Tag / Perry Mason

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Prolific Authors – 9 Books

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 60 books from 54 different authors. There shouldn’t be much movement over the past 2 years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  Today, we continue with the two authors I’ve read 9 times.

Michael Jan Friedman

Known primarily for licensed works, Friedman first entered my world in 1990, thanks to a trio of Star Trek: The Next Generation novels.  There were another two in 1992 and then he reappeared in 1996 with another trio of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman tie-ins.  That was it until he reappeared on my radar earlier this year, with yet another Next Gen entry.

Erle Stanley Gardner

I’ve been aware of Gardner as the creator of Perry Mason for years, but had never read any of his work until 2015, when Hard Case Crime released the first of their republishing of his Cool and Lam series, written under the penname A.A. Fair.  Since that time, five entries of the series have been released.  Thanks to the new HBO interpretation of Perry Mason, a number of those books have been republished as well, four of which I’ve read over the past 2 years.

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Book 38 (of 52) – The Case Of The Dubious Bridegroom

The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom – Erle Stanley Gardner

When Perry Mason catches a woman on the fire escape outside of his office, he becomes entangled with the a businessman whose first wife is trying to steal his company out from under him as payback for his getting a Mexican divorce and quickie re-marriage.  When she turns up dead, Perry has to defend his client for both bigamy and murder, unless he can figure out who the true killer is.

Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom, originally published in 1949, is the 33rd entry in his Perry Mason series and the third of six novels re-released last year in conjunction with the new adaptation on HBO.  Things were going along well, until the abrupt ending, where Perry figured out what really happened.  Rather than him showing it in court, which is what usually happens in the TV show, it just ended, with the trial still happening and without a definitive ending.  I look forward to seeing the TV adaptation from the Raymond Burr version of the show, released during its second season, so I can compare the filmed version with the original.

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Book 26 (of 52) – The Case Of The Lonely Heiress

Erle Stanley Gardner – The Case of the Lonely Heiress

When a publisher comes to him to investigate a woman who has placed a questionable ad in his magazine, Perry Mason gets himself involved in a contested will and, ultimately, a murder case.  When his new client is charged with the murder of the one witness threatening to scuttle her claims on an inheritance, he needs to figure out who the real killer is without putting his own neck on the line.

Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of the Lonely Heiress, originally published in 1948, is the 31st entry in his Perry Mason series and the second of six novels re-released last year in conjunction with the new adaptation on HBO.  While this tale wasn’t my favorite of what I’ve read so far, it was adapted for an episode of the Raymond Burr version of the show during its first season, so I’d like to catch that sometime soon and compare the filmed version with the original.

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Book 2 (of 52) – The Case Of The Lazy Lover

The Case Of The Lazy Lover – Erle Stanley Gardner

When 2 separate checks arrive at Perry Mason’s office from a woman he has never met and with no explanation as to what they are for, the lawyer gets dragged into an investigation, searching for the woman and trying to find out why she has hired him.  When her husband winds up dead and she is charged with the crime, Perry has to find out what really happened in order to set his client free.

The Case of the Lazy Lover is the 30th entry in Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason series and is much closer to what would eventually show up on screen in the 1950s series than in the first entry, which was the only other one I had read.  Because of this, I managed to hear Raymond Burr’s voice in my head as I read the book, which I’m sure helped to enrich my experience.  Turns out that this story was adapted for an episode of the show during its first season, so I’d like to catch that sometime soon and compare the filmed version with the original.

Thanks to the new HBO series, a number of the old Perry Mason novels have been republished.  This is the only one I have picked up to date, but I’ll have my eyes open for more.

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You Ought To Be In (26) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, and thanks to a corona virus inspired uptick to my movie watching this year, it is time to look at the 100 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

Today, we continue with the 1 actor that has starred in 26 movies that I have seen, the same as 3 years ago.

Raymond Burr

Raymond Burr is a bit of an anomaly as every single one of his appearances have been TV movies where he has played the same character.  In 1985, NBC brought back Perry Mason, Raymond Burr’s starring vehicle from the 50s and 60s, for a TV movie.   The ratings were high enough to justify a recurring series of films, 26 in fact, over the next several years, ending in 1994 following Burr’s death the previous year.

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Book 15 (of 52) – The Case Of The Velvet Claws

The Case Of The Velvet Claws – Erle Stanley Gardner

Following last week’s end of the first season of HBO’s Perry Mason reimagining, I decided to turn to the original source material for the first time.  The Case of the Velvet Claws is the first of 82 Perry Mason novels by Erle Stanley Gardner, first published in 1933.  In it, a woman hires Mason, wanting to keep a scandal rag owned by her husband from discovering she was out with another man.  When the husband turns up dead, she tries to keep the police away from here by pointing the finger at Perry, manages to avoid being double-crossed and still fights to free her from the charges.

