I feel like I’m going out of my mind.
I can’t believe that I would watch an incredible
episode like The Deadly Verdict and not rave about it somewhere. I’m
sure I did exactly that. I remember details such as my discussing the scene
where Perry wanders through the mansion thinking about the trial.
But where did I say this? I can’t find any trace
of it here or at Livejournal. I somewhat doubt I would have made such a post at
a social meeting place such as the Yahoo Group. That only leaves a private
conversation, and I was sure it was public.
Does anyone remember my making a post about this
episode? I could have tagged it in a way that now it’s hard to find (although
it seems like I should still be able to find it by going through the titles of
the posts).
The reason I was thinking about it was because I
saw it recently on MeTV and I wanted to make a post about some of my new
thoughts, but then I couldn’t find any trace of a previous post to see what my
first thoughts were, in order not to repeat myself.
It definitely stands as a shining example of what
the show could have been had it been able to stray from its formulaic roots
more often. Oh, of course Perry still triumphs in the end, and surely we would
want him to since the client is innocent, but there’s a level of urgency and
intensity to get there that isn’t usually present.
It’s the only time we actually see one of Perry’s
clients get convicted of murder. From the very first scene, as the jury comes
in and delivers their deadly verdict, it’s obvious that this episode is going
to be quite different from the standard fare. Instead of meeting the characters
and getting to know them before everything goes down, we jump right in at this
critical point of the story. And everywhere Perry turns to buy time for his
client, doors are slammed in his face. Sentencing is pronounced. The date is
set for the execution. All attempts at appeals, even before the state Supreme
Court, fail.
The scene where Perry goes to the partially
closed-down mansion and wanders amid the sheet-covered furniture is very
poignant and powerful. Thoughts come to his mind, echoing through the dark and
lonely room. He remembers Hamilton questioning Doctor Hoxie and Lieutenants
Tragg and Anderson on the witness stand. As key points in the scene of the
crime are discussed, such as the glass by the nightstand and the broken balcony
railing, Perry goes to them and examines them. There’s something particularly
chilling about the shattered balcony railing, especially with the voiceover of
Hamilton talking about the defendant lifting her drugged aunt’s body and
shoving her against the railing until it broke and she fell to her death.
Even though we know Perry’s client must be
innocent, it certainly looks bad for her for a while, especially since she lied
about her whereabouts the night of the murder and even paid a bartender to lie
about the time she went in for a drink. And it does admittedly get exasperating
when she continues to insist she won’t tell, even in the face of her execution
date being set.
I’m never quite sure what I think of the
defendant. On the one hand, it’s very noble of her not to want to ruin her
sister’s marriage, when she’s so certain that what she saw was proof of an
affair. On the other hand, it isn’t worth dying over! And if there really was
something going on, the sister should know about it.
What Janice should have done was to go to her
brother-in-law and confront him about what she saw, instead of just insisting
on believing the worst. Of course, I suppose she was arrested before she could
have had a chance to do that, and once she was arrested she wouldn’t want to
send for him to talk to him about it, in case everything would come out that
way.
She acts so bitter about being convicted when
she’s innocent. That’s certainly understandable and natural. But she acts like
she isn’t aware that she helped bring about that verdict by her actions. Maybe
telling the truth wouldn’t have helped her case in the end, since her
brother-in-law didn’t see her out the window when she saw him that night. Lying
and bribing definitely didn’t help, though. And in the face of that, her
bitterness always rubs me the wrong way a bit.
Julie Adams’ performance is incredible, however,
no matter what I think of everything the character says and does. She delivers
amazing, heartfelt performances in every one of her Perry episodes, but
I think this one and her previous appearance in The Lover’s Leap are my
favorites.
I’m also not sure what I think of Janice’s
wheelchair-bound sister, Paulette. It bugs me when she immediately jumps to the
conclusion that Janice was having an affair with Paulette’s husband, instead of
simply having witnessed what she thought was proof of one. Seems like thinking
the worst of people runs in their family. Or perhaps in Paulette’s case, it was
a bit of bitterness coming out for Janice having driven recklessly and getting
her into that wheelchair.
