The Case of the Feather Cloak

We get another invasion from Star Trek in this Perry Mason episode

David Opatoshu (Anon 7 from Errand of Mercy) and Michael Dante (Maab from Friday's Child), team up in this episode of "Perry Mason in Hawaii but really Los Angeles", One to be shot (but not vaporized by a Klingon), The other to collect weird birds.

People get this wrong, people blame the production crew of Perry Mason on the weird miscasting of ethnic peoples in these 60s television shows, but this was actually the fault of something that is called "central casting". They actually still exist, but more effort is made today to match up the people hired to be in television shows and movies with the actual races that these people are supposed to be. fact is, back in the 60s there were not many Chinese actors, not many Japanese actors, not even very many actors of color, that were used in television shows. But Perry Mason was one of the first shows to start using more actors of color, any color. And they would cast these ethnic groups as smart, intelligent, working people.

These shows had to use the actors that were given to them by central casting, sometimes, but very rarely, this included a real Chinese person when a Chinese person was needed, and in this case a real Hawaiian person. In this case, none were available, other than Wende Wagner (Anona Gilbert), who was close but was actually a native American in ancestry. The worst possible casting was Miriam Goldina from "Ladies of the big house", who was literally a Russian by birth.

I have nothing against the actress, she just did the best she could, cast in a part that was totally wrong for her. Apparently the only actual actor from anywhere in the Pacific Ocean that central casting provided the makers of Perry Mason this particular week was Jon Hall Who played "Lieutenant Kia"- And this was in fact his last recorded role.

Of course this was 60s television and this was what they had to work with back then. They found a couple of locations that if we sat back and imagined, possibly could have been Hawaii. If not for the fact that one of the locations was a well-known LA tourist attraction Aka Magic Castle, at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and N. Orange Dr. None of the other exterior or beach locations were listed but I suppose they were somewhere near the beaches of Malibu.

Other than these well harped on, well nagged on problems, this story had some interesting elements, namely the question of "are there certain caves underneath the coasts of Hawaii that contain secrets of Hawaiian Kings?"

I am not familiar with the history of Hawaii, their kings, or their stories, mythologies, heritage, even if I were to ask any Hawaiian native about this today, their knowledge would be different than the knowledge of Hawaiian natives of 1965 or so when this was written and made. This episode was basically a possible writing experiment for hard boiled crime novelist Jonathan Latimer who also wrote under the pseudonym "Peter Coffin".

The general mystery story is valid, it is just the placement in Hawaii which is problematic.

The earlier PM episode that followed this format, "the case of a place called midnight" also in season eight, written by Jackson Gillis, was produced a lot better than this episode, using more established footage from Europe, we actually believe we were in Switzerland and in Germany. We even believed that the regular actors with which they populated bars and cafés, which we would see episode after episode during the entire run of Perry Mason, we're actually European citizens.

In this episode, the effort was taken to make us believe we were in Hawaii but it fell short in many ways.

Nevertheless a highly enjoyable episode with a satisfying resolution and dénouement.

And I always wonder about some of the actors in my favorite Star Trek episodes, who were they before they were Anon 7 and Maab? Before they were aliens, they were characters in this Perry Mason episode.

And, to tell you the truth, I haven't met an episode of Perry Mason that I disliked. Despite my love of science fiction, fantasy, even action movies, quart room drama is my favorite kind of drama and Perry Mason did it first-and the best. Even when Perry wasn't even in a courtroom.

This episode was also Perry and Paul's vacation away from Della.

I enjoyed this episode, especially after viewing some really bad ones in seasons seven and eight. No overacting, especially by Perry's client, as is so often the case.

It does not bother me that Caucasians play Hawaiians. I actually thought they all were Hawaiians except the actress who played Anona's aunt.

I especially enjoyed Keye Luke as Choy, the butler. He was always so good as Charlie Chan's "Number One Son" in the old Charlie Chan series. I expected Luke to be better looking in his 60s, though, since he was such a handsome young man.

Overall, I find this episode refreshing because it does not have terrible over-the-top acting and screaming courtroom confessions!

WHY did they cast an obviously Caucasian Russian-born woman with a THICK Eastern European accent to play an elderly Hawaiian woman? And by the way, in one of the above spoiler-containing user-reviews, the writer misspells the name of the man who united the Hawaiian Islands and became their first King, Kamehameha!

From the islands we find Perry and Paul doing some investigating on beach-front property. A large hotel chain is to lease the property from Jarvis Logan (Jon Van Dreelen) but there is a problem with a peninsula called Kameamea Point that Mr Jarvis does not own. The point is owned by a beautiful young island girl named Anana Gilbert (Wendee Wagner).

Anana is in love with this surfer, and now poor beach-comer, named Douglas Kelland (Michael Dante). But from the start of the show we find out that Douglas has a secret about Kameanma Point that he has not told Anana. The only clue that we as the viewer have to the secret- is a feather.

Due to a serious situation, Douglas suddenly breaks off the engagement with Anana without really giving any reason to her. But not long afterwards Doug calls Anana and wants her to meet him out at his cabin. When Anana arrives Doug has been killed with a spear gun. Anana runs from the cabin but is seen by Paul Drake who has been keeping an eye on the Point.

When Hawaii's version of Lt Tragg comes to investigate- Lt Kia (Jon Hall) charges Anana with murder, Perry is there to defend her.

I actually like the plot of the episode, it was interesting. The outside shots of the islands were great which is something that you do not see in many Perry shows. And this episode could have been 2 hours long and still make for a great view. But with the 52 minute deadline- when the end comes it comes quickly. The writers had a lot to work with- but due to time restrains had to end the show in the allotted time.

Anyway a good episode to watch. There is one big problem- seems Perry left Della back in LA to tend to the office. Della is a no show in this episode.

This episode of Perry Mason has both Raymond Burr and William Hopper in the Hawaiian Islands doing some investigating for a hotel chain that is seeking to purchase property for development. The project has been slow and the hotel chain is needing both Perry Mason's lawyering and Paul Drake's gumshoeing to get things on track.

But when beachcomber Michael Dante is killed by spear gun it is Wende Wagner who is charged with his murder. Dante has his shack right where the hotel people want to develop and if he's not out the whole thing falls apart. Kind of like Lionel Barrymore's property in You Can't Take It With You.

Knowing that the murderer is rather obvious, but Wagner looks good for it because she was involved with the victim and he treated her like dirt.

The clue that leads to the solution is a feather left by Wagner at the scene and found by William Hopper. What it is and where it comes from points the finger at the proper party.

James Frawley plays a highly ambitious District Attorney who Raymond Burr cuts down to size. I didn't see another like him until Scott Baio played one in one of the Perry Mason films years later.

Jon Hall whose ancestry was Polynesian played the Hawaiian homicide detective. It was the second of two Mason TV shows he did before retiring. He should have gone out with this, he made a dreadful science fiction afterward and then quit.

The murderer is obvious, but the reasons are hidden.