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#188: The Case of the
Bigamous Spouse
Original Airdate: 11/14/63

Summary Edit

From The Perry Mason TV Show Book (Revised)
Felton Grimes doesn’t have both oars in the water, or so his wife’s best friend, Gwynn Elston, thinks. It seems that the oddball Felton is often out of town on business, so much so that his wife Nell has asked Gwynn to move in with her. Gwynn does so and soon likes her new home and her job selling encyclopedias door to door.

But she doesn’t like Felton. When he’s home, he’s constantly trying to put the move on Gwynn. One day on the job, Gwynn is astonished to see Felton's picture in someone else's house. Not only that, but to the Gillette family, Felton Grimes is Frank Gillette, husband and father. Then Felton, or whatever his real name is, tries to poison Gwynn. It’s a close shave, but she survives. She sees Perry for advice. It’s a good thing, too. Because when Felton is found shot to death, the police arrest Gwynn for the crime.

Credits Edit

Opening

Starring Raymond Burr
in Erle Stanley Gardner’s
The Case of THE BIGAMOUS SPOUSE
Barbara Hale, William Hopper, William Talman, Ray Collins

Trailing

Directed by Arthur Marks
Teleplay by Jackson Gillis
Art Seid | Producer
Gail Patrick Jackson | Executive Producer
Jackson Gillis | Associate Producer
Samuel Newman | Story Consultant

Raymond Burr as Perry Mason
Barbara Hale as Della Street
William Hopper as Paul Drake
William Talman as Hamilton Burger
Ray Collins as Lt. Tragg
Wesley Lau as Lt. Anderson

Cast

Pippa Scott as Gwynn Elston
Patrick McVey as George Belding Baxter
Karl Swenson as Corley Ketchum
Michael Conrad as Felton Grimes
Allan J. Melvin as Carl Jasper
Jacqueline Loughery as Nell Grimes
Charles Irving as Judge
Claude Stroud as Bolton
Betsy Hale as Little Girl
Ann Mitchell as Mrs. Gillette
Jim Drum as Plainclothesman

Uncredited Actors
Lee Miller as Sgt. Brice
Don Anderson as Courtroom Spectator

Crew

“Perry Mason”
Director of Photography … Howard Schwartz, A.S.C.
Art Direction … Lewis Creber
Assistant Director … Gordon A. Webb
Film Editor … Al Clark, A.C.E
Casting … Harvey Clermont
Makeup … Irving Pringle
Hair Stylist … Annabell
Wardrobe Supervision … Ed McDermott, Evelyn Carruth
Set Decoration … Carl Biddiscombe
Properties … Ray Thompson
Production Sound Mixer … Herman Lewis
Script Supervision … Marshall Schlom
Theme Composed by … Fred Steiner
Automobiles Supplied by … Ford Motor Company
Modern Furniture Settings courtesy of … John Hall Originals, Malibu, California

Perry Mason
Produced by the CBS Television Network in association with Paisano Productions

Trivia Edit

Michael Conrad makes his only Perry appearance here playing the title role. Even though Mr. Conrad would act for 30 years on television, it would be his final role as Phil Esterhaus on Hill Street Blues that would bring him his greatest fame and two primetime Emmys. Sadly Michael Conrad would die during the run of Hill Street Blues in 1983 at the age of 58. “You all be careful out there.” Submitted by PaulDrake 33, 29 September 2009.

Uncredited Actors: At the crime scene, Sgt. Brice (Lee Miller) consoles Mrs. Gillette. Don Andeson watches events at the evidentiary hearing with great interest. Submitted by gracenote, 2/18/2011.

Sightings: In the background, the Thin Man is busy taking pictures of the car at the crime scene. Showing up in the courtroom to watch Perry in action are Distinguished Gentleman #1 and Quiet Old Man #1. More here. Submitted by gracenote, 2/18/2011.

Location: Perry miraculously finds yet another parking spot right in front of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse on 111 N. Hill Street, 39 minutes into the episode. Also interesting irony that Hill Street would be featured in this episode and decades later Michael Conrad would make the street a familiar name. Submitted by Eric Cooper 8 July 2011.

Gynne enjoys breakfast with the Grimeses, who serve coffee from Curious Coffee Set. Mrs. Grimes uses it another morning as well. Submitted by gracenote, 8/3/2011.

Frank Grimes' car, adorning the background at the Crime Scene, is the one-of-a-kind "Villa Riviera" (shown here in the 1964 movie For Those Who Think Young). The car was transformed from a '63 Buick Riviera by L.A. car-customizer George Barris, builder of Cars of the Stars - flip forward 4 & 5 pages from the Farrah Fawcett cover photo to see which Stars got Barris' cars. And add Batman to the list! After TCOT Bigamous Spouse and the FTWTY movie were shot, Barris repainted the Villa Riviera red, shown here (with story). The car appeared in The Outer Limits "The Duplicate Man" (1964), with the red paint job, as seen here. Frank Grimes must have been quite a dare-devil driving this unique car around L.A. in both halves of his double life! Submitted by Gary Woloski, 8 Dec 2011.
+ A dark-painted car with hidden headlights and an apparently identical front end to the Barris '63 Villa Riviera is shown in a long approach shot in Episode #258 TCOT Vanishing Victim. What we see of the side profile says "Buick Riviera" as well. However, the car is not Barris' customized '63 Villa Riviera; it is actually an unmodified 1965 Buick Riviera! When Buick was designing the new Riviera line for introduction in 1963, it had intended it to have hidden headlights but was unable to engineer the innovation in time (the '63 & '64 Rivieras had the headlights exposed on the grill). It wasn't until the '65 model that Buick had a solution to conceal the headlights: read the story here. See 32sec video of the '65 "Clamshell Headlights" here. Submitted by Gary Woloski, 29 Dec 2011.

Pulp Westerns. While waiting in the ol' RanchHouse, Perry looks through a stack of old magazines, holding one up conspicuously so that the camera gets a good shot of the cover. It's a "Pulp Western" magazine, RANCH ROMANCES - Love Stories of the Real West (first issue Sep 1924, last Nov 1971 - "The Last of the Pulps" ). I'm almost certain that Perry's is the second issue for Aug 1942 (vol 108, #1), shown here. More about the series here. Checklist here or here. Later, there is a dialogue reference to the Pulp Westerns in the ranch-house. Submitted by Gary Woloski, 6 Dec 2011.

Comments Edit

Alas, we have no Ray Collins (Lt. Tragg) today, even though his name appears in the credits, more than likely because of his health. Submitted by gracenote, 8/3/2011.
+ Between Burger and Tragg, there were an awful lot of missed episodes. That’s really a shame, because they are adamant yet respectful foils to Our Hero. And I am knitting a “gracenote” shawl. Submitted by cgraul, 1/20/2012.

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