A fondly remembered episode... After watching this series for decades, I really don't think there ever was a bad episode --and that includes this one with a real, live gorilla! Some reviewers were not too "fond" of this installment, but it's actually a change of pace and, I think it was a way to attract some younger viewers. It's always ratings!
The one and only Victor Buono stars in this one, and that alone, was a ratings grab. He plays a lawyer (called Nathan) who wants --at any cost! -- a diary that Della actually bought at an auction?? What's in those pages, hmmm? This is very intriguing, and the loose gorilla enters the picture as a "phony" suspect when Nathan turns up dead. But y'all know a real deal person wanted him out of the way. Who is it?
Let's do the math too. Nathan offered Della 5000 dollars for the book. In today's market, that would be close to 50,000 dollars. Enough said.
There's some familair faces, as always, such Gavin MacLeod as Mortimer. Long before his comedy days, MacLeod played many sinister types. Lurene Tuttle, a familair face on so many classic tv shows, plays the maid, Josephine.
To underline what I am saying, series regular Jackson Gillis wrote this mystery and certainly would not let the audience down. I will say this, Gillis was also an adventure writer, credited with such shows as TARZAN and SUPERMAN. Let's also remember that the original story came from acclaimed Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. Gardner was picky about the series stories, so it had his approval.
Jesse Hibbs directed, and as usual, captured all those suspicious glances we all know and love. Hibbs later went onto direct the FBI. Let's put it this way, by the end of this whodunit, the gorilla is long out of picture.
Sit back with a cup of tea and enjoy something different. FROM SEASON 8 remastered CBS dvd box set.