Perry Mason - Season 1, Vol. 2
the character created by Erle Stanley Gardner
USA 1957
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 deep, startling facts can be revealed. Often relying on his outstanding courtroom skills, he often tricks or traps people into unwittingly admitting their guilt.
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Perry Mason was more than just the best courtroom television ever made. It ranks as some of the best TV ever broadcast. Raymond Burr was as solid as a rock, with Perry always outwitting crooks ,femme fatales and D.A. Hamilton Burger (how did he ever keep his job?). Perry Mason also brought dignity to being a defense attorney that has been greviously nullified in the modern world. Still, seeing his preparedness, quick thought and one of his sidekicks, Paul Drake, whom could conveniently dig up any fact no matter how obscure within record time - is still comforting. Della Street was pretty easy on the easy too. The frequently used salacious titles (Restless Redhead, Sulky Girl, Vagabond Vixen, Negligent Nymph, and Cautious Coquette) were always at a juxtaposition to the ordered and noble feel of the episodes.
I see, especially the early episodes, as having a strong link to
Film Noir. The atmospheric
criminal capers of the 50's, replace the overly seedy societal anti-heroes with
white-collar crime and you have some of the most addictive television ever
shown. It lasted decades in syndication acquiring new fans with each generation.
Even 40 years later this remains undated. Some of the music tracks are by such
luminaries as
Jerry Goldsmith and
Bernard Herrmann. This show still holds a strong appeal,
fine performances, tight scripts and classically unique twists in the finale. A
true gem of TV gone by.
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Publicity Still
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Television Premiere: September 21st, 1957 - USA and Canada
DVD Review: Paramount (5 single-sided dual-layered discs) - Region 1- NTSC
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CLICK to order from:
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Available at a bit of a savings is the entire Season 1 - Perry Mason -
Season One, Vols. 1 & 2 with all 39 complete episodes from the First
Season of Perry Mason.
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| Distribution | Paramount - Region 1 - NTSC | |
| Runtime | Each episode is around 52 minutes X 20. Almost 17 1/2 hours of entertainment | |
| Video | 1:33:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.86 mb/s (sample) NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby) | |
| Subtitles | None | |
| Features |
Release Information: Edition Details:
• Season
1, Episode 20: The Case of the Lonely Heiress
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| Comments: |
This represents some my favorite television ever and excellent value for the money. 17+ hours of classic Perry Mason. This collection includes the last 20 episodes from season 1 (1957-58) on five single-sided dual-layered discs transferred in the NTSC standard for Region 1. The first 19 from Season one can be found on Season 1 Vol. 1 reviewed HERE. A big plus about Volume 2 is that is IS transferred progressively (unlike Vol. 1) and the image quality is that much sharper. These were put to HD first and transferred digitally - each frame separately. They are mastered from the original elements and look quite a bit stronger than the first Volume (aside from very minor speckles in only a few episodes). Still though there are no optional subtitles. Some episodes show a little more digital noise than others but it is not intrusive. The bitrate is quite low but contrast and detail are at acceptable levels. Audio is clean and clear. There are no extras at all .
A huge plus is that these are the complete 52 minute
versions (syndicated versions have 6 minutes or more missing from
each episode.) It is nice to have these on single-sided discs and 4
episodes per discs is great. I am thrilled to view at my leisure. Lets hope Paramount
don't wait too long for season 2!
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| DVD Box Cover |
|
CLICK to order from:
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|
|
Available at a bit of a savings is the entire Season 1 - Perry Mason -
Season One, Vols. 1 & 2 with all 39 complete episodes from the First
Season of Perry Mason.
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| Distribution | Paramount - Region 1- NTSC | |
Mail cheques, money orders, cash to: or CLICK PayPal logo to donate!
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Gary Tooze
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