The Case of the Clumsy Clown

Vicious cats, trapeze artists, sharpshooters, and, of course, clowns. Two men are tussling over ownership of the circus and their animus lead to one of them being killed. A previous incident has left a man crippled for life and his pain is at the center of this. This is a bit too long and dull and didn't have much of a spark.

I recall in two of the later Perry Mason movies the gambit of the murder with many witnesses, in one case a television audience, was used. In this episode a circus audience witnesses the murder of one of the owners of the circus by the arena's top performer, a clown. The clown is played by Douglas Henderson and he and the owner were rivals for Chana Eden.

Of course Henderson is innocent what Perry Mason client isn't? But try as I might I could not quite that his claim of not even being in the show that night couldn't hold up. He certainly would have to have been recognized by somebody on the train to San Francisco. William Hopper sure fell down on his job in locating an alibi witness.

Not the best Perry Mason out there.

I agree with most of the other reviewers that this was not one of the best-written of the PM episodes. I also concur that Douglas Henderson was miscast as Heidemann - he fairs much better as a tech nerd or inept businessman. Ken Curtis, on the other hand, seems completely reasonable as the circus clown (especially considering his Gunsmoke role as Festus). The plot dragged at times, and a few scenes seemed more like filler than plot drivers. All that in retrospect, the worst part, IMHO, was the resolution - it seemed very contrived and pushing the limits of believability on several fronts. All-in-all, watchable, but not particularly memorable.

... so I guess maybe people don't like the idea of Perry making merry at a circus?

Four years before, acrobat Lisa and clown Felix eloped. Before they can tell the co-owner of the circus, Jerry, that they are married, a drunk Lisa accidentally opens the tiger cage and the tiger badly mauls Jerry. Jerry was in love with Lisa, so Lisa marries Jerry, telling him that she chose him over Felix. This was done out of guilt over ruining his life. The problem is, she and Felix never divorced, so Lisa is a bigamist, although the marriage was never consummated due to Jerry's injuries. The other co-owner of the circus, Judd Curtis, knows about the bigamy and is using that knowledge to blackmail Felix into giving him money with which he hopes to buy Jerry out.

During a performance of the circus Felix in full makeup comes out and does his act and a gun that is supposed to have blanks has live rounds and shoots Curtis dead. But the actual Felix calls from San Francisco and claims he wasn't even there when the murder happened. This doesn't deter the LA police who arrest Felix for the murder.

I thought it was rather well done, especially with the odd casting of Ken Curtis as a jealous clown. As for Jerry's injuries, he has a couple of scars on his face and he is in a wheelchair with a blanket covering his legs and lap, with the insinuation that he may not have legs and a lap. But this is 1960 TV, and you are only allowed to insinuate something so gruesome.

Ya know, one expects bad writing, ridiculous plots, horrible dialogue, extremely poor direction from PM, but this one is SO bad, I just couldn't stop laughing throughout. Somehow, this show keeps topping itself...