In Memoriam: William Hopper

And so we come to another March 6th, another anniversary of the date William Hopper tragically left us far too soon in 1970. Eerily enough, Erle Stanley Gardner died within the week of the same year and we lost two key figures in the shaping of Perry Mason.

William Hopper brought his immortal contributions to Perry when he showed up to do a screentest for Perry Mason himself. He definitely left an impression and ended up cast as our beloved Paul Drake. That was most certainly a wise choice. He brought so much heart and soul to our cast and the reunion movies feel so lonely without him.

I love when Paul gets a chance to be tough and show his stuff, since sometimes he's used as a comic relief character. One of my favorite scenes is in The Stand-In Sister, when he corners the escaped criminal by calmly and smoothly holding a gun on him at the top of the pier as he starts to climb up.

That season 6 episode also has the curious distinction of being the only one, I think, to actually have kind of a downer epilogue. Even if the courtroom scenes end rather grimly, the epilogue usually tries to cheer things up and end the episode on a happy note. In The Stand-In Sister, however, the epilogue has John Gregory talking to his criminal brother Stefan and wondering why he changed his mind and lied on the witness stand in Gregory's favor instead of telling all the things he threatened to that would make Gregory look horrible. Stefan growls that he has to be nice, since Gregory is holding all his money for him. Gregory, who had apparently hoped that there was some spark of brotherly affection as the reason, goes back over to Perry looking downcast and the episode ends. Um, ouch.

The only other episode I can think of that ends rather grim doesn't even fully count, as it's season 9's The Vanishing Victim and it only appears grim because the version usually shown on television cuts off the epilogue for some bizarre reason. In the televised version, it generally ends with Hamilton talking to the murderer and telling him that he has one more trip to take and this time he can't pass it off on someone else to take for him. The real ending is that silliness with Perry and Paul and the money Paul is charging for expenses that Perry decides to give to Steve for charity tickets without Paul's permission. I still wonder whether Paul is really charging unfairly and hence, Perry might be somewhat justified in his actions, or if Paul is being perfectly fair (aside from maybe nineteen cents, heh) and Perry is not being very nice to just give all of Paul's money away. I usually tend to lean more in Paul's favor, since Perry has unfairly taken money away from him in other episodes such as The Married Moonlighter, although I still wonder.

Paul has some interesting hobbies. Fishing seems to be a casual thing with him, judging by the fact that he fishes with Perry in season 5 yet doesn't seem to know a lot about where specific kinds of fish can be found in season 7. He seems to want to take up golfing, at least in season 9, as he wants those clubs in The Vanishing Victim and then the very next episode is The Golfer's Gambit and he's out practicing on the green. He's in excellent physical shape, as shown in The Carefree Coronary, and he likely works out and exercises to be in top form for the very physically demanding parts of his job.

Of course, Paul's favorite hobby, most likely, is dating. And admiring beautiful women. Several episodes have scenes with him getting distracted by women, and many more have him either on dates or talking about going on dates. Or, unfortunately, being pulled away from dates. But, always the loyal friend, he goes about doing whatever Perry wants done.

Paul is more skeptical than Perry. Many times he's certain that a client is guilty, or at least, is wary of their innocence. But he supports Perry anyway. And in The Angry Astronaut, when Paul brings the case to Perry, he says that he thinks the client is guilty but that he still deserves the best counsel. Paul can be a good judge of people at times, though, such as when he pegged Mark Chester as a weak-kneed slimeball in The Candy Queen.

All of the Perry characters are very human and three-dimensional. Paul is definitely not an exception. He can be funny. He can be serious. He makes good decisions and bad. And all in all, Perry Mason could never be the same without him. William Hopper is still very loved and missed.

William Hopper: Birthday Tribute

I need to come up with some more topics so I don't only update this blog on anniversaries. But regardless, we have the very special occasion of William Hopper's 101st birthday to celebrate!

I've been trying to think of something new I can say about our Paul Drake. As the long-suffering detective for Perry Mason, Paul often gets roped into doing all kinds of bizarre and sometimes slightly illegal things to further the cases and uncover the guilty parties. He goes undercover as a television repairman at least twice in order to search dwellings for important evidence. Other times he passes himself off as an insurance salesman or other random occupations.

Even though I don't accept the television movies as canon, I do find it interesting to muse on the contrasts between Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. Paul Jr. seems to be more of a detective cliche, falling back on lies and masquerades at every turn. Paul Sr. never likes doing anything off-the-wall or law-bending or breaking. Always worried about his license, Paul Sr. is determined to stay on the straight and narrow as much as possible . . . which isn't always as much as he would like when working for Perry Mason!

Sometimes Paul has to collect bizarre items, such as his long list of sugar, hay, horseshoes and other acquisitions as part of The Bashful Burro case or the flies in The Bogus Books. As only William Hopper can do, Paul reacts to some of these outlandish requests with appropriate shock and disbelief. "A couple of dozen flies?!" is a classic line with a priceless expression to match.

