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You should definitively give “Make Me a Perfect Murder” and “The Conspirators” a watch. I actually prefer those two episodes to “Try and Catch Me” myself. “Murder Under Glass” is probably my least favourite from season 7, but it does feature Louis Jourdan, which is of particular interest for us Bond fans.
Agree re. season 6. The Jamie Lee Curtis cameo in “Bye Bye Sky High IQ” is a bit fun too. I didn't recognise her the first time I watched the episode. I only learned about it years later when reading about the episode online.
I like Etude in Black. That has Gwyneth Paltrow's mom in it? Been a while since I have watched it. I enjoyed the scene of Casevettes and Falk on the stage with Columbo twinkling the ivories and then gleefully sharing that he's from Homicide and been assigned to the case. Great stuff!
Agree re Ray Milland; a missed opportunity for sure.
Blythe Danner plays John Cassavetes' wife in Étude in Black, yes. Until you mentioned it, I was unaware that she's Gwyneth Paltrow's mother!
NOW YOU SEE HIM
The Great Santini, a successful nightclub magician, is being blackmailed by his boss, Jesse Jerome, because he is in fact Stefan Mueller, a former member of the SS. Santini has grown tired of handing his earnings over to Jerome, and tolerating his threats of going public with the information, so he makes Jerome perform the perfect disappearing act. Santini's alibi appears strong at first, since Jerome was murdered while Santini was performing his most successful trick --involving being locked up in a box, submerged in a water tank in front of an entire audience-- but unfortunately for him, Columbo is on the case.
I like how this episode quickly and clearly establishes setting, characters and the situation that will lead to murder. The viewer's sympathies can be somewhat conflicted at first: Santini is an ex-Nazi, so it's not like he's worthy of any admiration, but in this particular context, he's the victim of Jerome, who turns out to be a fairly unpleasant and nasty person himself, not only to Santini but to the maître'd and junior partner of the place, Harry Blandford.
Now You See Him is an exciting episode, since so much of it takes place right in the middle of Santini's performance. The murder sequence is one example: the audience thinks Santini is in the water tank, but he has left the stage through a trapdoor to the basement, which gives him nine minutes to dispatch Jerome before returning to the stage. There is a mild sense of tension, since Santini has to work against the clock and go through several steps to get to Jerome's office, murder him and go back to the basement, all in an inconspicuous way, while at the same time establishing a seemingly solid alibi with a waiter. Another example is when Columbo attends Santini's magic show, the following night, and begins to peel back the layers of his alibi by discovering exactly how the magician does his water tank act. The combination of compelling action taking place in the stage and in the backstage gives the proceedings a live, busy quality that isn't all that common in Columbo.
This must be one of Peter Falk's finest performances as Columbo. He's slightly different here than in his two previous encounters with Jack Cassidy. There is the usual politeness in Columbo's exchanges with Santini, but the Lieutenant appears much less concerned with lulling his prey into a false sense of security. Here, Columbo knows the guy did it, and doesn't care much if the guy knows he knows. He seems to be relishing the thrill of the chase. He is more cocky than usual, but doesn't overdo it and acts in a very natural way. His body language, facial expressions and the rhythm of his dialogue are a joy to watch and listen to. This aspect is most pronounced in the last third of the episode, in the scenes in the restaurant and Jerome's office, and during Santini's arrest. Examples:
- In the restaurant scene, he greets Ms. McCarthy, the lady with Santini, with less of the usual attentiveness, and says "how do you do, ma'am?" without ever taking his eyes of his notepad while preparing to ask the magician some questions. And when the waiter asks him what he'll have, he goes "nothing for me", and without skipping a beat, immediately asks Santini if he knows Michael Lally. He's all business here.
- In the office scene, when the magician asks him if he has a suspect, he wastes no time or effort on subterfuge, and flat out tells him they do have one, but that Santini's motif remains a mystery. Columbo's face while saying this shows how much he is enjoying the game between him and Santini. One of my favorite moments in the series, for sure.
