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#265: The Case of the
Fanciful Frail
Original Airdate: 03/27/66

Summary Edit

From The Perry Mason TV Show Book
Ethel Andrews is left waiting at the altar by her fiancé, Bruce Strickland, who also left her to take the blame for a $50,000 securities theft, since her signature was on the transfer authorization. Ethel leaves town and nearly has an accident with a car driven by Peggy Sutton, who is also on the run, but from a hired killer. Peggy persuades Ethel to swap identities for a week, but then Peggy dies in an auto accident.

Ethel is terrified when she finds $50,000 in the trunk of Peggy’s car. She goes to Perry for help, and he sends Paul to Lake Tahoe to find out about this Peggy Sutton. When someone kills Bruce Strickland, Ethel’s masquerade is over, and Perry’s job is just beginning.

Credits Edit

Opening

Starring Raymond Burr
in Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of THE FANCIFUL FRAIL
Based on The Case of the Footloose Doll
Barbara Hale, William Hopper, William Talman

Trailing

Directed by Jesse Hibbs Written by Orville H. Hampton and Ernest Frankel
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

Music | Richard Shores

Cast

Pippa Scott as Ethel Andrews
Barry Kelley as Mr. Park Milgrave
Arch Johnson as Frank Carruthers
Joan Huntington as Althea Milgrave
Coleen Gray as Martha Erskine
Abigail Shelton as Peggy Sutton
John Rayner as Tierney
Hunt Powers as Bruce Strickland
Phil Arthur as Pit Boss
Henry Hunter as Reverend Alford
Vera Marshe as Mrs. Alford
Roy Engel as Detective
S. John Launer as Judge
Ray Montgomery as Attendant
Timothy Blake as Waitress
Marshall Kent as Ed Thomas
Seamon Glass as Driver
Lee Miller as Sgt. Brice
Mildred Harrison as Chambermaid

Crew

Director of Photography … John M. Nickolaus, Jr.
Art Direction … Lewis Creber
Assistant Director … Gordon A. Webb
Film Editor … George Hively
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
Automobiles Supplied by … Ford Motor Company

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

Trivia Edit

Check here for Perry’s office address and telephone number. The girl in the scene doesn’t seem to be wearing colored nail polish but the pointing finger is. The same finger is also seen in #198. Submitted by Paul Chrisney, 6/10/2004.

Please note that the address in the phonebook is wrong! Perry’s office moved to the Bank of California building a couple of years ago. Submitted by D. A. Supernaw, 9/6/2005.
+ The office didn’t exactly move. See the Brent Building page for the full story.

Location: The gas station where the two women switch cars and identities is STILL THERE! It’s at Las Virgenes just before the 101 Ventura Freeway. In the episode, you can see the Ventura Freeway behind them. Submitted by Eric Cooper, 9/12/2008. Posted by daveb. Some pictures and vidcaps here. Incidentally, all one-shot and two-shot conversations here apparently occur in studio in front of a back-projection screen, with only the long shots taken actually at the station. cgraul 1.19.11

Location: The church in the opening scene—can anyone identify it? Vidcap here.

Is it just me or does anyone else think the plot of this show is awfully close to the plot of episode number #54, TCOT Foot-Loose Doll? Submitted by PaulDrake 33, 15 September 2009. + Yes, it was a remake as indicated in the show’s opening credits. For more about this topic, see the Repeated Episodes page. daveb, 9/15/2009.

This episode features some of the same music heard in epsode #255 (“TCOT Golden Girls”). In particular, the same song later used on Gilligan’s Island (see trivia of #255) plays at the beginning of this episode when Peggy Sutton is in her room alone. The only difference is that the tune features more piano playing than trebly guitar—but it’s the same song. Submitted by Ed Zoerner, 9/27/2009.

As Ethel bares her soul to her new acquaintance at the garage coffee shop, she drinks from a cup and saucer from the Curious Coffee Set. Submitted by gracenote, 6/12/2011.

Goof: At the gas station, Ethel gives Peggy an extra $20 to help her out, then puts her wallet back in her purse. Then the two women immediately switch purses, making the gesture a little pointless! Submitted by gracenote, 6/12/2011. This was not an actual goof, as Ethel had not as yet decided to switch. cgraul 1.19.11

Goof? When Peggy looks at Ethel’s driver’s license, we see that she was born November 7, but no year! No doubt this gallant omission is deliberate, to protect the lady by not revealing her age! Submitted by gracenote, 6/12/2011.

Sightings: In the back row of the courtroom, Quiet Old Man #1 silently watches Perry zero in on the real murderer (again). Submitted by gracenote, 6/12/2011.

Comments Edit

I think I may prefer this later version of the Gardner story to the original (broadcast in the 1950s)—somehow it seems to flow better and is easier to follow, but that may be a function of the editing of the syndication print. Submitted by gracenote, 6/12//2011.

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