car - it was indestructible!) This wasn't artifice, by the way; a LOT of local, county and state police entities bought the Rambler for its economy of use and its durability. Nice to see these cars featured here.

Not really a surprise, as the series ALWAYS featured interesting cars.

I found this one a fun and fanciful late entry of the very long running Perry Mason series, and highly entertaining. It's a tale of murder, identity swapping and corporate intrigue. For much of its length I found myself smiling and occasionally laughing at the near surreal events it depicted.

It seems that the powers that be at Paisano Productions, which produced the series, allowed the stories and the characters depicted therein get more than a bit offbeat, at times downright odd as the show drew to a close in its final season. This one's better than most, and nicely acted by a fine guest cast.

I highly recommend this episode for fans of the series who possess a sense of humor. No, it's not a comedy or a send-up; more like everyone having some good clean fun, all the while keeping straight faces while doing so.

I watched this episode today and it was so different from what I expect from Perry Mason that I had to look it up. I'm not a huge follower of the show but enjoy watching it with my elderly mother so maybe there are other episodes I just haven't seen before.

I've never seen them use handheld cameras like they do here. Am I mistaken about that?

Anyway, while watching I kept getting impressions of moments in David Lynch's movies and twin peaks. The whole random meeting and switching identities and tone of the entire episode of it being so ridiculous that even the characters can't believe it. It really makes me wonder is Lynch was a Perry Mason fan as a kid.