Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/HBO
A year before Raymond Burr first played Perry Mason, he was romantically linked to Natalie Wood. Dates to avoid scandal was a common tactic in Hollywood (and probably still is), and this gossip benefited Burr and Wood. The latter was trying to hide her relationship with Robert Wagner, and Burr would never star in Perry Mason if his sexuality were made public.
More than 60 years later, HBO’s gritty—and queer—reboot of the Erle Stanley Gardner stories features some art imitating life, using similar tactics to link Della Street (Juliet Rylance) and District Attorney Hamilton “Ham” Burger (Justin Kirk) in order to protect their reputations. Set in Los Angeles in the early 1930s, this mutually beneficial arrangement shields Della from prying comments about her lack of a husband—and Ham about his permanent bachelor status—allowing her to pursue a legal career alongside associate Perry Mason (Matthew Rhys).
For a show located so close to Hollywood, the glamorous movie-making biz had so far only existed on the seedy periphery when Perry, in his PI days, took snaps of stars in compromising positions. Tinseltown edges closer when successful and self-assured screenwriter Anita St. Pierre enters the series in a puff of Turkish cigarette smoke, offering Della respite from the dark cloud hanging over the office and the routine of her relationship with hand model Hazel (Molly Ephraim).