The Case of the Lurid Letter

This was a very unusual episode. For one thing, there are no actual courtroom scenes; a school board hearing takes the place of the court, so Perry is not actually acting as a defense attorney. Still, a murder does eventually take place (45 minutes into the episode!) and at the end a murderer does confess, so that all falls into line. This episode, however, feels a little bit like Rebel Without a Cause meets Harper Valley P.T.A. Plus there is no appearance of Della Street, but maybe that is just because Barbara Hale needed a vacation!

This one was a writer's gamble that failed miserably. It's really just a Peyton Place package tied up with a Perry Mason bow. It has a few good moments, but they are sandwiched in between too many bad ones. Parents that seem clueless that their sons are nothing but immature motorcycle gangsters, excuses for bad behavior, and BTW, where are any of the young girls from this twisted hamlet..? Sorry, writers, you blew it this time...

Only by chance was Perry Mason vacationing in a small Sierra Mountain town did schoolteacher Mona Freeman obtain his services. It seems as though she's been the target of a poison pen campaign alleging her involvement with some of her students and the women of the town are up in arms.

It's no coincidence that this started after the death of one of her kids in a motorcycle crash before the events of this story begin. That student is described as a James Dean type. The rest of his cycling crowd are a bunch of losers and they're contributing to the rumors.

The local judge Edgar Buchanan is also the head of the school board and he lets Perry know right away that this is informal and by informal he means to run it his way, none of this objecting stuff and evidentiary rules. It's an unusual venue, unusual story, but within the Perry Mason parameters.

Unusual or not and even with the death of another of the principal persons of this drama, Raymond Burr gets to the truth at this school board hearing. After the murderer confesses, a trial is just a formality.

Unusual venue, unusual story, but

This episode shows both the talent and creativity of Arthur Marks, director and senior producer of the show for most of its run. May have picked up a few hints from the iconic biker film, THE WILD ONE, starring Marlon Brando.

True, another fishing trip for Perry going south. Enter a widow and mother named Jane Wardman (played by Mona Freeman), a high school teacher rumored to have been having an affair with a few students. Obviously an outright lie, but tell that to sly old judge Edgar Buchanan, having fun with role as you will see. He asks Jane to simply resign and leave town, but she ain't going nowhere, thus bringing in some angry teen bikers, lead by school bully Pat Mangan, played by John Durren.

However, there's more to the story when murder strikes, a connection to illegal liquor and the bikers. Perry has his hands full in a small town mystery, a la PEYTON PLACE. Marks handles the cast exceptionally well, particularly young Mark Murray, playing Jane's son. Mark is best remembered for having appeared on LEAVE IT TO BEAVER.

Mona Freeman, the consummate actress, formerly a model who appeared in several film classics, like NATIONAL VELVET. Look for veteran actress Ann Doran in a fine dramatic role.

FYI: Drake (or William "Bill" Hopper) plays it tough with the wise guys, more shades of THE WILD ONE. Why we all were fans of his.

Recommended. SEASON 6 EPISODE 10 remastered CBS dvd box set. Volumes 1 and 2. Thanks much to METV for running these oldies twice daily.

The quality of the Season 6 episodes shows a downturn and this particular one if not quite the nadir is close. It starts and ends with Perry Mason credits, but what we get in between is a poorly scripted melodrama about a schoolteacher accused of unprofessional conduct with a pupil. All the town characters are cliched caricatures and the acting smells of matured ham. This looks like a storyline developed for some sort of Peyton Place show, but Perry Mason has been shoehorned into it. And that ending - are we really supposed to swallow that given everything that went before? No courtroom scenes and no Della make this one to forget.