***SPOILERS*** DO NOT read this unless you've seen this episode - - OKAY?? Good - who want's to bet that Phillipe winds up investing in a ski lodge rather than a dusty old bookstore? After all, the Ogilvies already have his $5 grand, don't they? And, he's on record as being a sucker, isn't he? Perry has to step in and give him a talk about the financial birds and bees. Ninette was a hot little toddy, but, Perry had a strong suggestion that she'd murdered her HUZ; bullying clod Armand. He got his Karma leveled with some cleverly delivered Barbs that were not part of his flight plan. Au Revior, dirtbag. Now, we have a small problem. That is to say, that Perry didn't actually prove that she'd done the deed, only gave a really good alternate theory of the crime; AND guess what? She NEVER admitted it, either. She came close, but not quite. Cagey as she is, if she gets a clever lawyer, she might just slide on out of it. David McCallum (Phillipe) did a great job of playing the geeky bookworm that hasn't a prayer going against Armand. He was laughed at by callous onlooker ski types who seemed to take delight in someone being pushed around by someone else twice his size. THAT would have been the time to grab one of the handy skis and brain old Armand into sleepytime. Laugh at that, creeps. The falling into the chair and then landing on his kisser? Priceless. Ninette? IF they found the Barbs in her possession, will get Murder 2 at least; there's gotta be a problem with when Dirtbag actually took in the drugs. Roxane Berard was hot, but not in Della's league...a 7.
Perry Mason (TV Series)
The Case of the Fifty Millionth Frenchman (1964)
User Reviews
Review this title12 Reviews
Parlez Nous Vous Francis
DKosty12322 January 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Perry's client turns out to be Philipe (David McCallum) and his roving eye has him involved with another mans wife. He is so involved with her that he gives her $5,000 which she promptly gives her husband. He uses it to loan to a gambler who owns a ski resort for part ownership.
Her estranged husband then dies in a plane crash because he is flying the plane under the influence of barbituates. Then things get complicated as the man from CSI and Uncle is but an ordinary book clerk, and gets arrested for murder of the husband, without Jethro or his money.
Perry Mason, Paul Drake, and Della scramble to figure out how to prove he didn't kill them. It takes some magic and testimony to get to the truth. Not the best script in the series, and Burger is not available to fight this one.
Her estranged husband then dies in a plane crash because he is flying the plane under the influence of barbituates. Then things get complicated as the man from CSI and Uncle is but an ordinary book clerk, and gets arrested for murder of the husband, without Jethro or his money.
Perry Mason, Paul Drake, and Della scramble to figure out how to prove he didn't kill them. It takes some magic and testimony to get to the truth. Not the best script in the series, and Burger is not available to fight this one.
Vive le Sport!
Enrique-Sanchez-5626 September 2017
I found this episode to be intriguing. This whole row about the French accents on this board is rather infantile.
Regardless, the players did a good job. And so did the production people. I enjoyed seeing a young David McCallum as I recalled how well he did on "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and many other series on television. Perhaps the plot could have been fleshed out but the end result was fine for my taste.
The title line, is the last line spoken by Raymund Burr. It elicited a smile and pleased feeling on my part. Good episode with interesting story.
Regardless, the players did a good job. And so did the production people. I enjoyed seeing a young David McCallum as I recalled how well he did on "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and many other series on television. Perhaps the plot could have been fleshed out but the end result was fine for my taste.
The title line, is the last line spoken by Raymund Burr. It elicited a smile and pleased feeling on my part. Good episode with interesting story.
Another Case of the Crashed Plane due to a Drugged Thermos Bottle?
coolplanter27 February 2021
An important episode to watch due to the public's fascination with skiing, as to the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics, perhaps. But the old culprit, "barbiturates in the Thermos bottle" causing the death of Andre--loathed by every man in this episode, as to prowess over all the good looking women in this episode. Think of David McCallum's career with CBS, and the early stages where he plays a naive, bumbling, giant glass wearing, nerd to a an ongoing career as medical examiner--I don't know if there is an actor in TV that has had a longer run on TV. Maybe this part was the first to launch him as the sexy, cerebral, foil that he played through out his career.
