Show149
It’s curious that Perry recognized an antique electric car when he saw one, especially now that electric cars are making a comeback! There was a recent film about the old electric cars and their demise. Find out Who Killed the Electric Car? here or here.
+ What Perry immediately recognizes (from a distance of 6 feet!) as “an electric automobile” is a line-engraving of a car on the reverse of the 1-inch-diameter St. Christopher medallion that Della found in the baby’s basket. We viewers are given a fine close-up of the engraving, displayed in Paul’s open hand. The engraving is further ID’d by Antique Car Man (ACM), who gives some totally fictional "historical details" of Detroit Electric and a lead to local owner Dolly Kerrick, who still drives her (Baker) electric car. Dolly's car appears in three scenes, the most delightful being Dolly's trip to see Della and the baby at DVD 22:05-22:24. Added by Gary Woloski, 12/13/11.
++ Who Killed the Electric Car (1:32:26) includes shots of both a
Baker Electric (0:1:46 to 0:1:52) and a Detroit Electric (0:2:20 to 0:2:33 with voice-over by Phyllis Diller). Note that the linked image of the Detroit Electric shows hinges on the forward edge of the doors, which was standard practice for Detroit Electric. Added by Gary Woloski 5/17/17.
Historical Notes on electric vehicles:
- Whereas the real Detroit Electric tried to compete with the gasoline-powered car but went bust by 1939, Walter C. Baker instead directed his company's production into Materials-Handling-Equipment, in which the limited range of electric vehicles didn't matter and where clean, quiet operation was a big plus. Baker Industrial Trucks later became a division of Otis Elevators and United Technologies Corp, living on until 1989. See this Encyclopedia of Cleveland History article.
- See some early magazine articles (1913 & later) on electric vehicles, courtesy of Lincoln Highway Museum (scroll down 1 page to start).
Added by Gary Woloski, 5/25/13.
+ Another Baker Electric Appearance. It's well worth watching the PETER GUNN episode Love Me to Death (1960) to see and hear more of the 1916 Baker Electric including motor & chain drive sound and the undercarriage & mechanical brake linkage, which hero Gunn inspects after an upsetting and fatal "accident". Auto licence plates are Hollywood props [fake] in this episode. Also notable in the episode are:
- Perry Mason occasional actor (ep#s 15 & 231) Minerva Urecal as Mother,
- a spectacular & daringly-coordinated firebomb attempt on Pete's car (OUTSTANDING even compared to the typically great stunt-work in the PETER GUNN series) and
- a lawyer who introduces himself to Pete as "James Bond" (played by Lucien Littlefield). Pete seemed to have been as surprised to hear the name as I was watching at home.
First JAMES BOND book was 1953. The phrase "Bond, James Bond" didn't come along until the first "James Bond movie", Dr. NO (1962). Added by Gary Woloski, 2/4/18.
Della is the star of this show. In many episodes Della is mainly (delightful) window dressing, but this episode shows us just how indispensable she can be. Imagine how foolish Perry and Paul would have felt if they had been unable to decipher the baby formula--something Della knew immediately--only to eventually find out what it really was. Plus she took care of Leander. Submitted by DellaFan, 10/24/2013.
I really feel for Della at the end when she cries. There she is, pushing forty, unmarried, childless, biological clock tick-tick-ticking away, a famous, successful lawyer--her boss!--in her sights, and she can't reel him in! Submitted by DellaFan, 10/24/2013.
+ I would love to be the solution to her problem! Submitted by DellaFan, 10/24/2013.
++ Della has no problem. She's intelligent, lovely, and has an exciting career. The choices she makes are her own. jfh 01Feb2017.
+++My wife and I were discussing this very thing. Della has an excellent job, her own place (even if she’s “house sitting” in this episode), and is in a relationship with the man she loves and respects (because, come on, we all know they’re an item). Della is a happy single woman. And, as DellaFan points out, an absolute knockout. It would ruin everything if she and Perry tied the knot. Submitted by Rickapolis 12/24/21
Watching the ending of the episode again, I can't believe my eyes: Perry sitting on the sofa doing nothing while the elder Mrs. Kerrick loads up and carries away a large suitcase! Where is the courteous, chivalrous Perry beloved by his cleaning woman? jfh 01Nov2017
+ I don't know, Dolly Kerrick seems to me to be that kind of feisty old lady who would have slapped anyone's hands away that tried to carry the suitcase for her. Also, in strict fairness to Perry, his back was turned, and Dolly had the case locked and out the door before he could have seen what she was doing. OLEF641 2/23/21
That is the BIGGEST four week old baby I've ever seen ... times have changed, it's more likely that a baby closer to that real age could be used in a tv show. MikeReese
+ I agree. That might have been a summary error, though. In one scene the baby's mother refers to "those months" since the birth. Submitted by francis, 10/31/14.
Sign of the times: Perry, Della and baby, and Paul travelling in the front bench seat of Perry's car. Front bench seat? Baby riding in front? in the lap of its caregiver? jfh 26Oct2016
+This comment reminds me of the unfortunate habit of my little brother, age 5 or so, of standing up on the bench seats of my family's light blue '55 Chevrolet Bel Air, infuriating my mother -- at about the time this episode aired. Standard seat belts and, I suppose child car seats, were still on the drawing board at the time. JohnK, 24 December 2021.
For the first time we got to see the hallway just outside of Perry's office. Unless there was a major remodel job the suite of Ajax Mining & Development Corporation (from episode 68 TCOT Dubious Bridegroom) couldn't have been next to suite 904. Submitted by H. Mason 12/8/14
METV preempted their normal schedule to show an episode "remembering" Barbara Hale, who died last week; ironically, they could have simply waited a day and used this episode, probably the most Della-cetric of the series...the honoring part, of course, would have been showing it unedited, and not deleting her big scene (ARGH!!!). Proffered by Notcom, 020217
Not quite sure of the reason Dr.Hogathy could be blackmailed. Surely anyone could come to the aid of a woman giving birth; police do it every day. And how would Lenora Graves get access to the doctor's record book? DODay 11/01/17
+ Excellent point here. As a Hungarian, Dr. Hogathy may not have been completely cognizant of US law in the matter, and may have been worried more about the cover-up than his role in the birth. On top of that, Menke may well have been telling him exaggerated and untrue stories about what would happen if the truth came out, preying upon Hogathy's presumed fears about being deported behind the Iron Curtain. TriviaSleuth 8/12/19