The Case of the Bouncing Boomerang

Is it me or were Rod Cameron's lines written on his hands? To me, it was annoying and distracting.

In this episode you have land, a mortgage and a get rich scheme which always lands someone in hot water. And the script is written where everyone could be a suspect. Heck, even Perry had some interest in the shenanigans going on outside of LA county.

Alan Hale Jr does a good job making his role larger than life and comes across more believable than any one in the cast. You also have character actor, Parley Baer, (Mayor Roy Stoner from "The Andy Griffith Show") who appears in more shows in the 60's and 70's than most appear in a life time. He is actually a good fit for the role that he has been cast.

The script seem to be a little confusing near the end when we are asked to keep up with teeth and dentist visits. But it true "Perry Mason" flavor it all comes together in the end.

Rated the show a 7 - more for the ending than anything else. Because the crime was nearly fail proof. Then along comes Perry.

Old time western star Rod Cameron is Perry Mason's client in this episode which makes him out to be one naive fool. This is a man who should keep Raymond Burr on permanent retainer as he's liable to do something stupid again.

He's got himself a young wife in Diana Millay and she's a frisky thing, running off to San Francisco and poor Cameron can't figure it out. What she's cooking up besides some monkey business is an insurance scam and also possibly to have Cameron sell some land of their's.

When the future skipper of the Minow Alan Hale shows up with a Texas twang and oodles of money he says he has and willing to pay way over what the land is worth, it all sounds too good to be true. But then Hale is killed in a car and then Millay is strangled and Cameron is found over the body.

It's not only Cameron's naiveté that's a problem with this episode, but it is fairly obvious who is the best one to be involved in an insurance scam if it isn't Cameron.

One of the lamer Perry Mason's.

... Perry Mason spends a good amount of time just trying to figure out what crime has been committed!

Eula Johnson has been nagging her husband Grover to sell their ranch before they lose it in foreclosure as it turns out to be unfit to grow crops or graze cattle. Plus Eula loves the nightlife and is greedy. A big talking Texan, Nelson Barclift (Alan Hale Jr), comes by to look at the ranch and is so enamored of it he agrees to pay 200K for it. The next highest bidder was willing to pay 52K, but Barclift doesn't know this.

I am not spoiling anything by telling you that Barclift is Eula's lover and a known swindler, and she knows he doesn't have the money to pay her husband and her the 200K he promised at closing. She then murders Barclift and makes it look like he died in a fiery car crash. But to what end? Mason gets involved because he was the lawyer representing the person who wanted to pay 52K for the ranch, and via Paul Drake's investigation he finds out Barclift is a crook.

So why would Eula want to sell her ranch to a fraud when there are good offers out there, and now be on the hook for murder if found out? Watch and find out, but know it is complicated.

Interesting detail - When Eula is in her bedroom on the phone, you can clearly see a small stuffed lion on her pillow. Nonsense. Such a mercenary person could never appreciate the sentimental or decorative value of a stuffed lion, unless it was made of mink or sable.

"Poor little thing, not her fault"?!!?!? Oh dear, hubby remains in the dark--even after the revelation of all his wife did! Perhaps ignorance is indeed bliss after all.

I liked this episode. The villains played their roles well. There was a twist at the end I hadn't expected. This one's worth the watch.