The Case of the Bountiful Beauty

This episode shows everyone using everyone else in Hollywood, as it begins with author Dearborn, writing a book with stories told to her about her boyfriend's stepmother, Stephanie Carew (the most evil stepmom ever), slugged on the beach, drowned in the ocean, and then dumped into the North's pool. A fitting end to someone figuring out how to cash out on her sociopathic career. If you can get past some of the self-assured witnesses, the ending tells the story about what this show's writers and producers thought of the movie business.

The episode features Ryan O'Neal, playing an earlier version of the role he played in Paper Moon.

The Hollywood characters are exaggerated stereotypes especially Dearborn's agent. I have watched this episode a number of times and it gets funnier each time Gideon Long's office looks like a Paris hotel room from the 1930s. His lawyer on the other end of the squawk box reminds me of the guy in Charlie's Angels. The neighbor who testifies takes the whole camp thing to another level.

The Dearborn and Carew (Ryan O'Neal) characters get lost in this whole thing which is definitely dominated by exaggerated Hollywood types. Mason and Burger play the straight characters in this entertaining piece of camp.. The hats that some of women wore were right out of era long gone and just so Hollywood. The Rubin Carson character; i.e., Dearborn's agent, was the star of this episode for his over the top exaggeration of a Hollywood Agent. A young Ryan O'Neal most assuredly appealed to the teenage set

In summary, The Perry Mason series did a number of Hollywood related episodes and this was one of the more entertaining Won't have you rolling in the aisle as they say but will definitely create more than a few chuckles.

Sandra Warner who plays a cut rate version of Joan Collins as Alexis Carrington in this Perry Mason show is looking for the best attorney she can get. She wants to sue Zeme North a young author of a Peyton Place type novel who got her information from Ryan O'Neal who is Warner's stepson. Barbara Hale has to remind Raymond Burr that North had previously called on the same case, but he wasn't in.

Later on when Warner is found dead in a swimming pool and it's proved homicide, North is arrested and Mason is free of a potential conflict of interest.

As always a whole lot of people are affected by this woman including movie producer John Van Dreelen, agent Douglas Fowley, as well as O'Neal and North. Like Alexis, Warner is the type you love to hate. Almost a pity she had to be killed off.

The case itself gets tricky as Burr has to impeach a whole lot of eye witness testimony identifying North. This may have been one of the strongest cases William Talman ever put on in the series. Never mind Burr demolishes it in style.

This mystery centers around a written book by a young female writer, Deborah Dearborn. Ms Dearborn wrote a book from stories that a young man, John Carew, told her about an evil person named Stephanie. John did not reveal that the evil woman was a family member. The book becomes a best-seller when all of the sudden the woman that the book is about, Stephanie Carew, comes looking for Dearborn wanting to sue her. But because Stephanie is just as evil as the book claims, she wants the young Dearborn to sign a movie contract and give her the money. But during the evening the evil Stephanie Carew is found drowned in a swimming pool.

Now with a slew of circumstantial evidence, the young Ms Dearborn is arrested for murder. Hamilton Burger will have a nice case as he puts witness after witness on the stand that will convince a normal person that Dearborn is guilty. But leave it to Perry to to finally crack the case in open court.

A rather routine mystery that was made better by some nice actors in roles. Douglas Fowley, John Van Dreelen, Jean Carson and Ryan O'Neal lead the cast that makes the routine become exceptional. Good watch.

While the episode is captivating, the antithetical states of the characters is more annoying than entertaining. Zeme North , Ryan O'Neal and John Zaremba (as well as the regular cast) play it straight, whereas John Van Dreelen, Douglas Fowley, Jean Carson & Fifi D'Orsay play it for camp to the nth degree. Sandra Warner was somewhere in the middle -- a little too much the stereotypical "evil stepmother" to be really effective. I agree with another reviewer that Gideon Long's office set was so ridiculous as to be laughable. While I liked parts of it (mainly the scenes with Zeme), the campy parts were just too much. Perhaps my expectations were too high...