The Case of the Tarnished Trademark

The plot in this case is completely illogical. Axel sells his business to someone who plans to use the profits to build a children's hospital. When Axel finds out that is not the case, he gets so mad he publicly threatens to murder the buyer, and of course, when the buyer is found dead, Axel is the one arrested. But let's think about this. If the business is so profitable that there are enough profits to build a children's hospital, why didn't Axel keep the business and apply the profits himself? Why is it okay for Axel to sell the business (presumably at a profit) and then criticize the buyer for attempting to do the same? What reasonable buyer would purchase a business merely to give away the profits?

Oh well, the lead in does not have to make sense. As long as someone gets killed, and Perry's client is accused of the murder, we get to see Perry do his stuff. Will he be able to get Axel off? Or will this be the case that Perry loses? Watch the show yourself and find out!

In this rather odd situation, a head-strong Danish man named Axel Norstaad is a proud owner of a furniture maker business that is well know for their hand-crafted items. The business and the name is worth much money in the markets and it is time for the long time bachelor, Axel, to retire. And it just so happens that he has meet a beautiful Beverly Hills woman, Edith Morrow, that he plans to settle plus open a children's hospital in the community.

Here is where it gets odd as Axel sells his business, with very little protection, to a the highest bidder Martin Somers. It just so happens that Martin Somers has a history with Edith Morrow and it appears they are in a scheme together to buy the company. Things get suspicious when Somer's check does not clear the bank and even more and when Somers plans on flooding the market with low cost furniture with the Norstaad name-- Axel becomes upset and threatens Somers. When Somers ends up dead the police arrest Axel and Perry is set to defend the gentlemen on the count of murder.

For me, things started getting confusing when the writer put so much suspicion on one character that it caused the entire situation to become irritating when another was arrested for the crime. Plus the fact that Perry was defending a client that was annoying and loud to the point of being 'bully-like' in nature does help the program. And when you cannot warm up to the client - it makes the entire program less than desirable.

This may not be the worst ever episode of PERRY MASON but it comes very close with a muddled and hard to believe plot and a lead performance from Albert Swenson that's somewhere out in space with an accent that's as Danish as Dick Van Dyke's chimney sweep was Cockney - and his supposedly nice character is punctuated with wild nonsensical outbursts and comes over as one of those people you sometimes see in the street who talk loudly to themselves. I really wanted Perry to lose this one but it suffered like so many other episodes of someone standing up at the end and shouting 'I did it' as so many episodes did. And to think the 50 minutes I wasted watching this could have been spent doing something worthwhile!

This one is not one of my favorites. About the only positive I can give is that at least Karl Swenson is playing a Scandanavian instead of a miscast ethnicity. His character is too irascible for the audience to really get behind. Marie Windsor also seems very out-of-place in this little world. Ossa Massen is well-cast, at least. And of course, Dennis Patrick is the perfect hated (and soon to be dead) antagonist...

This is one of those stories where the defendant is so stupid, it's hard to have any sympathy for him. I'm not talking about his being charged with murder but the idiotic way he ran his business. Are we to believe that someone as clueless as he could have produced such quality and kept the business financially sound.