The Case of the Sad Sicilian

I hesitated for a long time to review this one -- having both Italian AND Sicilian ancestry on my mother's side, I had a feeling the stereotypes would be atypical for Hollywood -- and I was both right AND wrong. The honest truth is too many Italian/Sicilian families are much like this, but without the overt "Hollywood-isms" of overdone accents and amplified mistrust. The constant arguing is more common than you'd think (in my family it is, at least). The story line was too "pat", and too many mistakes were made that only Italians/Sicilians (or studiers of Italic culture) would notice -- maybe that's why I only gave it a three. The Godfather, it's not...

Because Paul Comi was Mr. Stiles in the great Star Trek episode "balance of terror"- and the actor playing the Priest in this episode is definitely Paul Comi, and nobody else.

The reason why I love this episode is because I am Sicilian, and I can't even count the times when we had family arguments exactly like the family arguments here, except that our father wasn't greedy for cash. Also, he worked for the IRS. So he knew the actual value of money and he taught this to us, it is because of my father that I am able to maintain my finances month after month, year after year, even during these bad economic years.

Whoever wrote the script, whoever came up with the dialogue, I would say they hit it spot-on, watching this episode is like reliving my childhood- our family got close to killing each other, but we never did, because family is family and even when I despised other members of my family, they are still my family and I love them.

This episode addresses the appearance of "the stranger" which we should always be suspicious of, and basically our young Sicilian Moocher in this episode was freeloading on the name of relatives that he does not actually have- he was representing himself as being from one Sicilian city and family when in fact he was from a different city all together.

I also know members of my family that did exactly what this kid was doing, except that he didn't get my other relatives angry at him. He never Bonk'd my father over the head with a 2 x 4 or stabbed him either. Just freeloaded across the country, eventually got a job, became a citizen. something which is practically impossible in the current climate. Everybody should be afforded the opportunity to become citizens easily if they so desire.

The patriarch of this hot mess is Anthony Caruso who was also imported from the Star Trek episode "a piece of the action" as he was Bella Oxmyx, the boss of the biggest territory of Iotia... and the character he plays in this Perry Mason episode is pretty much like Bella. Caruso is the boss of this business and family, and what he says goes, even though his ideas are actually extremely poor.

The "over the top" award goes to the woman who plays the beaten and much subjugated wife, Seraphina.

This is a great series that uses old actors it upsets me that reviewers do notgoogle actors . This has a great performance by Margo... the famous actress blacklisted and the wife of Eddie Albert and mother of Eddie Albert Jr... reviewers need to realize that Perry Mason the series is a tribute to all the old actors in Hollywood... from Betty Davis to all the minor actors you did not become so famous

I enjoy Perry Mason quite a bit. I loved it when it was prime time in my youth and I still watch it on FETV whenever I can. This episode is well done with quite a few big name actors like Anthony Caruso and Nico Minardos. There is a major mistake in IMDb's acting credits. The character of Father Reggiani who has an ongoing role in this entire episode is incorrectly credited to Paul Comi. The actual actor playing that role is Mike Henry who is a much better known actor and has appeared in many big time movies such as Tarzan, The Green Berets and Rio Lobo. For some reason IMDb has left this Perry Mason episode out of Mike Henry's resume credits also. Mike is still alive and undoubtedly could be contacted to confirm this information. But anyone who knows his work will instantly recognize the former professional football player in this episode. He's a very good actor.

Raymond Burr's arm was injured in a helicopter crash, and this is one of the episodes where he has his arm in a sling hidden inside an oversized suit.