Celebrating 90 years of Perry Mason

Erle Stanley Gardner’s brilliant and savvy criminal defense attorney Perry Mason has been on the case since 1933’s “The Case of the Velvet Claws.” The attorney describes himself in that first novel as  a “lawyer who has specialized in trial work, and in a lot of  criminal work…I’m a specialist on getting people out of trouble.”

Inspired by the famed Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Earl Rogers who only lost three of his 77 murder trials, Mason was featured in 82 novels and four short stories, six Warner Bros. murder mystery movies, a long-running radio series, the beloved 1957-66 CBS series starring Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale as his true-blue assistant Della Street, movies and a 1973-74 series with Monte Markham. Matthew Rhys (“The Americans” ) plays the latest incarnation in HBO’s stylish “Perry Mason” series, currently in its second season.

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Set during the Great Depression, the HBO drama has a real “Chinatown” feel, as Rhys’ Mason is a struggling alcoholic and divorced father. He’s much more a Jake Gittes than Burr’s three-piece suit Mason. Juliet Rylance plays Della and Chris Chalk portrays private investigator Paul Drake. The first season, which aired in 2000, earned four Emmy nominations including lead actor in a drama series for Rhys and supporting actor for John Lithgow.

Here’s a look back at previous versions of Perry Mason

The Warner Bros. films
Warren William, the King of the Pre-code films,  plays a debonair Perry who is fast with the quips in four entertaining “B” movies -1934’s “The Case of the Howling Dog”; 1935’s “The Case of the Curious Bride,” which is based known today for featuring Errol Fynn in his first-released American film as a murder victim; 1935’s “The Case of the Lucky Legs” ; and 1936’s  “The Case of the Velvet Claws,” in which he marries Della.

Ricardo Cortez took over as Perry in 1936’s “The Case of the Black Cat.” Though this installment is considered the best in the series, Gardner didn’t like Cortez and had him replaced. A rather bland Donald Woods assumed the role in 1937’s “The Case of the Stuttering Bishop.”

Radio Series
The 15-minute daily series aired on CBS Radio from 1943-1955 and featured more action and less courtroom. During the first three years,  a trio of actors played Mason: Bartlett Robinson, Santos Ortega and Donald Briggs. John Larkin became Mason on March 31, 1947 and continued until 1955.

The Edge of Night
The daytime drama that aired on CBS from 1956-75 and then from 1975-1984 on ABC was originally supposed to be the small-screen version of the Perry Mason radio series. Gardner put his foot down because they wanted the attorney to have a love interest. The writers of the radio series retooled excising all references to Mason, changing the names of the characters and locations. Larkin, who played Mason for eight years on radio, played  ace attorney Mike Karr until 1961.

“Perry Mason”
CBS and Gardner made peace in 1957; the Tiffany network premiered its prime-time courtroom drama that adhered to the writer’s vision. Everything meshed thanks to the clever scripts and super cast. Raymond Burr earned two Emmys for his near-flawless incarnation of Gardner’s criminal defense attorney. And he was equally matched by Emmy-winner Barbara Hale as Della; William Hopper as Paul Drake; William Talman as Hamilton Burger and Ray Collins as Lt. Tragg.  Out of the 271 episodes, Mason lost only three cases.

Though the series departed CBS in 1966, the sun has never really set. It’s been a staple in syndication, VHS and DVD and now streaming services. And Burr and Hale reunited for a series of NBC TV movies beginning with 1985’s “Perry Mason Returns.” Hale’s son William Katt played Paul Drake Jr. They duo made 26 movies; 1993’s ‘The Case of the Killer Kiss” was Burr’s final film which aired posthumously. There were four more movies featuring ‘friends” of Mason — Paul Sorvino and Hal Holbrook — who filled in while Mason was out of town on another case.

“The New Perry Mason”
Monte Markham of “The Second Hundred Years” fame starred in this 1973-74 CBS reboot which also featured Sharon Acker as Della. The reviews weren’t great, and audiences were more interested in watching “The FBI” on ABC and NBC’s “The Wonderful World of Disney.” The series was history after 15 episodes.

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