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Veteran movie actress Beulah Bondi makes her only Perry appearance here playing Sophia Stone. She made a living playing Jimmy Stewart’s mother. Ms. Bondi played Jimmy Stewart’s mother 5 times—4 times in movies and once in his television show. Submitted by PaulDrake33, 16 September 2009.
John Brooks wore a shirt with "L.A. Co. Jail" stenciled on it three times (twice on front, once on back). Are there any other instances where such a shirt appears? Otto Gervaert, 1/25/21.
Meg Wyllie earned everlasting fame for portraying 'The Keeper' in the Star Trek two part episode The Menagerie, which utilized footage from the first pilot episode The Cage. Submitted by Chief Kurtzz 20 December 2021.
Kate Manx, the episode's “babe,” died the year after this show aired at the young age of only 34. Submitted by cgraul, 9/22/2011.
+ This is the only PM appearance for Kate Manx, whose death was declared to be a suicide...MikeM. 3/20/2017
++ Brief article on her death from the NYT archive. OLEF641 6/9/21

Ivan Dixon made 2 other Perry appearances: TCOT Promoter's Pillbox ('62) & TCOT Shooting Star ('86 as the JUDGE); he was in an Ironside [IMDb]. Mike Bedard 2.23.15.

The new season begins with an appearance by the Curious Coffee Set, from which the mysterious seaman pretends to sip as he waits for Great-Aunt Sophia. Submitted by gracenote, 2/11/2011.

The "pixelated aunts" theme is from the great Gary Cooper/Jean Arthur 1936 movie "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town."

Sightings: Both Quiet Old Man #1 and Distinguished Gentleman #1 appear in the courtroom: the former as a spectator and the latter as court reporter. Submitted by gracenote, 2/12/2011.
+ At this point i think someone needs to make an entry for African American Woman -- she has been an on-and-off spectator, sometimes with her friend, African American Man, (forming an African-American Couple) for a number of episodes, at least during Season Six, and she is here again this week, solo. Submitted by catyron, May 18th, 2018
+ + And, as we all know now, Distinguished Gentleman #1 is the uncredited actor Rudolph Salinger, who played a variety of small roles over many seasons. Submitted by catyron, August 5th, 2021.

Alas, Neither D.A. Burger not Lt. Tragg appears in this episode, notwithstanding the billing. Submitted by gracenote, 2/12/2011.
+ Correction: Actually, yes, Hamilton Burger is the prosecuting trial attorney in this episode. Submitted by cgraul, 9/22/2011.

Goof: Perry’s “wireless” intercom box is missing from its usual place on the desk in the office scene with Nineveh Stone. Somewhat later, after Paul enters through the side door, the intercom has returned. Submitted by daveb, 4/14/2011.
+ Not only that, but the big brass urn / spice jar on the shelf behind Perry is missing in the first part of the scene, while Nineveh is there -- but when she leaves and Paul enters, it too reappears! Submitted by catyron, May 18th, 2018

Odder still - while Paul tells Perry and Della what he has learned about the Patent Medicine Baby, the urn is missing in Perry’s closeups but present in the medium shots. Whoever was in charge of continuity deserves a one way ticket to the gas chamber! DOD 02/09/22

++ Just after Paul does his 'Shave and a Haircut' knock and enters, the shadow of the boom mic is visible briefly. Submitted by ChiefKurtz, December 17, 2021

Location: Double duty. The house the two sisters live in appears to be the same house the rich lady from “TCOT Bullied Bowler” lives in. Maybe it’s a timeshare. The window patterns are different but check out the 2 very unique and unusual hanging lanterns by the front door. Also on the nightime scenes the porch light is in exactly the same place. The house is probably in Hancock Park which is again close to the studio. Submitted by Eric Cooper, 28 April 2011.

Location: I found the house! It’s at 357 Lorraine Blvd in the Hancock Park section of Los Angeles. It was originally built in 1898 for Issac Newton Van Nuys who developed much of the San Fernando Valley. The house is about 12,000 sq ft and looks exactly the same. Even has the same unique porch light after 50 years. Submitted by Eric Cooper, 6 June 2011. Pictures here.

