The Case of the Dead Ringer

A Cockney sailor who looks like Perry gets into the middle of a lawsuit that Perry loses. The guy is cleaned up and look just like Raymond Burr (of course, he is Raymond Burr). This filters into an eventual murder case where Perry's reputation is at stake. Ordinary except for Burr using his acting chops.

... but in fact it was very well done and an unusual showcase for Raymond Burr's versatile acting talent as he breaks out of his attorney persona.

The son of a man being sued over the theft of intellectual property from a now deceased boss decides to frame Perry for bribery by getting his look alike, a sailor on a fishing boat (Burr in a double role as Mr. Grimes), to dress up and imitate Perry and have him very publicly toss a witness in the case an envelope with ten thousand dollars in it along with instructions as to how to answer any questions put to her on the stand. The witness breaks down on the stand and testifies of his bribery attempt, and she has the ten thousand dollars to prove it. This undermining of Perry's credibility causes the rare occasion of Mason losing a case. But now he could be indicted for suborning perjury, so he must get to the bottom of what happened.

When I say that Grimes is a Perry Mason look-alike, that is a very loose description. Grimes is aptly named as he doesn't look like he's bathed in a month of Sundays and has a cockney accent and a very rough way about him.

An interesting factoid - One of the supporting players in this episode is Henry Beckman who you may remember, if you are old enough , played old salt Captain Clancey on Here Come the Brides from 1968 to 1970. His portrayal is so close to that of Raymond Burr's rendition of Grimes in this episode that I have to wonder if he used that performance as an inspiration for his own in that TV series.

When I first saw that Raymond Burr was going to play two characters in this show, I thought that the writers had run out of scripts and was using anything off the floor. But this was actually a very fine episode and a nice mystery.

The episode begins with Perry in civil court representing Barbara Kramer in a patent suit against Otis Swanson. When one of the witnesses advise that Perry Mason had given her money and a list of answers to questions it appeared poor for Perry. In fact, there are witnesses that testify that they saw Perry give the witness an envelope inside a hotel lobby.

But what has happened is that people from the other side of the lawsuit have found an old sailor that looks much like Perry. They use make-up and hair-dye and sure enough the person named Grimes looks just like Perry Mason.

After Perry loses the civil case, Perry has to appeal. In the meantime, his client, Barbara, is found inside Otis Swanson's home next to his dead body. Now Perry will have to defend her in criminal court for a charge of murder. Perry will need a lot of help from Paul Drake's private detective team if he wants his client released of the charge.

I really have never like those two character episodes, especially when it involves the main character. Most of the time the show is just so unbelievable that it makes no sense. This show proved me wrong. Raymond Burr was believable as he separated both parts with fine acting. Instead of the stuffy lawyer type, he became a rough and salty sailor. The mystery was interesting and the characters interesting. Good watch.

Usually a show that has had a run as long as the Perry Mason series gets a bit stale by a 9th season. But I have a feeling that the idea of both Perry Mason losing a case and having Raymond Burr play a double role was something they must have saved until they knew the show was concluding its run.

Raymond Burr is bringing a civil lawsuit on behalf of Indus Arthur who accuses Oliver McGowan of stealing an intellectual property. Stewart Moss who is McGowan's nephew has a plan to discredit Perry Mason by having a lookalike British cockney sailor offer a bribe to key witness Arlene Martel in a most public place.

Witness tampering is serious business for any lawyer. Later on however in addition to defending his own reputation Burr has to defend Arthur when she's accused of murdering McGowan.

Burr looks like he's having a great old time playing the cockney sailor Grimes. It's the kind of part where he can overact outrageously and does. William Hopper and that Drake Detective Agency do yeoman service in clearing the good name of Perry Mason.

You don't think Perry Mason loses even a civil case without the other side cheating?

All I will say about this is, I'm a Brit, and I admit that there are American actors who can pull off British accents, not many, but some. So, why do American actors who definitely CANNOT do British accents insist on trying to do the impossible? Raymond Burr's British accent made my teeth ache.