Perhaps the weirdest and most appalling things Perry asks Paul to do are the blatantly illegal ones. In one of the last episodes of the series, The Scarlet Scandal, Perry actually wants Paul to saw off part of a hollow pole in the park and bring it to court for a visual aid! When Paul expresses concern about going to jail for damaging county property, Perry simply says he'll have to take that chance. But for once Paul puts his foot down; he hands Perry the saw and says, "We'll have to take that chance." (I do have to wonder why the local law enforcement or the judge doesn't get on Perry's case for that little act of vandalism!)

Paul is a good and loyal friend, the most faithful Perry and Della could have. Although they generally tease and banter, The Carefree Coronary allows Perry and Della to really show how much Paul means to them and that they're definitely aware of how much Paul has done for them through the years. It's a rare look into their special friendship from a more serious point-of-view, one that I think was a long time overdue.

Paul loves the ladies, but always seems to have trouble dating them. Cases dominate his life and always seem to get in the way when he wants to have a social life. We don't ever seem to see the ladies getting frustrated about this, but it would certainly be understandable if they ever do. Paul definitely finds it discouraging. But always a trooper, he knows that work comes first and accepts that.

Paul also has the misfortune of being the only one in the main cast to get knocked out during the show's run, and not just once, but off and on throughout. Season 3's Paul Drake's Dilemma and season 7's The Ugly Duckling are just two of those painful moments. With Paul's dangerous occupation, it's understandable that it would happen sometimes, especially in classic television. Paul can be grateful he wasn't knocked out over fifty times, like fellow detective Joe Mannix!

Travel doesn't happen a whole lot on Perry, at least travel out of the state of California. Most of the time when it does, Paul is the one doing it. He's been to Mexico multiple times and New Orleans a couple of times. He's also visited Boston, Washington D.C., Florida, and other assorted locations. One of his most important and intense trips is to South America in The Deadly Verdict, a trip that directly brings about the solution of the case. It's doubtful whether he ever gets to take vacations; all of those trips were for work. On one occasion he comments that the idea of a vacation must just be him dreaming. Poor Paul.

As with all classic television shows, there were little inconsistencies. In season 5's The Travelling Treasure, Paul is going fishing with Perry and seems to know what he's doing. In season 7's The Frightened Fisherman, Paul acknowledges that he is not a fisherman and doesn't know what Perry is driving at when it comes to the fishing aspects of the case. But it's a minor quibble and the most important things about Paul always stayed the same, thanks in no small part to William Hopper's wonderful acting.

It's hard to imagine Perry without William Hopper's strong presence. I can't even begin to picture the series without him. He is an enduring and glowing part of the series' appeal.

There are those on Facebook who feel likewise. William Hopper has a special corner of the web via Facebook and The William DeWolf Hopper Jr. Fan Page. If you're a William Hopper and Paul Drake fan, this is a lovely place to go to celebrate with other fans.

Happy 101st Birthday, William. You will always be a large part of what makes Perry Mason special.

In Memoriam: William Hopper

I find it amusing that right after I called out MeTV for not airing their supposedly most popular show more than once a week, they make an announcement that they’re going to do just that. Naturally it’s a coincidence; I doubt anyone from MeTV even knows this blog exists. (And of course, even if they did, I highly doubt it would make one bit of difference.) I’m sure their reason is because of Leonard Nimoy’s death. Still, the timing of my post and their announcement amuses me.

The 6^th sadly marks the death of William Hopper, who died much too soon in 1970. It’s saddening how many Perry cast members either met early deaths or otherwise died while the show was ongoing. Both Williams and Wesley died far too young. And it’s always sad that Ray Collins passed away in the middle of the show’s run, even though he was getting on in years. Some guest-stars, such as Theodore Marcuse and Simon Oakland, also died much too young.

I always love discovering more Paul-centric episodes. I finally had a chance to see the uncut Angry Astronaut, which wasn’t as cut as I expected it would be. In either state, it’s quite a good Paul vehicle, starting out by showing Paul being hired by the titular character to find some missing things. Perry doesn’t appear until after the murder, when Paul goes to him to see if he will represent the man. Even though Paul believes he’s nuts and really did commit the murder, he wants to see him have proper representation. (Also, in that case, the astronaut already knew of Perry and specifically asked Paul to ask Perry about representation. Paul always tries to follow through with an owed favor.)

It’s always interesting to me that Paul is the skeptic among Perry’s group. It definitely adds a little more spice, as opposed to everyone just fully believing that the client is innocent because Perry believes that. And it’s moving that in spite of the many times when Paul thinks the client is guilty, he’s still willing as always to help Perry try to dig up proof that the truth is otherwise.