The beginning of the series introduces us to mainstays Perry Mason, Della Street, and Paul Drake, but doesn’t do much in the way of giving them any sort of discernable character or background.  All you learn of them is the job that they hold, lawyer, secretary, and investigator, respectively.  If I wasn’t coming in to this with an existing knowledge of, and a certain fondness for, the property, I don’t know if that would have been more of a problem.  As it is, the Mason of the novel is a little rougher around the edges than the Raymond Burr version and a little more in line with the Matthew Rhys version.

If I manage to come across more of the Mason novels at a decent price, I’d be willing to go back for more.  To be honest, I’m somewhat surprised they aren’t being republished to capitalize on the publicity of the new series.

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Top 200 Albums – #20 – 30

itunes_imageNearly 4 years ago, we first counted down the Top 200 albums in my iTunes library. Since that time, I’ve successfully managed to migrate my music collection to a new PC with the stats intact. So, I figured it was time to take another look, based on number of plays from late 2007 through January 1, 2018.

We are getting close to the finish line with this next batch of 10 albums ranked between #20 and 30, including 5 studio recordings, 3 compilations, 1 soundtrack, and 1 comedy album.

#30: Various Artists – Millennium Rock N’ Roll Party
iTunes stats: 154 plays
Previous Ranking: 50

13 tunes, from the likes of Santo & Johnny, Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lee Lewis, make up the total for this compilation of 50s hits.

#29: Veruca Salt – American Thighs
iTunes stats: 155 plays
Previous Ranking: 19

10 songs from the Chicago band’s debut album make up this total.

#28: Mexican Cheerleader – Kings and Kings’ Hoots
iTunes stats: 156 plays
Previous Ranking: 17

12 tunes off this sophomore effort from the local punk band make up this total.

#27: Garbage – Beautiful Garbage
iTunes stats: 157 plays
Previous Ranking: 21

The third studio album from the group uses 13 tracks to make up this total.

#25: The Beatles – Past Masters, Vol. 2
iTunes stats: 158 plays
Previous Ranking: 32

This remastered version of the album has 10 songs that make up its total.

Continue reading →

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You Ought To Be In (26) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, it is time to look at all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1st.

Today, we look at the 1 actor that has starred in 26 movies that I have seen, down 1 from 3 years ago.

Raymond Burr

Raymond Burr is a bit of an anomaly as every single one of his appearances have been TV movies where he has played the same character.  In 1985, NBC brought back Perry Mason, Raymond Burr’s starring vehicle from the 50s and 60s, for a TV movie.   The ratings were high enough to justify a recurring series of films, 26 in fact, over the next several years, ending in 1994 following Burr’s death the previous year.

 

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Book 10 (of 52) – The Knife Slipped

The Knife Slipped – Erle Stanley Gardner as A.A. Fair

Intended to be the second installment of the Cool and Lam series in 1939, The Knife Slipped, by Erle Stanley Gardner writing under the pseudonym of A.A. Fair, was rejected by the publisher for being too crude.  Rather than rework the idea, Gardner moved on to others and the manuscript sat for more than 75 years until last year, where it finally saw print thanks to the folks at Hard Case Crime.

In this tale, the firm takes on a case of a woman who believes her daughter’s husband is cheating on her, which leads Lam on to police corruption, politics, and, of course, murder.  Blamed for the death of his target, Lam goes on the, well, lam to find out who was really behind the murder and how the corruption played in while Cool tries to work herself in to the corruption, getting herself a piece of the action.

My first experience with Gardner’s work, aside from watching Perry Mason on television, was a later book in this series which I read 2 years ago.  These pulps bring you back to a different, simpler time, where the world wasn’t wired (in more ways than one) the way it is today.  Another installment is planned to be published later this year, and I look forward to getting my hands on it.

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Most Watched Actors – The Early 1990s

Movie_Reel_22Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime. The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since. So, given those guidelines, it is time to look at the most prolific actors that have starred in the movies that I have seen in the first half of the decade of the 1990s, corresponding with the end of high school and the transition into college.

1991

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Raymond Burr 4

Gosh darn that Perry Mason and its ongoing dominance in this particular category.

1992

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Raymond Burr 3

Guh

1993

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Raymond Burr 3

GUH!

1994

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Bridget Fonda 4

A very busy year for Bridget Fonda as she breaks Raymond Burr’s stranglehold, mostly due to his death in 1993.  Fonda starred in Bodies, Rest & Motion, Point Of No Return, Leather Jackets, and It Could Happen To You.

1995

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Billy Crystal 3
Michael Douglas 3
Michael Keaton 3
Sharon Stone 3

Our first tie of the 90s, each coming in with 3 movies apiece.  Crystal made it with the critically maligned Mr. Saturday Night, Forget Paris, and City Slickers II.  Douglas scored with Disclosure, Basic Instinct, and Coma.  Keaton earned his place with Speechless, One Good Cop, and The Paper.  Sharon Stone nabbed the only 3 starring roles that I’ve seen, with Basic Instinct, The Specialist, and Sliver.