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#40: The Case of the
Corresponding Corpse
Original Airdate: 09/20/58

Summary Edit

From The Perry Mason TV Show Book
Perry gets a phone call from George Hartley Beaumont, a man who supposedly died in a plane crash over the Atlantic nearly three years before. Actually, George missed that plane and decided to take advantage of the accident to disappear, letting his wife collect the $90,000 insurance policy. Meanwhile George has been living incognito with his girlfriend, Ruth Whittaker.

George grows tired of life-on-a-limb and wants to return home. His plans are cut short, however, when someone buries a letter opener in his back.

Perry defends Ruth when she's arrested for the murder.

Credits Edit

Opening

Starring Raymond Burr
in The Case of THE CORRESPONDING CORPSE
Based upon characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner
Barbara Hale as Della Street
William Hopper as Paul Drake
William Talman as Hamilton Burger
Ray Collins as Lt. Tragg

Trailing

Directed by Arthur Marks
Teleplay by Don Brinkley and Gene Wang
Story by Don Brinkley
Ben Brady || Producer
Produced by CBS Television in association with Paisano Productions
Gail Patrick Jackson || Executive Producer
Sam White || Associate Producer

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

Cast

Joan Camden as Ruth Whittaker
Vaughn Taylor as Harry Folsom
Jeanne Cooper as Laura Beaumont
William Ching as Glenn McKay
Ross Elliott as George Beaumont
Owen Cunningham as Jonah Whittaker
Lillian Bronson as Judge
Herbert C. Lytton as Mr. Corby
Martha Wentworth as Mrs. Lyle
Joan Staley as Roberta Quinn
Gil Frye as Reporter
Jack Gargan as Court Clerk

Crew

Gene Wang || Story Consultant
Story Editor … Alice Young
Assistant Producer … Robert Wechsler
Production Supervisor … J. Paul Popkin
Director of Photography … Frank Redman, A.S.C.
Art Direction … Lyle Wheeler, Lewis Creber
Assistant Director … Morris Harmell
Editorial Supervision … Art Seid, A.C.E.
Film Editor … Otto W. Meyer, A.C.E.
Casting … Marvin Schnall, Harvey Clermont
Makeup … Mel Berns
Hair Stylist … Annabell, S.C.H.
Wardrobe Supervision … Dick James
Set Decoration … Walter M. Scott, Charles Q. Vassar
Properties … Ray Thompson
Sound Editor … Gene Eliot, M.P.S.E
Production Sound Mixer … Robert O’Brien
Script Supervisor … William E. Orr

This has been a CBS Television Network Production
Filmed in Hollywood by TCF Television Productions, Inc.

Trivia Edit

CARS: 1958 Cadillac convertible, black, top down (Mason), 1958 Chevrolet Delray 4dr sedan, black & white (Police), 19?? Packard ambulance. From The Cars by Greg Cockerill.

For some reason the courtroom is flip-flopped in this episode. The witness box is to the judge’s right, not left and Perry and Della sit to the judge’s left instead of right. Submitted by PaulDrake33, 15 June 2008.

First episode where Della wears a pendant with the initials D S in script. Submitted by PaulDrake33, 15 June 2008.

First episode where Lillian Bronson plays a judge. She had appeared the season before in “TCOT Sulky Girl” as a housekeeper. Submitted by PaulDrake33, 15 June 2008.

Joan Staley makes her first of four appearances on Perry playing Roberta Quinn. Joan Staley was playmate of the month for November 1958 in Playboy magazine. Submitted by PaulDrake33, 12 February 2009.

There is something strange going on with Joan Staley. All the sources I can find list her birthdate as 1940. That would have made her barely 18 when she filmed this episode. If you look at her she definitely looks older than 18. Also she was married for the first time in 1956. That would have made her 16 then. Not impossible, but improbable. Submitted by PaulDrake33, 3 December 2011.

Anomaly: When Laura Beaumont is on the witness stand she calls her secretary by the name of Roberta Walker. The final credits list her secretary’s name as Roberta Quinn. Submitted by PaulDrake 33, 12 August 2009.

Goof: When Laura Beaumont is testifying she states that the last time she saw her husband was an hour before his plane crashed on November 19, three years earlier. Earlier when Perry was relating the story to Della, he stated that George Beaumont’s plane crashed into the Atlantic with no survivors. It would be impossible for a plane to get from Los Angeles to the Atlantic in an hour. Submitted by PaulDrake 33, 12 August 2009.
+ Not a Goof: The question Laura Beaumont is asked is when she last saw or heard from her husband. There is no reason he would have been flying from L.A. as trans-Atlantic jet service did not begin until late 1958, and that was NY-London. She could have been speaking with him by phone or with him at a New York airport. Submitted by Fitzt, 3 March 2011.

Sightings: Distinguished Gentleman #1, usually an observer in the gallery, plays court reporter today. Submitted by gracep, 10/4/2010.

Comments Edit

Perry goes to Laura Beaumont’s office ostensibly to see if she wants some old files related to George’s estate. She doesn’t, or intimates she doesn't. As Perry is exiting the office, you can plainly see a light-colored (white?) tripod bowl next to a lamp. Both objects are on a credenza or shelf adjacent to the door. These tripods turn up in various places in the series. Perry’s office for one, e.g., on a low bookcase on the "mystery or long wall" roughly opposite the balcony. See pictures 3 and 4 from episode 47 here. Also in evidence is a pottery figure of a dog (less probably a pig). I think both the tripod bowls and the dog are inspired by pre-Columbian forms, e.g., Colima and what-not. I say inspired because the tripods appear highly finished and likely modern interpretations. Also note in picture 3 the bowl or dish on the wall above the bookcase, I propose this is the same object that appeared on the wall near Perry’s desk before the “African Mask” took up residence. Submitted by billp, 12/30/2008.

Another problem with George Beaumont’s air travel?: Early on we learn that he survived because he missed his flight. Surely American Eagle Airlines had to verify that each passenger had a passport before allowing them to board, so that AE had an updated passenger list at the airport. Even if AE made a mistake on its list, wouldn’t Beaumont have gone to an AE ticket counter to get a ticket on the next available flight? Or, if AE’s list were correct and Beaumont just skipped town after missing his flight, then wouldn’t investigators be looking for him as a possible suspect in the plane crash? Submitted by masonite, 12/02/2011.

On a more-upbeat note, I love the ending of this episode with Perry, Della, and Paul. Credit goes, I assume, to Don Brinkley and Gene Wang for deftly foreshadowing it. Submitted by masonite, 12/02/2011.

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