The Case of the Lurid Letter

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...

When Mrs Wardon drove Perry to the summit and when they arrived at the summit, and when she had the accident the night with her son in the car, it was always the same kind of car, a 1962 full size Mercury. I. always make a point of noticing car details, and I will tell you the car was never a full size Ford, and it certainly was never a Corvar. I have no idea where that came from.

Perry Mason is in a small town to do some fishing, but that never seems to work out.

In the same small town where Perry is vacationing, Jane Wardman is being asked to resign her teaching position at the local high school because she has been accused of having an improper relationship with a student after a troubled boy she had tried to counsel and befriend committed suicide. It's more than small town wagging tongues though, because the boy she allegedly had the relationship with testified to the school board about their kissing and drinking together, also an anonymous note was sent to the board accusing the same thing.

Wardman, a widow and the mother of a young son, decides to stay and fight and defend her reputation rather than resign. Perry, a witness to some of the cruel and abusive treatment she receives from the townsfolk decides to represent her at the school board hearing, where it turns out that this smear attack against her is much bigger than just small minds wanting to believe the worst.

There does turn out to be a murder involved in this episode, but it comes near the end and Perry's client - for once - is not the accused. There's quite a bit of Paul Drake in this episode, as he is needed to both investigate and deal with some of the town bullies who don't care for his presence.

This episode brings in some features of films that were popular in the early 60s - troubled youth and motorcycle gangs bullying citizens on lonely roads at night.

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

A touchy subject is the plot on this episode when a widowed school teacher, Jane Wardman, is accused of improper conduct with one of her students. The student, Pat Mangan, is the town bully that is part of a motorcycle group from the school. A letter to the school also states that a student, Kenneth Sterling that had died in a motorcycle accident last year, was also involved with Ms Wardman. Ms Wardham admits to helping Kenneth but there was no relationship other than teacher and student. The school board that consist of most of the town's professional citizens, ask Ms Wardham to resign rather than fight the dismissal in court.

Perry just happens to be vacationing in the small town and comes to the aid of widow. However the mood in the town is not very good. In fact the ladies in the town pay Ms Wardham a visit to force her out of town. But with the help of Perry and Paul, Ms Wardham will get a hearing in front of the school board. During the hearing, that is presided over by Judge Edward Daley (Edgar Buchanan), it becomes clear to Perry that this town has secrets it wants hidden.

When a local bar owner is murdered, it begins the fall of a dated secret that someone in power never wanted to see the light of day. In the informal hearing, Perry will produce evidence that fingers someone that had reason to get rid of Ms Wardham.

Good script and good mystery.