Perry Mason (TV Series) The Case of the Deadly Double (1958) User Reviews

A new twist to a Perry episode

[kfo9494 · 7/10 · 20 October 2011]

This episode is different than most of Perry's cases. We still have the basic concept of the show but with a new twist and set of circumstances.

Actress Constance Ford plays a women with dual-personalities. At times she is a meek, mild mannered woman named Helen Reed. Then at other times she is this hot-to-trot women that makes any man succumb to her every whim or wish. Ms Ford does a good job playing both roles. She has a way to make the viewer identify with both characters. The audience follows along because both are so far away from each other that it appears that two people are playing the one role.

Even though there is not much to the story other than the one crime- the physiological part hold the person interest in watching the entire episode.

A good support case helped in making this show enjoyable, Denver Pyle (Uncle Jessie from 'Dukes of Hazzard' fame) does a good job in this dramatic role. Proves he use do serious acting before being typecast as a southern regular.

Watching the episode, it appeared that the storyline was going to be short of a full 52 minutes of show. So they added some extra scenes that involved memorable exchanges between Perry and Lt Tragg. This along is worth watching.

Good Episode

[wmss-770-394192 · 9/10 · 18 February 2014]

I am a Perry Mason fan. I especially enjoy these episodes from the first couple of seasons,because a lot of them are the ones that have that sort "mini film noir" quality about them that was part of what made this show special. Although this episode was more straight drama than noir,it is very well crafted.

"The Case of the Deadly Double" was clearly inspired by the film "Three Faces of Eve" for which Joanne Woodward won an Oscar. Here,the "multiple personality" patient is played by Constance Ford and she gives as good a performance (in a much shorter time frame) as Miss Woodward did. She plays a meek woman with apparently no vices named Helen Reed,who is fighting her wealthy soon to be ex-husband for custody of their young son. He is accusing her of being an unfit mother. We later find out that the accusation is because Mrs. Reed has another personality named Joyce Martel that is a party girl. Joyce hangs out in night clubs,dressed to the nines,drinks,smokes and has a lover with a shady past,the owner of her favorite hangout. A slick dude named Johnny Hale.

When Helen Reed's husband turns up dead and the gun with which he was killed is found in her(Joyce's) evening bag,she is confused and insists that there is no way she killed her ex. She doesn't even recall owning a bag like that! Her brother gets Perry to defend his sister and here we go.

I feel it necessary to mention a couple of points made by other posters. The psychiatrist calls her disorder "schizophrenia" which we now know is a completely different diagnosis,but which was frequently called "split personality" back in the day. Psychiatrists were just becoming aware of the multiple personality disorder,so of course there is no way screenwriters would have been aware of the difference. Secondly, the courts back then did not recognize it as a viable defense, so Hamilton Burger is correct when he states that fact.

Now, this being "Perry Mason" of course there is a twist at the end and the familiar last minute confession. We find out that Joyce's lover in a fit of jealous rage murdered hubby, so Helen/Joyce is off the hook for the crime and free to get the psychiatric help she so desperately needs.

This was the first of three appearances Constance Ford would make on this series playing different roles. She was a terrific actress and would later become very familiar to soap audiences as Ada Hobson on NBC's Another World.

He just plays a doctor on TV

[schappe1 · 7/10 · 28 July 2007]

Abraham Soafer, a Shakepearean trained actor who turned up in many episodic TV productions about this time, here plays a doctor who declares that what Constance Ford is suffering from is "schizophrenia, otherwise known as multiple personality". This is one of several TV shows in the wake of "The Three Faces of Eve", (1957), that presented characters suffering from what is now called "Dissociative Idenity Disorder". It's a pretty good episode and Constance Ford, an underrated actress who reminds me of Shelly Winters, is fully as good here as Joanne Woodward was in the movie. The show backs off from the issue of whether someone with this disorder can be held responsible for crimes committed while being dominated by a different "personality within them": she's not the accused here. Hamilton Burger notes that the law doesn't recognize the disease. The program does impart some disinformation about the condition people should be aware of.

I'm not a clinical psychiatrist. I take disability claims and have spoken with people suffering from schizophrenia on many occasions and people with dissociative identity disorder a couple of times. I've done some reading on the subject and have a "Cliff's notes" or, to modernize it, a "Wikipedia" knowledge of it. That's all, but I don't think a clinical psychiatrist would disagree with what I have to say and my knowledge apparently exceeds "Doctor" Soafer's.

Schizophrenia, which means "splitting of the mind" is really a deterioration of the mind, completely different from dissociative identity disorder. The former is a product of the organic decay of the brain and causes delusions, hallucinations and disorganized thinking. The later is an emotional reaction to childhood trauma, often of a sexual nature. (Eve White didn't have to kiss Grandma goodbye: she saw a farmhand killed in a grisly accident and was sexually abused). Many psychologists doubt the existence of dissociative personality disorder, especially since it seems to occur only in English-speaking countries, (that would have seen the film, etc.), although it was real enough to the people I talked to, one of whom said she had 103 personalities, (much more the norm than the two seen in these dramas). Nobody doubts the existence of schizophrenia, except maybe Tom Cruise.

