Perry Mason (TV Series) The Case of the Injured Innocent (1961) User Reviews

Refreshing script makes for a good show

[kfo9494 · 8/10 · 2 August 2012]

This episode has all the quality and quantity that any mystery lover would find exciting. With a good script and good acting this show is one that holds the viewer's interest throughout the entire 52 minutes.

It begins as we see Vincent Danielli, an Italian driver, testing out a new engine in a race car for potential investor Walter Eastman. Seems that the new engine could rake in millions of dollars if all goes well during the testing.

However during the first test, Danielli wrecks and is supposedly paralyzed. But to the viewer it is clear that Mr Danielli is faking the injury to gain dollar signs and perhaps Ms Eastman. This will cause Mr Eastman to cancel the contract and forget about investing money in the new engine.

But before that takes place, Mr Danielli is found murdered and all the evidence points to Mr Eastman as the murderer. It will be up to Perry to defend Eastman in court against the mound of evidence presented by Hamilton Burger and Lt. Anderson.

With a refreshing script and some fine acting this episode is a rose. The plot is interesting and the show entertaining. Good watch for viewers.

Yes! Yes! I killed him! He deserved to be killed!

[sol1218 · 7/10 · 3 December 2012]

***SPOILERS*** Chilling even for Perry Mason, Raymond Burr, murder mystery that has to do with the sabotaging of a race car engine that the person who's investing millions in developing it Walter Eastman,Jess Baker, is indited for the murder of the race car driver Vincent Danielli, Alejandno Rey, who in fact sabotaged it. Danielli who's been burning the candle at both ends planned to blackmail the person who invented the car engine Dr. Mooney, Frank Maxwell, by faking an accident while testing out the race car. Danielli goes so far as faking an injury as well to make his plan look even better. It's Eastman's wife Kate, Ardrey Dahon, that Danielli has been working on with his oily olive oil charms and made up stories about her husbands many infidelities with what seems like scores of women. This has the very distraught Kate plan to divorce the heel but only if she can get the goods, or women, on him for a favorable divorce settlement.

With the scheming Danielli planning to murder Kate's husband when he comes homes from his exclusive country club with the weekly recipes, $5,000.00, and then jet back to Italy and leave Kate hanging things go a wee bit wrong for him. He ends up being murdered himself! And it's the person whom Danielli planned to murdered who ends up being indited for his murder instead!

Perry Mason being Eastman's lawyer now has his hands full in cracking the case that seemed to be a slam dunk for the prosecuting D.A Hamilton "Ham" Burger, William Talman, in that all the evidence points straight to Eastman as Danielli's murderer. But there's one important thing that points the other direction and away from Eastman. It's a number of tire racks at the murder scene! They in fact were fooled around with by Eastnman's murderer but he unknowingly left a very important clue in Eastman's car that would point straight to him! And at the same time totally exonerate Eastman in Danielli's murder! Something that Daielli's killer completely overlooked but the sharp eyed Perry Mason didn't!

***SPOILERS*** Very probably the most chilling cold blooded and blood curdling confession ever seen in a Perry Mason episode when Danielli's murderer without as much as being crossed examined by Perry mason dropped a bombshell in his being Danielli's killer! He confessed in such a crazed and depraved manor that left everyone in the courtroom, including Perry, totally speechless! It's that for a moment I wondered if it was to be part of his insanity defense, to prove that he was totally nuts, when he was to later be sentenced!

Double Down

[darbski · 10/10 · 10 October 2017]

**SPOILERS** When an episode starts out with TWO hot brunettes, It's got my attention. When they both drive beautiful cars, that's whipped cream and a cherry on top. Such as a 1961 Buick Invicta convertible, and a 1961 Chevy Impala bubbletop. Naturally, both of them were being used by an Italian race driver/dirtbag who wanted one of them to help him commit murder. That's just great. What's even better is when it turns out that he's upstaged, and completely outdone by somebody even dirtier and more rotten Someone who uses his sister through deceit and manipulation to get what he wants. I mean, this guy is classically pathological. He's not nuts, but he should be. His next address: Death Row, San Quentin. Not that anyone is cheated by the delightful death of the first rat, just one dirtbag out-dirtbagging another dirtbag.

Now, I've complained before about letting old farts pick out the music that teenagers are supposed to listen to (DON'T DO IT !), now, they should've done the same thing with Sports Car/Track Racers. I suppose someone read something somewhere about the potential of the Rotary Engine, and thought it was a good idea to run the theory around the block.

The defendant was exactly right. Caution; and it paid off, big time. The rotary engine was not a viable race engine. The big contest at the time was between Meter-Drake Offenhauser engines, and several types of V-8s. In 1965, Ford brought out an engine that completely swept the Indy type racing field. That was the type of car being wrecked by Mr. Italian Fast Driver. It was the Meyer-Drake car that they used in this episode.

What I liked was murderous loverboy getting clipped, and the guy confessing and bragging about how and why he did it. In this case, I'll let a happy ending slip by without saying how they normally.. okay I'll stop there.

Banker Drysdale Before He Gets Clampett Millions

[DKosty123 · 9/10 · 3 July 2010]

This season is on a good pace though the writer here, Paul Franklin, does his only Perry Mason script. It is a good script & Franklin is a true writer in that his resume includes only 1 episode of several series including Death Valley Days & Sea Hunt. The only series he wrote multiple episodes of (4) was Bat Masterson.

This one involves a racing driver who is test driving an experimental engine in a race car & is supposed to drive it & win the big race. He messes up a test run & then complains about the new engine even though the engine appears to have been no factor in the accident. The romeo driver has 2 girl friends after him but his report on the car engine has more immediate concern to several investors in the car engine.

Then, the driver turns up dead. Mason sorts through a whole lot of subterfuge involving the women & the investors trying to find out who killed the driver. Raymond Bailey plays a Doctor in this one but once he finds out about malpractice, he moves to the Commerce Bank to service good old Uncle Jed.

Goes Off a Cliff at the End

[Hitchcoc · 4/10 · 20 January 2022]

I don't have much to say other than there are two ridiculous moments that sink this one. The first is the way that the murderer got away with the killing. What he did would have been so time consuming and difficult in that setting as to be ludicrous. The second is the speech made by the murderer at the end. He sounded like he was addressing a board of directors meeting of nutcase anonymous.

Bug eyed confession

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 5 December 2013]

Watching how Alejandro Rey was plotting to steal a lot of money, his sponsor's invention and then run off with his wife Audrey Dalton, I think Perry Mason could have gotten Jess Barker off without nailing the real guilty party. Still it's a Perry Mason story and Raymond Burr leaves no stone unturned for answers.

Still this was not one of the better Mason stories. I especially did not like the usual courtroom confession of the murderer. That person was presented as a most sane and rational individual and to see that one go positively bug eyed at being unmasked just did not ring true at all.

But some who like overacting will jump for joy seeing it. By the way though at that point, Rey's homicide does not seem like so much a public service.

Good grief, these courtroom confessions!

[pmike-11312 · 1/10 · 2 December 2021]

The PM plotlines, dialogue, direction, and over-acting are always a point of humor and mocking. But, these unrealistic courtroom confessions (the whole IDEA of them!) and the pathetically poor directing and acting that accompanies them are just hilarious. This one is especially over-the-top ridiculous. " I could get ALL of Walter's money. ALL of it! ALL of it!" I guess he got all of Walter's money...LOL!