The Case of the Telltale Tap

Jeanne Bal's scenes, along with H. M. Wynant, make this episode memorable, knew their time in this episode would be limited--and give it their best. Jeanne plays the psychotic executive secretary, in love with the new controller, Clyde, who is having a relationship with the C. E. O.'s niece--that was previously screwing the fired former controller. Add this to the phone-conversation recording and the leaking of the advance information regarding stock purchases by a mutual fund--this becomes an important historical episode.

There is courtroom exchange with Burger & Perry arguing the admissibility of wire-tapped conversation in a murder trial, with Burger arguing they can, if the they were taped by the murder victim, and Perry arguing that they are illegal in California (and therefore, non-admissible), and that gives some importance to the timing of the episode, as the technology was keeping ahead of the courts. Give the writer some credit for having having the one that's sets up the "Telltale Tap" finished off, by being "clubbed" with HER OWN PHONE! All the way around, a good episode to record, and re-watch, although MeTV has cut out some scenes containing actors listed on IMDB.

No Perry Mason episode is perfect, but I'm going to round my score up to a 10. For an hour-long show--this one is timely, has good acting, and the determination of the killer--who was in it from the opening scenes.

Raymond Burr complained that the plots in Season 8 were too complicated for even him to figure out, and this episode is an exemplar of this. As the end credits rolled, I still had little idea just what the hell happened.

Five stars is about as few as I'd give any Mason episode (at least of the ones Burr actually appeared in). The acting is good, as usual, especially by Jeanne Bal and H.M. Wynant, whom you reliably hate in every appearance (his character, not the actor). But the story itself is another of the "explain it all in the last five minutes" variety that makes you wonder if they also WROTE it in five minutes.

Still, at least they didn't go for one of their novelty shots. The characters, even though burdened by forced plot machinations, fit right in.

I don't get some of the reviewers' comments and ratings. It seems as though they're expecting academy award plots and performances. When I watch these episodes, my rating starts at "5" because it's Perry Mason and I so enjoy the main actors and their chemistry with one another, and get to see classic autos and great character actors that remind me of other shows that aired at the time and later. The rest of the rating is based on two things: can I determine the murderer before he/she is revealed, and can I figure out how Perry figured it out? Both are tough sometimes.

In this episode, the plot was terrific, albeit a bit glossed over at times, which is sometimes necessary in a 51-minute show, and the killer wasn't revealed until the last few minutes, and was a bit of a curveball. I like that. One reviewer complained that the end was rushed, but again, a 51-minute show doesn't allow for drawn-out confessions. One thing I don't like, because it's unrealistic, is when the killer confesses from the gallery. I don't care for that, it's better when it's done on the stand under cross. There seem to be a lot of gallery confessions this season, even one off-screen after a gallery examination. I wonder if the court reporter records gallery dialogue. Anyway, I also liked this episode for the Mayberry mayor and the sexy hot psycho.

There isn't much question here that Jeanne Bal owns this episode. She is absolutely magnificent in her potrayal of the evil and tyrannic secretary Vera Wynne. Despite her relatively short screen time, she makes the most of every second. The rest of this entry is more-or-less fluff. The plot is too confusing, the rest of the cast is adequate, but it slips downhill after Bal's exit. Unfortunately, the writers must have thought the more complex the issues, the more interesting the stories would be -- but as the cliche goes, less is more. The confession in the end is the low point. Watch it for Jeanne Bal -- she makes the rest worthwhile...

Money is being embezzled at a company. A head secretary to the CEO has total knowledge of the operations. She has an interest in a young man who does not share her beliefs. She is a tyrant and strikes fear into several of the people in the loop. A disreputable electrician is a specialist in wiretapping and he pays a huge price for helping with a fraud. Not a bad story.