Perry Mason: The Arc of Justice
A Tribute to Erle Stanley Gardner and Perry Mason
by Darrell Grizzle
I remember watching Perry Mason reruns on TV
when I was a young boy. The show had such a
big impact on me that when I was a child, I did
not want to be a fireman or an astronaut; I wanted
to be a defense attorney, like Perry Mason. This
desire remained with me throughout my high
school years. It didn't change until my second
year in college, when I switched from Pre-law to
Psychology. I ended up going into law enforce-
ment, then getting two graduate degrees in
Psychology and Counseling -- and working (as
I still do) as a Licensed Professional Counselor
with clients in the criminal justice system. So
I did not become an attorney like Perry Mason,
but I ended up doing work that centers around the
courts, including doing court-ordered psycho-
logical testing, consulting with attorneys, visiting
clients in jail, and giving testimony as an expert
witness at trials and hearings.
I recently discovered the Perry Mason novels of
Erle Stanley Gardner and fell in love with the series.
ESG wrote 82 Perry Mason novels (four of the 86
books listed at this link are anthologies), published
between 1933 and 1973. So far I have read about
35 of them. The Perry Mason of the novels is a bit
different from the Perry Mason of the TV show: he's
more "hard-boiled," more willing to take the law into
his own hands, to do whatever it will take to prove
his client innocent and get the guilty party behind bars.
As Parnell Hall writes in his foreword to The Perry
Mason Casebook (a Mystery Guild book club edition,
also available through the Book of the Month Club),
Perry "would think nothing of showing up at a crime
scene and firing a few extra bullets around, just to
make the ballistic expert jump through hoops on cross-
examination. Or hiding a piece of evidence, and re-
trieving it later right under the nose of the police guard. . . .
He would have his receptionist, for instance, stand up
in court, point her finger at a witness she had never
seen before in her life, and say, 'That's him, all right,'
and then talk his way out of the resultant chaos."
Perry Mason might sometimes get physical in subduing a murderer, but for the most part he did his fighting in the courtroom, using brains instead of brawn. He used intellect and ingenuity -- and a willingness to take sometimes drastic risks -- in order to expose the guilty and to protect the wrongly accused.
I've also discovered Erle Stanley Gardner's other, "non-Perry" novels,including his "Cool and Lam" series of novels about private eye DonaldLam and his business partner Bertha Cool. These novels are written in the first person, from Donald Lam's point of view, and they have a moreimmediate, breezy feel to them. They are also a bit more "adult" than the Perry Mason novels (especially the salty language of Bertha Cool). stories -- vintage reprints as well as new novels.Reading novels by other authors of detective and courtroom mysteries, I've come to realize what sets Erle Stanley Gardner apart from many other writers in this genre: his sense of justice. Other mystery novels, by other authors, sometimes feature private eyes or other "heroes" who are amoral, or even overtly immoral. ESG's characters, like Perry Mason and Donald Lam, are not always paragons of virtue, but they do have integrity. They are motivated not by greed or selfish gain but by compassion for the innocent and a quest for the truth. Perry Mason may "bend" the law at times, but it's always in the service of justice: defending the innocent and rooting out the guilty. The universe in ESG's novels (and in the Perry Mason TV series) is a moral universe, one which is tough, gritty, and disturbingly realistic at times, but one in which justice always ultimately prevails.
As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., taught us, "the arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice." The novels of Erle Stanley Gardner are a reminder of this enduring truth. I think that's why these novels have lasted so long, and why Perry Mason is such a beloved character in popular culture.
Perry Mason Links:
Perry Mason DVD box sets, available at Amazon.com:
A special 4-disc set featuring 12 episodes
from 1960 to the final episode in 1966, each
episode introduced by Barbara Hale (Della
Street). Other features include a commentary
track by Barbara Hale and producer Arthur
Marks for the episode The Case of the Dead
Ringer (in which Raymond Burr plays two roles).
The set also includes the series' only color episode (The Case of the Twice Told Twist), an episode featuring Bette Davis (The Case of Constant Doyle), and the only two episodes that show Perry actually losing a case (The Case of the Deadly Verdict and The Case of the Dead Ringer). Disc 4 of the set is full of bonus features:
Perry Mason Returns (2-hour TV-movie from 1985) Screen Tests (5/24/1956): Raymond Burr as Hamilton Burger, William Hopper asPerry Mason, Raymond Burr as Perry Mason Featurette: "The Case of Erle Stanley Gardner" New interviews with Barbara Hale, producer-director Arthur Marks, and CBSexecutive Anne Nelson Syndication Promos & Photo GalleryRaymond Burr interviewed by Charlie Rose on CBS "Nightwatch" Raymond Burr interviewed by Charles Collingwood on "Person to Person" (1960) Clip from "Stump the Stars" with the cast of Perry Mason (7/8/1963)William Talman (Hamilton Burger) Anti-Smoking Film Each of the bonus features is introduced by Barbara Hale, who at age 86 is still as gracious and charming as ever. This new DVD set (released April 8, 2008) is a must-have for any Perry Mason fan!