It would have been an intense character study if there had ever been a case where Paul had such strong feelings as to a client’s guilt that he felt he could not help Perry on the case. Either that, or perhaps a situation where Perry wanted Paul to do something on the investigation that Paul absolutely felt he could not do. Although it never happened on the show, it’s always very clear that Paul has his limits and doesn’t want to put his license in jeopardy. I still don’t think Perry has the right to ask him to do things that could indeed disrupt his career. But of course, Paul could refuse if he felt he simply couldn’t do it.

The two have a great friendship, enjoying fishing breaks the few times a caseload eases enough to allow for it. And in spite of when Perry asks things that often don’t seem fair, Paul goes through with it anyway because of their friendship and his belief in Perry. Paul is quite invaluable to Perry; his investigations often bring in the final piece of evidence needed. Paul is likely aware of this, and perhaps that is one reason why he continues to lend his assistance on cases, even when he doesn’t believe in a client’s innocence or doesn’t like something Perry wants him to do.

I still love the intensity in The Carefree Coronary, when Perry finally acknowledges Paul’s value both as a friend and as part of the team. When it feels like Perry often takes Paul for granted, it’s nice to have him really announce that he is aware of Paul’s importance. Although, admittedly, it would have been nice if it hadn’t taken such a huge scare for Perry to say it. Still, it’s Perry’s way to not usually say such things aloud.

It’s very sad that we lost William Hopper so unfairly soon. But it’s awesome that he left us such a legacy of wonderful roles, especially Paul Drake. He will always be remembered for that.

Birthday post for William Hopper and news

I wanted to make sure to get in one more post in January. As an anonymous reader hastened to inform me, I neglected to put up a post for William Hopper’s birthday on Monday. This year, it wasn’t for lack of remembering, but lack of physical capability to make the post. I was feeling miserable all that day. Then Tuesday was rather busy, as has been the rest of the week, but I decided I must make sure to get William H. acknowledged before the month is out.

This is a real milestone birthday for our William H.; he would have been 100 this year! (William Talman and Simon Oakland celebrate the same milestone this year as well.) It’s really quite incredible to think that it’s been that many years. I wish I really had a decent tribute to give, but I haven’t seen any more of his movies yet, nor have I gleaned new insight into Paul-centric episodes or scenes since the last time I posted on that matter.

The best I can do is mention my geeky excitement when I was watching The Stars and Stripes Forever, the biopic for John Philip Sousa, and they mentioned the actor DeWolf Hopper was going to star in a musical play Sousa was writing the music for. I figured that must be William H.’s father, considering his full name is William DeWolf Hopper, Jr., and looking him up, I find that is true. So it was fun to find a little Perry-related connection in that film.

Also, looking up things further, it says that William H. first appeared in one of his father’s silent movies, Sunshine Dad, as a baby. That’s pretty adorable.

William H. had a very illustrious career in the motion picture business during the late 1930s and off and on through parts of the 1940s and 1950s, before he became Paul Drake on Perry Mason in 1957. And it wasn’t just B-grade movies, either; he has quite the impressive resumé—even though many of his early roles were bit parts. Among other well-known films, he appeared in Stagecoach, The Maltese Falcon, Knute Rockne, and Yankee Doodle Dandy! I knew about his later role in Rebel Without a Cause, but I was unaware of these earlier roles. I am excited. It’s been years since I’ve seen The Maltese Falcon; it looks like it’s time I saw it again. And on the B-movie circuit, he was in two of the Bonita Granville Nancy Drew movies. While I did not care for her version of the character, I would definitely be interested in seeing those films to see William H.

I still find it interesting that William H. originally auditioned for the role of Perry Mason himself when they started putting the show together. I really enjoyed his screen test when I saw it on the 50^th Anniversary DVD set, but he just didn’t give off a Perry vibe to me. I guess the producers agreed, since they determined he would be the perfect Paul Drake instead. That was definitely a bit of casting genius!

While I’ll admit that I didn’t think Albert Stratton in The New Perry Mason did a poor job as Paul, it will always be William Hopper’s Paul who is the iconic version of the character. He’s ideal! Smooth, intelligent, always with an eye for a beautiful lady and bewilderment over some of Perry’s desires (“A couple of dozen flies?!”), William H.’s Paul delivers many classic lines and hilarious expressions. And of course, he often brings in the evidence Perry needs to cinch a case just in time.

I love whenever the show devotes a bit more time to showing Paul operating, instead of just having Paul tell Perry things about the investigation after the fact. Every now and then the show would allow some spotlighting of Paul’s work, something that became more prominent later on as Raymond Burr grew tired of always carrying the majority of the show. Mid-series episodes such as The Barefaced Witness, The Impatient Partner, and The Glamorous Ghost are excellent Paul investigation vehicles. Later ventures such as The Bullied Bowler, The Feather Cloak, and The Carefree Coronary also involve Paul as a particularly key figure.

