Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and four short stories, all of which involve a client being charged with murder, usually involving a preliminary hearing or jury trial. Typically, Mason establishes his client's innocence by finding the real murderer. The character was inspired by famed Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Earl Rogers.
The character of Perry Mason was adapted for motion pictures and a long-running radio series. These were followed by the best known adaptation, the CBS television series Perry Mason starring Raymond Burr. A second television series, The New Perry Mason starring Monte Markham, ran from 1973 to 1974; and 30 Perry Mason television films ran from 1985 to 1995, with Burr reprising the role of Mason in 26 of them up to his death in 1993. A third television series, HBO's Perry Mason starring Matthew Rhys, aired from 2020 to 2023.
The Perry Mason series ranks third in the top ten best selling book series. In 2015, the American Bar Association's publishing imprint, Ankerwycke, began reissuing Gardner's Perry Mason books, which had been out of print in the United States.
Character
As a child, Gardner read the magazine Youth's Companion, published by the Perry Mason Company - a name Gardner later borrowed for his fictional attorney. Gardner provided more information about Mason's character in earlier novels while knowledge of his character is largely taken for granted in the later works, the television series and movies. In the first novel, Mason describes himself in the following way:Gardner depicts Mason as a relentless attorney attracted to complex, unconventional cases that appear unwinnable. He frequently accepts clients on a whim based on his curiosity about their problem, for a minimal retainer, and finances the investigation of their cases himself if necessary. In The Case of the Caretaker's Cat, his principal antagonist, District Attorney Hamilton Burger, says:
"You're a better detective than you are a lawyer. When you turn your mind to the solution of a crime, you ferret out the truth."In The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink, a judge who has just witnessed one of the lawyer's unusual tactics says:
"Mr. Mason...from time to time you seem to find yourself in predicaments from which you extricate yourself by unusual methods which invariably turn out to be legally sound. The Court feels you are fully capable of looking after your own as well as your clients' interests."
Another frequent antagonist, Lieutenant Arthur Tragg of the homicide squad, has a discussion with Mason about his approach to the law. Mason is recovering from having been poisoned, and Tragg is investigating. In The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito he says:
Other than what is learned of his character from the novels themselves, very little is known about Perry Mason. His family, personal life, background, and education are not depicted, although according to the first chapter of The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece, his astrological sign was Leo. Mason has a professional relationship with Paul Drake. Della Street is Mason's only evident romantic interest. It is known that he lives in an apartment because he is occasionally awakened from sleep to go to his office; he does not entertain anyone at home. His tastes in food are known because many scenes take place in restaurants, and that he is an excellent driver as shown by his participation in the occasional car chase. Other than those sketchy facts, there is so little physical description of him that the reader is not even sure what he looks like.
The 1930s films were not closely based on the character of Perry Mason as revealed in the books, and contain plot and character developments which are not accepted as canonical in the remainder of the books and adaptations. For instance, in one film, Mason marries his longtime secretary Della Street, while Paul Drake turns into comic sidekick Spudsy Drake.
Likewise the TV series diverges at times significantly from the books, which was a practical necessity considering that there were only about 80 Perry Mason novels written altogether and over 270 episodes of the TV series. Thus there was a need for a great deal of invented material, background, plots, and characters – none of which material Gardner incorporated into his ongoing series of Perry Mason novels. In fact, Gardner would write over 30 more Perry Mason novels from between 1957 when the TV series began up until his death in 1970.
The television series contains some hints of what Mason did in the past. In The Case of the Misguided Missile, he says that he served in the Navy on Ulithi atoll during World War II. In The Case of the Travelling Treasure, he says that he served aboard a minesweeper. In The Case of the Bluffing Blast, he states that he was "on the deck of a destroyer in the Pacific, the engine room blew up."
The HBO series presents him as being a private detective, becoming a lawyer by necessity in order to salvage the case he's working on. In this series, he lives on what remains of a dairy farm which has been in his family for at least two prior generations. He is also a veteran of World War I, having been discharged with a "blue ticket", probably because he mercy-killed some comrades who were about to die from a poison gas attack which they were too severely wounded to escape. Episode 1 shows Mason with a tattoo of the Cross of Lorraine with the number 79 and the inscription "infantry", indicating he was an infantryman in the 79th Division whose emblem of the cross signifies its service in France during the war. Mason is also an alcoholic, divorced father who is struggling to maintain ownership of his deceased parents' farm.
