"Perry Mason," the granddaddy of TV legal dramas, is marking its 50th birthday, and this four-disc anniversary edition being released Tuesday is a must-have for fans of the series.
"Perry Mason: 50th Anniversary Edition" (CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment, 2007, four discs, $39.99). The show, which first aired in 1957, follows attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) who, with the help of detective Paul Drake (William Hopper) and trusted secretary Della Street (Barbara Hale), clears clients of murder in the final minutes of each episode.
The first three discs of this anniversary edition include 12 episodes (one of them in color) with introductions by Hale. They feature an amazing lineup of guest stars including a very young (24!) Robert Redford, James Coburn, Burt Reynolds, Adam West, Leonard Nimoy, Dick Clark, Barbara Bain, Julie Adams and — can you believe it? — Bette Davis. (She starred as attorney Constant Doyle in one episode while Burr was recovering from surgery.)
Fans of the series will really geek out over the fourth disc, which is filled with loads of extras.
First off is "Perry Mason Returns," the 1985 two-hour TV movie in which Perry gives up a judgeship to defend Della, who is accused of murdering her current employer. (Hale's real-life son, William Katt, also stars as Paul Drake Jr.) That TV movie proved so popular it spawned 29 more between 1986 and 1995.
Then there are screen tests in which Burr auditions for the role of District Attorney Hamilton Burger as well as the role of Perry Mason, and Hopper auditions for the lead role.
Burr also appears on a couple of clips from a 1985 and a 1987 edition of "CBS News Nightwatch" with Charlie Rose and a 1958 interview on "Person to Person."
There's also an extensive interview with Hale, the only surviving original cast member, who'll turn 86 on April 18 and still looks great. And there's a featurette on "Perry Mason" creator Erle Stanley Gardner that includes interviews and a glimpse of the author at work.
William Talman, who played D.A. Hamilton Burger, is also featured in an anti-smoking message that was recorded shortly before he died of lung cancer in 1968.
The DVD set is great stuff for fans of the show.
E-mail: todd@desnews.com