The Case of the Spanish Cross

Bad writing (particularly dialogue), horrible direction, and in this one, very poor acting doom this one right from the start. The scene where the Jimmy pushes Runyun into the fireplace mantle is so poorly done, I laughed for several minutes - looked worse than a "professional" wrestling match! It goes downhill from there.

Jimmy Morrow is a juvenile delinquent with a criminal record. He has a chance of rehabilitation working for the disabled Grace Runyan.

Her estranged husband Curtis Runyan, is planning to sale a valuable Spanish Cross to collector Felix Karr.

Later the Cross goes missing and Curtis blames Jimmy for the theft. Then after Curtis is found dead, Jimmy is wanted for his murder.

Initially Felix Kerr goes to Perry Mason to defend Jimmy. An unusual move, maybe he is hoping that Jimmy would later thank Felix by selling the Spanish Cross to him at cut price.

The story had a look at juvenile delinquents in the late 1950s. Jilly has a drunken father but he still loves Jimmy. As well as Jimmy taking a rap for car theft for someone else.

Then Perry Mason talks Jimmy around to stop hiding out, trust someone and hand himself to the police.

During the court case, Hamilton Burger has laryngitis reflecting the fact that the actor was ill during the shoot.

After all that, the culprit was easy to identify even though there was a pulp noirish undertone to the story.

Right away, we have this clean cut boy, who has been convicted of car theft. He has been looked after by a rich invalid woman. He is maligned and then accused when a valuable artifact disappears. What no one knows is there is some infighting between rich art collectors and the kid is caught in the middle. The episode is so formulaic and hard to swallow.

The plot about an historic jeweled artifact is an obvious connection to the Maltese Falcon. The character of Karr is a knock-off of the Sydney Greenstreet character right down to him quoting some of the lines from the movie in his first scene with Perry.

Perry Mason's client in this episode is young Peter Miles who was accused of stealing a car. But the woman whose car was stolen Linda Watkins felt sorry for him and had him put on probation in her charge as Miles's father Arthur Space is a sodden alcoholic.

When a rare jewelled cross is stolen just when Watkins's husband Donald Randolph is discussing sale with antique dealer Jacques Aubuchon, Miles is blamed by Randolph. Later on when Randolph is killed, he's the likely suspect.

Making matters even more intriguing Aubuchon offers to pay for his defense with Raymond Burr. It certainly intrigues Burr enough to look into the matter and William Hopper proves of great assistance in locating the fugitive Miles.

Viewers get set up good in this episode. The real killer is someone you would never have suspected.

The reason that this episode gets such high marks is a scene where Burr talks young Miles into giving himself up and putting his fate in the hands of Perry Mason.

Best decision the young man ever made.