The Case of the Tarnished Trademark

...episode director Jerry Hopper must have been raised in a sawmill...

...and Swedish-born Karl Swenson, who is as belicose as a pissed off Brahma Bull in portraying the retiring Axel Norstaad....

...apparently, Jerry felt that "the louder the better"... but Karl knew, as do I that ALL Scandinavians tend to be very doft spoken...even taciturn...

...the upshot, all the yelling quickly overehelmed any real character development...overall a jangling, annoying episode...and dimply way below the standards of this premier series...

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!

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...

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.

The Perry Mason client for this episode is Karl Swenson who is a manufacturer of high quality furniture. He's been in business for over 30 years and his trademark name stands for quality. But he'd like to get out and enjoy some retirement years. I can identify with that. He and his new socialite girlfriend Marie Windsor have sold the business to Dennis Patrick and another piece of the land of the business for a children's hospital.

Sad to say though Dennis Patrick is a conman who has no intention of doing with the business what Swenson would like. He's buying cheap woods and lowering the quality of the furniture he's selling and banking on the Swenson trademark to make some quick profits. Patrick won the company in a bidding scheme that might not have completely been on the up and up.

Anyway he's found dead and there are a lot of suspects including the men at Swenson's factory all of who would have lost their jobs, other parties who bid on the factory, etc. But it's Swenson who Raymond Burr has to defend.

Swenson is a good manufacturer and boss, but boy is he thick about the ways of the world. He had to be good at his craft because he's so naive in personal matters.

That's all I'll say on this Perry Mason episode.