Show205
The tax man apparently thought it would be a good use of the taxpayers' money to spend his time staring at the door of a tax evader. Why wouldn't he just go inside? Yet another clumsy attempt to make it appear as though Perry's client was guilty. He claimed he was there to "check on the account." By looking at a door?!
It was also a bit weird that a Shakespeare Company made up of former Broadway actors would go on a national tour of just them standing there reading Shakespeare monologues. Though the language is beautiful, their performance was a bit anti-climactic and boring. Shakespeare is meant to be performed not read by pretentious has-beens. When Shakespeare's plays were originally performed, there were elaborate movable sets and fancy costumes. This seems to be doing a disservice to his plays.
Veteran movie actor Tom Conway makes his only Perry appearance here as Guy Penrose. This would also be his final credited screen appearance as he would die at age 62 in 1967 from the effects of alcohol. Tom Conway is best known for the ten appearances he made in the 1940s playing the RKO detective “The Falcon.” He is also known for being the brother of Academy Award-winning actor George Sanders. Submitted by PaulDrake 33, 12 September 2009.
+ Tom Conway co-starred with Barbara Hale in two episodes of "The Falcon" series -"The Falcon Out West" and "The Falcon in Hollywood," both in 1944. I suppose a nice reunion for them both, although it's sad reading about Conway's last years. Submitted by Robert-O, 26 March 2015
++ Yet another role, probably more familiar to viewers, was that of the strangely life-like ventriloquist's dummy - yes, the dummy...not the other way around - in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode The Glass Eye. That he could go, in only seven years, from playing a handsome man with a melodic voice, to the person in the picture(above), is graphic evidence of his problems. Notcom, 061419.
+++He seems like he might be drunk in this episode. The slow cadence of his voice, slight slurring, and emotionless delivery are proof of that. Maybe he was so far gone he couldn't even work without taking a drink. In the scene with Perry in the hotel bar when they discuss his alcoholism, Tom Conway quickly drains his glass of what looks like whisky. He got even more slurry after that. If he was just acting, he did a fine job.
+++ Another interesting fact is that during the 1946–1947 season of The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes radio show, Tom Conway was chosen for the difficult task of replacing Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Homes, alongside original Dr. Watson Nigel Bruce, and he played it very well. Submitted by Tragg, 29th July 2023.
Bus Driver: Don't forget about Donald "Red" Barry who played Mr. Doyle. Among his many credits he appeared in numerous westerns. He was one of several actors to play the part of Billy the Kid on film [I Shot Billy the Kid (1950)]. Submitted by H. Mason 3/25/15
This is somewhat unusual in that the Judge in Superior Court No.2 says not a word. This rarely happens on Perry. And we get to learn his name, Henry Trase (as printed on the door), which is also a rare happenstance. Submitted by gracenote, 2/18/2011.
+ It's actually Trask, with a k at the end. See the 2012 Paramount DVD at 34:46. Submitted by masonite, 12/6/12.
Also unusual is that the murder victim never utters a word either despite being in two scenes, one of which he is being directly addressed to by other characters. Submitted by Kenmore 7/26/2012
+In episode 179 - TCOT Skeleton's Closet - the judge had no lines and wasn't mentioned in the credits and another character didn't speak but was identified. Added by H. Mason 3/28/15
Victor Buono plays a very similar character type in TCOT Absent Artist, Episode #146. --Submitted by 10yearoldfan, 1 August 2014.
+Virginia Field kind of plays a similar role as in TCOT Prodigal Parent where she claims "I am your mother" and in this episode she claims "I am NOT your mother". HamBurger 9/3/2016
++ In re-watching these episodes recently I need to change my pronunciation of "mother" to "mudder". ;-) Added by HamBurger 05/7/2023
Star Trek Alert: Malachi Throne (Sandifer) played Commodore José I. Mendez in the original series Star Trek episode "The Menagerie, Part II". As seems inevitable, that Trek episode was chockful of other Perry alums: Jon Lormer, who appeared in 12 Perry episodes; John Hoyt, who appeared in five; Joseph Mell, a veteran of three episodes; and last but not beast, Janos Prohaska, who played the gorilla in the unforgettable TCOT Grinning Gorilla. That's five Perry alums in one Star Trek episode, not even counting Nimoy, Deforest Kelly, and George Takei. Almost half the cast had been in a Perry courtroom. And, serendipitously, "The Mengerie, Part II" takes the form of a trial. Submitted by MyFavoritePolarBear, 11/21/22.
CAR. The only motor vehicle in this episode is an intercity bus. We've previously seen the exact same bus in episodes 80, 99, 117 & 135:
- a 1949-1952 Aerocoach P-372 in "Trailways" paint scheme (as in linked image) and a large sign "Simon Weatherly COMPANY FOUR" on each side. Trailways lettering is absent but fleet# "130" is visible at each top corner. Doc Rushing's identification and description is at Ep#80 TCOT Violent Village trivia.
The bus interior has notionally been converted to a lounge for the touring COMPANY FOUR. Most of the bus-interior scenes were not shot inside the P-372 but rather on an in-studio mock-up of a bus interior different from the P-372's. The episode opens as the bus arrives in Flagstaff: watch as the bus passes the camera and turns, noting the shape and wide spacing between the rear window halves. The rear window halves in the later bus-interior shots are different and have only a narrow separation. In the bus-interior shot with the camera facing forward at 31:13 the real bus is used: Aerocoach can be read backwards on the separator between the front entry steps and the passenger compartment. Added by Gary Woloski, 1/26/15.
+ What a beautiful bus! By the way, though, the lettering on the bus really does read 'The COMPANY of FOUR. The lowercase letters are a little swirly, that's all. Submitted by catyron, June 7th, 2018
Court: Actor Jay Barney was the prosecutor (Harry Clark) in episode 146 TCOT Absent Artist [Victor Buono was also in that story]. That case was in Port Harmony, approximately 120 miles from L.A. This time he was also away from the city as District Attorney in Santa Barbara, approximately 90 miles from L.A. Submitted by H. Mason 3/25/15
+I was hoping that Perry would have an opportunity to tear Prosecutor Clark down a bit after his obnoxious manner and his egregious fat-shaming of Mr. Fossette (Buono). Added by Vladimir Estragon, 5/8/2020.
++Agreed. He was one of the most rude, boorish, obnoxious Burger Substitutes the show ever had. He kept barreling through court sneering at witnesses, barking objections, and generally making a complete ass of himself. Seems unlikely the people of California would want him representing them in such an appalling manner.
This is the fifth of six PM appearances for English-born Virginia Field, whose father was a judge...MikeM. 1/12/2017
The murder - and so, presumably, the trial as well - takes place in Santa Barbara, but unfortunately the producers failed to use anything other than a generic establishing shot, thus depriving viewers a glimpse of its magnificent Spanish-themed courthouse (would the "Seaside Beach" venue have it's own Docent Council site ?? I doubt it !!) Notcom, 042417.
This is the only PM appearance for prolific character actor Malachi Throne, who was the son of Austro-Hungarian Jewish immigrants Samuel and Rebecca Throne...MikeM. 5/24/2018
"Repeat Performance, All Over Again." Virginia Field and Tom Conway, two of the four members of this episode's bus-travelling troupe who repeat performances of famous Shakespearean scenes, both appeared in 1947's "Repeat Performance," a melodramatic noir in which an actress--played by Joan Leslie--is given the opportunity to relive the past year of her life after having shot her husband on New Year's Eve. Submitted by BobH, 3 February 2020.