"Perry Mason" (1957) TV series 1957-1966

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Creator:

Erle Stanley Gardner
(more)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Release Date:

21 September 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

A master attorney works difficult criminal cases for his clients.

Plot Keywords:

Perry Mason | Courtroom | Secretary | Lawyer | Murder Confession

Awards:

Won 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Raymond Burr	...	Perry Mason / ... (271 episodes, 1957-1966)
William Hopper	...	Paul Drake / ... (254 episodes, 1957-1966)
Barbara Hale	...	Della Street (252 episodes, 1957-1966)
William Talman	...	Hamilton Burger / ... (208 episodes, 1957-1966)
Ray Collins	...	Lt. Tragg / ... (172 episodes, 1957-1965)

(more)

Series Directed by
Arthur Marks		(62 episodes, 1958-1966)
Jesse Hibbs		(31 episodes, 1962-1966)
William D. Russell		(28 episodes, 1957-1960)
Christian Nyby		(13 episodes, 1957-1962)
Laslo Benedek		(9 episodes, 1958-1961)
Andrew V. McLaglen		(7 episodes, 1958-1960)
Jerry Hopper		(6 episodes, 1961-1966)
Bernard L. Kowalski		(6 episodes, 1961)
Allen H. Miner		(5 episodes, 1962-1963)
Harmon Jones		(5 episodes, 1963-1966)
Arthur Hiller		(4 episodes, 1958-1960)
Gerd Oswald		(4 episodes, 1958-1959)
Lewis Allen		(3 episodes, 1958-1961)
Roger Kay		(3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Anton Leader		(3 episodes, 1958)
Richard Kinon		(3 episodes, 1959-1960)
Francis D. Lyon		(3 episodes, 1962)
Earl Bellamy		(3 episodes, 1963)
Richard Donner		(3 episodes, 1964-1965)
Ted Post		(2 episodes, 1957-1958)
Buzz Kulik		(2 episodes, 1958-1959)
Walter Grauman		(2 episodes, 1959-1960)
William F. Claxton		(2 episodes, 1960)
Gerald Mayer		(2 episodes, 1960)
Robert Ellis Miller		(2 episodes, 1960)
James Sheldon		(2 episodes, 1960)
John English		(2 episodes, 1961)
John Peyser		(2 episodes, 1961)
Jack Arnold		(2 episodes, 1964-1965)
Irving J. Moore		(2 episodes, 1964)
Vincent McEveety		(2 episodes, 1965)

Series Writing credits
Erle Stanley Gardner		(81 episodes, 1957-1966)
Jonathan Latimer		(26 episodes, 1958-1965)
Jackson Gillis		(24 episodes, 1959-1966)
Gene Wang		(23 episodes, 1957-1959)
Samuel Newman		(23 episodes, 1958-1965)
Seeleg Lester		(20 episodes, 1958-1960)
Robert C. Dennis		(18 episodes, 1958-1965)
Orville H. Hampton		(15 episodes, 1965-1966)
Ernie Frankel		(10 episodes, 1965-1966)
Milton Krims		(8 episodes, 1959-1965)
Maurice Zimm		(7 episodes, 1959-1962)
Richard Grey		(6 episodes, 1957-1961)
Al C. Ward		(5 episodes, 1957-1959)
Sy Salkowitz		(5 episodes, 1960-1961)
Francis M. Cockrell		(4 episodes, 1957-1958)
Philip MacDonald		(4 episodes, 1958-1966)
Robert Bloomfield		(4 episodes, 1958-1960)
Robb White		(4 episodes, 1961-1965)
Robert Leslie Bellem		(4 episodes, 1961-1962)
William Bast		(4 episodes, 1965-1966)
Harold Swanton		(3 episodes, 1957-1960)
Laurence Marks		(3 episodes, 1957-1958)
Donald S. Sanford		(3 episodes, 1957-1958)
Sol Stein		(3 episodes, 1960-1961)
Glenn P. Wolfe		(3 episodes, 1960-1961)
Adrian Gendot		(3 episodes, 1961-1962)
Bob Mitchell		(3 episodes, 1961-1962)
Marian B. Cockrell		(2 episodes, 1957-1958)
Stirling Silliphant		(2 episodes, 1957)
Herman Epstein		(2 episodes, 1958-1960)
Ben Brady		(2 episodes, 1958)
Stanley Niss		(2 episodes, 1958)
Lawrence L. Goldman		(2 episodes, 1959-1965)
Michael Morris		(2 episodes, 1960-1961)
Sam Neuman		(2 episodes, 1960)
Helen Nielsen		(2 episodes, 1961-1962)
True Boardman		(2 episodes, 1962-1963)
Mann Rubin		(2 episodes, 1964-1965)
Philip Saltzman		(2 episodes, 1964-1965)
John Elliotte		(2 episodes, 1965-1966)

