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The Best Episodes of Perry Mason Season 1

Every episode of Perry Mason Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Perry Mason Season 1!

Binge this in 21h 51m•Peaking at 8.6/10

The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 13 - The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink
    8.6/10(682 votes)

    S1:E13

    Restrauteur Morey Allen, a friend of Perry and Della's, has a problem: his waitress, Dixie Dayton, was struck by a car while fleeing the restaurant after spotting a man stalking her. The only item she left behind was a moth-eaten mink. When the stalker is found murdered, Morey and Dixie both eventually get arrested for the murder. The case also ties in with the murder of a young policeman several months before.

    Director:Ted Post
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 30 - The Case of the Screaming Woman
    8.6/10(554 votes)

    S1:E30

    Gossip columnist Mary K. Davis is found murdered and it seems there is no shortage of suspects.

    Director:Andrew V. McLaglen
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 19 - The Case of the Haunted Husband
    8.5/10(584 votes)

    S1:E19

    Claire Olger, a hitchhiker, is picked up by Michael Greeley. He loses control of the car and has an accident due to his being intoxicated. Eventually, her friend, Doris Stephanak, asks Perry Mason to help. When Perry is unable to contact Claire at her hotel, he goes there and finds Michael Greeley dead in her room.

    Director:Lewis Allen
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 8 - The Case of the Crimson Kiss
    8.3/10(619 votes)

    S1:E8

    In a few day’s time, Fay Allison is getting married to Dane Grover. Her roommate, Anita Bonsal, is having a clandestine affair with a married man, Carver Clement. Fay Allison is later accused of Clement’s murder when the police find her fingerprints on a glass in his apartment.

    Director:Christian Nyby
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 17 - The Case of the Sun Bather's Diary
    8.3/10(592 votes)

    S1:E17

    Arlene Dowling reports the theft of all her belongings, including a diary she is anxious to get back.

    Director:Ted Post
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 20 - The Case of the Lonely Heiress
    8.3/10(548 votes)

    S1:E20

    Heiress Marilyn Cartright places an ad in a magazine in order to find love and companionship. In reality, Marilyn is looking for the con artist who swindled and drove her sister to suicide. Marilyn eventually finds the man, Charles "Country Boy" Barnaby, and turns on her ample charm in his direction hoping to get the goods on him. But when Barnaby is found poisoned to death the police theorize that Marilyn killed him as an act of revenge.

    Director:László Benedek
    Writer:Donald S. Sanford

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  7. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 36 - The Case of the Prodigal Parent
    8.3/10(503 votes)

    S1:E36

    Lorraine Stevens is fighting off the advances of the owner of the import-export company where she works, Philip Larkin. Later that evening she is asked to pick up something at the Alcorn Jewelers store. The owner is unaware of what she is to pick up and suggests she make a phonecall to find out. She calls Philip Larkin and while the phone rings we see Philip Larkin dead in his home.

    Director:Arthur Marks
    Writers:Seeleg Lester, Gene Wang

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  8. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 38 - The Case of the Terrified Typist
    8.3/10(493 votes)

    S1:E38

    While a woman is searching the office of the South African Diamond Company, George Baxter enters to meet Walter Lumis and Duane Jefferson. He notices things in disarray and questions the woman. She makes an escape, enters Perry Mason's office, and pretends to be a typist sent by a temp agency.

    Director:Andrew V. McLaglen
    Writer:Robert C. Dennis

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  9. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 39 - The Case of the Rolling Bones
    8.3/10(473 votes)

    S1:E39

    When Daniel Reed (Edgar Stehli) finds himself being blackmailed by an old business partner from his time in Alaska, Perry must first save him from the insane asylum and then the gas chamber.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 18 - The Case of the Cautious Coquette
    8.2/10(529 votes)

    S1:E18

    Perry has to navigate his way through a hornet's nest of murder, hit-and-run, secret marriage, and a missing witness in this episode.

    Director:László Benedek
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 22 - The Case of the Fugitive Nurse
    8.2/10(542 votes)

    S1:E22

    Janet Norris is charged with poisoning her doctor husband just before he flew to his death in his private plane. Further investigation reveals that Dr. Norris did not die in the plane crash and that he is in Mexico with his nurse mistress. The man killed in the plane was actually one Dave Kirby. This means that Janet still has to stand trial for murder.

    Director:László Benedek
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 28 - The Case of the Daring Decoy
    8.2/10(501 votes)

    S1:E28

    Daniel Conway is involved in a vicious proxy war with Warner Griffith for control of an oil company. Conway's secretary, Rose Calvert, is spying for Griffith. When Rose is found dead, Conway fears he's being framed for murder and approaches Perry at a bar association dinner and asks for his aid.

    Director:Anton Leader
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 31 - The Case of the Fiery Fingers
    8.2/10(492 votes)

    S1:E31

    When wealthy Louise Gordon is poisoned to death her nurse is charged with the crime. Perry does some digging and discovers that the first wife of the victim's husband also died of poisoning. Is the husband really the culprit or could it be someone else?

    Director:Arthur Marks
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 34 - The Case of the Gilded Lily
    8.2/10(490 votes)

    S1:E34

    Enid Griffin, the secretary of Stewart Brent, attempts to commit suicide after learning her boss has married. Arthur Binney attempts to blackmail Stewart Brent with facts about his new wife having been in jail for fraud. When Stewart Brent goes to meet Arthur Binney at a motel for the payoff, he is knocked unconscious. He awakens to find Arthur Binney dead in the next room and is put on trial for murder.