- Another moment I love in that scene is when Columbo says they now know where Jerome was before he died, and Santini, offering no new information, says "of course, he was in the office", so Columbo, without missing a beat, asks him "where in the office?" It's an opportunity for Columbo to set a small landmine for Santini, but Santini isn't falling for such an obvious trap, so he says "now how would I know that?" And Columbo, knowing it was unlikely for his question to lead anywhere useful, immediately moves on to another thing. It's just an example of how his mind works, of how every exchange in a conversation is a chance for the Lieutenant to try to find out what the other person knows, doesn't know or might be trying to hide. It reminds me of the scene in Double Exposure when Columbo neglects to tell Dr. Keppel whether he has to turn left or right to drive them to the murder scene, so Keppel has to ask him, because being supposedly innocent, there's no way he would know where the murder took place.
There's also a terrific moment when the Lieutenant puts Santini on the spot and gives him the handcuffs. Either he disappoints his audience, and probably hurts his reputation, by failing to get out of them, or he picks them successfully and makes Columbo even more suspicious of him as Jerome's possible murderer. The wink is the perfect way to cap off the moment. Brilliant stuff, especially with the editing and the slow zoom-in shots.
Another aspect that contributes to this being a especially good showcase of the Columbo character has to do with the presence of Sergeant Wilson, a likable character who is thorough and dedicated to his job, but who lacks (or has yet to develop) Columbo's fine-tuned intuition for things. Usually, the Lieutenant's thought process is somewhat obscured for the viewer, either because he comes up with explanations offscreen or because we discover them along with the murderer, so he's already had time to think them over. However, in Now You See Him, we get the chance to see Columbo bounce fresh ideas off Wilson. The best example of that is in the aforementioned office scene, when Columbo discovers which chair Jerome was sitting on, and then tries to understand what he was doing. He looks at the chairs and quickly rules them out based on height and material. Wilson makes suggestions regarding Jerome's actions, and Columbo quickly evalutes them and, well, shoots them down. His mind is working at a thousand miles per hour, analyzing every possibility. It's fascinating to see. Makes you understand in a most concrete way that he's doing this all the time, even when playing dumb.
As for Jack Cassidy, this time he is less patient with Columbo than in Publish or Perish, but also much less smug than in Murder by the Book. He's resourceful, he's in control and doesn't appear to underestimate Columbo too much. I love how Santini doesn't force things in terms of his alibi. He acts the way one might expect a successful magician to act-- he is at first reluctant to disclose how his water tank trick is done. Eventually, when the Lieutenant discovers it by himself, Santini doesn't rush to point out that the waiter is his alibi. Instead, he first says there's no way he could've left the basement to murder Jerome without being seen. In real life, I doubt alibis come together perfectly in one instant. So Santini plays it smart by gradually revealing information to keep Columbo at bay, and the Lieutenant appears truly stumped at one moment. The chemistry between Peter Falk and Jack Cassidy is magnificent, as usual.
The scene with Michael Lally (played by --who else?-- Mike Lally) has a subtle, unspoken touch of melancholy to it. It's clear Lally has seen better days, but Columbo puts him at ease instantly and there is a nice rapport between the characters.
There are two recurring gags in Now You See Him. One involves Columbo's new coat, which he doesn't care much for and would rather lose than wear, and the other has to do with Wilson's plausible, albeit incorrect theories on who murdered Jerome and how. These are enjoyable ways to spice things up and provide a break in the main story. I must say I found the look of Columbo without his coat rather appealing. Of course it makes perfect sense for him to recover the good old coat by the end, but I didn't mind seeing him without it. The suit he wears under the coat has the same disheveled appearance.
