Perry Mason
The Case of the Barefaced Witness
TV Flash files “The Case of the Barefaced Witness” as hour 115 of 271 in the TV Flash guide — Perry Mason (1957–1966) on CBS, season 4, episode 20, aired 1961-03-18, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E20: listed hour 115 of 271 in the Perry Mason guide, hour 20 of 28 in season 4. It aired 1961-03-18 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “The Case of the Blind Man's Bluff” (S04E19). Next is “The Case of the Difficult Detour” (S04E21).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
When convicted embezzler Fred Swan returns to his hometown it means trouble for Iris McKay, a former client of private investigator Paul Drake.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Case of the Barefaced Witness sit in the Perry Mason guide?
S04E20 is listed hour 115 of 271 — hour 20 of 28 in season 4, season 4 episode 20.
When did Perry Mason S04E20 air?
The Case of the Barefaced Witness aired 1961-03-18 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with the 1957 restless-redhead opener to learn the grammar, then one tight first-season case. The pleasure is structure, not a serialized mystery box.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Burr’s stillness is the camera’s argument: delay as pleasure, court as stage, the last witness as a kept promise. Watch a weekly legal machine that made justice appointment theater — then the rare hour the rails fail, which is how you learn the contract was always a contract.
Watch the stillness first. Raymond Burr does not play brilliance as sweat. He plays it as furniture that has already been placed. Perry Mason, from the 1957 opener onward, is a legal procedural that understands delay as pleasure: investigation as a corridor, the courtroom as a stage, the last witness as a structural promise. The tabloids will say Burr’s public image was a managed cathedral — and they are not wrong, as gossip. The cut says something dryer. The camera trusts a man who barely moves, then lets the…
Filed against
- Raymond Burr as Perry Mason
Raymond Burr’s Perry Mason made courtroom theater a comfort contract — the real killer almost always stood up, appointment justice served, stillness as the camera’s argument. Carefully managed public image is old-Hollywood PR textbook. On…
- Barbara Hale as Della Street
Barbara Hale’s Della Street made Perry Mason appointment justice look like a partnership — loyal, sharp, and essential when the real killer stood up. She carried the franchise into TV movies with the same steel. TV Flash salutes the…
- William Hopper as Paul Drake
William Hopper’s Paul Drake is Perry Mason’s investigator as a kept promise — nine seasons of courtroom architecture, Raymond Burr’s stillness, a killer who almost always rises, delay as pleasure. On TV Flash he is the last-witness…
- William Talman as Hamilton Burger
William Talman’s Hamilton Burger is Perry Mason’s district attorney as a formal contract — nine seasons of courtroom architecture, a last witness who almost always rises, delay as pleasure, Burr’s stillness as the camera’s argument. On TV…
- Ray Collins as Lt. Arthur Tragg
Ray Collins’s Lt. Arthur Tragg was Perry Mason’s necessary other department — the cop across from Raymond Burr’s stillness, investigation as a corridor, court as a stage. Nine seasons of a killer who almost always rose. TV Flash still…