PERRY MASON: THE CASE OF THE SAUSALITO SUNRISE

Terence Towles Canote at A Shroud of Thoughts is hosting The 8th Annual Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon. The popular blogathon is running from March 18th to 20th.

THE CASE OF THE SAUSALITO SUNRISE

First aired: Sunday, February 13, 1966

Written by Ernest Frankel and Orville H. Hampton

Based on Erle Stanley Gardner's The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink

Directed by Jesse Hibbs

Introducing the cast of characters:

PERRY MASON (Raymond Burr)

Attorney-at-law whose clients pay for advice they refuse to follow.

DELLA STREET (Barbara Hale)

Efficient secretary who is not easily fazed by the risks taken by her crusading boss. Perks of the job include the boss and gallery openings.

PAUL DRAKE (William Hopper)

A private detective who does have clients other than Perry Mason, but it is funny how all roads seem to lead back to the attorney.

LT. STEVE DRUMM (Richard Anderson)

This case has the by-the-book officer seeking more than justice and looking in the wrong places.

BOBBI DANE (Francine York)

A young buyer for an art gallery who is on the receiving end of unwanted attention from gangsters.

FRANCIS CLUNE (Donald Murphy)

An art gallery owner who tries to do the right thing but can't escape police harassment.

SGT. DEKE BRADLEY (Mark Tapscott)

A man with a definite agenda and an apparent chip on his shoulder.

BERT KANNON (Allan Melvin)

A reporter with a sharp nose for news or should we wonder where he gets his stories.

OLAF DEERING (Peter Mamakos)

His trucking firm is the target of hijackings, and he wants to know the reason.

ESTELLE PAIGE (Elisabeth Fraser)

Her troubles began when she merged her trucking firm with that of Olaf Deering.

CAMPBELL BOYD (Richard Angarolo)

A pop artist with the attitude of a true iconoclast.

FLOYD WALTERS (Stanley Clements)

A trusted employee at Deering's trucking firm.

MAC (Steve Conte)

Underling to a gang leader who won't put up with much more bungling.

BUD (Paul Genge)

This case not only baffles the police but also keeps the crooks on their toes.

HAMILTON BURGER (William Talman)

The District Attorney must walk a fine line to bring about the desired conviction in this dramatic case.

JUDGE (Kenneth MacDonald)

Presiding over an emotional case, he must keep D.A. Burger and Attorney Mason in line.

If like me, you are a fan of Erle Stanley Gardner's 1952 novel The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink or the 1957 television episode, you will note the exciting twists Ernest Frankel and Orville Hampton took with the case, and the incidents they left behind to streamline one of Gardner's most engrossing plots.

The diverging threads of the plot include a murdered police officer, the unexpected discovery of the murder weapon, a piece of pop art the gallery obtained for less than its worth, and hijacking in the trucking industry. Perry is representing an art gallery owner and his buyer as the detective was murdered in the gallery's storeroom. Gallery owner Clunes had contacted the police regarding the suspicious circumstances surrounding the purchase of Sausalito Sunrise. However, the police have no record of the report; only the body of an admired colleague.

Paul Drake goes undercover on what is presumed to be an unrelated case as a trucker when a firm that expanded by a recent merger finds itself the victim of hijackings and thefts. The undercover assignment and an intense hijacking sequence add immensely to the excitement of the episode.

Sausalito Sunrise

Season nine of Perry Mason is filled with interesting episodes including Perry behind the Iron Curtain in The Case of the Fugitive Fraulein, and a colour episode based on Dickens' Oliver Twist in The Case of the Twice-Told Twist.

The crowning glory is a finale for the ages in The Case of the Final Fade-Out when such a thing was rare in episodic television. The episode features murder on the set of a television series with many amusing cameo appearances and asides for the fans. Perhaps a fellow classic TV fan knows of a previous series finale, but I have no record of one predating this cheeky ending for Perry Mason. 

Final words from Janet Hall, Caftan Woman's daughter:

    Thank you everyone for reading Caftan Woman's thoughtful insights on the media she loved so much. More than just the watching of it, it was the sharing of the shows and movies she loved that brought her so much joy. It was her wish that the works she had as drafts be published; she loathed to leave unfinished business. And it feels fitting that her last work would be about Perry Mason, a show she cherished and wrote about often.

She asked me to "include some pithy comments" for this post, and while I'd like to oblige, I'm just far too grateful to all of her friends in the classic movie blogosphere to try my hand at wit right now.

She was so proud of this blog not just for her writing which she put so much care and thought into, but more for the community she was able to join and help cultivate because of it. She would read and comment on everyone else's posts because of that love of sharing, excited to see what her friends and fellow enthusiasts had to say. And your blogs and usernames became household names to us here because of that. It wasn't just the movies and shows that brought her joy, it was all of you, her dear friends who did.

Her blog will remain up as it is, so anyone and everyone can still enjoy her writings. She wouldn't want it any other way.

And it is with that, with a loss at what else to say, I'll leave you with a paraphrased quote:

    "My mother thanks you, my father thanks you, my brother thanks you, and I thank you."