The Case of the Crimson Kiss

A good story that showcases Perry Mason's courtroom skills.

Anita Bonsal and Fay Allison are roommates and both work in a sensitive government job. Fay is due to be married in a few days and Anita is on edge. She used to go out with Fay's fiance.

Anita is also secretly seeing a man called Carver who lives in the same apartment block. He is older, wealthier and almost divorced.

The next day Fay's aunt discovers that both Anita and her niece have been overdosed on barbiturates. She calls her old friend Perry Mason. He discovers a key to Carver's apartment, he and Della find Carver dead with an imprint of a kiss on his forehead.

Lt Tragg believes that all the evidence points to Fay Allen and she stands trial.

There may be two crimes here. An attempted murder on the women, although it has to be noted that Fay was more severely overdosed. Then the killing of Carver. As Perry and Della were spotted leaving Carver's apartment ba nosy neighbour in another apartment they are also implicated.

Perry quickly proves that the imprint on the forehead does not belong to Fay Allison. However he needs to smoke out the real murderer.

An episode that is jam packed full of intrigue and al packed in a hour long story.

My opinion of this episode has never changed over the years. This is without doubt the best of the episodes made from one of Erle Stanley Gardner's books. The Case of the Crimson Kiss was not a full length novel, only a novelette and it was for that reason it was of the perfect length to make a one hour episode.

It remains, for me, the best episode during the entire run of the series.

Perry still has some rough edges, including grabbing a witness in court. Seeing the same evidence in the beginning, Berger and Mason come to opposite conclusions. Even Paul suggests Parry drop the case, but cannot overcome the inconsistencies noted by Perry. Berger, Tragg and Mason have lunch at a grille, presumably for a plea deal (you won't see that in later years) but Perry has pre-arranged a phone call from Paul to throw his adversaries off. A problem with the story is the dearth of suspects. One knows that the bad actor the viewer sees in the beginning will not be the murderer. Although Perry keeps suggesting the crimson kiss might be from a man, there is no traction. Some other logic holes also exist. Not the most intricate Mason. Also, did Della call Perry "chief"?

... because that is the real mystery here. The first scene even shows this guy's obvious pedestrian style that - for the only time in the episode - actually and understandably repulses a young woman sitting in an apartment house lobby.

Anita Bonsal and Fay Allison are roommates in an apartment building with pretty good security. You can only get into the building with a key or by being buzzed in by a resident. Pretty modern security for 1957. In a matter of days Fay is going to marry a wealthy young man that Anita once dated. Anita says she isn't bothered by this, but she obviously is. She says she is going out, but instead she goes up a floor to see the previously mentioned worthless womanizer, Carver Clement. Married not single, not smooth, and definitely not handsome, I can't see what Anita sees in this guy. She gets angry that he won't go out with her and returns home.

Later that night Perry Mason gets a call from a friend of his, Louise Marlow (Frances Bavier). She is Fay's aunt, has come into town for the wedding a day early, and has found the two girls in their beds and unconscious. Perry and Della investigate. It turns out that the two girls are unconscious from an overdose of barbiturates, but that medical intervention arrived in time. That's one mystery. The other mystery is that Carver Clement is found murdered in his apartment with a red lipstick kiss on his forehead, some of Fay's clothes in his closet, and a key to his apartment in Fay's purse. What goes on here? Watch and find out.

Like I said initially, the real mystery here are the multitude of women who are just mad about Carver Clement. Since there are a couple of mysteries here, maybe related and maybe not, I thought this episode was a very good one. And you have Perry doing some things that are out there even for him, such as walking up to women, taking out a handkerchief, and grabbing an imprint of their lips to compare to that one found on Clement's head. Why doesn't Hamilton Burger ever think of these things?

Louise Marlowe comes to visit her niece, Fay, prior to Fay's impending marriage. Upon arriving at Fay's apartment, she finds Fay and her room mate, Anita, unconscious. Unable to awaken them, she calls her friend Perry instead of doing the logical thing and calling the hospital or police. Perry calls his doctor to go to the apartment and then he and Della rush over as well. Fay and Anita had taken, or were given, an overdose of barbiturates. Della and Perry find a key in Fay's purse to another apartment in the building. They go to that apartment and find the body of Carver Clement, a married philanderer, with a lipstick kiss on his forehead. Perry says "Someone bid him a fond but unfriendly farewell." Since Fay's clothes and a glass with her fingerprints are found in the apartment, Fay is charged with the murder. The resolution relies during the trial on somewhat sloppy forensic work and on some court room dramatics by Perry. Seeing Della on the witness stand while Perry nonchalantly doodles on a notepad was a nice touch. An entertaining episode with acting kudos going to Jean Wiiles as Anita.