Perry Mason — Season 5

Aired 2 September 1961 • 51 min

The drowning death of a newspaper executive during a fishing trip sets off all kinds of repercussions at the newspaper itself.

Aired 16 September 1961 • 52 min

Paint manufacturer Amory Fallon suspects that his partner Ned Thompson is behind a mysterious fire and explosion.

Aired 30 September 1961 • 51 min

Perry and Della attend the wedding of Polly Courtland to Eddy King. The ceremony is halted at the altar when Polly begins screaming, "No! No!" and hurriedly exits the church. It seems as though Polly had spotted slimy George Sherwin holding an envelope containing photos of her younger sister checking into a Las Vegas hotel with a musician named Bongo White. Sherwin plans to ruin Polly and her family's reputation unless she gives up Eddy for him. Sherwin's plan comes a cropper when he's found shot to death. Eddy King is arrested for the crime.

Aired 7 October 1961 • 51 min

During a terrible storm at sea, First Officer Jerry Griffin dumps a million dollars worth of goods into the sea in order to lessen the chances of his cargo freighter sinking. Once on shore, Jerry is hauled before a maritime court which holds him responsible for the loss of the cargo. Captain Bancroft's testimony can clear Jerry but he is murdered before he can give it. Now Jerry stands accused of that crime too. Perry and Paul try to set things right once again.

Aired 14 October 1961 • 51 min

Comic Charlie Hatch learns that the woman he loved and lost, Anne Gilrain, has escaped from a sanitarium to which she was forced to commit herself by her husband, Tom. When Tom Gilrain is murdered, Charlie is afraid that Anne did the deed and sets himself up as a likely suspect to protect her. Perry arrives on the scene to try and free Charlie from his abysmal stupidity.

Aired 21 October 1961 • 51 min

Phony psychic Phillip Paisley meets a grisly death when an elevator that has been tampered with crashes. In the climactic scene Perry sets up another fantastic demonstration to prove his client innocent and expose the real culprit.

Aired 28 October 1961 • 51 min

Perry finds himself defending Dr. Wayne Edley who has been accused of committing two murders.

Aired 4 November 1961 • 51 min

Perry and Paul are all set to go deep see fishing on a boat owned by their friend, Scott Cahill, but when Cahill's regular customer wants the boat for the weekend they have to charter another. Later, Perry gets word that the Coast Guard has boarded Cahill's vessel looking for stolen gold. They found some of the bullion and the corpse of Karl McGovern. An autopsy reveals that McGovern was killed with a fatal dose of digitalis. Scott Cahill is charged with murder when the police theorize that he and the dead man were partners in stealing the gold. Writer: Robb White

Aired 11 November 1961 • 51 min

Artist Jack Culross fakes his own suicide and sees the sales of his paintings go through the roof. His only problem was that he forgot to inform his wife Edna of the scheme. After Edna sees a completed painting of Jack's that she knows he didn't finish while he was "alive" she gets wise. Edna manages to track down her "deceased" husband but they fight and she knocks him down. Then he's found dead. Edna must stand trial for murder.

Aired 18 November 1961 • 51 min

A really weird courtroom confession scene highlights this episode about the murder of a race car driver.

Aired 25 November 1961 • 51 min

Health club instructor Ward Nichols wants to marry the daughter of his employer, Bernard Daniels, but Ward's estranged wife, Veronica, is pressuring him for money and claiming to be pregnant. Things blow up in everyone's face when Bernard is found crunched with a dumbbell at the club. Perry, as usual, arrives on the scene to get at the truth.

Aired 2 December 1961 • 51 min

Charles Cromwell, the president-elect of Euclid College, worries that some less than stellar moments from his past will be exposed when Maisie Freitag arrives on the scene to make an unusual beguest to the college. Needless to say, murder eventually finds its way to the campus.

Aired 9 December 1961 • 51 min

A journalist is murdered while tracking an ex-Nazi war criminal who may be posing as an executive at a company called Space Associates, Ltd.

Aired 16 December 1961 • 51 min

Wealthy Walter Frazer has always blamed his daughter-in-law Sue Ellen for his son Gregson's failures. You can only imagine how he feels when Sue Ellen is accused of Gregson's murder.

Aired 30 December 1961 • 51 min

Perry is hired to help settle a land dispute in the Manzana Valley but the key witness is blown up by a homemade bomb. As usual, Perry's client is accused of the crime.

