MovieChat Forums > Perry Mason (1957) Discussion > 'Silent Partner'

'Silent Partner'

posted 8 years ago by bcstoneb444
1 reply | jump to latest

*** These comments contain minor spoilers ***
Am currently making my way through the Season 1 CD collection, and ‘Silent Partner’ may well be my favorite episode so far. It’s unusual in that there are no scenes in the courtroom, though there is some legalistic huffing and puffing, most from Mason nemesis Hamilton Burger. I notice that in those earlier episodes Mason did a lot more sleuthing, in this case even more so than the nominal, and very capable, detective he employs, Paul Drake.

In any case what makes this episode really stand out is the noirish flavor. Not so much the look but the context and story themes: desperate hero, virtuous wife, B girl, crooked card game in a smoky room, shady night club owner. There’s even a couple of cool pans of the night club.

The story’s noirish bonafides get some heft, literally, from film noir regular Dan Seymour, here as – what else? –a tough guy. But best of all is Peggy Maley as the blonde bombshell. Her performance is draped in a kind of worse-for-wear elegance that’s just right.

A couple of unresolved plot points: what became of those mysterious stock certificates? And who was the shadowy figure in Lola’s apartment? He looked like Cyril Delevanti, probably searching for said missing documents. And did we ever find out what happened to Mildred Kimber?

[–] lewis-51 8 years ago

I can't answer your specific questions about this episode, but as to film-noir, all the early novels have a distinct film-noir feel, the ones written from 1933 to say, 1937. That's about ten. The Silent Partner was number 17, written in 1940.

Of course, they toned that down when they wrote the screen plays for the TV series.