Perry Mason
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend Perry Mason is an attorney who specializes in defending seemingly indefensible cases. With the aid of his secretary Della Street and investigator Paul Drake, he often finds that by digging deeply into the facts, startling facts can be revealed. Often relying on his outstanding courtroom skills, he often tricks or traps people into unwittingly admitting their guilt. Product details and pricing info |
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57 Customer Reviews Posted
- Daylight robbery
- Why don't the studio come out with the complete collection instead? That would be a much better way to celebrate the 50th anniversary!
- 2008-04-28, 3 of 7 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Mason for the Defense
- Your honor, I do object to the harsh treatment this DVD has gotten before its released. I have viewed this evidence and found it able to stand on its own merits.
A little back history on my relationship with the defendant Perry Mason. In the early 1970's, when Ironside was still on prime time television, I was a Perry Mason addict. It was on at five pm, so it was after school viewing. Raymond Burr was as much Perry Mason as he was Ironside. Each may have been different character, but this series like Ironside was memorible.
Now to the evidence....In this DVD tribute, you have 12 episodes and a TV movie (Perry Mason Returns) of this classic legal drama. This tribute is guest star ladden set (with such actors as Robert Redford, Bette Davis, Leonard Nimoy, Burt Retnold, James Colburn,etc) and also has a few rare episodes (the only color episode, the last show of the series). If these dozen episodes are edited at all from their original format , you can not tell. These recording seem to have been copied from very clean master recordings of the shows. Each episode and the TV movie are introduced by Barbara Hale (Della Street), the last remaining cast member of the Mason show.
Exhibit A...The fourth disk is chock filled with extras like Hopper, Talman and Burr's screen tests for Mason, Old Raymond Burr interviews, New Barbara Hale interview, and Mason cast playing "Stump The Stars".
Exhibit B...The most unique extra on the fourth disk is the William Talman's anti-smoking message. For those of you who did not know, Talman was dying of cancer after the show closed. as sick as he was, he left the hospital and recorded an anti-smoking message weeks before he died.
Sidebar, your Honor...I have previous discussed the good part of the DVD....now to the bad part, charging almost forty dollar for 12 episode is too too much. Also, to harbor on points made by others previously, Paramount CBS is very slow to release season three of Mason...and when they do, it is in half season installments. At this time (April 2008), there is no release date for season three volume one.
In summation, this collection of the best of Perry Mason is good television and nice to see these shows on DVD. However the jury is out if Paramount and its release practices is right.
I do not want a hung jury, so buy this collection and you make your own judgement
Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD - 2008-04-16, 33 of 33 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Loving Tribute, Great Introduction to Classic Drama...
- Has it really been over 50 years since Perry Mason first walked into a television courtroom? It is a high compliment, viewing "Perry Mason (50th Anniversary Edition)", that the episodes are still as fresh, and entertaining, in a new millennium!
The episodes chosen for the collection may not be every fan's choice, but each is a gem; seeing Robert Redford, James Coburn, Adam West, Burt Reynolds, Bette Davis, Dick Clark, and a hot-tempered(!) Leonard Nimoy seamlessly enter the 'Mason' universe is great fun, and four episodes included should be on every 'Top' list; "The Case of the Deadly Verdict", where Mason actually LOSES; "The Case of the Twice Told Twist", the only color episode ever filmed; "The Case of the Dead Ringer", with Raymond Burr in dual roles (he's a hoot as a reprobate British sailor); and, of course, "The Case of the Final Fadeout", the last episode of the series. The episodes offer the option of an introduction by Barbara Hale (often with director Arthur Marks), which, while not necessary, are warm and often delightful.
The Disc 4 Special Features are certainly worth the price of the set, by themselves...The first 'Perry Mason' TV-movie, made nearly two decades after the series left the air, is a sweet reunion, as Della (Barbara Hale) is accused of murder, and Perry leaves the bench to defend her, aided by Paul Drake's son (Hale's real-life son, William Katt)...Raymond Burr's screen tests, for both the roles of Mason AND Hamilton Burger (William Hopper's test for the Mason role is also included, and shows just how mesmerizing Burr was, in both roles; thank goodness he became Mason, because as Burger, he'd have been unbeatable!)...a bittersweet "Person-to-Person" tour of Burr's home, from the late fifties (Burr, while justifiably proud of his home, rarely saw it during the series' nine-year run, as the nature of the scripts kept him at the studio, 24/7); two excerpts from Burr interviews with Charlie Rose from the 1980s; a loving biography of 'Mason' creator, Erle Stanley Gardner; the tragic TV anti-smoking ad by William Talman (who was dying of lung cancer); a funny "Stump the Stars" bit with the original cast, and MUCH more!
This is certainly one of my favorite DVD collections, and I HIGHLY recommend it, for both long-time fans, and viewers unfamiliar with the series. You're in for a treat! - 2008-04-15, 9 of 9 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Where is Season 3 Paramount?
- As stated by others previously , this is really milking the consumer. That said, I could forgive them if they would release the regular seasons a little more quickly. Season 3 is long overdue. By the time they get to Season 4 DVD players will probably be obsolete. If they keep it up I might do what I did for the Gunsmoke series. I got so fed up with waiting for them, I stopped buying them and just rent them from Netflix when they come out. For the later seasons I just tape them off television now. If PARAMOUNT STUDIOS doesn't want my money I'll spend it elsewhere. Raymond Burr & William Hopper deserve better and so do I.
- 2008-04-13, 1 of 3 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Great extras, but give me the rest of the series!!!!
- NOTE: This gets 3 stars because of the bait and switch tactics of Paramount, not because the content is below par. As we faithful fans wait patiently for seasons three through nine on DVD, we get thrown a bone: Great extras with screen-tests for the original series and fascinating interviews. BUT: What we WANT is more of the RESTORED and UNCUT episodes IN THEIR ORIGINAL ORDER!. I agree with the other reviewers that it is taking WAY too long!! A season every six months does not seem unreasonable, Paramount. Forget the special editions. If you have more cool stuff for extras, put a few on each of the regular season releases and promote the heck out of them.
- 2008-04-13, 1 of 1 people found this review helpful, Rated:
