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#246: The Case of the
Impetuous Imp
Original Airdate: 10/10/65

Summary Edit

From The Perry Mason TV Show Book
Perry rescues a beautiful writer—Diana Carter—from the ocean in his boat and then must dive in and rescue her twice more—in the courtroom. The first time is for jewel theft and the second is for a charge of murder. (What kind of company does this girl keep?)

The evidence to clear Diana lies at the bottom of the ocean, a forged note inside a bottle inside a sunken yacht. Perry pulls this one off, with a lot of help from his good friend Paul.

This is the episode where Diana Carter is so grateful to be cleared that she dedicates her first mystery novel to Paul and titles it The Amorous Adventures of Paul Lake, Private Eye.

Credits Edit

Opening

Starring Raymond Burr
in Erle Stanly Gardner’s The Case of THE IMPETUOUS IMP
based on The Case of The Negligent Nymph
Barbara Hale, William Hopper, William Talman

Trailing

Directed by Arthur Marks
Teleplay by William Bast
Arthur Marks \ Art Seid | Producers
Gail Patrick Jackson | Executive Producer
Ernest Frankel | Story Consultant
Orville H. Hampton | Associate Story Consultant

Raymond Burr as Perry Mason
Barbara Hale as Della Street
William Hopper as Paul Drake
William Talman as Hamilton Burger
Richard Anderson as Lt. Steve Drumm
Dan Tobin as Terrence Clay

Music | Richard Shores

Cast

Stuart Erwin as Henry Simmons
Bonnie Jones as Diana Carter
Hanna Landy as Helga Dolwig
Don Dubbins as Bill Vincent
Jeff Cooper as Henning Dolwig
Frank Marth as Mike Carson
Richard Webb as Addison Powell
James McCallion as Harvey Blake
Byron Morrow as Judge Brawley
Michael Fox as Dr. Lund
Ed Prentiss as Judge Morton
Lee Miller as Sgt. Brice
Clay Tanner as Officer
Helen Gerald as Matron
Rand Brooks as Trainer
Wally West as Shelter Man

Uncredited Actors

Don Anderson as {	Shelter Man #2
	Courtroom Spectator

Crew

Director of Photography … John M. Nickolaus, Jr.
Art Direction … Lewis Creber
Assistant Director … Gordon A. Webb
Film Editor … Richard H. Cahoon, A.C.E.
Casting … Harvey Clermont
Makeup … Irving Pringle
Hair Stylist … Annabell
Wardrobe Supervision … Bob Wolfe, Evelyn Carruth
Set Decoration … Carl Biddiscombe
Properties … Ray Thompson
Production Sound Mixer … Herman Lewis
Script Supervision … Marshall Schlom
Theme Composed by … Fred Steiner

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

Trivia Edit

Goof: See the dog jump into the water and swim towards the boat? Why would he do that? To get the girl? Not at all. He’s just fetching a ball somebody threw out there. See here. Submitted by Tammy, on the phone, c. 3/8/2004.

Richard Webb (pictured) makes his second and final appearance on Perry Mason. Richard Webb’s most famous role was as Captain Midnight for 3 years and 38 episodes in the 1950s. Submitted by PaulDrake 33, 14 October 2009.

Uncredited Actors: Two humane society attendants capture the “vicious” German shepherd. One is clearly an animal handler. The other is Don Anderson, who lets the poor dog out the closet and then pretends to be helping while letting the real handler put the loop around the dog. He turns up later as a spectator in the courtroom gallery. Submitted by gracenote, 5/13/2011. Anderson's active partner is played by Rand Brooks who should have known all about handling German shepherds from playing Corporal Boone on the Rin Tin Tin show from 1954-57. Submitted by FredK 28 Dec 2011.

Character Names: When Lt. Drumm comes to arrest Miss Carter, he addesses her as “Diane” rather than “Diana.” The German shepherd is named Fritz, but he receives no credit. Submitted by gracenote, 5/13/2011.

Sightings: In cutaways to the defendant, we find a blurry Pencil Mustache Man. Also, Quiet Old Man #1 is visible on prosecutor’s side, in the back. Little Old Lady #1 is very prominent in a number of shots of Lt. Drumm. More about these folks here. Submitted by gracenote, 5/13/2011.

Comments Edit

As noted in the opening credits, this episode is based on the Erle Stanley Gardner novel, The Case of the Negligent Nymph.

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