Show102
Ken Curtis makes his only Perry appearance here playing Tim Durant. Most people remember Ken Curtis as Deputy Festus Haggen for 16 years on Gunsmoke. But previous to his stint as Festus, Ken Curtis was a member of the western singing group The Sons of The Pioneers, who were fronted by a pretty famous singing cowboy, Roy Rogers. Submitted by PaulDrake 33, 28 July 2009.
+ Ken Curtis first portrayed Festus in a 1962-63 episode of Gunsmoke (after guest starring in four different roles between 1959-60), then played a different character in an early 1963-64 episode before returning to the Festus role in a later 1963-64 episode at which time he began to appear regularly. Even counting the first Festus appearance he would only appear in the role for 13 years. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 4/23/14.
++ I'm surprised no one has mentioned how coincidental it was that the name of the circus is Curtis/Franklin Circus, and Ken Curtis is in the cast.Submitted by Arisia, 03/08/18.
The act before Heidemann the Clown is a husband-and-wife act called “The Gilberts.” The act consists of shooting objects with live ammunition inside a tent full of spectators. At the conclusion of the act, Tony Gilbert shoots a pistol directly at the crowd. There is only a small board to stop the bullet. No wonder all the circuses are out of business today. Submitted by PaulDrake 33, 31 July 2009.
Location: Exterior shot of the Hall of Justice, 210 West Temple St. Los Angeles, 22 minutes in. Submitted by Eric Cooper, 30 September 2010.
Sightings: The ubiquitous Little Old Lady in a Hat makes one of many appearances in the courtroom gallery, as does Quiet Old Man #1. The former sits behind the Gilberts and the latter behind Lisa Franklin. Read more about these and other favorite frequent faces. Submitted by gracep, 10/20/2010.
+ Miss Carmody and Distinguished Lady #4 join the LOL in the back row of the court. Bill767, 1/3/16.\|
+ At the circus, sitting right on the front row and applauding, is a smiling “Miss Carmody”—in front whom walk Perry, Della, Paul, looking for their seats. Then as the clown is performing, we can also see (way in the back row) Little Old Lady #1, who later attends court (see item above). Never seen her so animated before! Submitted by gracenote, 6/28/2011. More here.
+ Also viewing the circus acts we find the Pencil Mustache Man in the back row; the Quiet Old Man in the front row with a hat; and Sasha Magaloff (hat and glasses), Little Old Lady #2, Distinguished Lady #2 in the middle rows. Bill767, 1/3/16.
Character Names: Deputy D.A. Alvin’s first name is Jack. Submitted by gracep, 10/20/2010.
Uncredited Actors: Robert Wegner appears in the crowd at the circus, though he looks no happier than usual. Submitted by FredK, 19 November 2010.
The music playing while Perry and Tragg examine the body is Stephen Foster’s “Camptown Races” (doo-dah, doo-dah). Submitted by gracenote, 6/28/2011.
+ This song is also used in “TCOT Drowsy Mosquito." (see gracenote’s item there) Submitted by cgraul, 9/26/2011.
++ Just as Tragg starts to speak, the music segues into "Listen to the Mockingbird". Submitted by OLEF641 11/28/16.
+ Also heard in this episode was music composed for The Twilight Zone episode "A Stop at Willoughby" by Nathan Scott (broadcast exactly 6 months before the Perry Mason episode in mid-1960). It can be heard @7:33 as Curtis blows out the candles on the cake, @22:24 with the newspaper headline and other times. Coincidentally (or not) the same stock music from the CBS music library of "Camptown Races" (mentioned above) and "Beautiful Dreamer" (heard during the Gilberts' performance) can be heard in that Twilight Zone episode as well. The complete "A Stop at Willoughby" score can be heard on the vinyl album The Twilight Zone: The Original Television Scores Volume Two (Varese Sarabande STV81178). Also included in the 12:27 track are "Camptown Races" and "Beautiful Dreamer." Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 4/23/14.
Just ONE CAR: 1955 Chevrolet 210 2-Door Sedan, Lic No MNN 964, 2-tone white over medium, Felix Heidemann. Added by Gary Woloski, 9/21/12.
The same glitch/edit seen in the opening credits of the previous episode "The Case of the Wandering Widow" can be observed in this episode as well when the words "In the case of" appear onscreen. Apparently it was fixed after this episode. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 4/23/14.
Vanishing Girl: I'm surprised that nobody has said anything so far about the girl in the row behind Lt. Tragg's seat at the circus. As Tragg started for the seat there was a girl sitting in the next row. When he sat down she was gone. She reappeared when Lt. Tragg and Perry got up to investigate the shooting. Submitted by H. Mason 11/3/14
+ She also doesn't know where to look. When the clown approaches Paul, Perry and Della and aims the gun at them, everyone is looking at the clown. Then in a closeup of the crowd while everyone is still looking at the clown, the girl is instead looking off to her left and begins to laugh with the crowd even though she isn't looking at the clown. When the shot returns to show the clown the girl is immediately looking forward. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 1/14/15.
This is the second of six PM appearances by Douglas Henderson...MikeM. 8/22/2016
Chana Eden was born in Haifa in 1932...MikeM. 8/22/2016
This is the third of four PM appearances for Maggie Hayes, who played Dora Hand in three episodes of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp...MikeM. 11/28/2016
The newspaper article claims 4000 people witnessed the murder. I'd say there were no more than 200 in the audience. Submitted by Kilo 8/13/2017.
TCOT Curious Coffee Set: The cups and saucers are not in evidence, but a couple of small plates from the Curious Coffee Set are on the tiny table where the despondent 4th anniversary party is being held. Submitted by catyron, February 26th, 2021.