Not the Best Episode, But Dialects Not the Problem
jmboisineau-5649131 March 2016
Hilarious that the previous two commenters single out the accents as a weakness of this episode. Two of the three French characters in the episode are, in fact, native French speakers. One is a Frenchman and one is French Canadian. David McCallum, the third actor using an accent, is a trained dialectician, and to a French native-speaking ear, his dialect work in this episode is quite good. Most viewers are not discerning or educated when it comes to actors' accents, (the correct professional term of art is actually "dialect", not "accent"), and it seems that the famously put-on one used by Maurice Chevalier in GiGi is the standard most audiences are familiar with and accept. Of course, there are as many authentic dialects/accents in every language as there are American accents, and there are at least two in this Perry Mason episode. In this instance, the episode's plot is not the series' strongest and the acting, in general, is not terrific, but the accents are actually one of the stronger elements of the episode.
Poster errors
dejavue5215 September 2022
I have said before on Perry Mason summaries that people really need to do some research before they start talking about the actors and actresses in the series. Too many of the reviewers have stated in this episode that the French accents were ridiculous or not at all what they should have been. Did they ever even look to see if the actor and actress who were the main French speakers were indeed French? In this episode yes the two were either French or French Canadian so the accents were authentic. Also there is one reviewer who completely messed up in the telling of the story because they said that the character of Ninette was the one who went to Perry Mason to get her friend out of trouble. She only did that after her friend did it first and this person who posted this review got this completely backwards. Also there was another poster who said that the line that had to do with the title was spoken by Perry Mason at the end. This is not true; it was David McCallum as Philippe who said it.
The Man from Bad A.C.C.E.N.T.S.
zsenorsock3 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
A decent script is ruined by a slew of bad accents as Perry comes to the aide of young Frenchman Phillipe Bertain (David McCullum) who is accused of murdering ski instructor Jacques Bergerac (Armand Rovel, who 99 almost lost her heart to on "Get Smart") to protect the woman he loves and loaned money to, Bergerac's wife, Ninette.
The murder involves the drugging of a coffee thermos (an idea recycled in a "Columbo" episode), a plane crash and the murder of another man by Jacques Bergerac. The ski setting is a nice change as well, but the episode is ruined by the annoyingly theatrical accent of Roxanne Berard. She is so vaudevillian and over the top in her characterization that I think it embarrassed McCullum into really toning down his own French accent. In any case, he leaves far too much of the British showing.
Seeing how tiny McCullum is as the nerdy and clumsy Bertain also shows how really carefully they cast "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." to make him appear to be strong enough to handle threats from THRUSH agents. In this he looks like a strong wind would blow him down as Perry and Paul tower over him.
Rovel comes out okay in the battle of the accents and Jackie Coogan is mostly restrained (other than one outburst in court) as a bartender, but that's not saying much.
In summation, I can only repeat the murderer's final line on the stand "I wish I could have killed him ten times." That emotion should have been reserved for the show's dialect coach.
The murder involves the drugging of a coffee thermos (an idea recycled in a "Columbo" episode), a plane crash and the murder of another man by Jacques Bergerac. The ski setting is a nice change as well, but the episode is ruined by the annoyingly theatrical accent of Roxanne Berard. She is so vaudevillian and over the top in her characterization that I think it embarrassed McCullum into really toning down his own French accent. In any case, he leaves far too much of the British showing.
Seeing how tiny McCullum is as the nerdy and clumsy Bertain also shows how really carefully they cast "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." to make him appear to be strong enough to handle threats from THRUSH agents. In this he looks like a strong wind would blow him down as Perry and Paul tower over him.
Rovel comes out okay in the battle of the accents and Jackie Coogan is mostly restrained (other than one outburst in court) as a bartender, but that's not saying much.
In summation, I can only repeat the murderer's final line on the stand "I wish I could have killed him ten times." That emotion should have been reserved for the show's dialect coach.
Good story but loses luster in production
kfo949418 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I can imagine that when the producers saw the episode they said 'Give it a long title and then maybe no one will remember the show'.
Even though the story was good - it comes across on the screen as sappy. It involves Phillipe Bertain (David McCallum of man from UNCLE fame) who plays a wimpy french-man with this awful accent who befriends a married women Ninette Rovel (Roxane Berard). She is married to a ski instructor played by Jacques Bergerac (later becomes head of Revlon Paris and quits acting).
SPOILER AHEAD
Anyway the husband ends up dead and the wimpy french-man is left holding the lethal, tainted thermos. And here comes Perry to defend the rights of the wimps everywhere.
The story set in a mountain resort. The story is slow and one starts to lose interest. We also have some of the worse acting I have seen in a 'Perry Mason' episode. Roxane Berard, that plays Ninette, should not list this on her resume. She may have done well in a high-school play but playing in this show seemed to be over her head. When she is told of her husband's death the look on her face is more humorous than a look of sadness. Her court performance is stunning- and not in the good way.
