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#94: The Case of the
Irate Inventor
Original Airdate: 05/28/60

Summary Edit

From The Perry Mason TV Show Book
James Frazer has a motive for murder. He wants a divorce and his cheating wife won't give it to him. To top it off, she's been stealing the plans to his invention in order to bait her engineer boyfriend into sticking around.

Frazer skips town for three months to cool off but comes home to worse problems than he left. His wife is murdered in his office on the night of his return. He has the only key to a unique slit-type burglar-proof lock that he invented.

The police think the case is cut and dried--until Perry takes over.

Credits Edit

Opening

Starring Raymond Burr
in The Case of THE IRATE INVENTOR
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 Gerald Mayer
Written by Marrianne Mosner and Francis Rosenwald
Herbert Hirschman || Producer
Gail Patrick Jackson || Executive Producer
Seeleg Lester || Associate Producer, Story Consultant
Produced by The CBS Television Network in association with Paisano Productions
Arthur Marks || 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

Tom Coley as James Frazer
Kasey Rogers as Lois Langley
Ken Lynch as Robert Hayden
Manning Ross as Calvin Boone
Ce Ce Whitney as Thelma Frazer
Doug Odney as Arthur Hayden
Barry Cahill as Sgt. M. Quimby
Kenneth R. MacDonald as Judge
Gertrude Flynn as Mrs. Nichols
Arthur Peterson as Sorrell
George E. Stone as Court Clerk

Uncredited Actors
Lee Miller as Plainclothesman

Crew

Art Seid, A.C.E. || Assistant to the Producer
Production Supervisor … Dewey Starkey
Director of Photography … Frank Redman, A.S.C.
Art Direction … Lewis Creber
Assistant Director … Robert G. Stone
Film Editor … Richard H. Cahoon, A.C.E.
Casting … Harvey Clermont
Makeup … Richard Hamilton
Hair Stylist … Annabell, S.C.H.
Wardrobe Supervision … William Zacha, Evelyn Carruth
Set Decoration … Charles Q. Vassar
Sound Effects Editor … Gene Eliot, M.P.S.E.
Music Editor … Gene Feldman
Properties … Ray Thompson
Production Sound Mixer … Herman Lewis
Script Supervision … M.E.M. Gibsone
Sound … Glen Glenn Sound Co.

Perry Mason \ A Film Presentation
A CBS Television Network Production

Trivia Edit

Anomaly: Gertrude Flynn, listed as Mrs. Nichols, the motel manager, is called Mrs. Nicholas throughout the episode.

Goof: In the first courtroom scene, Della magically changes from one dress to another and then back again. Pictures here. Found by Markus and submitted by Leah, 11/25/02.

+ At the 11:22 point of this DVD, when Thelma Frazer pulls her convertible into her driveway, if you look behind Thelma and Lois, you can see a Nash Metropolitan convertible parked on the street. I may be mistaken, but I think it is a 1959 model. Metropolitans were pretty rare by the time this show was filmed. Submitted by PaulDrake 33. 2 September 2009.

Recognize that hat worn by Thelma Frazer? You should, it's been seen before. Submitted by daveb, 4/14/10.

Location: The building seen on the corner as Thelma Frazer drives up to the Hayden Electronics Research Company appears to be located at the intersection of Seward & Romaine streets. It's just down the block from the Seward & Eleanor intersection seen in episode #82 and is at the southeast corner of the studios where the show was filmed at the time. Some pictures here. Submitted by daveb, 4/14/10.

Location: Quick establishing shots of Parker Center 3 minutes in and Stanley Mosk Courthouse at the 32 minute mark. Submitted by Eric Cooper 25 September 10.

Sightings: Distinguished Lady #2 and Quiet Old Man #2 appear in the courtroom gallery behing Perry Mason. You can see them in the pictures for the trivia item re Della’s dress, above. Read more about these and other recurring spectators here. Submitted by gracep 10/6/2010.
+ Little Old Lady in a Hat and Quiet Old Man (#1) can also be found in the courtroom gallery. There's a picture of them here. Submitted by daveb, 10/6/10.
+ Cute Young Lady can also be seen behind Lois Langley. “Miss Carmody” looks rather dubiously on at the whole affair from behind the Hayden brothers. As Lois Langley stands we see the ubiquitous Distinguished Gentleman #1 Submitted by gracep, 10/8/2010.
+ During Mason’s initial conference with Jack Frazer, Burr’s stand-in, Lee Miller, playing a plainclothesman (presumably Sgt. Brice) and conversing wtih someone else, walks past the bars. Submitted by gracep 10/8/2010.

+ TCOT Peripatetic Prosecutor. Even though William Talman was fired from CBS—see trivia items for epsiodes #87, #88, and #89—he appears in this episode, which was presumably filmed before the whole sordid affair. Submitted by gracep 10/9/2010.

The versatile Kasey Rogers looks very different from the way she appeared in her most enduring role. In Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, she was billed as Laura Elliott in the role of murder victim Miriam Haines, the bespectacled, unfaithful wife of Farley Granger. Submitted by Fifty-Niner on 28 April 2011.

Comments Edit

+Ken Lynch plays against type in this episode, playing the owner of a large electronics firm. Mr. Lynch almost always played a cop, detective, FBI agent, or some other tough guy. Submitted by PaulDrake 33. 2 September 2009.

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