Show42

With Elisha Cook in the cast, I wonder if anyone noticed what may have been a nod to Maltese Falcon in the ending of the show, as the camera pans from face to face, eventually ending on Charles Hays (Robert Lieb); while not an exact copy of the famous scene, anyone who’s seen Maltese will remember “Wilmer’s” befuddlement and then, horror, as the rest of the players have decided he’ll be the fall guy, and the looks on their faces. Brrr! Of course, Leib just looks crestfallen, but still.. Submitted (and corrected) by MikeReese, 7/16/2012.

About 50 seconds into this episode is a street scene with Hotel Royal and Victory Clothing. The same scene, with the same cars, is also in the 1948 movie The Street with No Name (at about 77 minutes into the movie). The movie has a slightly different view. Maybe the episode uses an outtake from the movie? (And maybe there are better uses of one’s time, like studying law and becoming a high-powered lawyer?) Submitted by masonite, 12/03/2011.

Gramps is found innocent of the murder, but is he still a suspect in the robbery? And how did Perry get hold of the torn bills given to Crowley? DOD 06/28/19
+I'm guessing Perry tore his own bills in half to fake out Crowley. Kilo 10/6/2019.
++No, they were Paul's! Right before he goes to "confer" with Mrs. Anderson, Perry whispers something to Paul, who takes out his wallet, looking exasperated. Vladimir Estragon 2/2/2024

Two bank employees are willing to die to save the bank money -- they must have been well paid! One robber mentions "Pop" and "Crowley," an oddly inept thing to do by an experienced robber (or even inexperienced!) cgraul 3.28.12

How fortunate for Perry that the Hargrove Finance Company for some reason failed to fix its incredibly loud and annoying air conditioner in the weeks or months since the robbery. Submitted by 65tosspowertrap, 4 May 2014.
+ I don't think it was that long. Charles Hayes' wound to his face was still bandaged when he testified in court. So I'm guessing the trial took place just a week or so after the robbery. Submitted by Kilo 4/1/2018.

Eleanor Audley's depiction of 'Lois Gilbert' brought to mind a line from Robert Van Gulik's Judge Dee stories: a witness gives a graphic and highly suspect account of what he saw; Judge Dee later says to his assistants that he was the kind of witness who had no eyes but a fanciful imagination. Submitted by MikeReese, 8/16/2014.

Must we assume Nicky or the police returned the coat and got a refund since Lt. Tragg said all of the money was recovered. It would have been nice to have a line of dialog mention that. Submitted by H. Mason 10/13/14
+ Perhaps it would've been better for Tragg to have said that all the money was accounted for. 23Oct2018
+ I am not a lawyer, but in my opinion, the boy came across the money honestly (although, technically he stole it from the abandoned house, but it seems to have been abandoned for a while) and it would be up to the thief to repay the entire amount he stole (minus the amount that was missing). Or perhaps the bank would have forgiven the amount, considering his actions brought about the capture of the criminal(s).—yelocab 06DEC19

Smoking Perry: in the closing scene, Perry lights up. jfh 23Oct2018.
+ As usual, Perry didn't actually inhale the smoke into his lungs. If he "inhaled" at all it was like a cigar, just pulling the smoke into his mouth then blowing it out. Burr himself was obviously not a smoker. Was he required to play a smoker? In contrast, William Hopper inhaled deep! An obvious full-time smoker. BTW, I used to love smoking! Glad I quit though. Rick P 10/4/21
++Usually, when Perry lights up, it's for a specific purpose, such as a delay or a distraction. This one seems rather gratuitous, though. Burr noted somewhere that when the show had a tobacco sponsor, the writers would add a lot of smoking into the script. Maybe this is one of those. (Yes, kids, cigarettes ads on TV!) Vladimir Estragon 2/2/2024
+++As for Paul, smoking is half of his profession. How many times do we see him leaning casually against a post bogarting a smoke as he performs his discrete surveillance? Vladimir Estragon 2/2/2024

In Nicky's second visit to Perry's office, just before Della comforts Nicky, you can see a dark spot on her dress. This wasn't there just before she approaches him. Likely there was more than one take of his embrace of Della. SMLDave 28Jun2019
+ For those of you looking for the spot, it appears in the close-up near the end of the scene, where Della sits on the sofa next to a disconsolate Nicky; it's on the left collar. OLEF641 11/24/2020

Continuity: In the opening scene Crowley finishes his glass of whiskey. In the next shot the glass is full and he's taking another drink. Kilo 10/6/2019.

That alarm button that Lois Gilbert steps on is quite odd. It moves around from scene to scene and I can't figure out how she gets her foot around the leg of the desk to step on it. Also Kilo 10/6/2019.
> I believe it's attached to a cable - rather than fixed to the floor - so it makes sense that it might move around from scene to scene. Notcom 112520

As a rule, Perry Mason was a world of, and for, adults; the few exceptions to this were mostly unhappy affairs in which over-aged (and in later episodes over-dressed) actors portrayed caricatures that Perry struggled to relate to (or perhaps we should say Raymond and the audience struggled together as a torrent of platitudes poured forth). This episode was a happy departure: the script called for a spunky fourteen-year old who was worldly, but in the end vulnerable as well, and that's exactly what we got. Props to Bobby Clark, Barbara and the rest of the cast for playing it so well. Notcom 112520.