There is also a sheriff in this episode that should be given his own show. He knows more about the way medicine acts inside of one's body that any doctor could possible know. He could have solved this case if he would have had five more minutes of air time. That must be why we only see him for about three minutes the entire show.
This is a re-hash of other Perry tales. Only the accent has been changed- and not to protect the innocent.
Even though the story was good - it comes across on the screen as sappy. It involves Phillipe Bertain (David McCallum of man from UNCLE fame) who plays a wimpy french-man with this awful accent who befriends a married women Ninette Rovel (Roxane Berard). She is married to a ski instructor played by Jacques Bergerac (later becomes head of Revlon Paris and quits acting).
SPOILER AHEAD
Anyway the husband ends up dead and the wimpy french-man is left holding the lethal, tainted thermos. And here comes Perry to defend the rights of the wimps everywhere.
The story set in a mountain resort. The story is slow and one starts to lose interest. We also have some of the worse acting I have seen in a 'Perry Mason' episode. Roxane Berard, that plays Ninette, should not list this on her resume. She may have done well in a high-school play but playing in this show seemed to be over her head. When she is told of her husband's death the look on her face is more humorous than a look of sadness. Her court performance is stunning- and not in the good way.
There is also a sheriff in this episode that should be given his own show. He knows more about the way medicine acts inside of one's body that any doctor could possible know. He could have solved this case if he would have had five more minutes of air time. That must be why we only see him for about three minutes the entire show.
This is a re-hash of other Perry tales. Only the accent has been changed- and not to protect the innocent.
Well before the climax in court
bkoganbing5 February 2020
Nina Rouvet a lovely 30 something comes to Perry Mason's office and asks for
help. Not for her, but for her young friend an immigrant young French kid played by David McCallum. Her beast of a husband Jacques Bergerac a womanizing ski instructor at Arthur Franz's ski lodge has taken $5000.00 that McCallum has lent her.
After quite a few suspects like Don Collier, Coleen Gray,. and Jackie Coogan are introduced to us at the lodge when McCallum arrives, Bergerac is killed in a plane crash. He was also a pilot and flew charters to the lodge on a return trip to Los Angeles. His regular thermos of coffee had been doped.
So Perry Mason who had been retained to help get McCallum's money back is now in his element as a defense attorney. Bergerac was not a nice man and a lot of people had reason to kill him.
Not the strongest episode, but a well acted one. And I think you'll spot the killer well before the climax in court.
After quite a few suspects like Don Collier, Coleen Gray,. and Jackie Coogan are introduced to us at the lodge when McCallum arrives, Bergerac is killed in a plane crash. He was also a pilot and flew charters to the lodge on a return trip to Los Angeles. His regular thermos of coffee had been doped.
So Perry Mason who had been retained to help get McCallum's money back is now in his element as a defense attorney. Bergerac was not a nice man and a lot of people had reason to kill him.
Not the strongest episode, but a well acted one. And I think you'll spot the killer well before the climax in court.
Weak with Really Bad Acting
Hitchcoc10 February 2022
The awful accent and emotional stereotyping of the French woman was enough for me. She was a cheat and a manipulator and used David McCallum for her own ends. There are comedic scenes as McCallum is like a pinball going against forces much greater than he. He is also categorically stupid. This seemed endless and the promised ski lesson at the end was embarrassing to the writers.
Direction
forryjesse22 November 2019
Laugh a Minute with Mason!
pmike-1131222 March 2023
I'll just stick to the moment the plane crashed.. "Pull up! HIT THE GAS!!!" LOL! And the plane is obviously close enough to cause a flash of light on the controller's face, but neither he nor the others in the tower bother to duck in any way. Hilarious! But, typical PM! 4/5/2023-Just watched it again. What a chucklefest!
And now, for the sake of meeting IMdb's ridiculous character minimums: I'll just stick to the moment the plane crashed.. "Pull up! HIT THE GAS!!!" LOL! And the plane is obviously close enough to cause a flash of light on the controller's face, but neither he nor the others in the tower bother to duck in any way. Hilarious! But, typical PM!
And now, for the sake of meeting IMdb's ridiculous character minimums: I'll just stick to the moment the plane crashed.. "Pull up! HIT THE GAS!!!" LOL! And the plane is obviously close enough to cause a flash of light on the controller's face, but neither he nor the others in the tower bother to duck in any way. Hilarious! But, typical PM!
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