When out-of-town investigating needs doing, Perry often sends Paul instead of going himself. Sometimes Paul’s adventures are off-screen; other times, we see him in assorted locales such as New Orleans, Boston, and Mexico. It would make a good post just to focus on Paul’s travels sometime. I’ll have to start collecting information for such a post.

Paul is such a ladies’ man that another good post subject would be all the times he’s mentioned having dates, shows interest in particular ladies, or is actually shown on dates. Then again, that could take volumes. Paul has an interesting social life, when given the chance to have it.

Paul always adds so much spice to the show. I always enjoy seeing more of his investigations and would have liked to have seen more. There could never be too many private-eye series! Lately I’ve been enjoying a lot of Darren McGavin’s private-eye vehicle Mike Hammer, and it occurs to me how much fun it would have been had there been a series focusing more on Paul’s investigations than on the legal elements. But I love Perry Mason for what it is, and I love Paul for being a part of what it is. There is certainly a big, lonely gap in the reunion movies where Paul should be. No actor could quite fill it.

Happy belated birthday to a wonderful actor and a wonderful man, William Hopper! 100 years of being aware of his existence in the world is a milestone indeed.

And now for a bit of news. I probably shouldn’t have this in the same post, but I’d like to get it out here before any more time goes by. I still wish that there was a Perry video or computer game with all the latest graphics. It would be so fun to see the cast rendered in 3D, possibly even controllable for levels. Imagine playing out investigation levels as Paul! Going to court as Perry and Hamilton! Playing mini puzzle games with Della or Tragg, Andy, and Steve sorting through information! There are so many possibilities.

The old DOS text-based computer game remains the one time Perry ventured into such media. There may be some nice pictures of Paul in that; I’m unsure, as I’ve only seen the first 16 minutes of game play. All I recall is some nice renditions of Hamilton and Tragg. However, for anyone who understands how to work a text-based DOS game, it is now possible to find out the answers to this and any other questions revolving around said game! The Internet Archive has been adding old DOS games to be legally played online for free, and the 1985 Perry game The Mandarin Murder is among them! My friend Crystal Rose (who runs the Simon Oakland blog with me) discovered it here:

https://archive.org/details/msdos_Perry_Mason_-_The_Case_of_the_Mandarin_Murder_1986

I’m looking forward to giving it a try, although I don’t know how handy I’ll be at playing a text-based game.

Also, I do have what appears to be news on the Perry movie front. There is a promo running for MeTV’s current Mystery Movie feature on weeknights, and Perry as he appears in the 1980s and 1990s movies is part of that promo. It looks like at some point, MeTV will indeed air some of the Perry movies as part of their line-up. They seem to rotate each week, so we should get a whole week of Perry movies sometime soon. That should be interesting: a late-night Perry episode followed by a Perry movie.

The blog lives!

Oh dear. It’s terrible how long I’ve let it stretch without a post. If I’m not feeling ill, I’m lacking a topic or I’ve got so many other things I’m trying to do that the post slips away. But I ended up missing at least a couple of times when I fully intended to post.

I certainly intended to post on the 6^th, for instance—the anniversary of William Hopper’s death. And then today is the anniversary of Erle Stanley Gardner’s death. Both men, curiously and sadly enough, died the same year, 1970, days apart from each other.

They are two people so very key to Perry as we know it now. Naturally nothing would exist if Gardner hadn’t got his ideas for the books and started to write. And if anyone else had played Paul, the dynamics of the series would have been so very different indeed.

I usually like to recommend episodes or other work to watch on the memorial posts. It isn’t always easy thinking of good episode recommendations after a couple such posts! But last night I was watching a DVD copy of an episode I’d missed on MeTV last week and was thinking it would make a great recommendation.

I don’t recall really thinking about it before, but The Nervous Neighbor is really good as a Paul episode as well as a Hamilton episode (the latter of which I usually think of it as). It has some of Hamilton’s best scenes and some of Paul’s most extended screentime. The episode opens in Paul’s office, a very unusual thing, and Paul continues to be extremely prominent throughout the story as he takes Charles Fuller around town and investigates the strange case. Even after Mrs. Bradley’s hearing, when she would have likely also interacted with Perry a great deal, it’s Paul she calls in a panic when son Charles runs off to confront criminal Henry Clement. Normally it’s Perry the person calls, and then Perry either runs out himself or calls Paul to go (or they both go).

Usually episodes also feature scenes of Perry investigating, so it’s very interesting and different to see so much focus on Paul. There’s even that adorable sub-plot where we can see Paul seems to be hanging around the Golden Age Club quite a bit as he sleuths and is getting to know the people, especially Frances—whom he promises a dance with and fulfills that at the end.

It’s known that Raymond Burr was tiring of the role as the show went on and the writers deliberately tried to focus some of the later episodes more on other characters. Seasons 8 and 9 are definitely said to have that focus, and it’s apparent in several of them. The Nervous Neighbor is season 7, and I’m wondering if the focus on Paul was deliberate because of Raymond’s feelings too. But either way, it’s a wonderful episode choice to watch in remembrance of William Hopper.

