The Case of the Renegade Refugee

I agree with the last reviewer, how can you go wrong with blackmail and murder? Having grown up on PERRY MASON (and still watching 50 plus years later!), you have to admit --though --Perry was one lucky attorney when most cases ended with the witness jumping out of his chair and confessing to the crime!

Nevertheless, an outstanding story, and rather atmospheric (creepy) at times, which all us mystery buffs enjoy. The script may have been picked from real news headlines, all about Nazis living in America under new identities. Perry investigates an LA based aerospace company, replete with rumors that a former Nazi officer is on the payroll. This episode, in a way, has shades of the Orson Welles' thriller, THE STRANGER (1946). It would have been campy fun had Loretta Young made an appearance.

Only debit, minus poetic license, is if this gentleman were really employed to such an influential company with government ties, it would impossible to hide his background, or at the very least, explain gaps or incorrect information in his past work history. IE: He's hiding something....

The cast is quite effective with former cowboy star Dick Foran, playing Harlan. Perhaps one of his best tv roles. He would next appear in DONOVAN'S REEF. Veteran actor John Sutton (as Clifton) is also one to watch. Another cowboy actor, Denver Pyle is in the cast, also turning in an exceptional performance. Master of cult films, Bernard Kowalski directed, and catch the moody music bits in certain scenes, his trademark.

On a historical note, the famous Serra Retreat on Serra Road in Malibu is highlighted, and looking very much the same. And yes, the landmark is still open to the public.

Recommended for all of us armchair barristers. SEASON 5 EPISODE 13 remastered CBS dvd box set. Vol 1 and 2 4 dvds each. Released 2010.

An error in procedure by Karl Held clerking in Perry Mason's office sends him after a potential client to correct an error. That client is Dick Foran who scurries off to a religious retreat sponsored by the top executives of his company. When a nosy reporter starts hanging around the retreat looking for a Nazi war criminal, he is killed and its Foran whom Wesley Lau arrests for the deed.

Of course Foran is not a murderer but he does have his dirty little secret which has to be ferreted out. And I can say he's not a murderer since Perry Mason doesn't defend the guilty.

The writers might have been a little too convoluted in keeping to the Perry Mason parameters. Still this one good cast and the story does hold your interest until the end.

Definitely one of the best episodes of the season..! A good, many layered mystery kept taut with good performances. The exchange between Harlan and Perry in the interview room was very well done. As a Catholic myself, I also much enjoyed the backdrop of the Fransiscan retreat and religious overtones, especially Fr Paul's recital of the story of Francesco Bernardoni -- St Francis of Assisi. The prospect of the disguised former Nazi in the works was a worthy side plot. The only negative points were the overused embezzlement and blackmail schemes. All-in-all it played out very well. A satisfying episode.

This episode brings Perry into some dark stuff involving Nazis and war crimes. It is fraught with emotions and full of angst. I rather enjoyed it, even though the conclusion was a bit contrived.

As usual, a convoluted, largely non-sensical story from the PM "writers". The stuff of supermarket tabloids and paperbacks, adding horrendous dialogue, poor direction, and mediocre-at-best acting.

The ridiculous "courtroom confessions", the result of the overbearing pressure Perry puts on the perpetrator (LOL) are always laugh inducing in their utter preposterousness. This one, portrayed by Denver Pyle - a middling character actor- is especially overwritten, overdirected, and overacted.

But, it's to be expected from this unrealistic, silly, and often unintentionally funny program. Rock on, Perry!