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6 Degrees Entertainment

'Perry Mason - Season 2, Vol. 1'
(Raymond Burr, et al / 4-Disc DVD / NR / (1957) 2007 / Paramount)

Overview: Perry Mason is an attorney who specializes in defending seemingly indefensible cases. With the aid of his secretary Della Street and investigator Paul Drake, he often finds that by digging deeply into the facts, startling facts can be revealed. Often relying on his outstanding courtroom skills, he often tricks or traps people into unwittingly admitting their guilt.

DVD Verdict: One of televisions' most entertaining and popular series enters its second season on DVD with this great release by CBS/Paramount Video. Raymond Burr is Perry Mason and he imbues each performance with his special combination of toughness and sophistication. Along for the ride are his sidekicks, the ever beautiful Barbara Hale as Perry's confidential secretary Della Street and the constantly smoking William Hopper as the well informed private detective Paul Drake. The opposition is played by the formidable William Talman as the constantly losing DA Hamilton Burger, though he somehow keeps getting re-elected along with the aged beyond all comprehension Ray Collins as the constantly passed over for promotion Lt. Tragg.

Less is implied about Perry and Della's personal relationship, but overall the episodes are better and have more snap in the writing. The episodes look very sharp, almost "too" sharp in a way since many of the scenes involve a technique called "deep focus" where characters are both in the foreground and background and inevitably we see a blurry Perry or client while the judge in the back is perfectly in focus.

This set has only two DVDs with 15 episodes total as opposed to the previous sets that contained 3 DVDs and 19 episodes each. And the menu pages are the same, featuring promo photos of the cast, though without the Perry Mason theme playing in the background. You can also play all the episodes on each DVD, which is nice if one episode doesn't satisfy your "Perry fix". And in a very tiny, but nice touch the curser is in the shape of a judge's mallet.

And while we still have no extras (not surprising I suppose given the age of the series), we do have original airdates of each show printed with the episode description. The back cover of the box is also nice indicated that both Raymond Burr & Barbara Hale's Emmy wins for that year.

For any fan of the series I heartily recommend this set and give it - as the say in the business - two thumbs up! But I do hope that someday we get a few extras, even if they're just old commercials for the series.

Some interesting Tidbits: Very interesting math is used in "The Case of the Sardonic Sergeant". The character Ricky Stevens was apparently a "stripper" while living in Manila (Philippines). Yet her age as revealed by a character on the witness stand along with the date in which she left for America would mean that she was 15 or so at the time...ewww; Perhaps due to the complex set-up of the murder, "The Case of the Perjured Parrot" does not have a trial, but a Coroner's Inquest run by Edgar "Uncle Joe" Buchanan. Needless to say, the explanation of all the events is still pretty wacky; "The Case of the Borrowed Brunette" uses the same exterior footage of an apartment complex as Season One's "The Case of the Long-Legged Models" where the murder happens. Furthermore, the victim in both episodes was played by the same actor Joe De Santis; In "The Case of the Glittering Goldfish" we see a number of camera zooms and a very interesting tracking shot where we enter the courtroom to see Hamilton Burger question a witness that lasts a good minute before it dissolves to another shot. That episode was directed by Gerd Oswald who later became associated with "The Outer Limits"; In the same episode, Lt. Tragg compliments Della to the point where he almost...well, we can imagine the rest! This is a Full Screen Presentation, but comes with no Special Features.

www.Paramount.com/HomeEntertainment





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