    Director:Andrew V. McLaglen
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 14 - The Case of the Baited Hook
    8.1/10(546 votes)

    S1:E14

    Robert Dawson confronts Albert Tydings, his partner, about $80K missing from Carol Stanley's trust account. Albert Tydings admits he embezzled the money and blackmails Robert Dawson to keep quiet or he will reveal some scandalous facts about Carol. Later, Carol calls and makes an appointment to meet Albert Tydings at his office to discuss the trust account. She arrives to find Albert Tydings dead.

    Director:Christian Nyby
    Writer:Richard Grey

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  16. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 23 - The Case of the One-Eyed Witness
    8.1/10(518 votes)

    S1:E23

    Della and Perry's dinner at a fancy French restaurant is interrupted by a phone call and an envelope containing $500.00 from a mysterious woman named Marian Fargo. Later, Marion's husband and the man blackmailing her, Sam Carlin, both turn up dead.

    Director:Christian Nyby
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 25 - The Case of the Empty Tin
    8.1/10(492 votes)

    S1:E25

    Doris Hocksley is shown a personal newspaper ad in a Los Angeles newspaper for locating the daughter of Adam Hocksley and providing proof of same. A friend, John Lowell, suggests she pursue the idea to prove she is the rightful heir to the Adam Hocksley estate.

    Director:Andrew V. McLaglen
    Writer:Seeleg Lester

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  18. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 26 - The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife
    8.1/10(539 votes)

    S1:E26

    Perry receives a telegram from Frank Lawton, an old friend of his, asking for his help as Frank thinks he’s about to be arrested.

    Director:Anton Leader
    Writer:Stanley Niss

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  19. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 32 - The Case of the Substitute Face
    8.1/10(479 votes)

    S1:E32

    Perry and Della are traveling on a cruise ship returning to Los Angeles from Vancouver. A fellow passenger, Carl Houser, who recently came into a bunch of money, and his wife and daughter end up meeting the two. Houser’s wife, Anna, enlists Perry’s help because she believes something is wrong with her husband and his story. Then her husband ends up overboard and she is suspected of murdering him.

    Director:William D. Russell
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 37 - The Case of the Black-Eyed Blonde
    8.1/10(471 votes)

    S1:E37

    A visit from an attractive blonde sporting a black eye leads to a case concerning a wealthy man's long lost grandson and murder.

    Director:Roger Kay
    Writer:Gene Wang

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  21. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 1 - The Case of the Restless Redhead
    8.0/10(955 votes)

    S1:E1

    Perry drives to the scene of a shooting and finds the police recovering the body of Harry Merrill from a car that went over the side of a mountain. MerriIl has a bullet in his body and a pillowcase over his head. Meanwhile, Perry's client, Evelyn Bagby, claims she was chased by a hooded man in a car near the same cliff that day. She fired two shots at the man's car to scare him off, and now the police want her for murder.

    Director:William D. Russell
    Writer:Russell S. Hughes

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  22. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 2 - The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece
    8.0/10(724 votes)

    S1:E2

    Peter Cole is caught one night sleepwalking with a letter opener and standing over his wife's bed. His wife Doris is afraid and decides the next day to file for divorce. Exactly one year later, when the divorce is to be finalized, Frank Maddox, Peter's business partner, meets with Doris Cole. That night Frank Maddox spends the night at Peter Cole's house and exchanges bedrooms with Phillip Kendall, Peter's stepbrother. The next morning Phillip Kendall is found dead in bed and Peter Cole is accused of murder.

    Director:William D. Russell
    Writer:Laurence Marks

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  23. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 3 - The Case of the Nervous Accomplice
    8.0/10(641 votes)

    S1:E3

    Sybil Granger hires Perry to help her buy stock in her estranged husband's oil company on the sly. By this, Sybil hopes to force her husband's latest girlfriend, Roxy Howard, out of the company and his life altogether. Things get complicated when George Lutts enters the picture and gets shot to death.

    Director:William D. Russell
    Writer:Stirling Silliphant

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  24. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 4 - The Case of the Drowning Duck
    8.0/10(655 votes)

    S1:E4

    Donald Briggs is an unscrupulous private investigator hired by Clyde Waters to uncover information about Marv Adams, his daughter's fiancé. Later, Donald Briggs is found dead in his motel room, and Marv Adams is accused of the murder because he had a fight with Donald Briggs the previous morning.

    Director:William D. Russell
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Perry Mason Season 1 Episode 9 - The Case of the Vagabond Vixen
    8.0/10(553 votes)

    S1:E9

    Hollywood producer John Addison picks up an attractive young woman hitchhiker. Far from being innocent, she turns out to be a blackmailer—and a witness to a murder that Addison is charged with.

    Director:Christian Nyby
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 1 Ratings Summary

"The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink" is the best rated episode of "Perry Mason" season 1. It scored 8.6/10 based on 682 votes. Directed by Ted Post and written by Unknown, it aired on 12/14/1957. This episode is rated 0.0 points higher than the second-best, "The Case of the Screaming Woman".