Show252
Chris Noel makes her only Perry appearance here playing Susan Wolfe. As hard as it may be to believe, the beautiful, sexy, Chris Noel was a DJ for Armed Forces Radio in Vietnam during my tour there in 1969. She had a daily show called A Date With Chris. The war pretty much ruined her life as it ruined so many lives. Submitted by PaulDrake 33, 16 October 2009.
This episode was broadcast in Chicago on 23 March 2010. It is obiviously based on the real-life Kitty Genovese murder, which occurred in March 1964, a year-and-a-half before the original broadcast date. She was chased and attacked three times over a period of about 35 minutes before finally succumbing. It was determined that at least 38 people “witnessed” the attacks, but none came to her aid or even called the police. This case raised a national outcry over public apathy, but, of course, the explanation is a bit more complicated. A good account is given in Influence, the Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini. Submitted by Prof. Lindley, 24 March 2010.
+ Yes, certainly, there is more to that tragic event than what was reported at the time in the newspapers 49 years ago. Kitty Genovese, for one source, has an account that mentions only two attacks on her, starting at about 03:15 AM and finishing in the rear of a building about 20 minutes later. Per this account of the tragedy, the “witnesses”, closer in number to 3 than to 38, had some trouble interpreting what was happening down in the street, though at least 2 people called the police (this was before 911 and cell phones). Submitted by (lowercase, with a comma and period) masonite, 07/07/13.
++ For those interested in the actual Kitty Genovese case, I would highly recommend the 2015 documentary "The Witness". Much of what we know about the case is false. Bob61571, 3/26/2018
Sightings: At the trial we find our “Miss Carmody” in a huge hat, along with Quiet Old Man #1. Submitted by gracenote, 5/20/2010.
Cyril Delevanti played Craig Jefferson in this episode, “TCOT Silent Six.” The only other Perry Mason episode in which he appeared is #252, “TCOT Silent Partner”, which was broadcast as the sixth episode of the series. And both the episode titles had the word “silent” in them. Submitted by Charles Richmond, 31 January 2011.
+ Mr. Delavanti also played, among many other roles, "Nonno" in Night Of The Iguana alongside Richard Burton, Deborah Kerr, and Ava Gardner. jfh 19Aug2019.
Anomaly: The credits list Tyler MacDuff as “Herb Jackson,” but Perry clearly addresses the harried, bespectacled man in his office as “Herm.” Submitted by gracenote, 5/21/2011.
+ Herb says their client suffered "psychic damage". Psychic? Really? jfh 19Aug2019.
++ Add to that list of question marks the show's equating goofballs with "hopped up": today the slangtionary tells us goofball=barbiturate, i.e. a depressant, so that would seem to be the opposite of what would be expected; but perhaps the terminology is a bit imprecise....I mean we can't imagine the writers not being experts on beat culture...can we?? Notcom 091521.
This episode has a very unusual trial, in that it uses a jury (to whom Perry gives an opening statement). Very shortly after the series began, juries were generally absent to save production costs and remain consistent with the books, which resolved generally in preliminary hearings. cgraul 1.2.11
Instant Photos! On Perry's instruction, Paul pokes around the apartment complex taking instant photos of the views from various spots with a Polaroid Land Camera. I believe it's the same model I had, the Model 103, introduced 1965 and retailing for $89.95. Read more about that era's Instant Cameras here. The camera was big and clunky, as were the film packs, each shot having its own self-contained photo lab. Paul's photos turn out to be key to Perry solving the case! Submitted by Gary Woloski, 23 Dec 2011.
My parents bought one of these cameras when they first came out - a major splurge, the equivalent of about $700. today. The developing photos had a very distinctive odor I can smell even now. DOD 04/17/20
Uncredited Actors: Don Anderson appears twice in this episode. First he’s one of two uniformed officers escorting Sgt. Dave Wolfe (Skip Homeier) into police headquarters after the fatal shooting. When a reporter infuriates Wolfe with an indelicate question about his sister, Anderson helps Lt. Drumm (Richard Anderson) restrain him. Later, Anderson, wearing dark-rimmed glasses, appears in the first row of the courtroom gallery behind the prosecution table. For some reason in this episode, the prosecution sits to the judge’s right and the defense to the left instead of the usual arrangement used in the series. Submitted by FredK, December 16, 2010.
+ It appears that Anderson is also among the patrons seated at the bar in Clay's Grill in the tag scene. Submitted by FredK, 21 April 2012.
Skip Homeier appeared in "TCOT Pathetic Patient" ('61) as an MD, an "Ironside" & 2 "Star Trek"s as Hippie Dr. Sevrin & Deputy Fuhrer Melakon [IMDb]. Mike Bedard 2.19.15.
This is the third of four PM writing credits for William Bast, who also had a credit for an episode of "The New Perry Mason" television series in 1974...MikeM. 3/20/2017
Interesting that the police did not used the GSR test (gun shot residue - parafin test) on one of their own to show that he didn't shoot the gun. Submitted by HamBurger, 06/17/2017
+ Agreed--this troubled me through the whole show. How could anyone be accused of firing that gun 6 times when he didn't have a trace of GSR on his hand and arm? ckb 10/8/20
This is the final of David Macklin's 4 PM appearances (and arguably one of the high points of his career, as he seems to have specialized in more low key characters). He also died this past April....such are the ravages of time that even those who played veritable kids in the later seasons are leaving us. Lamented by Notcom, 070117.
Cyril Delevanti (Craig Jefferson) must be one of the "earliest-born" persons to appear in a PM episode. IMDb shows Delevanti as being born in London, England, on 23 February 1887. Wikipedia gives the year as 1889. Both agree he passed in Hollywood on 13 December 1975...MikeM. 3/26/2018
This is the final of four PM appearances for Dianne Foster (Linda Blakely), who was born in Canada in 1928. In 1966, Foster stopped appearing in films and on television in order to devote more time to her children. Dianne Foster, age 89, is reportedly still living in California...MikeM. 7/30/2018
Hats off to stuntman extraordinaire Dale Van Sickle, who was 58 years old when this episode was filmed and could still do the amazing backwards-over-the-balcony fall he had perfected in a hundred Westerns and crime dramas decades ago! What a great stunt. Whenever i see it on an old film or TV show i play it back over and over, just to check out how gracefully he choreographs it. Submitted by catyron, November 5th, 2021.