The Case of the Nine Dolls

Perry Mason is preparing for a vacation in Scotland for some fishing when Della brings him the world's youngest client - eight year old Peggy Smith. She has an odd request. She wants Perry to find out who she is. She lives at a boarding school and all of her bills are paid from a Swiss bank account that has a number rather than a name attached. She has never had a letter or a visit from any relative. But she has received, over the years, a total of nine dolls, all from the same shop in Switzerland. So all is well when Perry finds out that Peggy is the long lost daughter of Joe, the janitor at the boarding school. What??? Of course not! Of course her relatives are rich and there are all kinds of family secrets and scandals involved. I'll let you see how this all pans out.

This is a very unconventional episode of Perry Mason in that the murder case is a very short part of it towards the end. Most of it is the effort to find out Peggy's origins. I will tell you this - You know how normally the client who approaches Perry about a will or divorce or business dispute ultimately is accused of murder? Not this time. It is an adult that is accused of murder who Perry must defend. 1960 TV is not going to tolerate having a child accused of murder.

Poor Perry Mason who is ready to go fishing in Scotland gets a client he can't resist. An 8 year old girl named Peggy Smith played by Lauren Perreau without a clue to her identity comes knocking on his door and Raymond Burr can't resist. Her plaintive cry was one that Medusa couldn't resist. She wants to know who she is.

A Swiss bank account with an automatic checking privilege pays for her in fine style at an exclusive private school where she boards. But young Ms. Perreau has never been contacted by any family. This intrigues Burr so that he goes to Switzerland to check out John Banner's Swiss bank and just who sends dolls routinely twice a year to her at the boarding school. Normally that would have been a job for Paul Drake, but William Hopper is kept busy enough in this episode.

It all traces to reclusive, cantankerous, oil millionaire Francis X. Bushman whom many regard as the first matinée idol of the silver screen. Bushman played many character roles as he got older having gone through a few fortunes. Later when Bushman winds up murdered, a niece Margaret Field is charged with his murder.

How Field is connected to Bushman and Perreau, in fact how they all connect is for you watch the episode. But the Perry Mason paradigm prevails, Perry never defends guilty clients.

This episode is a bit far-fetched, but charmingly presented.

A couple of good sub-plots in this Perry Mason episode. I viewed it because another web page listed it high on the all-time best-episode list. If you are off-guard, that little girl will steal your heart. Be careful. The story line is lifted considerably by an international backdrop, and the needs of a very sweet, and very reasonable little girl, who doesn't know who she is. Q: Is the grouchy millionaire really all that mean? You decide.

A little girl comes to Mason's office. How she got there is unknown to me. Anyway, she has been in a boarding school her whole life and wants to know if she has a family (have you seen Annie?). The one thing to go on is that she receives a doll from a Swiss dollmaker twice each year. Perry goes to a small town in the Alps to seek out the source. It ultimately ends up back in Los Angeles and involves a murder. By the way, I usually have little time for child actors, but that little girl was wonderful, in her sadness and her earnestness.

Top notch episode with good acting by the guest-cast makes this show a must watch in the 4th season line-up. Even the person that played the young eight year old girl was a pleasant surprise as her acting was more on the adult level and not like the uncomfortable reading of lines that happens so many times when children are used in a series.

When Peggy Smith was dropped off at a boarding school at the age of three she has never known her true family. She is now eight years old and the only link to her history is that the school funds are paid plus she also receives two dolls a year and both, the fee and dolls, are paid from a bank in Switzerland.

Right before Perry is to take a vacation to Scotland- eight year old Peggy makes a visit to his office. And with a little prodding from Della, Perry decides to make a visit to Switzerland to find out who sends the money to the school and hopes of finding her some form of a family.

When Perry returns to his hotel after check about the dolls, he discovers a sinister message that only make the case more interesting. So Perry cancels his trip to Scotland and returns to LA to look into this interesting mystery.

What he finds is that she is related to an rich ornery man named Courtney Jeffers. Mr Jeffers had no idea about the child and when shown the documents decides to add Peggy to his will. Before that can happen Mr Jeffers is found beaten to death with a fire-poker. And a butler sees his grand-daughter, Linda Osborne, leaving the room. And when murder charges are obtained, Perry decides to defend Ms Osborne mainly because of the young Peggy Smith.

From then own, it is a good who-done-it episode that is a joy to watch. Good writing, good acting and an ending that leaves a viewer feeling better than when the show began. Good watch!!