Show115
From The Perry Mason TV Show Book (Revised)
This offbeat episode should be a delight for hard-core Perry-watchers. The fact that Paul finds himself arrested for the crime of “not wearing a beard” is just one of the oddities in the show. There is almost a faint hint of The Twilight Zone in the mood and setting of the story, a small town somewhere in California where, at least for a few days, all males must wear beards.
The plot itself is routinely complicated. The town’s former bank president returns from prison after being convicted of embezzling $33,750—money that was never found. Town gossip associates him with a pretty local girl, who left town to escape the court of public opinion. The girl hires Paul Drake to help her clear her name. Drake follows her to the town and finds her in worse trouble--charged with murder. Paul calls Mason to help set her free.
The flavor of the 1950s is everywhere in this episode. A restaurant menu features ground sirloin steak for 95¢; fish and chips for $1.00, and fried jumbo shrimp for a whopping $1.25.
Also, blooper fans will spot a strange black band that appears at the top of their television screens during the opening shots of the episode. As the scenes look like on-location shots and involve characters entering and leaving stores, possibly the blackout was put there at the last minute by the producers not wanting to give actual store owners a plug on TV. The show stars Adam West, who went on to play Batman.