Perry Mason Movie Collection Volume 2

I can remember it like it was yesterday. I was six years old.  One evening I was flipping through all of the four TV stations broadcast at the time on our old ten inch black and white TV.  It was 1959.

 

Suddenly on the small screen was a tall man in a dark suit.  His features were sharp and defined and yet his eyes (deep and set in his skull with distinctive heavy lids and deep circles under each) caught my attention.

Although he looked formidable there was something about him that was comforting to a young boy.  After watching him and listening to him speak my young mind figured out he could be trusted and that he was an adult I could admire.

He, along with his trusted friends Paul and a lady called Della, helped people.  Being so young I had no idea what a working law office was.

After a few episodes I came to realize that this man and his friends fought crime and would often appear in something called a courtroom.  

Each week I faithfully would watch the TV show.  Of course I'm talking about Perry Mason starring Raymond Burr as the title character.

I learned a lot from Perry Mason: integrity, honesty, the search for truth, the value of friendship and most of all the importance of abiding by the law.

When the show went off the air I was crushed. But a year later Raymond Burr was back, albeit as a different character:  Ironside.  I enjoyed that show but I missed Perry Mason and try as I might I could not picture Raymond Burr as anyone else but Perry Mason.

For years, decades, Perry Mason was absent form the small screen until the 1980s.
Mr. Burr was convinced to reprise his role as the famous lawyer in a series of TV movies.  Later on I would learn, because of his failing health, he couldn't do a weekly show.  Later Perry Mason movies would find Mr. Burr walking with a cane and eventually confined to a wheelchair.

Nevertheless Raymond Burr successfully brought Perry Mason up to modern times with the help of his secretary Della Reese (a role reprised by the original Perry Mason show's Barbara Hale) and Paul Drake Jr. (the son of the original Paul Drake from the TV series as played by William Katt.)

They, along with two new cast members, took on blackmail, murder and various assorted criminal acts defended their clients and prosecuted the real criminals.

CBS/Paramount has just released Volume 2 of its Perry Mason Movie Collections that contains six movies on several DVDs.  

It's like meeting up with old friends after too many years.  I enjoyed each and every film.  Sadly Raymond Burr is no longer with us but the Perry Mason movies are an excellent legacy to such a fine actor.