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#101: The Case of the
Wandering Widow
Original Airdate: 10/22/60

Summary Edit

From The Perry Mason TV Show Book (Revised)
When a man accused of killing a fellow golfer is freed from prison, the release starts a chain reaction of extortion and murder.

Leave It to Beaver fans will spot Stephen Talbot (the Beav’s friend, Gilbert) in this episode.

Credits Edit

Opening

Starring Raymond Burr
in The Case of THE WANDERING WIDOW
Based upon characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner

Barbara Hale as Della Street
William Hopper as Paul Drake
Ray Collins as Lt. Tragg

Trailing

Directed by William F. Claxton
Written by Robert C. Dennis
Seeleg Lester || Producer
Gail Patrick Jackson || Executive Producer
Arthur Marks || Associate Producer
Produced by The CBS Television Network in association with Paisano Productions
Jackson Gillis || Story Consultant
Raymond Burr as Perry Mason
Barbara Hale as Della Street
William Hopper as Paul Drake
Ray Collins as Lt. Tragg

Cast

Paul Langton as Deputy D.A. Telford
Coleen Gray as Lorraine Kendall
Dean Harens as Morgan Riley
Marguerite Chapman as Faye Donner
Casey Adams as Burt Stokes
Ralph Clanton as Roger McClaine
Hugh Sanders as Warren Donner
Robert Cornthwaite as Bill Worth
Stephen Talbot as Jimmie Kendall
Richard Gaines as Judge
Robert Carson as Warden
Robert Whiting as Mr. Leeman
Gil Rogers as Buddy Staples
Helen Spring as Martha

Crew

Art Seid, A.C.E. || Assistant to the Producer

Production Supervisor … Dewey Starkey
Director of Photography … Frank Redman, A.S.C.
Art Direction … Lewis Creber
Assistant Director … Morris Harmell
Film Editor … John D. Faure
Casting … Harvey Clermont
Makeup … Irving Pringle
Hair Stylist … Annabell, S.C.H.
Wardrobe Supervision … William Zacha, Evelyn Carruth
Set Decoration … Charles Q. Vassar
Sound Effects Editor … Gene Eliot, M.P.S.E.
Music Editor … Gene Feldman
Properties … Ray Thompson
Production Sound Mixer … Herman Lewis
Script Supervision … M.E.M. Gibsone
Sound … Glen Glenn Sound Co.
Titles and Opticals … Pacific Title

Perry Mason \ A Film Presentation
A CBS Television Network Production

Trivia Edit

Anomaly: Dean Harens is listed as Morgan Riley but is called Riley Morgan several times and Morgan the rest of the time. Posted by daveb, 12/20/2007.

Goof: In the scene where Lorraine Kendall leaves her home and almost hits the car of Warren Donner, Donner proceeds to tell Jimmie Kendall “It is 9:30, it is past time you were in bed.” Despite the assertion that it is 9:30 P.M., the courtyard is brightly lit, casting numerous shadows, indicating that the sun is still above the horizon. Submitted by PaulDrake 33, 7/29/2009.

Location: Several times in this episode they meet in a park. Later in court Perry identifies this park as Plummer Park and indeed it is Plummer Park located at 7377 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood between Fairfax and La Brea. About 10 minutes into the episode she waits for the man and you can see a basketball court and net as well as some older people playing games on picnic tables. The basketball court is still there and so are the old people playing various games. It’s like a time warp. Posted by Eric Cooper, August 24, 2009. Some pictures here.

Continuity Error: In the scene of Riley Morgan's (Dean Harens) first testimony in the trial, there is a long reaction shot of Mason and his client Lorraine Kendall (played by the fetching Coleen Gray) listening intently to Morgan's answers to ADA Bertram Telford (Paul Langton). Some of the tension is undercut by the fact that Harens' face is plainly visible in the upper left hand corner of the screen, above Raymond Burr’s right shoulder. A definite continuity error in out-of-sequence shooting. Submitted by FredK October 12, 2009. Some vidcaps here.

Continuity Error: During the courtroom sequences, Lorraine’s brother Roger McClaine (Ralph Clanton) changes places a number of times. In the longer shots he sits on the aisle just in front of actor Robert Cornthwaite, but in many of the two shots of Burr and Gray he is sitting almost directly behind them. Submitted by FredK, October 12, 2009. Some vidcaps here.

Continuity Error: In the scene mentioned above by PaulDrake33, there is also the Case of the Magic Donut. Jimmie Kendall (Stephen Talbot) follows his mother (Miss Gray) down the steps of their home and exchanges some dialogue before she drives away, narrowly missing her brother-in-law, Warren Donner. As PaulD33 mentions, Donner (Hugh Sanders) and the boy have a few more lines of dialogue, leading up to the note that it is 9:30 (though suspiciously light) and didn’t his mother tell him he should be in bed. Talbot replies that his mother told him not to eat so many donuts. To emphasize his words, he raises his left hand to take a bite from a half-eaten donut that has magically appeared there. You can check this out at the 18 minute mark of the latest DVD version. Submitted by FredK October 12, 2009. Some vidcaps here.

Sightings: A recurring courtroom spectator, affectionately known as the Little Old Lady in a Hat sits near Roger and then later near Riley. Look at the vidcaps for the trivia entries above. Submitted by gracep, 9/8/2010.
+ When court reconvenes on Monday morning, Distinguished Lady #2 appears in the front row, as does “Sasha Magaloff.” Behind the Lady sits Quiet Old Man #1. Submitted by gracep, 10/19/2010.
+ We can furthermore discern the distinctive haircut and profile of Distinguished Gentleman #1 sitting at the bar during a restaurant scene. Lastly, “Sasha Magaloff” also appears in the back row of the courtroom on Friday. Spotted by daveb and posted by gracep, 10/20/2010.

Della Street (Barbara Hale) does not appear in this episode (despite her name in the credits)! Submitted by gracep, 10/19/2010.

Anomaly: The real name of Casey Adams (playing Burt Stokes) is Max Showalter. Read about this duality in the Credits Anomalies section. Submitted by gracep, 10/19/2010.

Comments Edit

This is one of my favorite episodes, with its plot of Agatha Christiean ingenuity regarding the clearing of a convicted murder in the beginning resulting in further consequences of blackmail and murder in the middle and a surprise at the end. Submitted by FredK, October 12, 2009.

The casting in this episode has always bothered me somewhat. When I first saw it after some years I was led to expect something completely different. Coleen Gray and Ralph Clanton are supposed to be sister and brother: she a poor but honest secretary who became the boss’s wife and widow and he a man with a shady past. It should be plausible given their actual ages at the time—Miss Gray 38 and Clanton 46. But in the story, Lorraine Kendall is supposed to be about 30, and Clanton, though fit and spry, with his graying, thinning hair could easily play a man some years older. For me the relationship looks suspicious. Maybe someone a bit younger looking such as Casey Adams/Max Showalter should have played the shifty brother, and Clanton should have been the blackmailer. Submitted by FredK, 12 October 2009.

Though we get the usual wonderfully alliterative title, in this case the meaning isn’t clear. As far as I can see the widow does no wandering, physical, mental or spiritual. Submitted by FredK, 12 October 2009.
+ The title may come from the fact that Lorraine’s exact whereabouts were unknown at the time of both murders—that of her husband, six years earlier, and that of the blackmailer, Burt Stokes. This is mentioned to Perry by her brother when Perry arrives at the Kendall home. Submitted by Fifty-Niner, 4 June 2011.

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