Series Produced by
Gail Patrick	....	executive producer (271 episodes, 1957-1966)
Arthur Marks	....	associate producer / producer (77 episodes, 1959-1966)
Art Seid	....	producer (62 episodes, 1961-1966)
Jackson Gillis	....	associate producer (50 episodes, 1961-1965)
Ben Brady	....	producer (42 episodes, 1957-1959)
Seeleg Lester	....	associate producer / producer (42 episodes, 1959-1961)
Sam White	....	associate producer (34 episodes, 1957-1959)
Herbert Hirschman	....	producer (28 episodes, 1959-1960)
Cornwell Jackson	....	producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Richard Shores		(23 episodes, 1964-1966)
Van Cleave		(6 episodes, 1962-1964)
Jerry Goldsmith		(2 episodes, 1959)
René Garriguenc		(2 episodes, 1964)

Series Cinematography by
Frank Redman		(82 episodes, 1957-1961)
Robert G. Hager		(49 episodes, 1961-1963)
John M. Nickolaus Jr.		(14 episodes, 1964-1966)
Howard Schwartz		(4 episodes, 1963-1964)
Philip H. Lathrop		(2 episodes, 1961)

Series Film Editing by
Richard Cahoon		(58 episodes, 1957-1965)
John Faure		(47 episodes, 1959-1963)
Richard W. Farrell		(12 episodes, 1957-1966)
Otto Meyer		(11 episodes, 1957-1961)
Al Clark		(3 episodes, 1963-1964)
George Hively		(2 episodes, 1966)

Series Casting by
Harvey Clermont		(105 episodes, 1958-1962)
Marvin Schnall		(11 episodes, 1958-1959)

Series Art Direction by
Lewis H. Creber		(145 episodes, 1957-1966)
Lyle R. Wheeler		(35 episodes, 1957-1959)

Series Set Decoration by
Charles Vassar		(120 episodes, 1957-1962)
Walter M. Scott		(34 episodes, 1957-1959)

Series Costume Design by
Dick James		(1 episode, 1957)
Charles Le Maire		(1 episode, 1960)

Series Makeup Department
Annabell	....	hair stylist (127 episodes, 1957-1966)
Irving Pringle	....	makeup artist (100 episodes, 1959-1966)
Dick Hamilton	....	makeup artist (25 episodes, 1958-1959)
Mel Berns	....	makeup artist (9 episodes, 1957-1958)

Series Production Management
Dewey Starkey	....	production supervisor (55 episodes, 1959-1961)
J. Paul Popkin	....	production supervisor (35 episodes, 1957-1959)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert G. Stone	....	assistant director (56 episodes, 1958-1966)
Morris Harmell	....	assistant director (33 episodes, 1958-1961)
Gordon A. Webb	....	assistant director (20 episodes, 1961-1966)
Maxwell O. Henry	....	assistant director (6 episodes, 1957-1958)
Arthur Marks	....	assistant director (4 episodes, 1957)

Series Art Department
Ray Thompson	....	properties / props / ... (127 episodes, 1957-1965)

