I actually found the whole question of identity (addressed in some of the spoiler reviews) to be interestingly handled; however, I just want to address the idea that a killer Commie would want to go to an American amusement park. At the time, that plot beat would have carried unmistakable echoes of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev being locked out of Disneyland for security reasons in 1959. Everybody knew about that, there was a picture of a crying Khrushchev in Life Magazine and TV shows referenced it for the next ten years. So, Commie leader on good-will tour wants to check out a Tunnel of Love in Los Angeles? Sure. In 1963 it would have been realistic, not ridiculous.
13 Reviews
Don't Know, Do I??
darbski24 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Okay, I marked the spoiler box, but mostly, this is a criticism of the whole thing. There were "guest" stars who filled in while Perry was laid up, and not one of them fit in.
One thing fits, though, the defendant uses the phrase "I'll kill him" - that pretty much seals his fate. I never have thought too much of Hugh O'Brian as an actor; he's a pretty boy who really never had difficult parts to play. Lisa Gaye is beautiful, as usual, and does a good job with her part. Another actress Joan Petrone, plays the part of a bad guy's wife; she's good looking, but doesn't have much of a part.
Della and Paul have small roles, but that's all.
The whole story is just too stupidly involved with complication to be believed. I mean, the whole thing with the "Tunnel of Love"???? are you kidding me?? Totally stupid; but, I hung in there to find out about the end. Not terrible, but far from one of the best ... sorry.
One thing fits, though, the defendant uses the phrase "I'll kill him" - that pretty much seals his fate. I never have thought too much of Hugh O'Brian as an actor; he's a pretty boy who really never had difficult parts to play. Lisa Gaye is beautiful, as usual, and does a good job with her part. Another actress Joan Petrone, plays the part of a bad guy's wife; she's good looking, but doesn't have much of a part.
Della and Paul have small roles, but that's all.
The whole story is just too stupidly involved with complication to be believed. I mean, the whole thing with the "Tunnel of Love"???? are you kidding me?? Totally stupid; but, I hung in there to find out about the end. Not terrible, but far from one of the best ... sorry.
Why, excuse me sir... your intelligence is showing.
edrybaaudio24 March 2018
I did NOT find this Mason installment to be nearly as bad as these reviewers say it is. I believe these Fine Americans have trouble with people who have names like Witoczsynski, Bobkovski, and the like. Maybe these people should have shown up at their English classes once in a while. Maybe then they wouldn't have so much trouble with words like "it", "and" & "the".
really bad episode
irishtom9918 March 2013
Warning: Spoilers
1-it was highly unlikely the old man would be able to strangle a 40 year old ex-soldier.. 2-the storyline,and the motivations of all the characters,was VERY fuzzy. 3-hugh o'briens hat was laughably lame,not dashing. 4-if o'brien was considered to be a necessary witness,no judge would have allowed him to represent the defendent(conflict of interest). there were so many other inconsistencies..the police allowing a controversial war criminal to waste their time going to an amusement park,the judge allowing hugh to "kind of" object to a question,the defendent had OBVIOUSLY been struck by somebody,the police found him unconscious,etc etc etc..bad writing and directing for one of the best TV series ever..
More Lisa Gaye!
Dick2427 May 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Lisa Gaye returns to Perry Mason and as always provides a very lovely presence. Here she plays the daughter of the accused (an immigrant caught up in a plot filled with international intrigue) and while I don't feel she looks very much like her "father" I'm sure glad the producers of the show cast her anyway! The story is a pretty interesting one featuring a former US spy, a foreign government official and several businessmen who may have killed the victim in order to protect themselves from the release of some damaging memoirs.
Hugh O'Brian plays the attorney who fills in for Perry (Burr was still only making token appearances during a convalescence) and does a commendable job. Of course he wins the case but more importantly in the end he wins a date with the beautiful Ms. Gaye. Mission accomplished!
Hugh O'Brian plays the attorney who fills in for Perry (Burr was still only making token appearances during a convalescence) and does a commendable job. Of course he wins the case but more importantly in the end he wins a date with the beautiful Ms. Gaye. Mission accomplished!
Too Contrived
Hitchcoc1 February 2022
We can see the strings in he puppet show as people are moved around and saying just what they need to say. The thing is that since this isn't really a Perry Mason episode, we have pretty boy Hugh O'Brien (Wyatt Earp) filling in and being at the center of a ludicrous story, having to do with intrigue during the war. Is Perry ever coming back or is there another guy on his way.
Where's Perry 2
blcuz25 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
To the viewer Enrightco posted 8/10 First off Perry did appear in this episode and second, Werner Klemperer was not in the Great Escape, He played the bumbling Kommandant Wilhelm Kink on Hogan's Heroes and also the Stalag was not Stalag 17 it was Stalag 13, now as far as this episode, there were alot of twist and turns and Hugh O'brien's Doppleganger, Good Watch.
