via PAUL MOTT. Perry Mason franchise to be re-booted and in development for film in 2014. The original Erle Stanley Gardner novels were A+++, and so was the original TV Series, which ran from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s. Some notable points about both the books and the show:
1) in the books, Perry Mason runs around a lot--he's not such a courtroom attorney at all. He's more of an action guy.
2) in the books, he and Della Street are clearly and more explicitly in a relationship. This is something that can clearly be developed in a 2014 film. In the books, Della is more or less an equal to Perry, and in a remake, she could be made into an attorney who is a partner to perry rather than just a "confidential secretary", though they would of course still have to have all those steak dinners.
3) Perry & Della are never married in either the books or the TV show, but they have a relationship.
Perry Mason & Della Street
5) Lt. Tragg was aces up in the TV show and in the books.
6) Perry never lost a case on the TV show (with a notable exception or two).
7) Paul Drake was famous for his sportcoat collection.
8) Perry drove a collection of terrific fifties convertibles on the TV show.
9) Perry & Della favored steaks and martinis in the books and on the show.
10) like modern lawyers, Perry & Della worked nights, mornings and weekends, and loved doing it. They had no life outside of work, and even when they were on vacation, they would stumble into a homicide or two and Perry would be back on the job.
11) Perry won all those cases without any Warren Court decisions. He never used the exclusionary rule, or any other procedural tricks. Instead, he relied on careful cross-examination, a thorough knowledge of forensic science, rigous private investigation to get to the real facts, and accurate assessment of the witnesses as they told their stories. He was F Lee Bailey before there was F Lee Bailey.
12) the original books were written as early as the 1930s.
13) The books in hardcover first edition are now out of print and can get as much as forty to fifty dollars a copy on line. I had a complete set at one time. They are worth it just for the covers alone. The paperbacks are not as good as the hardcover versions of the books. I used to keep them in my old law office when I was practicing. Clients loved seeing those.
14) Perry Mason never took a client meeting without having Della Street present. A very good piece of advice for current attorneys--never meet with a client alone. Always have a witness and a transcript.
15) The original TV Show was supplemented by a number of TV movies which came back in the 1980s, all of which were two hours long, and all of which were hugely popular.
16) Prior to playing Perry Mason, Raymond Burr was somewhat of a "bad guy" or "villain" in a number of film noirs, as well as famously being in the original GODZILLA film.
17) Many famous actors appeared in Perry Mason TV show in the 50s and 60s before they were famous.
18) Many of the defendants in the Perry Mason TV show disproportionately appeared to be extremely attractive, but virtuous looking, young women, who didn't seem capable of hurting a fly.
19) Many of the Perry Mason books actually dealt with complex issues of law, which were capably explained by the author in layperson's terms. They make excellent reading for modern law students.
20) Perry Mason is still the Platinum/Gold standard for legal fiction, in writing, film and TV. Hopefully the franchise reboot will adhere to these high standards.
--art kyriazis
