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The Eternally Good Lawyer
Let’s go back …
We are in greater LA area – at least most of the time – living a good life at the Pacific coast. Life goes on slowly … no hectic rush like today, no stress like today … If you want to make a phone call you may do it at home or in your office – and maybe at a public phone box. If you have to do some inquiries about people, their whereabouts, their home address, their cars, their professional area you have to go to public agencies and ask for help or flip through filing boxes. You get it: it’s the age when there were no mobile phones, no computer, no digital notebooks … not to mention data bases, search engines or even the Internet.
Of course it wasn’t some sort of peaceful paradise then – crime and murder existed, the pursuit of power and wealth as well as the desire for a poor life like just surviving the daily challenges did exist. An attorney got quite a workload on his desk.
I admit that I learnt about Perry Mason from the TV series of the 50s and 60s. Later I watched the follow-ups of the 80s. Only far later I encountered the books. So although the novels were written from 30s on for me Perry Mason mainly lived in the 50s and 60s – and Perry Mason was Raymond Burr when visualizing the literary character.
Perry Mason is an attorney specialized in murder cases. As a rule he meets a client and there is a murder in the background. The police snoops around, however, never as diligently as necessary and concludes that Perry Mason’s client is the murderer. Of course the client is innocent. Perry Mason starts working and unravels the truth which he likes to present in court. At the end the client is free to walk out of the courtroom.
The cases aren’t so straightforward as you ay think. Perry Mason has to deal with the usual fondness of lying. Clients always have to hide something and try to satisfy their legal counsel by telling only facts they think are necessary. Also witnesses often like to tell only part of the truth, while other witnesses like to disappear into thin air before being called into a courtroom. Perry Mason often has to navigate in a jungle of lies floating in muddy waters … he’s always fighting!
Perry Mason has got an office and some staff, however, mainly he relies on Della Street, his personal assistant. He trusts in Della Street unrestrictedly – she knows any details about the cases, the clients, the background … and she is a keen observer of human nature. Not to mention that she is always ready to anything that might help her boss whatever it is.
Paul Drake is a private investigator with his own agency and staff always ready to help whenever Perry Mason needs special support and backing. Let’s talk about observation of people involved in a case, doing in-depth investigations slightly beyond the legal path, acting like a bodyguard … whatever. Paul Drake has got various touch points all over the USA as well as in all important local agencies for administration … and of course the police.
Perry, Della and Paul tackle all issues a client may have and defend him at court to prove the innocence. Of course all of them live a good life because as far as I remember the clients like to be well-to-do, up to wealthy, and may raise money to pay all the fees.
The counterpart … there is Hamilton Burger, the public prosecutor, and his staff and the police. Sometimes I felt sorry for him because he always loses his cases when Perry Mason is on the warpath for the sake of his client. Otherwise Perry not only proves the innocence of his client, but always lays open whatever really happened concerning the murder – leading to identifying the real murderer. Hamilton Burger may then deal with the evildoer and build up a new charge of murder.
In short: there are always tricky, devious murder cases and Perry Mason fights for his client, who is innocent, and wins the trial and finds the person guilty of the crime. It’s fun watching the classic Tv episodes – even reading some of the novels – just to relax.