This is a wild one
shakspryn5 May 2023
Over its nine seasons, the Perry Mason series had a very wide variety of plots. This is one of the most unusual. It's one of those episodes where the viewer will likely keep saying: "Wait? What?" This one is interesting as an experiment. It's one of several episodes that were made during a time when Raymond Burr was recuperating from surgery, so he could only make very brief appearances in the episodes, and the key role he played was taken by a number of different performers.
This time, the sub-in for Perry is Hugh O'Brian, definitely one of the most handsome guys to ever appear on TV! He looks great in the dvd of this episode. As for that plot, it's one of those foreign-intrigue espionage type adventures. The series did have a number of them over the years; this might well be the most far-out, though. When you watch it, you'll see what I mean.
The supporting cast is good; we don't get much of Paul Drake or Della Street, this time. It's mostly Hugh O'Brian. I did enjoy the episode, but I probably won't be watching it again.
This time, the sub-in for Perry is Hugh O'Brian, definitely one of the most handsome guys to ever appear on TV! He looks great in the dvd of this episode. As for that plot, it's one of those foreign-intrigue espionage type adventures. The series did have a number of them over the years; this might well be the most far-out, though. When you watch it, you'll see what I mean.
The supporting cast is good; we don't get much of Paul Drake or Della Street, this time. It's mostly Hugh O'Brian. I did enjoy the episode, but I probably won't be watching it again.
Where's Perry?
enrightco25 November 2016
This is not a review, as much as some observations. Some great location shots of an amusement park - wonder which one it was with the "Laff" ride - The Pike in Long Beach or the one in Santa Monica (when it had more rides). I'm surprised that Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is not in this episode? The above review said he was home recovering from an operation. Wonder why they shot the episode without him - perhaps in the day the production schedule and b'cast schedule of shows required them to shoot one without the main actor? Interesting? These shows are gems, with some really great character actors, like the German guy who was also in The Great Escape, and/or Stalag 17.
The Doppleganger
zsenorsock23 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Hugh O'Brien is the next attorney to pinch hit for Perry Mason while Raymond Burr recovered from surgery. He is Bruce Jason, a suave playboy, known more for partying and getting engaged 6 times in one year than his questionable legal expertise. Yet this entertainment lawyer is the person chosen to defend Elihou Laban (Abraham Soufaer), a foreign exile accused of killing Franz Schreck (Charles Radilack) while visiting an amusement park in Santa Monica. Paul and Della are on hand to help out Jason, and Perry appears in one scene to consult with Jason, then makes a second appearance on the phone right before the final fade out. O'Brien brings a lot of energy to the role and he has a lot of charisma, but given his background as an entertainment attorney and playboy, one has to wonder if he's really the right choice to argue a murder case. The script doesn't help O'Brien much, establishing him as a former OAS agent, but then saddling him with a exact lookalike involved in the crime. It is more than a stretch. Lisa Gayle is gorgeous and most intriguing as Laban's daughter Alyssa. She does a great job and makes one wonder why her career didn't take her further than it did. But at least we have this, "Get Smart", "Maverick" "the Wild, Wild West" and her many other TV credits to enjoy her in. It's nice to see Lt. Tragg rally and make what was becoming a rare appearance on the show, but all in all, the best I can say about this one is "Hurry back, Perry!"
Needed a guide to keep up with the characters.
kfo949413 November 2015
With all the odd names in this program, it was hard to keep up with which character. When on the witness stand it was so easy to get confused as each witness would be talking about someone with a Eastern European name that the viewer could not keep each person apart. For me, it was nearly a complete mess. Plus you thrown-in a character that was playing two parts and you can see trouble was afoot.
An Eastern European government bureaucrat visits Los Angles with some papers that will expose some secrets within the government. The papers, called Volney papers, is suppose to be delivered by Franz Schreck to Eilhu Laban in a rather strange way. On an amusement park ride of all things. However, the trade does not go well and ends up with Schreck dead and Laban knocked out by an former OSS agent. Laban is charged with murder.
From then on the story gets strange, Laban is given a lawyer, Bruce Jason. Then Laban claims his lawyer was the person that knocked him out in the amusement park. Now from this point, no Judge in the world would let a defendant be represented by a person that was claimed to be at the murder scene, yet the show continues.
From then on I could not get into the story. Between the lawyer having a double character and the names that could not be understood, losing interest was easy. The ending was rather nice as someone cons a few people into revealing the true murderer but the episode has already been lost. Even though the concept was not a bad idea, just did not play well.
An Eastern European government bureaucrat visits Los Angles with some papers that will expose some secrets within the government. The papers, called Volney papers, is suppose to be delivered by Franz Schreck to Eilhu Laban in a rather strange way. On an amusement park ride of all things. However, the trade does not go well and ends up with Schreck dead and Laban knocked out by an former OSS agent. Laban is charged with murder.