The condition has become a favorite of screen writers, along with amnesia, another much misunderstood phenomenon. Still, there's nothing that is more music to an actress's ears than a deep voiced actor playing a psychiatrist saying "Now, I'd like to talk to...."

An Unusual Episode

[dougdoepke · 16 October 2008]

Most Mason episodes revolve around ensemble acting and a whodunit plot. This is one, if not the only one, that revolves around a single central performance-- Constance Ford in a dual role. In 1958, multiple personality disorders were only beginning to be known to the American public thanks to the popular film Three Faces of Eve, which treated the problem in a clinical manner unlike Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which remains a popular literary stereotype.

Ford's role is more like Jekyll and Hyde. As Helen Reed, she's timid, demure, and plain-faced; as Joyce Martel, she's boisterous, beautiful and aggressive. Of course, this is a demanding part that few actresses of the day could manage. It's to Ford's great credit that she brings off the two persona's as well as she does. The transition on the witness stand is almost hair-raising. The whodunit is routine but supplements nicely Ford's outstanding performance, the entry's unusual centerpiece.

Mink

[darbski · 10/10 · 11 May 2017]

**SPOILERS** I'm not a big Constance Ford fan. I got dragged to "A Summer Place" when I was a kid, and I never forgave her. However, in this episode, she does an excellent job portraying a woman suffering from what was then called Schizophrenia. (R.I.P., Connie). Yeah, I know; but I'll bet a buck to a doughnut that they showed a pretty good look at it for that time. I've seen what it does (to a good friend), and the changes in personality display can be sudden and stunning. One of the symptoms was an allergy to fur.... There is a brief q+a between Burr and Carole Mathews to eliminate a red herring; she's in another Mason episode, also.

Spoiler - when this episode is first starting, the camera is working through the secretarial - outer office. There is a brunette lady who is supposed to be typing, where if one just looks a little closer, she's just moving her hands up and down. I think they could've gotten one of the secretaries from the studio's own professional pool, secured a temp. SAG card, and done a better job; this would be a knock to a true secretary. The normal typing performance was 120 WPM, (words per minute) error free. That's no bull.

There are a couple of excellent exchanges between Perry and Lt. Tragg (the great Ray Collins). This is always a treat, plus some really good courtroom interplay. Also, there is a point I'd like to make here. The murder weapon was a .32 caliber Colt revolver. A lot of people consider this to be a "woman's" gun. ANY gun is deadly in the right (or wrong) hands). I invite any reader to peruse a copy of Donald Hamilton's "Death of a Citizen" to see what a small caliber does when used correctly.

Perry elicits an "extraction" from the killer in court, as explained by Perry in the ending dialogue. This part must had every furrier in America drooling, as the beautiful Barbara Hale picked up and modeled the mink stole that Constance was allergic to earlier. Get this episode and see for yourself what a great actress and model can do with a dead animal. It is revelatory. A great episode.

The case of the mislabeled disabled

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 4 December 2022]

Robert Crane (Denver Pyle) warns his brother in law David Reed that if he continues to try to sue to have his son taken from his mother, Crane's sister Helen Reed, that he will kill him.

It turns out that Helen Reed is a very mousy proper woman, but she has a boisterous bon vivant alternate personality, Joyce Martel. Joyce likes to hang out in bars and is having an affair with a super jealous nightclub owner. Helen is not aware of Joyce's existence, but Joyce is aware of Helen's. Joyce even has her own apartment under her name for her night life existence. Then Helen's husband is found murdered in Joyce's apartment with her brother's gun. The brother is arrested for the murder, and Perry takes the case.

By talking to Helen's psychiatrist Perry learns the facts of Helen's illness and about the existence of Joyce Martel. The good doctor tells him that Helen could not have committed the murder, but that Joyce easily could have done it. The only way Perry can get to the bottom of things is have Joyce testify, and that involves putting Helen in a trance. You can just imagine the objections coming from Hamilton Burger.

The idea of multiple personalities had been explored in "The Three Faces of Eve" the year before, but it was not commonly discussed on TV yet. And even then the show mislabels Helen Reed's illness. The psychiatrist says that she has schizophrenia when that is NOT the same as multiple personality disorder.

Brilliant Perry Dissociative disorder ep.

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 2 October 2023]

My best friend was dissociative.

Everything about this episode was spot on, The language was a little bit different between then and modern medicine now, but this is exactly how it is.

Maybe this is related to "the three faces of Eve", but here, we only have 2 personalities. We have to remember in the 50s people did not believe in this disorder and it took a long time for medicine to start acknowledging that it exists.