Santini has a daughter, Della, who works as his onstage assistant. Throughout the episode, she's seen engaged in a romance with Danny Green, the singer of the nightclub, to Santini's mild disapproval. Although the magician doesn't display that much warmth toward his daughter, they appear to have a good relationship. From the backstory we get on Santini, the possibility of Della knowing about his Nazi past appears to be most unlikely, not to mention it would be an unnecessary and pointless risk for him to disclose that information to her. It's a shame, then, that she is absent from the final scene. Della's sudden discovery of his father's hidden history could've provided a terrific dramatic moment, full of pathos and conflicted emotions. Once again, it would have complicated our sympathies toward Santini, and in the process shot this already very fine episode into the stratosphere. I suppose there is a logic to Columbo summoning Green rather than Della for the final reveal, so that the horrible news would be broken to her in a more delicate way, whether by her boyfriend or her father, but it just seems like a wasted opportunity for really good drama. I wonder if, for some reason, the plot point of Della leaving Los Angeles was added to avoid creating that situation between Santini and her.
There are some good clues in this episode. Although not all of them seem to be connected that well to each other, they are ingenious and appear to be logically sound. The business of analyzing how Jerome's corpse fell is especially enjoyable, even if it is not mentioned again. Now, Columbo could've checked Jerome's desk again without needing the sweat line on the back of Jerome's shirt to find out where he was sitting when he died, but at least the clue points him in the right direction and leads him to the typewriter. I missed getting a damning piece of evidence to suggest Santini was in Jerome's office when he died, but the letter itself is probably one of the most incriminating pieces of evidence in a Columbo episode, anyway, so it all holds together.
Very good episode. In closing, if I had to rank the Cassidy episodes, it would go like this:
1. Publish or Perish
2. Now You See Him
3. Murder by the Book
P.S.: Cynthia Sikes, who plays Della, has to be one of the most beautiful women to have appeared in Columbo. Incidentally, she produced Blade Runner 2049, along with her husband, Bud Yorkin.
I too love the stage magic with the handcuffs. The way the "I knew you could do it" is delivered you know it has a double meaning. The wink just enhances the fact that Columbo has his guy and the game is afoot.
By the way, I meant to say Double Exposure, not Negative Reaction. I'm always getting the titles confused for some reason.
COLUMBO AND THE MURDER OF A ROCK STAR
Through a private detective, successful lawyer Hugh Creighton finds out Marcy Edwards, his live-in girlfriend and a former rock singer, is having an affair with her old band drummer, Neddy Malcolm. He tries to leave her but she warns him if he does, she'll reveal all she knows about his shady business practices, including bribes to cops and judges. So, one day, when the couple is together at Creighton's beach house, Creighton drugs the drummer, kills the woman, and makes it look like the drummer did it. Open-and-shut case, it seems, until Columbo starts to have some doubts about the corks of some champagne bottles...
This is a good and very entertaining episode, in spite of the fact it has some nagging plot shortcomings. Let's discuss the guest star first. There is a signature Dabney Coleman role: the self-centered but charismatic scoundrel whom you love to hate. Given he's playing the murderer and antagonist here, one would expect Coleman to bring just that type of performance, and that's what he does. Creighton's cynical disposition and sense of humor are so amusing that you almost want him to get away with the crime. While the first part of his interactions with Columbo mainly requires him to do some hypocritical tear-shedding over his dead girlfriend, later on he starts behaving more nervously and impatiently around the Lieutenant, supposed grief being replaced by annoyance. You can tell all Creighton is thinking by this point is "why don't you take the evidence I planted at face value and stop bothering me?" Coleman is an expert at playing this sort of thing. One great moment is when Columbo discusses his suspicions about the aforementioned champagne corks with Creighton and implies he might've murdered the woman, after which Creighton, cigarette in hand, tells him to "take your corks and get the hell out of here." Hard to convey through words, but in the hands of Dabney Coleman's comedic skills, it's a hilarious moment. Incidentally, at one point in the scene, speaking of the murderer, Columbo points out to Creighton that "the guy is not a dope" in response to Creighton's efforts to convince Columbo the evidence should be taken at face value. Haha!
The other standout segment would be when, after Creighton tries to pull some strings to get Columbo off his back, both of them, plus some other people, are gathered up at the DA's office, and Creighton is told by the DA he has no alibi for the time when his girlfriend was murdered, until an automated speeding ticket with his face on it exonerates him. His boastful reaction at this development is another very funny part.
