The Case of the Unwelcome Well

A previous poster said Mason should have been disbarred over substandard legal work and poor ethics. LOL! He should have been disbarred for improper courtroom procedures and unethical investigations before the series even started! It's obvious Erle Stanley Gardner and the writers of this show never studied law or set foot in a real courtroom. (I don't think the writers ever studied writing - the idiotic dialogue throughout the series supports that theory). Just too funny! (But, Della looks fetching in this one)

Perry Mason had no business drawing up the original legal contract between the property owner's wife and oil exploration company without consultation or signature of the husband. It was also a terrible contract in that exploration rights were assigned for a 10 year period. GIven the ederly husband, a shorter time frame contract would allow the man to enjoy the profits while alive. Mason should have been disbarred over this one.

This is one of those episodes where the murderer should have been rewarded with a pardon instead of jail time. It would seem that the world is now a better place- but that is a judgment call.

Anyway, the story is about a older farmer, Jason Rohan, who is mad that his wife let an drilling company test his ground for oil. At first he is upset to the point of shooting at the men. But when told that the land has oil and could be worth millions, now Jason is all in. He buys cars and new clothes as the test continues.

The person that is financing the drilling is a oil baron named Jerome Klee. He is the nasty man that only cares about money and steps on everyone in his way. He decides to cap the oil on Rohan's land instead of drilling. This is going to put Jason Rohan, the land owner that has spend thousands, near bankrupt. When Allan Winford, of the drilling company, wants to announce the oil find- Jerome threatens him with 'never working in the industry again'. Jerome Klee is use to getting his way and no one is going to stop him or change his mind including Perry Mason.

Then for some strange reason, the oil baron gets a note and goes out to his oil company at night. Jerome gets hit over the head with a wrench and dies. The wrench belongs to Allan Winford and he is seen driving off right after the murder. Perry will defend Allan in court for the murder charge.

Nearly everyone in the cast is a suspect. In fact most people feel relieved that Jerome is dead which will have Perry's plate full as he takes this murder to court. Perry will cross-examine most of the suspects on the witness stand in order to get to the truth of the matter.

The only problem with the story is perhaps a little too crowded since there are many people to choose from. When the final moments of the show appear, the circumstance surrounding the murder would be something the viewer would not know until Perry presents the evidence. But with that said it was still a good watch for viewers.

Although this was not the best Perry Mason episode ever done, it certainly provided one of the meanest villains that Raymond Burr was ever employed by. Wendell Corey who if you take what Kirk Douglas says in his memoirs at face value was very much like his character he played here.

Corey is a wealthy oil millionaire who has no redeeming civic virtues like say the Rockefeller family. He endows no money anywhere I'd be willing to bet, I'd further bet his tax deductions were a fraud because as he says all he wants to acquire is all the money there is.

He's employed Perry Mason to negotiate a lease on Paul Brinegar and Gloria Talbott's land to drill for oil. Truth be told Brinegar and Talbott started spending money that wasn't their's yet because of the oil under the ground. They're facing ruin because Corey decides to cap the well and save the oil for later as he has a ten year option. Not helping to pay Brinegar's bills and Perry Mason feels used.

Corey is a guy who likes to make enemies for the sake and we have a cast full of suspects. The head of his drilling operation on the Brinegar land, James Best is the one arrested for his murder and Raymond Burr defends him as his obligation to Corey as a client ceased when Corey ceased breathing.

Kirk Douglas's memoirs The Ragman's Son describes the fact that at one time he and Corey had a good friendship, but politics and drinking drove them apart. Not just that Corey was a Republican, but he was going further and further to the right in his views. It cut him off a great deal from liberal Hollywood and Kirk says few came to his funeral. He came out of his respect for Corey's widow who he says suffered a great deal with Corey.

Still Wendell Corey dominates this episode playing a man that Will Rogers could hate with ease.

We're rapidly getting close to the end, and it shows. This story can be summed up pretty well in one word: Greed. The circumstances in this particular tome are pretty far-fetched. While it starts off okay, it starts to unravel fairly quickly. Trying too hard, the writers have turned many of the players here into caricatures. An old hick rancher, his too-young and pretty wife, a diabolical oil man and a middle-eastern potentate get into a tangle that only the likes of Perry Mason can sort out. A few surprises lurk within, and of course justice wins out and leads to a happy ending. Isn't TV wonderful..?