William Talman: Belated Birthday Tribute and Movie News

I really wanted to get a post up on Wednesday. I really did. And I thought and thought and thought . . . and couldn’t seem to come up with a very original way to say Happy 100th Birthday to the awesome William Talman. I still can’t, after all the posts I’ve already made for him and Hamilton, but I wanted to acknowledge his milestone birthday before we get any farther removed from February 4th!

A local station is going to show the movie The City That Never Sleeps this coming weekend. I’ve been debating whether to give it a try. I know William plays the bad guy in it, but it’s still a movie I haven’t seen him in yet. And he’s so amazing at whatever he does that I know it will be an incredible performance.

MeTV is currently showing the four season 6 episodes with guest lawyers. I’ve been enjoying re-watching them again; two of them are among my all-time favorite episodes ever (The Libelous Locket and The Two-Faced-Turn-A-Bout). Hamilton has a lot of great scenes in all the episodes, and the one coming up tomorrow is the one where he and Della have that intriguing “hostile witness” exchange.

I’m always impressed by how he conducts himself in the Bette Davis episode, Constant Doyle. Back in the 1960s, it would have been so easy to have had people giving a female lawyer a really hard time. But Hamilton is so perfectly professional and gracious and never looks down on Constant because she’s a woman (or because of any reason, really). Even when he’s absolutely bewildered by her trenchcoat display, he sounds baffled when he objects instead of argumentative.

I still don’t agree with Perry’s comment that Hamilton called him ten times exclaiming that he wants Perry to get well so he’ll have someone easy to face off against. I think Perry was probably joking. Hamilton may have called once, and said something like that jokingly, but I can’t feature him doing it ten times. Nor do I think Constant was harder to beat than Perry. But it was a fun case and it was awesome to see a female lawyer appear (for the only time in the series proper).

I never fail to get the giggles in The Libelous Locket when Professor Lindley pins Andy down on his joke about the Martian nine feet tall. Hamilton does a brilliant facepalm right then and his expression is classic. He’s sure that’s not going to help the prosecution’s case one bit, despite Andy’s exclamation that he was only kidding.

Any time Hamilton is in a scene, it can never be dull. He always has some perfect expression or comment to make. Even when he isn’t the focus of a scene and is only present in the background, such as while watching Perry conduct an examination of a witness, he’s very involved in what’s going on. I always like watching to see what William Talman does at those moments. Sometimes he observes Perry. Sometimes he writes or makes notes on a piece of paper. It always looks very natural and logical. The fact that he always knows how to handle those moments when he’s on camera, yet isn’t the focus, is one more sign of what an impressive actor he was.

How wonderful to think that the world has had knowledge of William Talman’s existence for 100 years. What a treasure! Happy birthday to a great actor and noble man!

And some news on the movie front: Next week, starting with the 16th, MeTV will finally have a week of showing Perry movies for their nightly Mystery Movie thing at 12:30 A.M. (or 11:30 P.M., for Mountain and Central timezones), right after the nighttime Perry. It’s no problem for night owls like me, but those going to bed at more decent hours had best have VCRs or DVRs ready. The lineup will be as follows:

The Notorious Nun
The Murdered Madam
The Lethal Lesson
The Musical Murder
The Maligned Mobster 

None are movies that MeTV has previously shown, so it’s doubly important to grab the chance if you’re interested. I will definitely be watching, although as always, I will be missing those of the cast who are sadly absent. I wish they could have at least recruited Richard to come onboard and play Lieutenant Drumm again (maybe as a Captain by then or something). I know it would be the wrong locale if everyone relocated to Denver within the storyline, but still, it would have been such fun. And it would have given the police character more of a role again. One thing that surprises me about the movies is that the police characters rarely have a decent-sized part or are even well-rounded characters at all. That was a big part of the Perry series proper. I wonder why they felt it was not important enough to transfer to the movies as well?

The Case of the "Hostile" Witness?

