The Case of the Wednesday Woman

Phillip Stewart was convicted of manslaughter in the death of one of his employers. He was newly married at the time of his conviction and his wife has visited him faithfully every Wednesday afternoon at San Quentin. Although it's true he struck the man, it turns out the blow was not fatal. Someone else did the crime and Phillip did the time.

Due to be released, he has become involved in a scheme with a private investigator. It leads to trouble. A good episode of Perry Mason, although all the principals seemed middle-aged or more, certainly old enough to know better. I just looked up Phyllis Hill, who played the Wednesday Woman (Katherine Stewart). She was 43 when the episode first aired. She married José Ferrer a week after he divorced Uta Hagen. José married Rosemary Clooney a week after he divorced Phyllis Hill. The actor who played Phillip Stewart (Phillip Pine) was also 43 at the time of this show. And the victim, Jack Mallory, was played by Michael Pate, also 43. Michael Pate was the Indian who became blood brothers with the little boy in Hondo, probably my favorite John Wayne movie. I looked through the cast of Hondo to see if anybody was 43 when that movie came out. No. A person can spend a lot of time delving at imdb. Meanwhile, back at the ranch ...

Wednesday Woman: Phillip and I were strangers. We hardly knew each other. Even though we worked together in the same place for a great many years, we'd only been married a month when this awful thing happened.
DS: How very awful for you, Mrs. Stewart.
Wednesday Woman: I suppose we did get to know one another, to find out about one another, up there at the prison every Wednesday.

Secretary (talking about Helen Reed, widow of the man whose death sent Phillip Stewart to prison): She's become quite active since Mr. Reed died and she took over as Mr. Webber's partner.
Mallory: She was “quite active” long before that.
Secretary: Mr. Mallory!

Mallory: That could make a woman say “yes” in a hurry.
Ormesby: That’s the only kind of woman you would know.

DS: All those years, the two of you, Mrs. Stewart, why did you wait so long to get married?
Wednesday Woman: I don't know, Miss Street. Sometimes the only way you can say what you feel is by not talking.

HB: In your capacity as janitor of the Jewelers Building – 
Witness: Sanitary maintenance engineer.