I'm puzzled by the comparatively low ratings of TCOT Murdered Madam. It features two lovely actresses-Ann Jillian and Daphne Ashbrook-has plenty of action, thanks to William Katt chasing and being chased by his antagonists, and has an interesting plot which you might call a modified whodunit since we know that the killer must be one of the four luncheon guests at the Dominicos' country home. As is customary in Perry Mason movies, the victim has dug her own grave, so to speak, by getting greedy with her partner-in-crime: had she stuck to their original agreement and not raised her demands, she probably would have survived to scam another day.
A few random observations: The Tony Domenico character seems awfully dense, even for a Perry Mason client, and has a lower-class accent unlike his wife Suzanne, who seems to have all the brains in the family, however shady her past (and present).
Of course this entire story would not have taken place if the Domenicos had bothered to install a home security system which was available by the mid-1980s. Ann was up to date regarding electronic bugging devices, so why didn't she and Tony put in an alarm in their country house which they used only occasionally? Such a place, often left empty in an isolated area, would have been a prime target for burglars, not to mention the intruder who actually killed her early in the story.
Then there's her murderer who had come back hours after the luncheon searching for a tape recording and leaving a package of incriminating papers in Tony's car, a convertible that was conveniently left open with the top down. How did he know in advance that he could frame the husband and get away so easily?
And where was Suzanne's car in all this? She must have had one of her own to get to the house and conduct her business, but we never see it.
On watching this episode I assumed that Ann Jillian's unnaturally thick platinum hair was a wig. Since the actress had been treated for breast cancer around this time--a treatment involving a double mastectomy--I wondered whether the wig was necessary to hide the balding effects of chemotherapy. Whatever the case, the silver mop had become her trademark, and thankfully the actress is still with us.