That said, for all the lighthearted moments, there is a cruelty to Creighton (he is after all, a murderer). In an early scene at a construction site, after having an argument, Creighton almost pushes Marcy off the building, which is followed by a veiled and fairly sinister threat from him. And eventually he kills her by strangulation, which is of course a particularly brutal means of death. (Incidentally, the murder happens offscreen, with a very effective jump cut from right before the murder to after it, while Creighton is washing the champagne glasses.)
Somehow, Coleman reminds me of Ross Martin, only much less likely to have a nervous breakdown. I wish he had guest-starred again.
The Columbo character is generally portrayed in a satisfying way. The episode might have plenty of funny moments, but Columbo is mostly his usual self in them (usual as in early seasons, not post-Last Salute to the Commodore). Yes, he reacts to some of the funny stuff in a funny way, but the comedy is mostly situation-based, or it arises from the interactions of the Lieutenant with other characters. He doesn't behave like a buffoon and he's hard at work on the case. I can accept a lighthearted episode when it's handled in this way and not pushed too far. After Columbo refuses to provide the autopsy report of Marcy to Creighton (it's the rules, he says), there's a scene in which Columbo's boss calls him to his office and seriously reprimands him, then telling him he's to attend dinner with Creighton that same night and bring the report. It appears to be a straightforward scene, until at the end, the boss suddenly loses his severe manner and tells the Lieutenant to try the New York Steak at the restaurant. It's an interesting moment because it suggests the boss' scolding was an act, done because it was an order from above, and not because the boss is mad at Columbo in any way. After all, the guy has been in the force for many years and he knows his job. The dinner scene itself has an enjoyable moment when Columbo says he's not too hungry, and proceeds to order half the menu.
Another entertaining and somewhat insightful moment is when Columbo and Sgt. Hubach (a good foil for the Lieutenant) arrive at a motel where Neddy Malcolm is hiding from the authorities after having flown the Marcy Edwards crime scene. When the cops knock on his door, he escapes through the window and jumps into a pool, after which Hubach, gun in hand, sets off in pursuit of him. It's all very dramatic, until you notice Columbo in the background, barely reacting to the fast-paced action. He just looks at the events like an indifferent bystander. And then of course, while Hubach is chasing Malcolm, Columbo starts looking around Malcolm's motel room, where he finds a clue that allows him to locate the man later on. It's brains over brawn for him, no doubt. And the stretch of the episode with Columbo following the trail of Malcolm on his own is pretty good. (For some reason, Little Richard shows up at a nightclub scene. I just accepted it.)
A scene in which Columbo returns to the crime scene (while it's raining, no less-- finally some use for the raincoat) finds him wearing a baseball cap. Unusual but somewhat pleasing look. The cap says "NFI". Apparently, someone on the set was wearing it when they were filming and Peter Falk asked him what that meant... "No F***ing Idea". Falk found it hilarious so he borrowed it for the scene (the cap is never brought up in the scene, of course.) The interplay with the impatient cleaning lady at the beach house is somewhat reminiscent of Mrs. Peck and Double Shock, only less severe, and the main source of amusement comes from the difference in physical size between Columbo and the large woman.
I swear a moment in which Creighton is driving somewhere with Columbo at his side, when he almost runs into another car at an intersection, must be the most startled I've ever seen the usually-easygoing Lieutenant. As I said, this episode has plenty of humor in it (even in the end credits!), certainly more than I've described here. It generally works for me, and I prefer it to something like the opening scene of Make Me a Perfect Murder, which just makes Columbo seem too absent-minded.
There are a couple of negatives, though. The detective hired by Creighton is named Sam Marlowe and dresses like he's out of 1940s film. At first I rolled my eyes at this touch, which was too broad for my taste, though I then figured this guy merely stylizes himself after a stereotypical detective, rather than being one. Still, perhaps they took it a little too far. Columbo asks him some questions at some point. That's a good scene, regardless of what the detective character is like.