The four season 6 episodes with guest lawyers are understandably not that greatly appreciated. After all, what’s Perry Mason without Perry himself around to take the reins?

Despite having seen Constant Doyle, I’ve balked at seeing the others (and those two from season 8 likewise). However, finally realizing that there was probably some good stuff I was missing (including scenes with Hamilton!), I decided to break down and try another.

And . . . well, I loved it. I felt it made much better use of the other main characters than Constant Doyle did. In that one, Constant and the other guest-stars were pretty much always the focus. The others were regulated to small roles, save for Hamilton (and he had some wonderful scenes). But in this other one, The Two-Faced Turn-A-Bout, everyone was there and had decent screentime. (Well, other than Perry, that is.) Even Tragg was back, and of course we know that in the later seasons, seeing him was quite a rare treat. He and Andy have an interesting exchange early on, as Andy complains about being assigned to a special detail on his first day off in a month. And we get to see them both on that special detail, as what happens is critical to the whole plot.

Overall, I enjoyed it so much that I looked up the other two infamous season 6 episodes to determine which one to watch next. And when I stumbled on The Surplus Suitor, an intriguing bit of dialogue on the page immediately answered that question.

Hamilton Burger: Well Miss Street, having you here just as a witness for the prosecution is a rare experience for both of us.

Della Street: I'll try not to be hostile, Mr. Burger.

Hamilton Burger: Well... That would be a rare experience too.

I think that’s probably the most interesting exchange they’ve ever had. Canonical interaction between them is so hard to come by.

And here’s where I show just how much I enjoy analyzing even the smallest thing. When I watched that part of the episode (I didn’t have time for the entire thing right then), I found that Hamilton’s response to Della’s “hostile” comment was a quiet aside. I don’t think he meant for anyone other than Della to hear it. And he sounded rather awkward and uncomfortable when he said it. Della, I assume, is just making a quip on the idea of being a possible “hostile witness.” Hamilton seems to clearly mean much more. It could be interpreted one of two ways: either Della really does treat him hostile in general, or he feels that she does, regardless of her intentions.

Which is it? Good question, perhaps one only the fans (or Barbara Hale herself) could answer. There is certainly a coolness in the air whenever Della is called as a prosecution witness. Sometimes it’s when Perry’s been up to some of his law-bending and Hamilton is trying to get confirmation from Della on what happened. Naturally she doesn’t want to get Perry in trouble and is unhappy about being called.

But on the other hand, outside of scenes in court, Della seems quite congenial towards him. Her telephone conversations, albeit only heard on her end, don’t appear to hint at hostility. She seems outright friendly at the end of The Purple Woman. Perhaps she’s a bit coy in The Reluctant Model during this exchange:

Hamilton Burger: What’s that?!

Della Street: This, Mr. Burger, is a canary.

Hamilton Burger: … Well, ask a stupid question….

But she still doesn’t seem hostile.

Hamilton could have very well gotten that vibe from her over the years, though. Things started out with him frustrated over Perry’s law-bending and Della steadfastly loyal to Perry, so naturally that would create some friction. But it all smoothed out later, making Hamilton’s aside in The Surplus Suitor all the more intriguing.

I rather suspect that Della does not feel hostile towards him and does not mean to treat him as such. But that doesn’t mean Hamilton doesn’t honestly think it.

And there’s also the possibility of off-screen interaction that could have furthered Hamilton’s thoughts. I wonder if Della could have ever got angry with Hamilton, say circa season 1, and actually bawled him out. It’s highly unlikely, especially if she knew Perry would not want her to do it, but an angry Della is a very defensive Della. To that end, there is some chance of it.

In any case, that little exchange certainly opens up a channel I want to explore in a fanfiction story.

And oh my goodness, there’s something else I just realized. Della is willing to talk to Hamilton even if she doesn’t actually have to, such as in The Purple Woman. Paul, by contrast, is routinely silent. I think he only ever talks to Hamilton when he’s called as a witness. Even when Hamilton is right in the room in The Lover’s Leap, Paul talks around him. (“Why don’t we just give him the anchor?”)