The episode is just about perfect to me in every way. My only confusion is that once again there’s a title that I don’t fully understand. Who is “The Nervous Neighbor”? There’s certainly a lot of people running around in this episode who are nervous. Which one is considered the “neighbor”? And neighbor of whom? But in any case, it’s a minor quibble.

Generally I recommend reading the books in remembrance of Mr. Gardner. And while that is a logical idea, perhaps other things fans would like to do would be to watch a particular favorite adaptation of a book or to view The Final Fade-Out and see Mr. Gardner onscreen as the second judge.

One of these days I’m going to give that episode another viewing; while it never will be a favorite, the in-jokes are amusing and Richard Anderson has some very nice scenes. And it’s nice to know that so many of the bit parts and extras are people on the crew. In that respect, it’s a nice send-off to the series, as is the epilogue scene.

Farewell again to William Hopper and Erle Stanley Gardner, two people still very often thought of and missed.

I have several topics waiting in the wings; tentatively I’d considered combining this post with at least one of them, but I think it would be more proper to give them separate posts. Hopefully I can get back on-track with posting. I know I keep saying that, but it is an intention!

And a bit of Perry news: MeTV will show The Lost Love movie this Friday! Happy watching to the interested!

Double Birthday Tribute: William Hopper and William Talman

While it’s still the 4^th, I wanted to be sure to get in a little birthday tribute post for William Talman. Then I had that sinking feeling because I knew I thought there was something else in January, but I forgot to look into it. Hence, I missed getting up a birthday post for William Hopper on the 26^th. So, perhaps, this post should be for both of the Williams together.

What would the show have ever been like without the Williams? I can scarcely conceive of it. Of course, nowadays there are the television movies without them (instead bringing us a new William for a few of them, Barbara Hale’s son William Katt), and there is definitely something sharply missing. And I honestly have to wonder if the television series would have ever gotten so popular that the movies could have happened, had the first two Williams not been part of it.

There are some absolutely wonderful, rare gems on the 50^th Anniversary DVD set. Even if people aren’t thrilled with the episode choices, I can’t understand why they would ever get rid of this treasure trove if they have it, since the bonus features are so amazing. There’s two interviews with Raymond Burr and one with Barbara Hale, as well as interviews with director Arthur Marks and CBS executive Anne Nelson. There are syndication promos and a photo gallery and a featurette on Erle Stanley Gardner. And then there are extremely rare gems such as screen tests, some of the cast on Stump the Stars (I can’t help wondering why Wesley wasn’t there), and a second version of William Talman’s message against smoking.

Sadly, there are no screen tests for William Talman, but there is a very intriguing one where William Hopper is trying out for the role of Perry Mason. He does a good job, naturally, but somehow he just doesn’t feel quite right for the character. I don’t know if that’s because I’m used to him as Paul Drake or if it’s the same thing the people putting the show together saw. Apparently, they saw that they definitely didn’t want to let William Hopper go, but they also saw that they could find a better place for him than as Perry.

As Perry’s friend and best private investigator, William H. is so perfectly cast. He fits into the role like a glove, so comfortable with the character and so expertly making the character his own. Other actors could have (and have) played Paul Drake, but it’s William Hopper’s characterization that is remembered the most.

The clips of the cast members on Stump the Stars are a true delight. We see Raymond, Barbara, and the Williams each take a turn acting out charades. They’re all having a wonderful time relaxing and laughing and being silly with each other. The good rapport they all had is very clear here. While William Talman and Barbara Hale succeed in getting the others to understand their pantomimed sentences, William Hopper and Raymond Burr have quite a bit more trouble.

William Talman and William Hopper are in wonderful form as they both act out and guess sentences. Their comments and reactions are among the most hilarious; my favorite is probably when they’re working on William H.’s sentence, “Perry Mason wishes to meet tailor: Object, a law suit.” They’ve gotten as far as “meet”, and somehow they get on the idea that Perry wants to meet another type of mason. William T. chimes in with “Mason jar!” Priceless. I also love where they’re on Raymond’s sentence, “The Case of the Busy Spook, or No Rest for the Weirdy!” and Barbara goes, “The Case of the Nose!” and William H. lightly swats her on the back.

On a much more somber note, William Talman’s anti-smoking message is very heartbreaking and powerful. It isn’t the same one as the short version that’s on YouTube; there are some similarities in content at the beginning (although the dialogue is not exact), but then they completely diverge. The long version on the disc has him then go into telling in detail how he’s been a smoker since age twelve and discusses the urgent need to fight cancer. I’m unsure why there are the two versions of the message or where this longer version was shown; it clocks in at around seven minutes, compared to the one-minute message on YouTube. Both versions show his deep sincerity and sadness over the cancer that has been ravaging his body and his strong desire to get people to realize the dangers of smoking and stop.