Series Sound Department
Herman Lewis	....	sound mixer / production sound mixer (103 episodes, 1959-1966)
Gene Eliot	....	sound effects editor / sound editor (80 episodes, 1958-1961)
Robert O'Brien	....	production sound mixer (13 episodes, 1958-1959)
Roy Meadows	....	sound mixer / production sound mixer (12 episodes, 1959)
Alfred Bruzlin	....	recordist (8 episodes, 1957)
Harry M. Leonard	....	recording mixer (8 episodes, 1957)

Series Costume and Wardrobe Department
Evelyn Carruth	....	wardrobe supervisor / costume supervisor / ... (85 episodes, 1959-1965)
Edward McDermott	....	wardrobe supervisor / costume supervisor / ... (44 episodes, 1961-1965)
W.T. Zacha	....	wardrobe supervisor (40 episodes, 1959-1961)
Dick James	....	wardrobe supervisor (31 episodes, 1957-1959)

Series Editorial Department
Art Seid	....	editorial supervisor (33 episodes, 1957-1959)

Series Music Department
Gene Feldman	....	music editor (55 episodes, 1959-1961)
Fred Steiner	....	composer: theme music (6 episodes, 1963-1966)
Herschel Burke Gilbert	....	music supervisor / conductor (5 episodes, 1964-1965)

Series Other crew
M.E.M. Gibsone	....	script supervisor (71 episodes, 1959-1962)
Art Seid	....	assistant to producer (40 episodes, 1959-1961)
Samuel Newman	....	story consultant / script consultant (39 episodes, 1961-1965)
Gene Wang	....	story consultant / story editor (32 episodes, 1957-1959)
Seeleg Lester	....	story consultant / associate story consultant (30 episodes, 1959-1960)
Jackson Gillis	....	story consultant (28 episodes, 1960-1961)
William E. Orr	....	script supervisor (24 episodes, 1958-1959)
Alice Young	....	story editor / script editor (24 episodes, 1958-1959)
Cosmo Genovese	....	script supervisor (17 episodes, 1957-1963)
Robert Gary	....	script supervisor (8 episodes, 1959-1962)
Gertrude Bank	....	stand-in: Barbara Hale (6 episodes, 1957-1964)
Ernie Frankel	....	story consultant (5 episodes, 1965-1966)
Orville H. Hampton	....	associate story consultant (5 episodes, 1965-1966)
Marshall Schlom	....	script supervisor (2 episodes, 1964-1966)

Production Companies

• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)
• Paisano Productions
• TCF Television Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1957-1966) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Paramount Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD) (season 1)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Super Channel (1998) (Japan) (TV)
• Viacom

Other Companies

• 20th Century Fox Studios  filmed at
• Pacific Title  title and opticals

Runtime:

60 min | USA:60 min (271 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-18 (self applied) (DVD) (2008)

Filming Locations:

Chaplin Studios - 1416 N. La Brea Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Trivia:

Perry's office was located in the Brent Building in downtown Los Angeles.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In "Case of the Grinning Gorilla", you can see the flesh underneath the eyes of the actor portraying the gorilla, especially in the close-ups.

Quotes:

Della Street: [a simple question] What do you know about art?
Paul Drake: [astonished] Me? I don't even know what I like!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis: The Richest Squirrel in Town (#3.8)" (1961)

Perry Mason: Television film noire

The original "Perry Mason," in glorious black & white, is in the tradition of the great film noir films of the '40s and '50s. The cases have a poetic reality to them, clashing and understandable motives, psychology, and murder. Because the motives of all involved are understandable, there is not lacking a painful sympathy for those caught up in the circumstances described, even for the perpetrator. But there is a grim darkness to the program as well. The program gradually ran down during its life, so that, when it went off the air, it was probably time. The original 1957-1958 season was the best, with the most intricate plots and with Perry Mason a wiseguy thorn in the side of the police. The cast is perfect, and even the score fits perfectly this brooding and ironic look at life and fate.