<< Curious Bride | Episodes | Married Moonlighter >>

#45: The Case of the
Buried Clock
Original Airdate: 11/01/58

Summary Edit

From The Perry Mason TV Show Book (Revised)
Dr. Blane's son-in-law Jack Hardisty embezzled $100,000 from the good doctor and is trying to blackmail him for more. Blane hires Perry to put a stop to Hardisty's misconduct. But before the lawyer can swing into action, Hardisty is found dead, and Perry must defend the doctor against a murder rap.

Notice the old-style split screen used when Perry is talking to his client on the phone.

Credits Edit

Opening

Starring Raymond Burr
in Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of THE BURIED CLOCK
Barbara Hale as Della Street
William Hopper as Paul Drake
William Talman as Hamilton Burger
Ray Collins as Lt. Tragg

Trailing

Directed by William D. Russell
Teleplay by Francis M. Cockrell
Ben Brady | Producer
Produced by CBS Television in association with Paisano Productions
Gail Patrick Jackson | Executive Producer
Sam White | Associate Producer

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

Cast

Don Beddoe as Dr. Blane
Fredd Wayne as Jack Hardisty
June Dayton as Sue Hardisty
Jeanne Bates as Jean Strague
Paul Fix as District Attorney Hale
Charles Cooper as Philip Strague
Robert Foulk as Sheriff Elmore
Robin Hughes as Rodney Beaton
Howard Wendell as A. J. Randall
Harry Tyler as Court Clerk
Paul Serra as Davis
Gil Frye as Faulkner
Jamie Forster as Judge Norwood
Phil Chambers as Dr. Ritchie
Don Kennedy as Deputy Sheriff

Uncredited Actors
Lee Miller as Pedestrian

Crew

Gene Wang | Story Consultant
Production Supervisor … J. Paul Popkin
Director of Photography … Frank Redman, A.S.C.
Story Editor … Alice Young
Assistant Producer … Robert Wechsler
Art Direction … Lyle Wheeler, Lewis Creber
Assistant Director … Morris Harmell
Editorial Supervision … Art Seid, A.C.E.
Film Editor … Richard Cahoon, A.C.E.
Casting … Marvin Schnall, Harvey Clermont
Makeup … Richard Hamilton
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 Supervision … William E. Orr

Filmed in Hollywood by TCF Television Productions, Inc.
A CBS Television Network Production

Trivia Edit

CARS: 1958 Mercury 4dr hardtop, dark color, 1958 Edsel convertible, medium color, black top up, 1950 Ford 2dr sedan, medium color, 1958 Ford Skyliner retractable, black, top down (Mason), 1958 Ford Thunderbird convertible, black, top down (Drake), 1958 Ford 4dr sedan, black & white (Police). From The Cars by Greg Cockerill. Pictures here.

Watch for the unusual split-screen special effect when Perry and Dr. Blane talk on the phone. Submitted by daveb, date unknown. Picture here.

Location: I am watching the second season on local TV. Ironically, the same day #45, The Case of the Buried Clock, aired I was also reading an article about Malibou Lake. I knew several episodes were shot there but on this episode the angle of the newspaper photo was almost exactly the same as the establishing shot on Perry Mason. Submitted by Eric Cooper, 11/8/07. Some pictures here.

+ Several of the Presidential portraits hanging on the wall of the courtroom are the same portraits that hang in the courtroom in episode #50, TCOT Perjured Parrot. Submitted by PaulDrake 33.

Character Names: Sheriff Elmore is called “Bert” during the episode. Submitted by gracep, 8/2/10.

Location: There are several interesting establishing shots in this episode including one of an odd, rural courthouse. Some pictures here. Posted by daveb, 9/1/10.

Neither D.A. Burger (William Talman) nor Lt. Tragg (Ray Collins) appears in this episode. Posted by gracep, 11/7/2010.

--In the original book, Lt. Tragg does not appear at all, and D.A. Burger appears only toward the end (p. 280 out of 312 in my copy). Speaking of changes from the book, it interests me how the TV episodes change some of the names of Gardner's characters. For example, the TV show has Sue Hardisty, but in the book it's Adele Hardisty. I wonder why the TV writers sometimes do this. Submitted by Ed Zoerner, 3/15/11.

Sightings: Apparently Distinguished Gentleman #1, Distinguished Lady #2, and “Miss Carmody” are all big fans of Perry Mason, too, for they all made the field trip out to Sierra City for the hearing at the little courthouse. Find out why we care about these favorite frequent faces. Submitted by gracep, 11/7/2010.

Comments Edit

This is one of my favorite episodes, because it involves pre-digital camera technology and because there is a quite a twist to it, involving the title, as you will see from the spoiler below. (This I moved from the Summary section because it is a spoiler.) Submitted by gracep 11/4/2010.

Moved from Summary: Perry does some fascinating courtroom work in this episode. He finds out that a wildlife camera, triggered by a buried clock, took misleading pictures of the real killer to “prove” the man was not at the murder scene.

In my considered engineer’s opinion, that unsecured clock would have pulled itself off the table and onto the floor before triggering the camera. Opined by daveb, 11/8/10.

<< Curious Bride | Episodes | Married Moonlighter >>