I never fail to be moved by both versions, but the one on YouTube has always struck a particular poignant chord with me. I have literally been brought to tears as William Talman shows pictures of his family and the picture of himself and Raymond and tells how he doesn’t want to lose his battle against cancer and thus also lose on being able to be with his loved ones.

Today, it would have been William Talman’s 99^th birthday. On the 26^th of January, it would have been the same for William Hopper. Born the same year, both also left us far too soon.

Wonderful actors and wonderful men: I salute you.

The Illicit Illusion

I am still trying to figure out what happened to all those topics I had in my mind a couple weeks ago. I’m so sorry! From now on, posts may sometimes come on any day at all, at least for a while.

I would have had a post on time for the weekend if I’d managed to review The Illicit Illusion on Saturday night. (I didn’t have much luck catching MeTV’s the previous evening.) As it turned out, I didn’t get the chance until today.

It’s actually never been a big favorite of mine, even though I love both season 7 and Samuel Newman’s writing in general. Every writer turns out some lesser episodes at some point, and regardless of whether this is Mr. Newman’s, it’s probably my least favorite of his scripts.

I think the main thing I’m unsure on what to think about is when Hamilton and Andy’s actions to try to prove the murder suspect’s guilt are proclaimed entrapment by Perry. I’m glad that Mr. Newman’s usual kindness towards Hamilton is present, however, and Andy is quick to assure Perry that there was no entrapment and the thought of taking flight was never even suggested to the defendant. But since Hamilton (and the police) have so many strikes against them already, I’m not sure what to think of another being added, even if proven untrue. Despite what was said in their defense, it still seemed that a bad feeling towards their actions lingered through the rest of the court case.

One interesting thing, though: it does show, once again, that Perry can be quick to throw accusations at Hamilton and the police, just as they often did, mostly in the past, towards Perry. I suppose one could take it to mean that Perry, having grown tired of being accused, has decided to start voicing suspicions of his own. Of course, he is always quick to announce such suspicions and accusations, if he has them, in every season. But it seems like he does it much more frequently later on.

Aside from that angle, I do have one other, more general complaint. We never do learn exactly who killed the old lady in New York. It’s certainly implied that it really was Ambrose, and yet unless he’s just trying to make himself look better, there’s the thing where he yells at Leslie, his accomplice, that he’d told her he didn’t want anyone to be hurt. He seems distraught that she  killed Kirk Cameron. And that left me puzzling over whether he truly killed the woman in New York, even though he was swindling her. Unless even the DVD episodes aren’t entirely complete, Mr. Newman left the confirmation of that killer’s identity out of the story. I don’t like loose ends of those proportions being left hanging.

Pushing those issues away, the episode is interesting. There’s a definite Gaslight type plot going on, where the hapless woman is made to think she’s going crazy by various events, notes, phone calls, etc. Things she sees are later construed so as to not have happened, while she’s told of phone calls she’s made that she can’t remember making. She’s so convinced that she’s going bonkers that she absolutely insists her doctor isn’t telling her the truth when he says she’s just overworked and exhausted and run ragged by her bad marriage.

I do think it’s a bit preposterous how susceptible she is to the idea that she’s teetering on the brink of insanity, particularly when she’s struck over the head after seeing the desk a mess. When she wakes up and finds the desk normal, it seems it should be obvious that whoever hit her cleaned up the mess! No matter how many times I see the episode, that part always strikes me as bizarre. The audience is apparently supposed to accept that by that point, she’s so deeply into the “illusions” being crafted that she can’t even accept that being struck was what actually happened to her. But that doesn’t make much sense to me. It should convince her that something is going on other than what she’s being made to believe.

The illusion that really seems eerie and unexplained is when she staggers down the stairs after the elevator isn’t working and drops her purse before tripping and swooning. There’s no indication of anyone else being there, yet she comes to discovering her purse seemingly unaffected by the fall and standing upright. Now that’s creepy stuff.

I do like how compassionate and worried she is about her husband, wanting Perry to defend him when he’s arrested for the murder in New York. And another interesting point: I think this might be the second episode in season 7 where Perry does not defend a potential client but does offer some form of help (the other episode being The Woeful Widower).

On another topic, tomorrow is the anniversary of William Hopper’s death. It would be a good day to watch a Paul-centric episode or two. Episodes I can think of offhand with lots of good Paul scenes and/or plotlines are:

Paul Drake’s Dilemma

The Impatient Partner

The Nervous Neighbor

The Wooden Nickels

The Carefree Coronary

The Sausalito Sunrise

One thing Paul is always worried about is doing anything that could possibly be interpreted as breaking the law, which would get him in big trouble. I saw that again today on a favorite season 1 episode, The Moth-Eaten Mink. I have to admit, I don’t always think it’s right for Perry to put Paul in situations where he’s in danger of losing his license. He knows Paul won’t refuse to help him, because they’re friends and Paul can’t stand to leave him high and dry. (And also because Paul knows Perry is ultimately working towards justice.) To some extent, sometimes it does feel like Perry takes unfair advantage of Paul.

