The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink

Got to see this tonight on MeTv. A huge fan of "Noir", This is Perry, and Paul and Della at these best. And May (wiggle girl) ain't bad either ! :-)

A must see if you're a fan of the series, the pilot episode that stands out from all the others, and with a noir-ish slant to it. Filmed about a year before the series began, interesting to see some changes, including a younger Raymond Burr sporting a different hair cut.

Perry and Della just happen to be eating in a restaurant that has a waitress caught up in a lot of trouble. Katherine Faylen (daughter of actor Frank Faylen) plays Dixie who apparently someone wants DEAD. She also has an old mink coat, which the owner of the restaurant, Morey (played by Robert Osterloh) gives to Perry for safe keeping. It's all tied to another man who conveniently gets killed, a pawn ticket and a gun that was used in the murder of a cop. Accordingly, Perry has to represent both Dixie and Morey, suspected of murder. You have to admit, it's a clever set-up.

I agree with the last reviewer, Lt. Tragg is mad as a hornet here, and rightfully so, even suspecting Perry of attempting to pull a fast one on him, covering something up with his clients. It's unusual to see Osterloh as one of Perry's clients, generally cast as heavies in movies and tv shows. Western actor Douglas Kennedy plays Sergeant Jaffrey. Don't miss comedian Connie Cezon as Gertie, who would be a fixture in the series. Often seen with the Three Stooges.

Excellent writing by Laurence Marks, known for HOGANS HEROES and MASH. Veteran director Ted Post handles the cast quite well -- the revealing courtroom scene -- which you can't miss. Post was senior director for GUNSMOKE and PEYTON PLACE.

A real change of pace, and a bit on the historical side for tv buffs.

SEASON 1 EPISODE 13 remastered CBS dvd box set. 2 box sets/ 5 dvds each. Released 2006. The entire series is in a fabulous (if not giant) box set. Makes a wonderful gift.

CotMEM goes way beyond the usual courtroom dramatics and theatrics we normally associate with the show, especially in the way Mason solves the case. I like this episode a lot because we get to see the true S1 tension that exists between Tragg and Mason and yet Tragg does the right thing in the end - Tragg becomes somewhat more buffoonish as the seasons unfold but here in the first season he goes toe-to-toe with Mason in grand fashion - we get to see more of the close relationship between Drake and Mason as well and really see Mason's relationship with Della - over the years there has been lots of talk of a gay subtext to the characters and one can certainly sense that in this episode in particular (pinky rings anyone?) - Della certainly comes off as knowing she'll never be able to be more than Mason's friend and confidante, and their relationship will never be anything more than a platonic closeness - as if she knows something but can't tell the audience - this episode comes across as much more 'complicated' than the preceding eps and the cast is uniformly quite good, especially Than Wyenn as Hoxie and Douglas Kennedy as Jaffrey and the scene with Mason, Drake and Roxanne Arlen as Mae is priceless - one of Hopper's best in the series (as is his interrogation by Jaffrey and Tragg in the hotel room later) - but what's with the weird haircuts? Although aired in '57 it looks like it carries a 1958 date - maybe there was a break in the shooting and Burr and Hopper went to the barber shop in their spare time - a very enjoyable episode with much more tension than we normally expect from the show

This may be the only episode in which Lieutenant Tragg, who is usually so genial and courtly, loses his cool and uses a degrading insult to refer to another person. He calls someone a "fink", and he puts more fury and hatred into the word than actors today put into much stronger four-letter (or longer) words.

And then he delivers one of the most satisfying funny lines on any screen. The bad-guy has been shot but not mortally. Tragg tells Perry "You'd better go get an ambulance," and as Perry goes to obey, Tragg adds, sotto-voce: "Don't -- uh -- hurry."

Actually, this was the very first episode filmed for the famed television series, filmed in 1956. This information was procured on the back cover of a paperback edition of this Perry Mason novel by Erle Stanley Gardner. Since this was filmed a year before the series actually went on the air, this may account for the differences in hair styles on Raymond Burr and William Hopper. Also, I believe it is the only episode where Lieutenant Tragg (played by veteran actor Ray Collins) shoots someone in Perry Mason's office, in order to save the attorney's life. Anyway, since it is an episode based on one of the best Perry Mason novels, it ranks (in my opinion) as one of the top 10 out of the 271 original Perry Mason television episodes!