Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), Wednesday 21 June 1961, page 19


Perry Masan in

three live shows

TELEVISION - FILM GOSSIP & REVIEWS - STAGE

jj By NAN MUSGROVE

. "The Case of the Welcome Stranger" could be the tag for Raymond Burr's world trip which brings him to Australia this week for eight hectic days.

HPELE VIEWERS have

wanted to see Ray-mond or Perry "Uve" ever since the Perry Mason

Show became one of Australia's most popular TV programme.;.

Now they've got their chance, or at least some of them have.

Melbourne televiewers are the lucky ones, for Burr will spend all but six hours of his eight days in Australia in Mel-

bourne.

Tlie odd six hours he'll

spend in Sydney, not very far away from the Kingsford Smith Airport.

Burr is travelling with his agent, Lester Salkow, not with his right-hand woman Barbara (Della Street) Hale. But Bar-bara did supervise his packing

for him before he took off.

Burr's first live appearance on TV is on Tuesday, June 13, from Melbourne's Channel 7, when he will introduce and host that evening's episode of the Perry Mason Show.

Spectacular

Next treat is on Saturday, June 17, at 9.30, when he will compere a super-dooper spec-

tacular made before an audi-ence of a lucky 600 viewers in Channel 7's huge new Fitz-roy theatre.

Finally, Burr will bow out

on Melbourne's "Meet the Press" on Sunday night, June 18, at 5.30.

Melbourne gets the plums on this visit, but in Sydney we will see Burr in a special edi-tion of "Top of the Town" on Friday, June 23, at 8.30 p.m.

Don't miss this, for Burr is teamed in part of it with Bus-ter Fiddess. This I've got to

see.

American singer Guy Mit-chell will also star with Burr.

Others in the line-up are French singer Vicki Benet, impressionist Mary McGlory, the HSV Ballet and Orches-tra, and Panda.

After calling on his fans here, Burr takes off for two days in Rome, two days in Frankfurt, two days in Stock-holm, and some time in Lon-don, where he is scheduled to arrive on June 27.

"I'm supposed to leave Lon-don on June 29 for the States," Burr said with a happy grin just before he left, "but I may wangle a bit of extra time."

Burr's remark about more time in London didn't bring happy smiles in Hollywood, where the new season's Perry Mason episodes are due to start on July 13. They just added fuel to the rumors that are raging about the show.

Most dramatic ol them all is that Salkow has informed

Columbia Broadcasting Sys-tem, who own the Perry Mason Show, that Burr won't be available for the next Perry Mason season.

No reason was given, but rumor has supplied a number.

Some of them are:

. Burr wants more money and part ownership of the

show.

He's too sick to go on.

He's feuding with Gail Jackson, the producer.

"I don't want more money," Burr told America's TV Guide.

"I don't want to produce or direct. All I want is what I've been asking for since the

first six months of the show."

Burr's demands, according to him, are quite simple. He wants some of the burden of carrying the show almost single-handed taken off his shoulders. He wants better and more intelligent scripts,

and he wants some control over the stories.

Burr has become so identi-fied as Perry Mason that the idea of the series with a new Perrv seems ludicrous. I'll bet sad-faced Mr. Burr gets his way. I hope he does.

Viewers like

"The Outcasts"

"THE OUTCASTS," A.B.C.—

TV's new historical serial, well under way now (see op-posite page), has already es-tablished itself as a favorite among televiewers.

Its author, Rex Rienits, pro-ducer Colin Dean, cast, and the technical crews associated with it have all been released from the "first night" tensions of its beginnings.

Reaction from viewers has been remarkable in volume, and quite different from that of its illustrious predecessor, "Stormy PetreL"

I'm told that vocal viewers in the "Stormy Petrel" days would telephone the A.B.C. to ask what Bligh would do next, but this time they ask what happens "in the story" next

time.

I prefer "The Outcasts" story, the struggle for the

recognition of the emancipists. It seems closer to present-day Australia in its lasting effects

than the Bligh rebellion, with its high life at Government House, its turbulence, and its

drama.

"The Outcasts" is a quieter story, made up of more of the everyday events of life.

The outstanding figure in the cast so far, I think, is John Gray as the Rev. Samuel Marsden. John Unicomb as Captain Antill, Macquarie's A.D.C., impresses me, too.

Redfern hasn't emerged as a dominant character, but the script hasn't allowed this yet, and I'm sure that actor Ron Haddrick will do a fine job.

The production, camera work, and the sets are first class, and as ever with the A.B.C. drama productions the

attention to detail is fantastic.

Viewers have asked me

whether the type of china used by Mrs. Macquarie and Mrs. Macarthur was accurate for the period; why Governor Macquarie, in the early episodes, wears only one epaulet on his uniform.

I've been shocked by my own ignorance when I asked about these things at the

A.B.C.

Mrs. Macquarie's china is white bone with a gold rim, a good, plain service which she preferred; Mrs. Macarthur's teaset was designed and made for the first time in 1794.

It is a Queen Anne type in light cream with pink flowers and gold ornamentation. The actual set used in "The Out-

casts" is a copy of the original

Raymond ("Perry Mason") Burr and Barbara ("Della Street") Hale in one of the Perry Mason series. Della could not make the trip to Aus-tralia with Perry—but she did his packing for

him before he left.

design made in West German porcelain.

And Governor Macquarie's lone epaulet? At this stage in the serial he is a Lieu-tenant-Colonel and, militarily, could wear only one, but he gets promoted as the serial progresses. If you're obser-vant, you'll notice his pro-motion by his uniform.

"The Outcasts" is interest-

ing and excellent TV. I know I'll make great efforts not to miss an episode.

Crime-but no

guns barking

"THE WITNESS," Channel

9's new Monday night programme at 9, is outstand-ing, startling in its facts and quality.

If is a series of inquiries into the life and crimes of America's foremost rogues, presented as a sort of court-room drama.

The episodes take place at a simulated public hearing, similar to that of America's

Congressional investigating

committees.

The first of the villains starred was Al Capone, magni-ficently played by Telly

Savalas.

In the whole hour of the show only one gun was seen, and that was not used. It was taken from a spectator by the chairman of the inquiry, who noticed it bulging beneath his

coat.

After the barking guns and

violence of "The Untouch-ables" and "The Roaring 20's," the absence of fire-

arms was noticeable. But more remarkable was the evidence which revealed so tellingly the

violence and ruthlessness of

Capone and his associates.

"The Witness" is TV you can't afford to miss. Some of the people investigated dur-ing the series are Lucky Lu-ciano, "Bugsy" Siegel, and Louis Lepke Buchalter.

Incidentally, Savalas also plays Luciano in "The Wit-ness," and if his performance is anything like the one he gave of Capone it should be really something.