Novels
noted that Erle Stanley Gardner "had spent more than twenty years practicing law in California, and the knowledge he gained was put to good use in the Perry Mason stories, which hinge on points of law, forensic medicine or science as clever as a watch mechanism … and also the total lack of characterization".While the Mason novels were largely a form of pulp fiction of the sort that began Gardner's writing career, they are unusual in that the whodunit mysteries usually involved two solutions: a very plausible but inaccurate one in which the authorities believed and an entirely alternative explanation, wherein Mason's client was innocent and another party had committed the crime. Almost always, the second half of each novel is devoted to a courtroom scene, during which Mason arrives at the alternative explanation and proves it to the satisfaction of the court. "It is perfectly true that our author works to formula; in one sense, the plot never varies," wrote Jacques Barzun. "Having said this, one must add that the variety of persons and circumstances and the ingenuity in contriving the details that Gardner dreamed up in his dozens of cases are astonishing and entrancing."
A hallmark of the stories is that as soon as Perry Mason accepts a case, he will juggle the evidence using unusual tactics to mislead the police – but always in an ethical fashion:
The influence of the television series has given the general public the impression that Mason is highly ethical. In the earliest novels, however, Mason was not above skulduggery to win a case. In The Case of the Counterfeit Eye he breaks the law several times, including manufacturing false evidence. Mason manipulates evidence and witnesses, resulting in the acquittal of the murderer in The Case of the Howling Dog. The Case of the Curious Bride is
In the later novels, the only crime which he can be seen to commit might be illegal entry, when he and Paul Drake are searching for evidence. And even then, he would expect to put up a strong and effective defense leading to an acquittal. Hamilton Burger is constantly under the impression that Mason has done something illegal, but is never able to prove it. Gardner prefaced many of his later novels with tributes to coroners and forensic pathologists whose work was instrumental to solving cases. Gardner inserts his ideas about the importance of proper autopsies into many of his Mason novels. In The Case of the Fugitive Nurse, for instance, close scrutiny of dental records in the identification of burned bodies is a key point. In that same story, the possible use of additives to track illegal resale of medical narcotics is examined.
Critic Russel B. Nye saw a pattern in Gardner's novels, calling them as formal as Japanese Noh drama. He described fairly rigid plot points:
- Attorney Perry Mason's case is introduced.
- Mason and his crew investigate.
- Mason's client is accused of a crime.
- Further investigations ensue.
- The trial begins.
- In a courtroom coup, Mason introduces new evidence and often elicits a confession from the lawbreaker.
In June 2015, the American Bar Association announced that its new publishing imprint, Ankerwycke, would reissue Gardner's Perry Mason novels. The Case of the Velvet Claws, The Case of the Sulky Girl, The Case of the Lucky Legs, The Case of the Howling Dog and The Case of the Curious Bride were the first five novels announced for trade paperback release. The Perry Mason books had been out of print in the United States.
Adaptations
Film
released a series of six Perry Mason films in the 1930s.- The Case of the Howling Dog, with Warren William as Perry Mason and Helen Trenholme as Della Street.
- The Case of the Curious Bride, with Warren William and Claire Dodd as Della Street. Notable for the first-released American screen appearance of Errol Flynn as the corpse, who is seen alive but not speaking in a brief flashback.
- The Case of the Lucky Legs, with Warren William and Genevieve Tobin as Della Street.
- The Case of the Velvet Claws, with Warren William and Claire Dodd as Della Street Mason.
- The Case of the Black Cat , with Ricardo Cortez as Perry Mason and June Travis as Della Street.
- The Case of the Stuttering Bishop, with Donald Woods as Perry Mason and Ann Dvorak as Della Street.
The 1940 Warner Bros. film, Granny Get Your Gun, was loosely based on the 1937 Perry Mason novel The Case of the Dangerous Dowager. May Robson stars as Minerva Hatton. The film does not include Perry Mason or any of the regular characters.