Yet on the other hand, as was mentioned in one of my stories, whenever Paul gets into trouble, Perry is generally getting deep into it as well. And he doesn’t ask Paul to do things that he wouldn’t do himself. That whole plotline in that story, where Dr. Portman tries to turn Paul against Perry and Paul is fighting against it and having conflicting thoughts, is basically my exploration of my own conflicted thoughts on the matter.

Later in the week I plan to have a comparison up between The Moth-Eaten Mink and The Sausalito Sunrise. Having now seen them both within a relatively short amount of time, I have some assorted opinions on how the plots of each hold up.

In Memoriam: William Hopper

My gosh, I feel horrible about this. It’s still the 6^th where I am, but just barely. I feel like I’ve done William Hopper a grave disservice by not getting this up in the morning or afternoon. That was my original plan; however, due to the way I shuffled all my projects around, it ended up like this instead. And by the time I finish writing this and post it, it will probably be the 7^th.

Anyway, this is a memoriam post for William Hopper. Born into a socialite life due to his extrovert and famous mother Hedda Hopper, William H. really wanted to go into a career other than acting, and tried more than once.

Rather than rebellious, he was shy, and felt much more at home away from the Hollywood spotlight. When he became an actor, as he said, because it was expected of him and was the easiest thing for him to go into, he did not like it. His parts were usually small, but that was just fine as far as he was concerned.

He served in underwater demolitions during World War II, returning home a hero after being injured in the Philippines. He tried being a car salesman for a while, which he said he was not good at. He returned to show business in 1953, beginning to appear on television as well as in the movies. It was during a live television performance that he at last was able to begin to overcome his anxiety of performing.

He had appeared in countless movies and some TV shows by the time he auditioned for Perry Mason. He tried out for the role of Perry himself, as well as for Paul. Watching those screen tests on the 50^th Anniversary DVD set is very interesting. He certainly does a good job as Perry, although I feel that placing him as Paul was the most ideal choice. He felt the same, and said as much in subsequent interviews.

Another of the most interesting and fun things available for Perry fans on the 50^th Anniversary set is a clip from the game show Stump the Stars, a sort of charades game. Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, and the Williams appeared on it around 1963. It’s one of the only things available for fans to see how they interacted out-of-character, and it’s a true delight. The camaraderie and close friendship that they’ve each spoken of in interviews is very visible. And some of the comments as they try to guess each other’s assigned charades are hilarious. After Barbara makes one amusing quip about what Raymond’s charade might be, (“The Case of the Nose!”) William H. good-naturedly swats her on the shoulder.

Barbara Hale has said that she thought of the Williams and Ray Collins as “the boys” and they all treated her like a younger sister.

I can’t remember who said this, but William Hopper and William Talman shared a dressing room. They both said that they got along quite well (claiming they never had a disagreement, in fact). That makes me regret all the more that there were not more scenes between their characters on the series. It was definitely a missed opportunity; I’m sure their interaction would have been delightful to see.

In any case, William H.’s interaction with Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale was always wonderful. Perry, Della, and Paul were a trio of friends, out to solve the most complicated cases possible. And somehow, they always managed to succeed.

Paul Drake’s interaction with the police characters was very varied and interesting. With Tragg there was usually a sense of tension, no matter how friendly Tragg appeared on the surface. With Andy there was usually, but not always, a more relaxed atmosphere. As previously noted, Paul seemed to get along best with Steve. I wonder how William H. and Richard Anderson got along in real-life.

(And speaking of Andy, after watching The Careless Kitten again and seeing the context in which Paul was delivering his unfinished comment, I wish he had been allowed to complete it. It almost looked like he might have actually been going to say, “There’s nothing Andy likes better than to stay on top of things” or something similar. If he had been allowed to finish his thought, and it had been along those lines, it would have been the explanation I was complaining there wasn’t. Hamilton tried to explain something along those lines in his awesome scene, talking about the police department’s opinion in general, but it would have been compounded and more understandable if Paul had been able to explain more precisely about Andy in specific.)

Always content to play the sidekick rather than the lead, William H. departed this life March 6^th, 1970. (Forty-two years ago. . . . How does the time go by like that?) He is greatly missed. And he will always be remembered as our Paul Drake.

Birthday Tribute: William Hopper

This time we’re going to have a birthday tribute on time! (And there’ll be another at the end of next week.)

Today we’re spotlighting the wonderful William Hopper, born January 26^th, 1915. The son of journalist and socialite Heddy Hopper, William was not fond of associating with celebrities or of the acting scene in general. He tried other careers before resignedly coming back to acting.

