The Case of the Wrathful Wraith

Who else better to write this macabre story than the likes of Henry Farrell, who wrote two of the greatest movie chillers, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE and HUSH, HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE, both starring Bette Davis.

Henry did a fabulous job here, a story all about a woman called Louise (played by Marian McCargo) believed to have killed her husband --but there's no body? Next there's some EERIE seances, rumors that Louise is slowly going insane(!) and a situation where the supposed dead man comes back to life? A perfect puzzler for Perry Mason.

Fun stuff, and as I have noted before, the final season was one of the best because all story options were on the table. Somehow the more offbeat, it all clicked, and the acting always above par.

Marian McCargo, prior to her screen career, was a recognized national tennis champion who later married California state Rep Alfonzo Bell, and also helped him raise his sons. Yes, she does resemble actress Dina Merrill. Look for Don Dillaway, playing a reporter. Best known (to all us movie buffs) for playing a young soldier father (killed in battle) in the goofy Laurel and Hardy comedy, PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES (1932). Not to be missed.

Trying to figure this one out is worth it.

SEASON 9 EPISODE 9 remastered CBS dvd box set. Volumes 1 and 2. Released 2013.

Marian McCargo (aka Marian Moses) played Louise Selff, the client that Raymond Burr (Perry Mason) exonerated twice in this episode. She was the mother of William R. Moses, who played Ken Malansky in the Perry Mason TV movies and Cole Gioberti on Falcon Crest. She tested for the part of Maggie, Cole's mother, but they said she looked too old! Then she tried out for the part of Maggie's mother, but she was deemed too young! She did end up with another part on the show. She was the grandmother of Remington Elizabeth Moses, the daughter of William and his ex-wife Tracy. She was the former mother-in-law of Tracy Nelson, the daughter of Rick Nelson & Kristin Harmon (Mark Harmon's sister). Tracy's brothers are Matthew, Gunnar (aka the band Nelson), and Sam Nelson. Tracy is known for her roles on Square Pegs (Jennifer DeNuccio) and Sister Steve on Father Brown Mysteries.

In this unique and entertaining story we get a situation that is as odd as any Mason show in the collection. An episode that was excellent to watch with a story that was fascinating to the very end.

The episode begins as Perry is defending Louise Selff for a charge of murder. She is accused of murdering her husband on a yacht and disposing the body in the ocean. With the body never found and the testimony all circumstantial, the Judge throws out the charge due to insufficient evidence.

After the court hearing Ms Selff is haunted by seeing visions of her dead husband and verbal contacts from the grave. People are now believing that Louise is going insane and now telling that she actually has seen her husband. But things go from strange to bizarre when her husband is found recently shot on the balcony of the Selff estate. With Louise in possession of the murder weapon she will again go to trial for the murder of her husband.

Perry will again defend Louise Selff in court for the second charge of murder. In court, Perry will tiptoe through testimony involving a contract that will prove to be the reason for all the problems. Louise Selff is not insane nor is she guilty. The true murderer will be exposed and Perry will exonerate his client for the second time in one episode. -- One of the better shows in the last season of the series.

The defendant is such a mess that even though she get off, she will fly off the rails if she sees a mouse. The plot is one of those where a guy is thought to be dead, his wife is charged, and he shows up alive later in the show. I have to agree with the person who talked about how unsympathetic her character was. Perry didn't want her institutionalized but treatment for mental illness wouldn't be a bad idea.

As a person who is in their thirties and have been watching Perry Mason for the last 10 years I think since my twenties and I am clearly clearly far from the days when this was actually broadcast on TV but my mom this was her age we watch this together but I'm I'm a person who likes old school mysteries but it's something about this episode that is just bothering me as some reviewers said the main character is a little bit on the annoying side and I'm going to incline to agree,

But there is things that people are doing that just seems very illegal and I guess I will put spoilers but how come nobody's noticing the people that are sneaking around through the whole entire episode until the end I'm like there were like missing dialogues and added dialogues and statements that were made that could have been easily answered but they left you with no answers and that's not good or conducive to a good mystery it made you go what and why is everybody so incompetent it was just hard to get through it's all over the place you really don't even care at the end of the show because a lot of people got away with a lot of little illegal things and nobody called them out on it and certain people could have been apprehended before situations happen because they were right there and it was easily explained but yeah this one gets a 2 out of 10

Yes my review is going to leave you just as mystified as I was watching this episode another thing is a lot of people in this episode had major aggression it was very aggressive a lot of people were talking very aggressively to Perry Mason Perry Mason was snapping back it was a mess!! LoL.