EDIT: Correction, Paul does seem to be talking to Hamilton in the epilogue of The Fickle Fortune.

Although to be fair, Paul usually seems to be smiling and fairly relaxed when they all meet under peaceful circumstances. And he doesn’t seem at all the type who would put on airs or pretend to be enjoying something if he isn’t. Whether he actually continues to feel as on the rocks towards Hamilton as he usually did in season 1 is still up for debate. It’s certainly something that continues to puzzle me.

With so little to go on where both his and Della’s feelings towards Hamilton are concerned, it really forces one to try to read between the lines of what’s available. But for me, I’m up to the challenge. Some find analysis difficult. For me, it’s part of what makes things fun.

Lesson learned—even with very little Perry, episodes can be very worth watching.

The Case of Constant Doyle: The first of the fill-in guest-stars

One of the strangest things about television series is when the main star has to bow out, for whatever reason, for a few episodes. A temporary replacement is needed, but whom? How? Why when and where?

I am generally not fond of such episodes. It feels too different without the main character. And their absence can cause other characters to have reduced screentime as well.

Season 6, of course, is the season where they needed four such episodes when Raymond Burr discovered he would need an operation. Interestingly, they decided to have the characters’ lives parallel real-life. Perry was hospitalized for an operation. They filmed a few scenes for the episodes where Perry called characters from his hospital room. That rare move kept the four episodes from being completely devoid of Perry.

They also decided to have a different guest-star in every one of the episodes. The most impressive to me is Bette Davis. To me she’s the absolute big-time. Her episode is the only one of the four I know I’ve seen. My local station skipped those four episodes when it was running season 6 on Saturdays. I believe they used to show at least that one, as the second courtroom scene seemed very familiar to me. What makes the entire episode familiar to me now is that I saw it a few weeks ago when I purchased the 50^th Anniversary DVD set from Buy.com.

My feelings on the episode are mixed. Most opinions I see of it are downright negative, but I don’t feel that hostile, nor do I have many complaints. I will readily admit that the plight of the guest-stars did not always interest me; I was restless and wanted to fast-forward some parts. The kid whom Bette’s character decides to help particularly irritated me. He’s a real punk, always seeming to be blowing his stack for one reason or another and often acting ungrateful. That character type is not one that generally appeals to me.

Bette’s character, Constant Doyle (and that really is Constant—not Constance, as I’ve seen some fans report), also receives a great many of the fans’ complaints. She’s too distant, too far removed. We don’t get to know her enough to know why we should care about her.

She’s aloof, I’ll certainly give you that. But I had no problem with her character at all. I love aloof characters. Perry himself is often quite aloof, really. Not as much so as Constant, but still.

Also like Perry, Constant is very headstrong and determined. When she sets her mind to something, she does it. She becomes determined to help this punk kid, even moreso after he becomes entangled in a murder case. He doesn’t often seem that grateful for her efforts and is often instead exploding at being asked questions. But she is insistent.

She also wants to know the truth about her deceased husband. They ran a law firm together, and now after his death, skeletons are starting to fall out of his closet. It’s starting to look like he was involved in something crooked. Constant can’t believe it’s true, but she has to know for certain.

Della and Paul appear in reduced roles. Constant is a friend of Perry’s, and when she finds him hospitalized and unable to assist much with the case other than a phone call or two, she recruits Paul to help her.

The episode has a bit of an unusual feel until these characters come into it. Once they are present, and especially when Paul starts investigating, it feels more like a regular Perry episode.

The main character who appears the most is, interestingly enough, Hamilton Burger. He is going to be prosecuting the case himself, which Paul finds odd for some reason.