From then on the story gets strange, Laban is given a lawyer, Bruce Jason. Then Laban claims his lawyer was the person that knocked him out in the amusement park. Now from this point, no Judge in the world would let a defendant be represented by a person that was claimed to be at the murder scene, yet the show continues.
From then on I could not get into the story. Between the lawyer having a double character and the names that could not be understood, losing interest was easy. The ending was rather nice as someone cons a few people into revealing the true murderer but the episode has already been lost. Even though the concept was not a bad idea, just did not play well.
Schreck is Dead!
sol121813 January 2013
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** It's no wonder that Perry Mason, Raymond Burr, decided to sit this one out and get his good friend playboy and former OSS man Bruce Jason,Hugh O'Brian,to do the heavy lifting or was it acting for him here. Hugh at the time wasn't getting any roles on TV or the big screen and jumped at the opportunity to take the part which I suspect in years to come he greatly regretted!
With Perry recovering from, what seems like, liposuction surgery Jason takes the case of the behind the Iron Curtain, the usual nameless, country that Elihu Laban, Abe Sofaer,has escaped from. Laban an immigrant from Communism is accused of killing his nations Prime Minister Franz Schreck, Charles H. Radilak, in a Santa Monica amusement park, in the Tunnel of Love" no less, while on an official visit to the USA. It's Schreck,who at the time was the Minister of the Interior, who's suspected to have murdered his country democratically elected Prime Minister Oscar Volney who's secret papers, the Volney Papers, can expose his crime.
In trying to track down Screck's murderer Jason goes back to pre WWII where there were some illegal financial dealing going on with an un-named America who unlike the country was to only remain nameless until the final minutes of this very strange and bizarre Perry Mason episode! In fact it turns out that Jason himself was involved in these shady dealings which should have disqualified him from taking on the case in the first place! This all had to do with these mysterious Volney,or better yet baloney, Papers that was said to have exposed among other things the American in question! And if that's not confusing enough Bruce Jason,yeah the same guy, was the one who both knocked out Laban whom he's now defending and very possibly murdered Schreck, who had the Valoney Papers on him, in the darkened "Tunnel of Love"!
***SPOILERS*** It would be a lot easier to decipher ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs and Indian Sand Scrips then to try to figure out what exactly was happening here! With the chameleon like Jason having as many as three different identities going back to WWII to confuse things even more. There's also Hogan's Hero's Colonel Klink, Warner Klemperer, using the name Ulric Zenas as, I think, an intelligence agent of that nameless Communist country that Laban comes from! Of course Jason finally figures out who the murderer of Schreck is but the kicker in all this is that he didn't have to kill Schreck in the first place! The "Volney Papers" that Schreck had on him whom he murdered to get his hands on, and was to have implicated him in a number of shady and criminal financial deals, didn't mention the guy at all!
With Perry recovering from, what seems like, liposuction surgery Jason takes the case of the behind the Iron Curtain, the usual nameless, country that Elihu Laban, Abe Sofaer,has escaped from. Laban an immigrant from Communism is accused of killing his nations Prime Minister Franz Schreck, Charles H. Radilak, in a Santa Monica amusement park, in the Tunnel of Love" no less, while on an official visit to the USA. It's Schreck,who at the time was the Minister of the Interior, who's suspected to have murdered his country democratically elected Prime Minister Oscar Volney who's secret papers, the Volney Papers, can expose his crime.
In trying to track down Screck's murderer Jason goes back to pre WWII where there were some illegal financial dealing going on with an un-named America who unlike the country was to only remain nameless until the final minutes of this very strange and bizarre Perry Mason episode! In fact it turns out that Jason himself was involved in these shady dealings which should have disqualified him from taking on the case in the first place! This all had to do with these mysterious Volney,or better yet baloney, Papers that was said to have exposed among other things the American in question! And if that's not confusing enough Bruce Jason,yeah the same guy, was the one who both knocked out Laban whom he's now defending and very possibly murdered Schreck, who had the Valoney Papers on him, in the darkened "Tunnel of Love"!
***SPOILERS*** It would be a lot easier to decipher ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs and Indian Sand Scrips then to try to figure out what exactly was happening here! With the chameleon like Jason having as many as three different identities going back to WWII to confuse things even more. There's also Hogan's Hero's Colonel Klink, Warner Klemperer, using the name Ulric Zenas as, I think, an intelligence agent of that nameless Communist country that Laban comes from! Of course Jason finally figures out who the murderer of Schreck is but the kicker in all this is that he didn't have to kill Schreck in the first place! The "Volney Papers" that Schreck had on him whom he murdered to get his hands on, and was to have implicated him in a number of shady and criminal financial deals, didn't mention the guy at all!
Not feasible
rapadgettra8 January 2021
It's hard when guest stars come and ruin the dynamic of Perry, Della and Paul. The lead actor who is supposed to have been a war hero and german agent was 20 when the war was over. Very unbelievable. The studios did this to promote actor's careers, and the show was very popular, so.....here they all came to ruin the show. Sad and disappointing.
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