I do love that Paulette immediately says her
husband should have come forth and admitted to the affair, as it’s Janice’s
life against Paulette’s pride. And I also love that for once, there really
wasn’t an affair. The poor husband was just trying to comfort his hysterical
nurse, who was threatening to commit suicide due to being pregnant out of
wedlock and the young, immature father refusing to marry her.
Right after those revelations, the husband admits
he didn’t see Janice and neither did the nurse. But the husband is willing to
commit perjury and say he saw her, if it would save her life. Perry, however,
says that he can’t do that.
The entire family of suspects is an interesting
lot. There’s a socialite horrified at the idea of being related to a convicted
murderer, an actress who thinks it’s exciting and will give her career a boost,
and an obnoxious . . . whatever Chris is. Chris’s father is off in South America
and sends a telegram about the medicine for the aunt not being what he
prescribed for her, prompting Perry to send Paul off looking for him.
Paul’s trek is another unique element. We see a
handful of his adventures outside of the L.A. area, but I think this is the
only time where he has to go so completely out in the boondocks. We see him
traveling up a river with a guide, being pestered by mosquitoes, and eventually
reaching the medical outpost. “Dr. Livingston, I presume?” Unfortunately, this
doctor is dead. He knew he was dying before he went on this last trip and
wanted to be buried among the people he had spent so much of his time helping.
But it’s that one clue that he sent in the
telegram that eventually leads to the resolution of the crime. One of the major
things that led to Janice’s conviction was the hateful housekeeper seeing a
woman run out of the house. She determined it was Janice, at least partially
because her hateful feelings were clouding her judgment. I always find it
interesting that she doesn’t protest in helping Perry find another solution to
the murder. She acted so gleeful when she knew Janice’s execution date was set.
But she goes along with Perry’s idea and finally exposes the true murderer as
Chris, who had dressed up like a woman to try to frame Janice.
The climatic scene is so eerie, with the
housekeeper walking through the darkened house and using the stairlift to get
to the second floor. There’s some strange sounds, but all seems peaceful until
we see someone in a raincoat and high heels going up the stairlift and
preparing to strangle the housekeeper. Suddenly Perry, Paul, and Andy appear
and prevent it.
Janice had become accustomed to the idea that
there was no way to save her from the gas chamber. In the epilogue, she’s set free
and is joyous over it being ten A.M., the time the executions generally happen,
and having air to breathe instead of poisonous gas.
The episode was heavily promoted as being the time Perry
would lose a case. There’s a hilarious promotional picture where Perry and
Hamilton are standing together and Hamilton is reading a newspaper with the
headline proclaiming that Hamilton won a case.
I’m glad they used a different newspaper in the
actual episode, although they still try to insert a bit of tongue-in-cheek
humor by captioning a picture of Hamilton “Victorious Prosecutor.” Hamilton,
thankfully, looks serious and grim and not overjoyed.
Hamilton doesn’t have a lot of screentime in this
episode, which I regret, but his scenes are very good. He handles everything
with the soberness and maturity it deserves.
It’s also one of Tragg’s final episodes, and I’m
glad that of all the episodes that could have been among those, this milestone
episode is included. He has less screentime than Hamilton, but it’s wonderful
to see and hear him again, even though it is bittersweet to see him sitting
down during all of his time onscreen.
Perry is always noted for overworking himself on
cases, but in this episode we see it most powerfully. He even falls asleep in
the office, desperately looking through a book, and is found in a disheveled
state by Della and Paul the next morning.
Naturally they wouldn’t have wanted to switch up the
formula too often with episodes like this, where the client is convicted and
the plot involves trying to save them, but I do wish they had found other ways
to distance themselves from the formula sometimes. This one is definitely in a
class by itself.
I often list the episodes that stray from the
standard formula as being among my most favorites. This one and The Hateful
Hero are two of my favorite examples of that, while The Betrayed Bride
is a much more bizarre and, I feel, unflattering attempt at a different type of
episode. But that’s another story.
I
may be able to return to two posts a week soon; I have another topic I’m
anxious to explore.
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