I wondered exactly how they would be depicting Hamilton in this episode. How would he interact with a female attorney? It is, I believe, the only time a female attorney ever appeared on the show. Would he be as antagonistic as he can sometimes be with Perry? Would he be more reserved but still argumentative? Of course, as the prosecutor, he would have to oppose Constant’s case. That goes without saying. But his mood can vary depending on the case, or sometimes the season.

In season 5, I’ve noticed, he is usually quite unfriendly. I only counted a handful of times when he showed a bit of congeniality. Della even takes issue with one admittedly cringe-worthy remark he makes in the final episode of the season, The Lonely Eloper. Since she rarely comments on what he says, it seems significant. All in all, this element of season 5 was a surprise to me, after Hamilton was very often friendly in seasons 2, 3, and 4. I’m planning an overview of season 5 to explore this in more detail, but for now I’ll tentatively say that perhaps the writers were worried that he was too friendly and decided to cut back on such scenes. I also think that, in the latter half of season 5, he was probably smarting from his defeat in The Shapely Shadow. That was without a doubt one of his worst days in court ever.

Season 6, however, as I’ve said many a time, shows a very friendly Hamilton again. Maybe the writers realized that the viewers liked it better that way? Season 6 is a treasure-trove of moments showing Hamilton’s softer side and his friendship with Perry. And just because they’re friendlier doesn’t mean they don’t clash in court. One of my favorite clashes ever, The Elusive Element, is from season 6.

The Case of Constant Doyle is not an exception to this. If I had any concerns or curious doubts about how Hamilton would be portrayed, they were immediately refuted. Hamilton is wonderful here. He is very thoughtful and kind (dare I say even sweet?), always respectful of Constant, and eventually says that the reason he is handling this case himself is because he wants to get to the bottom of the mystery concerning her husband and be able to put her fears at rest. (They eventually prove him innocent of any wrongdoing.) If there’s one element of this episode I would like to watch repeatedly, it would be the courtroom scenes.

Constant also puts on a bit of a courtroom show, as Perry is famous for doing. She dons a trenchcoat, as the victim wore, and wants Hamilton to button it and tie the belt. In confused disbelief Hamilton exclaims, “I most certainly object to this!” But he sounds more puzzled than anything else. He doesn’t seem to consider Constant a sparring partner, as he does Perry, and doesn’t sound antagonistic or challenging in the least. The judge thinks he should go along with the demonstration, so, bewildered, he does. Her purpose, if I remember correctly, was to show how a man would button the coat as opposed to a woman.

The epilogue is nice. Her client is grateful to her and ends up inviting her to dinner. I’m still trying to figure out if he has some sort of romantic interest in her despite their rather large age gap. I think he probably has a little crush on her, at least. As she gets up to turn off the lights and leave her office, she bids her departed husband goodnight.

The epilogue also includes another phone call from Perry. And within that call is the one thing I object to in the episode. Perry tells her that Hamilton has called him ten times, telling him to get better and get back in court so he’ll have someone easier to go up against.

I honestly can’t imagine Hamilton ever saying that. At least, certainly not ten times! He has too much pride. I could imagine him maybe saying it once, jokingly, but no more. Furthermore, I didn’t think Constant was harder to beat than Perry. It seemed that the writers might have just thrown that in because they wanted her to seem so absolutely amazing. I believe fans in some of my recent fandoms would call that trying to make a “Mary Sue” out of the character. A “Mary Sue” is generally defined as a supposedly flawless character written by a fan who shows up in fanfiction stories and outshines all of the characters in her level of awesomeness, even the main character. Of course, I could be wrong on the writers' intentions. But coming at it from my perspective, that is the impression I received.

My conclusion was that it was a good episode overall. Not necessarily a great episode, but one that’s satisfying, particularly for Bette Davis fans. My mom certainly enjoyed it. And as for me, well, those courtroom scenes are a paradise for an admitted Hamilton Burger fangirl. They give me even more reason to love him and praise his three-dimensional characterization on the series. And any episode that can do that is one I'll always have a soft spot for.