In my friends case, there were dozens, hundreds of personalities.

What was very accurate was that one of the personalities became aware of the other. That is pretty much how this syndrome is dealt with, making each of the personalities aware of each other, and then they can cooperate.

Although in the case of Joyce Martell, she was more interested in playing tricks on her doppelgänger.

I too wanted to know more about that woman's fate after the resolution of murder.

The doctor that was depicted treating the woman had his medical language pretty much exact, including his definition of what dissociative disorder actually means.

And Perry Mason was very considerate when they needed to get the personality to appear.

We are shown a form of hypnosis, this was pretty much how therapists have treated this disease, until the onset of managed care.

My friend used to be admitted to the hospital into a private room, where her therapist along with a medical doctor, would use hypnotism, accompanied by sedatives to get the treatment started.

This is pretty much how the doctor in this episode gets Joyce Martell to appear, sans the hypnotic medication.

I have literally seen my friend reacting to allergies and then not reacting after changing.

This is a good episode to show people who have recently been diagnosed with dissociative disorder...

Another good movie to watch would be the film "identity" with John Cusack.

I am surprised I have never reviewed this episode and to think this is during Perry Mason's first season... I am not sure if this is one of the ones written by Earle Stanley Gardner. But whether it is or not, this episode is swell. It has a good blend of mystery and discovery.

What Happened to the Woman?

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 6 December 2021]

This is an entertaining episode. We have the whole business of a split personality which puts focusing in on the criminal behavior rather difficult. Since there is a unique twist at the end, the writers didn't have to deal with a big question. What happens to the young woman after the case is solved? What happens to the child custody case? What about the club owner?

The Case of the Deadly Double

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 9 September 2020]

There is something Hitchcockian about this story as it deals with multiple personalities.

Helen Reed is a seemingly normal woman who is going through a messy divorce from her wealthy husband. Especially regarding custody of their son. Her husband calls Helen an unfit mother. Helen's brother threatens her husband.

When her husband is found dead, Helen's bag contained the gun used to kill him.

However there is another woman of interest. Joyce Martel who is a floozie and she is seeing a low rent gangster who is a bit of a shark.

Perry discovers that Helen and Joyce are the same woman with different personalities. Helen is allergic to furs but not Joyce.

There are some psychological tricks pulled by Perry such as bringing out Helen's dual personality in the witness box. However I thought the denouement was weak with the whole story being mumbo jumbo.

Murray Hamilton plays the gangster and Denver Pyle plays Helen's concerned brother.

Best so far

[jkgoldie · 10/10 · 25 May 2022]

My grandfather loved Perry Mason, so I watched it with him for yers in the 1970s. I am rewatching the series at his age then. This is the best episode of the first 25. Why? Best story.

Denver Pyle Drives Out Of A Dangerous Hazard

[DKosty123 · 7/10 · 19 February 2018]

This is one of the first shows in the series not based upon a Gardener novel. It is a clever play on the dual personality. Pyle is nearly railroaded to the gas chamber by a sister who has 2 distinct personalities.

Constance Ford is the straight laced woman, and the wild woman cheating on her husband. Her straight laced person thinks that the adventures of her wild twin are nightmares, but nightmares that always come true. While the episode does not really go deeply into analysis, the plot kind of swings back and forth and keeps you guessing who did the murder.

Gardeners scripts leading up to this are often more deceptive, but this one is okay for the first of many as the show was running out of novels to base shows on. Della even gets the fur coat as a bonus.

A clear Three Faces of Eve take off.

[rigirl · 8/10 · 12 October 2018]

IT is a decent epi because Contsance Ford is mesmerizing to watch; other than that just so so. Many other Perry Episodes are better IMO Also I feel it was clearly taken from the previous years 1957 hit movie :All About Eve" starring Joanne Woodward.

Proper Woman and Wild Child

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 7 April 2014]

Denver Pyle is the Perry Mason client in this episode. But the case turns on Pyle's sister Constance Ford who is the victim of a dual personality. She's the estranged wife of Carleton G. Young who winds up dead and it's possible that Ford might have killed her and her primary personality would not know anything about it. She has in fact a strange handbag with the murder weapon inside.

Strange to Young's wife, but not to her wild child other personality. But Pyle made some public threats to Young and that's why the cops have him in the jackpot.

With the help of Ford's treating psychiatrist Abraham Sofaer the truth is revealed.

The players are good, sad to say the writers weren't really up on their mental health knowledge in writing this story.

Outstanding

[jwcraig11-1 · 3 July 2021]

Even though not written by Erle Stanley Gardner I think this is one of the best Perry Masons ever. Constance Ford was a great actress. Unfortunately she is mostly forgotten today. When this episode comes up, sit back and prepare to be entertained.