I have to be honest, I haven’t seen William H. in a great many other roles yet. And some of the ones I did see, it was so long ago I barely remember! It’s been years since I’ve seen Rebel Without a Cause, for instance. (Something I need to remedy.) And I’ve been highly curious about The Bad Seed. That always sounded like a very dark and disturbing movie to me, but at the same time I had an interest in seeing it. I have even more of one since learning that William H. is in it!

The main thing I can talk about that I’ve seen him in other than Perry is 20 Million Miles to Earth. One of the countless B-quality sci-fi/horror flicks to come out of the 1950s, it features our William H. in a starring role as Colonel Robert Calder. (The only reason I watched the film was because he was in it.) The leader of a failed mission to Venus, Calder is the only survivor. A native creature he and his crew brought back as a specimen escapes and starts wreaking havoc around the world a la Godzilla. Most of the movie features Calder and the military trying to recapture the creature, in between Calder exchanging barbs with the female lead.

It’s not a particularly remarkable film, aside from the early usage of stop-motion animation. The stop-motion elephant is quite interesting. William H.’s character is enjoyable too. He has some similarities with Paul, particularly his love of the ladies. But Calder is different too. It’s really intriguing to see William H. play a character in a leadership role, and one who can be a bit of a jerk sometimes. Overall, Calder is a good person just trying to protect the people of Earth. (And of course he gets the girl.)

According to IMDB.com, William H. was in, among many other things, The Angels Wash Their Faces. I believe that was the last of the Dead End Kids series of films. It wasn’t the most enjoyable, but I did like it, and now I’ll want to see it again to catch William H. in his uncredited role of a photographer. He was also in one of the 1930s Nancy Drew movies with Bonita Granville, The Hidden Staircase. While I’ve never cared for Bonita’s portrayal of Nancy (she’s too perky and ditzy, in my opinion), the films are fun and I would love to see William H. in that one! But you know, I can’t help thinking that the movie This Is My Love must have one of William H.’s most fascinating and ironic roles ever. He plays a district attorney! Paul Drake’s mouth would drop in astonishment.

The Perry Mason 50^th Anniversary DVD set includes a rare film reel with some of the cast’s various screen tests. A couple feature William H. testing for Perry Mason himself! I think what I found the most interesting was seeing the little gestures and voice inflections that are William H.’s and not Paul Drake’s. He definitely brings his own unique characterization to the role. He did a good job, but I can’t help thinking that the perfect choice was made in casting him as Paul.

Paul is a great guy to have around. He’s loyal, intelligent, and enjoys having a good time. Too bad he rarely has the chance to show the ladies out on the town. So often he gets interrupted in the middle of dates by new assignments. I wonder if he charges more when that happens.

He’s also the general comic relief. He often comes with a sarcastic or ironic remark to a situation and sometimes makes amusing flubs, such as discovering he can’t tolerate the hot Mexican food in The Negligent Nymph. His stunned reactions to the various odd things Perry sometimes requests on cases provide a good chuckle. (“Two dozen flies?!”)

One of the things I look forward to the most when watching episodes is seeing him interact with Della. His customary “Hello, Beautiful” greeting is sweet, and he and Della often get a playful banter going. As previously highlighted, the scene in The Carefree Coronary when Della brings the news of Paul’s life-threatening condition to Perry is absolutely heart-wrenching. They have a very close bond. Their innocent flirting is only further proof of it, especially since I doubt they would ever become seriously involved with each other. To feel comfortable and relaxed enough to engage in the flirting shows how well they must be on the same wavelength.

Paul is a tough guy. He’s had to punch or wrestle many an attacker to the floor. And sometimes he’s the one who ends up attacked. Out of all the main cast, I believe he’s the only one to be knocked unconscious (repeatedly so, too). He’s also the only one to end up on death’s door during a case. (Perry has come close a couple of times, but he’s never actually been harmed.) And he’s the only one to end up charged with murder. (Poor Hamilton. It was so clear that he did not want to prosecute that case.)

Paul is angry with injustice and sometimes loses his temper with the bad guys or other characters lurking around causing trouble. I’m not sure he’s ever been angrier than a couple of times in season 9. The Sausalito Sunrise features him undercover as a truck driver and getting very tough with a reporter who’s stowed away with him. He doesn’t know whether to believe the guy’s story or not, and warns him to do exactly as he says or he’ll be shot. And in The Dead Ringer, both he and Della become outraged when Perry’s client believes the frame-up crafted to make Perry look like a shyster.

Out of all the characters, he’s interacted with Hamilton the least. He’s even spoken to Tragg and Andy more than Hamilton. And his obvious friendship with Steve Drumm never fails to fascinate me. Paul seems extremely relaxed around Steve, perhaps even moreso than with Andy. And Steve reciprocates; he’s often joining Paul and the others for meals. Even Andy, with his fairly friendly nature, rarely if ever does this.

William H. was such a classic choice for Paul. (I believe every one of the cast was absolutely ideal, for that matter.) And as I discover William H.’s many other roles, Paul will probably always be the one for whom I hold the softest spot.