Location: The opening scene, supposedly set in Shanghai, shows a hotel and a theater with Japanese names spelled out in English:
• Miyako Hotel
• Plaza Theater
At the Theater, the marquee reads:
Kim Komatsu
Presents
Tokyo Showgirls
[last line unreadable]
So that's pretty weird -- because this was shot in Los Angeles at the old, original Miyakp Hotel in "Little Tokyo." The front entrance to the hotel is shown here: http://www.janm.org/collections/item/96.267.387/ Submitted by catyron, May 18th, 2018

At the beginning, Ernest announces the aunts’ ages as 73 for Sophia and 71 for Ninevah. The actual ages of the actresses, respectively: 74 and 46! You can tell the age difference if you look closely. Submitted by Ed Zoerner, 8/23/2011.

SEASON SEVEN PREMIERE! In Season 6 ('62-'63), Perry Mason aired Thursdays, 8:00-9:00 PM. On Thursday 26 Sept 1963 the THE NEW YORK TIMES (page 70) ran a half-page-width ad for that evening's Season 7 Premiere of Perry Mason on CBS:

{a large, very noirish Al Hirschfeld caricature of Perry Mason appears here, above the text}

The Hirschfeld caricature, 5"w x 4¼"h, is very similar to this, without the bow tie but with Perry's left hand (pinkie-ring on) holding an early-20th-Century phone receiver up to his ear; a link to the image in the ad is in the "STARS' ADDRESS" Comment below. The NYT daily program listing (same issue, page 71) was:

The Hirschfeld-enhanced ad was just one of many in the CBS Network's "The Stars' Address is CBS!" campaign of 1963. See Comments section below. Added by Gary Woloski, 11/21/13.

CARS. Buick's new Riviera debuted Oct '62. We finally get to see one in this episode!

• (1) Ernest Stone's dark-color 1963 Buick Riviera, Licence Number ⁴Y⁵ MFG 015. Read the Apr 63 MOTOR TREND Road Test. Riviera came only as a 2-door hardtop at $4333. It was intended to compete with Ford Thunderbird ($4321) in the Personal Luxury Car niche. Prices are at factory for base '63 models. Compare: '63 Chevy Biscayne 2dr Sedan 6-Cyl was $2322. More on the Riviera Project in Comments section below.
• (2) A 1963 Ford Galaxie 4-Door Sedan TAXI drops Perry and Paul off at "St Mary's Home for Children" in Charleston SC. The taxi is white with wide inverted-V stripes along the lower body, as if the car had originally been painted as some kind of emergency vehicle. The dark licence plate might actually be authentic 1963 SC.

The unusual plate on Ernest's Riviera is barely seen at 31:59. I couldn't make it out until I noticed that the MOTOR TREND test car had the same type, a "Manufacturers" (MFG) plate. See California "Occupational" Plates. Further examples: 56-pattern and 2012 Dealer (DLR) plates. Car(1)'s plate is the first Occupational Plate that I've noticed in the series but I now think that there could have been earlier appearances that I misidentified as Exempt Plates. Added by Gary Woloski, 12/17/13.

PLANES: The 4-engine jet that flies Perry and Paul to South Carolina at 23:50 appears to be an American Airlines Boeing 707-123B. If anyone knows more about planes than I do, feel free to correct me. -Submitted by 10-year-old-fan, 2 January 2014.
+ One of the few airlines that are still around today and WOW too that Perry and Paul have a couch to sit on in the plane...and way back in the 60's!!! ;-> Submitted by mesave31, 04/19/15.
+ I wonder what route this jet would take from LA - possibly to the recently opened Dulles Airport in DC? Rick P 10/12/21

++ Funny that the closing titles read "Planes supplied by American Airlines," as they do with cars. Unlikely that any planes actually moved; more likely American sent some stock PR footage. But that would be unwieldy in the credits. JohnK, 9 February 2022.

Hallway Furniture: Once again there is a view outside of Perry's private door. The lamp was in episode 160, but not in episode 174. The picture was also seen in #174 but different in #160. There was usually something different each time the hallway was shown. Submitted by H. Mason

This is the only PM appearance for Ron Starr, who played Seaman Mannion in nine episodes of the television series Mister Roberts...Mike M. 12/12/2016

This is the second of two PM appearances for Linda Marshall, who was a public spokesperson on behalf of the Baha'i Faith. According to Barbara Hale's Wikipedia page, Barbara also became a member of the Baha'i Faith...MikeM. 4/9/2018