The Case of the Haunted Husband

Patricia Hardy becomes the Perry Mason client in this one when at the urging of loyal secretary Della Street, Raymond Burr takes a case involving a hit and run with a truck where the truckdriver is killed.

It was a hit and run, but it wasn't Hardy doing the running. She was picked up by John Hubbard while hitchhiking and when he attempted to get fresh with her is when the car crashed. Hardy was knocked out and Hubbard ran away from the scene of the accident on foot. In fact he wasn't even driving his car. The car belonged to Hollywood wunderkind producer Grant Richards. It seems to me though that Accident&Investigations should have determined that Hardy was not the one driving.

But Hubbard is later murdered and then the butler that Richards employed Fredd Wayne also was murdered. Hardy is on the hook for both.

A relationship existed between two cast members that was not known is the key to proving Hardy's innocence. That and a bit lawyering by Raymond Burr who first tries to get William Talman to introduce evidence that he wants in. When Talman doesn't do it, Burr switches to Plan B.

Nice episode but this one was a little too cute and contrived.

This was one of the best Perry Mason episodes of the first three seasons. The case involved more of the defendant's girl friend and Perry Mason doing investigative work than either Della Street or Paul Drake although both of these fine actors had some interesting parts. I think what turns this show is the great banter on display between Perry Mason and Lieutenant Tragg. It starts early in the episode when Perry is trying to keep his client, Claire Olger, from being overly talky with Tragg, continues when her girlfriend, Doris Stephanak has some not so friendly words to see when Tragg inserts himself and another detective into her apartment to arrest, Claire, and of course over the course of the episode there are other instances of almost spontaneous banter between Tragg and Perry Mason. The court room scene in which there is the inevitable "confession" helps to bring closure as the majority of the episode takes places prior to the the court room scenes. As others have said, Doris Stephanak as played by Karen Steele was an example of a great character actress. A rare double murder in season one.

Another gem courtroom drama written by Gene Wang, who wrote 62 episodes for the series. The material here, though, is familiar and may have been taken from news headlines.

Patricia Hardy plays Claire, a young woman who gets a ride from a drunk and a thief called Greeley. The guy is a real work of art. He stole the car, has an obvious drinking problem and attempts to get "a little too cozy" with Claire. As a result, there's a fatal accident, Greeley runs from the scene and poor Claire is supected of being the driver!

What a case, and not that far from the truth; there are many documented accidents where the "wrong person" is suspected of being the driver.

A rare episode where Perry almost turns down the case, if not for the foresight of Della.

Two popular actresses cast; Hardy was a model in her teen years, later turning to acting as did Karen Steele, who plays Doris, in a very good role. Steele was a fixture in tv westerns for many years.

Grant Richards plays Heywood. He was in many dramatic roles in both movies and tv, a promising career cut short a few years later as a result of a car accident which took his life at age 51.

Very interesting courtroom scene wraps the case up, with some biting dialogue thanks to Gene Wang. The highlight, sanning all those depressed faces.

SEASON 1 EPISODE 19 remastered (2006) CBS/Universal dvd box set. Volumes 1 and 2. The entire series is in a mega box. 72 discs. Released 2020. For ultimate fans.

There's a lot of table turning in this episode. A pretty young woman thumbs a ride from a lascivious drunk. They then cause the death of a truck driver by forcing him off the road. What ensues is the girl being charged with the death of the truck driver. But what happens next makes this a really good one. There is bad marriage, Hollywood intrigue, and overconfidence by the prosecution.

One Doris contacts Della to convince Perry to handle a case for friend Claire involving car theft/manslaughter. Although Perry says not our kind of case, Perry goes forward. In truth, Claire was a hitchiker in a car stolen by intoxicated Mr. Greely, who causes the death of poor truckdriver Albert Lowell. The prosecutor Harold Hanley gives Claire the third degree, not believing her story but not testing her blood alcohol. Perry correctly infers that the car owner movie producer Heywood knows the "thief" Greely although Heywood denies this to Perry. Claire makes bail. Perry stashes her in a hotel; Greely finds it, but Greely ends up dead in the room. Good news for Claire is no more car theft/manslaughter. Bad news: murder. Perry looks into Heywood go-fer Ernie Tanner., using a volunteering Doris as bait. Claire is in custody. Tanner gets shot/killed while Doris is getting Tanner coffee. The key pivot is feathers from the pillow used as a silencer. No gun is recovered and Claire could not have done it (in custody).. Tragg gets some great lines. Mason to Heyward on stand: you may have all the time in the world. The last two minutes are the best when Perry asks Tragg to describe Perry. When Tragg finally sees what Perry already figured out, Tragg says Oy gewalt. An interesting counterpoint to Tragg's earlier: I like to live dangerously. This first season Perry still has some rough edges. As to the plot, Perry elsewhere remarked murder is always senseless. The three deaths here were especially so.