The Case of the Crafty Kidnapper

If at anytime you do not think this episode is as interesting as it should, just hold on till the ending. This episode has an ending that is shocking as any 'Perry Mason' episode in the entire run of the series. A great show.

Alex Tanner (Gary Collins) and his wife Patricia and baby, have just returned from Japan in order to take control of Pat's fathers business. He had just died and she is the one to inherit the family's good fortune. At the return party for the couple there is the cad of a reporter, Danny Shine, that in a drunken state, starts throwing out insults at everyone in the room.

Danny is taken out to his car by a woman he is having an affair with named Norma Fenn (Pat Priest). All this is seen by Danny's wife, Gloria (Cloris Leachman), as she has pulled up to spy on her husband. With Danny passed out, Greg Stanley reluctantly decides to drive him home. When Greg gets to Danny's house, he finds out that he has driven a dead man home. The guy has been shot and Greg's fingerprints are on the gun.

With Alex Tanner having an alibi for Greg, some of the prosecutions charges will be rebuffed. But when someone kidnaps the Tanner's baby, in order for them not to testify in the court hearing, it will prove rough for Perry as he defends Greg for the murder charge. But with the skill from Perry, he will try to find the reason that someone would kidnap a baby and justify a innocent person being found guilty. Plus we will find out why someone wanted to shut-up the noisy reporter.

But folks, don't take this episode too lightly. A surprise ending is in store for the viewer. Be ready to be floored when Perry finally pieces all the evidence together and the finger is pointed only to one person. One person that wanted it all. Very good show.

Raymond Burr's client in this next to last Perry Mason episode is Douglas Henderson who is accused of shooting and killing a nasty gossip columnist John Lasell. All the possible subjects were at a party where Lasell insulted everyone in the room including Perry Mason. But Henderson drove him home when he found him seated in the passenger front seat of his car. Henderson thinks him passed out drunk. But when they reach Lasell's home, he's good and dead and Henderson also handles the gun that killed him.

The son-in-law of Lasell's publisher can offer clear and exculpatory evidence concerning Henderson's guilt. But Gary Collins and his wife Anne Whitfield receive threatening phone calls about their infant son being kidnapped and killed if they take the stand. So Raymond Burr with the good offices of the Drake Detective Agency starts his own investigation to aid in his case in court.

The ending is quite a twist in the Perry Mason parameter. I will say this though. Lasell was truly a despicable man.

This is quite a different episode. We have a really nasty murder victim, a child kidnapping, a mother who is going around the bend, some threats from some bad guys, and quite the ending. Chloris Leachman is one of the women in the show; she plays the wife of the victim. It's certainly a bit of a cliffhanger.

The episode has a shock ending that makes it all fall into place. It also stars several people like Cloris Leachman and Gary Collins that will go on to major careers in television.

Guest cast was very weak. Storyline lacked focus. Could tell end of series was coming very soon.