Aired 6 January 1962 • 51 min

Naive secretary Janice Wainwright carries out boss Morley Thielman's orders and places a briefcase containing more than $100,000.00 in a train station locker. Then she waits for the arrival of Thielman's ex-wife but Lt. Tragg arrives instead with an arrest warrant for Janice on the charge of murdering her boss. It seems as though witness Fred Carlyle saw a woman's shapely shadow through the shades of Thielman's office window shortly before the murder occurred.Carlyle believes the silhuette belonged to Janice. Perry manages to get to the bottom of things once the courtroom proceedings begin.

Aired 13 January 1962 • 51 min

Historian Phillip Andrews tries to make a case that his fiancee, Evelyn Faraday, is entitled to a share of a shipping company fortune. Phillip then finds himself accused of murdering the company's top man.

Aired 20 January 1962 • 51 min

Axel Norstaad sells his much respected furniture trademark to Martin Somers, described by some as the slide trombone of the furniture business. Somers immediately begins stripping the company of its assets and churning out inferior products. Axel protests these developments vehemently and when Somers is found murdered he gets arrested for the crime. To complicate things, Axel is in love with Edie Morrow whom he suspects might be the actual killer.

Aired 3 February 1962 • 51 min

Eleanor Corbin pleads amnesia after police find her running and screaming through the woods near her apartment building. Her loss of memory is of little help to her when she is later charged with murder.

Aired 10 February 1962 • 51 min

A casual pen pal relationship leads to insider information and murder.

Aired 24 February 1962 • 51 min

Mason tries to clear his young, naive woman client, a corporate executive secretary, as a twisting and wheeling plot of murder, kidnapping, and embezzlement unfolds.

Aired 3 March 1962 • 51 min

Mike Preston is a bitter man who despises Hugh Jamison because he mistakenly believes Jamison stole $100,000 from him and is responsible for him being crippled. Trying to entrap Jamison, Preston makes a mistake and is set up for murder by the real thief.

Aired 17 March 1962 • 51 min

Cartoonist Pete Manders is elated when the owner of the comic strip "Zingy" offers to sell him the strip for a song. Pete is less than elated when he learns that his girlfriend Leslie is running away to Europe with Gabe Phillips, the strip owner. When Phiilips is murdered, Pete is charged with the crime and retains Perry's services. Investigating the case, Perry soon discovers that the deceased Phillips was leading a double life.

Aired 24 March 1962 • 51 min

Ted Chase discovers that his bitchy second wife, Irene, might have killed his first wife and contemplates revenge but someone else gets to Irene first. In his defense of Ted, Perry discovers that Irene's past was even more sordid and corrupt than previously believed.

Aired 7 April 1962 • 51 min

Astronaut Matthew Heller is suspected of killing his old service rival, General Addison Brand, after Brand is put in charge of the astronaut program.

Aired 14 April 1962 • 51 min

A baby who mysteriously appears in Perry's office has a rare St. Christopher medal, which could help identify the baby's parents. If only the suspected father wasn't dead.

Aired 28 April 1962 • 51 min

A crazy man (or is he?), his dead nephew and a military base are tangled up in a confusing Perry Mason episode.

Aired 5 May 1962 • 51 min

Perry and Della go out for a night at the theatre to see Perry's actor friend, Steve Brock, perform as Paris in Romeo and Juliet. The lights mysteriously go out during the dueling scene between Romeo and Paris and when the lights are restored the audience is shocked to see that leading man Franz Lachman, playing Romeo, has been stabbed to death. When Steve is accused of the murder Perry decides to have the cast re-enact the final scene that was played before Lachman's death.

Aired 19 May 1962 • 51 min

Aspiring screenwriter Herbert Simms submits his first teleplay to producer Charlie Corby who tries to use the manuscript as his own. Corby's scheme comes a cropper when he gets fatally whacked over the head with a whiskey bottle after a party. Herbert happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and is seen running from the scene of the crime. Guess who gets arrested for murder?

Aired 26 May 1962 • 51 min

Merle Telford is a naive and maladjusted young woman who is about to turn 21 and receive a substantial inheritance. She plans to run away from her guardians and elope with Danny Pierce as soon as she receives her money. Yep, you guessed it already, Danny is a greedy schemer and Merle's supposed friend, Gina Gilbert, is his accomplice. Merle's guardians know of her plans and hire Paul Drake to keep Merle from fleeing on the night of her 21st birthday party. When a murder is committed during the party Merle becomes the prime suspect.