A Blast from the Past
My husband and I have been watching the old PERRY MASON series. We enjoyed the British legal mystery series, KAVANAGH QC (with John Thaw from MORSE), so much that we decided to revisit the classic American legal mystery series from our youth, based on the books by Erle Stanley Gardner. Raymond Burr is perfect in the role of Perry, with his serious manner that occasionally gives way to a secret little smile.
We're able to stream PERRY MASON with our Amazon Prime subscription, and since 271 episodes were made, we have many many pleasant evenings ahead.
Since the series started in the late 50s, one has to grit one's teeth from time to time--notably at the fact that the women are all either glamour-girls or dowdy matrons and the men run everything and solve all the problems. Perry's secretary Della Street is a wonderful character--and certainly capable of doing more than taking dictation, answering the phone, and serving coffee. Yet she seems content to bask in the reflected glory of her brilliant boss.
As a mystery writer, I've enjoyed noting that the form of each episode follows a pretty typical traditional mystery pattern. There's a murder, and an obvious suspect (who of course turns out not to be the real killer). Perry and his PI pal, Paul Drake, poke around looking for evidence that someone else is actually guilty.
Then instead of the sleuth or sleuths confronting the real killer, as in a traditional mystery, the revelation of who did it takes place in a courtroom--usually when Perry reveals the missing puzzle piece that led to his ingenious solution.
We're able to stream PERRY MASON with our Amazon Prime subscription, and since 271 episodes were made, we have many many pleasant evenings ahead.
Since the series started in the late 50s, one has to grit one's teeth from time to time--notably at the fact that the women are all either glamour-girls or dowdy matrons and the men run everything and solve all the problems. Perry's secretary Della Street is a wonderful character--and certainly capable of doing more than taking dictation, answering the phone, and serving coffee. Yet she seems content to bask in the reflected glory of her brilliant boss.
As a mystery writer, I've enjoyed noting that the form of each episode follows a pretty typical traditional mystery pattern. There's a murder, and an obvious suspect (who of course turns out not to be the real killer). Perry and his PI pal, Paul Drake, poke around looking for evidence that someone else is actually guilty.
Then instead of the sleuth or sleuths confronting the real killer, as in a traditional mystery, the revelation of who did it takes place in a courtroom--usually when Perry reveals the missing puzzle piece that led to his ingenious solution.
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