Giving this one two extra stars just for Victor Buono. He once told Johnny Carson that Batman allowed him to do the one thing actors are taught not to do - OVERACT. I'm thankful Buono didn't over-emote here; I am less than thankful that the rest of the cast seemed to be "phoning it in." Even Burr's performance was wooden (I've sen Al Gore look more animated than this) and the attempts to be forgiving and understanding toward juvies really are laughable, 50 years later. Ray Collins would have had a field day with the kid Perry keeps forgiving. Perry Mason á la 1965 doesn't cut it. This series was based on film noir, and the B&W treatment just accentuated that as the years went by and more and more shows went to color. Film noir became passé, and regrettably so Perry Mason had to do so as well. I am grateful Burr had the good judgment to end the series when he did - close to the top and on his own terms - rather than soldier on as a caricature of his earlier shows.
Watching this episode in color made no sense to me the first time around - I was only ten, but I liked the show back then - until I saw Ironside on TV three years later. Burr's increasing body mass over the years looked better in color. (I gotta admit, though, Barbara Hale in real color was a BABE.) This almost looked like a hidden pilot for Ironside. The plot was straight from Dickens's Oliver Twist; Buono played it straight and delightfully despicable. Too bad the rest of the cast thought they were in an episode of Mod Squad.
Three stars for the storyline, two extra stars for the late, lamented Victor Buono.