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» » Perry Mason The Case of the Impatient Partner (1957–1966)

Short summary

Amory Fallon is investigating a fire the previous week at his company Fallon Paints. He's using the services of the Paul Drake Detective Agency to try and find an old woman who may have seen someone entering the plant on the night of the fire. The person the old woman identifies, however, is Fallon himself. He clearly doesn't get along with his business partner Ned Thompson who he thinks is having an affair with his wife. Fallon had just returned from an extended business trip to Mexico where he appears to have gotten a $250,000 contract. However, his mood has changed to the point where he trusts no one including his wife. He also thinks that Thompson is somehow behind the fire as he had ordered important company documents moved to the part of the factory where the fire started. When Thompson is found dead after Fallon visited Thompson's apartment, he is charged with murder and Perry Mason takes on the case.

This was Wesley Lau's first appearance on the show. He played the character Amory Fallon in this episode. Interestingly, a few weeks later he would be cast in his more familiar role of Lt. Andy Anderson, which he would play from the 1961 season all the way to the 1965 season.

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Jek
    The future Police Lieutenant Andy Anderson Wesley Lau made his debut on the Perry Mason series as a client. Good thing he hired Paul Drake to investigate a suspicious fire in his paint plant where some confidential documents may have gone up in smoke. I say maybe because it sure looks suspicious and later on Lau's partner winds up dead Lau's looking real good for it. Good thing that William Hopper proved to be a conduit to Raymond Burr.

    Lau who is under a great deal of pressure got good and tipsy and passed out from demon rum. The murderer took advantage of that played with the time element to give himself a not quite ironclad alibi which Burr demolishes. I will say that when the culprit does confess in open court it's one of the more dramatic breakdowns in the series history.
  • comment
    • Author: furious ox
    **SPOILERS** I'm giving it a 10. Leslie Parrish is the blonde eye candy in this episode, and also seems to try to get Fallon's wife's calls through to him while fending off advances of a horny suitor. She's a pretty good secretary. Tells the truth in court. Perry's client, Fallon (Lau) is a guy who is very susceptible to the effects of booze, and by his age somebody should have told him so. His wife drives a beautiful 1961 Buick convertible, and has a brother who was employed... well, it's a mess. Fallon thinks drunk even when he's physically sober (Classic Alcoholic), leading to a LOT of bad decisions.

    Perry has a good time in court, digging up the truth, and fixing up the emotionally weak killer in the process. Fallon's wife helps Perry and her Huz in this process. The killer is absolutely guilty of Murder 1; he was already committing a felony when he killed the dirty dead guy. That felony is accessory to embezzlement.

    There are a number of dirty people in this drama, but only one killer, and there is no reason why the deals made before the murder shouldn't hold up. With an event like this, a company wide shakeout is necessary; out with the risky, in with the vetted personnel (by Paul Drake, of course). He's the one who got Fallon to Perry in the first place. Paul's exasperated with Fallon, and after getting him to come forth with certain facts, introduces them.

    Silva was trying to go behind Fallon's back, but, he's not really guilty of anything except business tactics that are questionable, so they can proceed with caution, but not necessarily cancel the deal. Silva might quite reasonably have seen Fallon as being somewhat unstable and decided to play it safe; hedge his bet, so to speak.
  • comment
    • Author: Innadril
    This episode involves a paint company that has two owners. Amory Fallon is the main owner and has been down in Mexico City for over a month on business. Ned Thompson is the other owner that has been running the company's day-to-day operation.

    When Amory returns from Mexico he goes to check on some papers he needs for a project the company was involved. He finds out that the files, that were suppose to be located in his office, had been moved and a fire had destroyed them. Amory believes something is afoot and that his partner is behind the entire situation.

    When Amory thinks his wife is having an affair with Thompson, he goes out drinking. While drunk he goes to confront Thompson. Later Ned Thompson is found dead and the evidence points to Amory as the murderer. Perry will defend Amory in court against charges brought by Burger and Tragg.

    This was an entertaining episode that kept the viewer guessing till the very end. There is also a nice exchange of legal matters between Perry and Hamilton Burger that is always enjoyable to watch. But once Perry reveals the true murderer in court we get a confession from the court gallery that appears someone was pushing for a TV Emmy. Anyway it was still a nice mystery.
  • Episode cast overview, first billed only:
    Raymond Burr Raymond Burr - Perry Mason
    Barbara Hale Barbara Hale - Della Street
    William Hopper William Hopper - Paul Drake
    William Talman William Talman - Hamilton Burger
    Ray Collins Ray Collins - Police Lt. Arthur Tragg
    Ben Cooper Ben Cooper - Frank Wells
    Leslie Parrish Leslie Parrish - Vivian Ames
    Wesley Lau Wesley Lau - Amory Fallon
    Lucy Prentis Lucy Prentis - Edith Fallon
    Peter Adams Peter Adams - Ned Thompson
    Mary Young Mary Young - Mrs. Agnes Murdock
    Cheerio Meredith Cheerio Meredith - Mrs. Temple
    Jack Betts Jack Betts - Bert Nickols
    Dan Seymour Dan Seymour - Carlos Silva
    Chet Stratton Chet Stratton - Charles Grant
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