Perry Mason's 50th Anniversary!

Out now is a great DVD set: Perry Mason 50th Anniversary Edition. It's a marvelous tribute to the great TV attorney Perry Mason, based on the novels by Erle Stanley Gardner, and played with brilliant authority by Raymond Burr. This four-disc set includes episodes culled from the show's nine successful seasons on CBS and are introduced by the still beautiful Barbara Hale, who played Mason’s devoted secretary Della Street. The ageless, lovely, Hale is just charming introducing episodes with such guest stars as Robert Redford, Bette Davis, James Coburn, etc.

The bonus disc features fabulous interviews with Raymond Burr by Charlie Rose and Person To Person’s Edward R. Murrow. And Barbara Hale is interviewed at length and her fond recollections of Raymond Burr (playing tricks on her during filming) are genuinely touching. They also include a rare TV spot for the American Cancer Society by William Tallman (who played the always losing prosecutor Hamilton Burger). Tallman was dying of lung cancer at the time he did the spot and his family gave permission to use this clip for the 50th anniversary. There’s also rare footage of the entire cast playing charades on the TV show Stump The Stars which is just hilarious. But the best is original screen tests (which haven’t been seen since 1956) made for the roles with Burr auditioning for both Mason and the Hamilton Burger parts.