Another bit of humor that might be too much involves the dancing siren, Columbo and a drunk at the bar. It's honestly funny, but a little too goofy.
The murder and the frame-up of Malcolm has a good number of intricate details, including Creighton injecting a sleeping serum into a champagne bottle, giving Disulfiram to Marcy (took me a bit to realize the point of doing this, but it makes perfect sense) and disguising himself as the gardener to enter the beach house, and commit the murder, without raising suspicions. Columbo picks up plenty of interesting and reasonable clues along the way. There are, however, two problems I can see with Creighton's plan and execution. One is that, while the gardener is away, Creighton steals his truck and uses it to go to the beach house, before returning it to its place. Problem is he parks it two blocks away and the gardener obviously notices this. I suppose in real life, under stress, such a mistake could be made, but it's too stupid for a Columbo episode. Creighton comes up with a fairly good plan so you don't expect him to ruin it with mistakes like this. It undermines the battle of wits between Columbo and the murderer, which should ideally deal with the logic gaps in the plan, not with this blunders in the exceution. Furthermore, I think the fact the truck is parked in the wrong spot could have been avoided altogether. At an early point in the story, Columbo picks up a good clue involving the raking of the dirt at the beach house garden. That might've been enough to lead him to talk to the gardener, and discover the glove marks on the seat adjustment lever on the truck match the glove marks on Marcy's neck. Putting that together with the fact Creighton's car is known to have been at the "street of trees that rain berries", two blocks away from where the gardener parked the truck, Columbo could have properly established Creighton took the truck and committed the murder.
The other problem --and it's a big one-- is that Creighton uses his assistant, Ms. Fairbanks (played well by Shera Danese, Falk's wife) as an alibi for the time of the murder. It's the aforementioned automatic speeding ticket with Creighton's face on it. The thing is that while Creighton was committing the murder, Ms. Fairbanks was speeding through a road miles away, wearing a mask of Creighton, so that the speeding camera would pick it up. It's a farfetched concept, but I can accept it. What is difficult to accept is that Ms. Fairbanks was not involved in the murder at all, and had no idea why she was doing what she was doing-- she just agreed to it because Creighton said it was "research". Wearing a mask while speeding is a strange idea in the first place, one bound to raise an eyebrow, so it must've been demanded a much stronger explanation from Creighton than merely calling it "research". And to make the plot considerably more convincing, somehow, the audience should've heard that explanation as well. They screwed up here.
But while this is a significant shortcoming of the story, when you take into account all the elements of the episode --the rest of the plot, the clues, characters, acting, the imaginative and pleasant moments of humor, and just the overall way in which the episode and the narrative flow-- it turns out to be "not enough to convict". It's not top-notch Columbo, but it certainly has top-notch things in it, and it's an enjoyable and surprisingly very funny entry.
CAUTION: MURDER CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH
Wade Anders, a former security expert, is the host of CrimeAlert, a very successful true crime TV show where dangerous fugitives are captured and brought to justice. Anders had to beat 11 pm news reporter Budd Clarke to the job, and did so by spreading calumnious and false information about him. Clarke is understandably not too happy about this, so when a former army buddy sends him a tape that shows Anders once starred in a pornographic film in which the co-star was underaged, blackmail becomes the name of the game: Anders is going to have to leave the show, and it's up to him to decide whether to do it with his reputation intact or permanently damaged. But Anders has murder in his mind...
Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health is a prime counterexample to the argument that the ABC era of Columbo couldn't reach the greatness of the original run. Of course it could, and it does here. This is a jolly good time of an episode. Columbo's unraveling of the mystery, with lots of clever little clues along the way, is highly enjoyable to watch, and the chemistry between Peter Falk and George Hamilton's Wade Anders is magnificent, with Hamilton being wonderful at portraying fairly subtle, yet very amusing annoyance in dealing with the persistent Lieutenant.
The beginning of the episode throws a curveball at the viewer. A cheap motel room, a scheming couple with a insurance scam in mind. Is this the murder that Columbo is going to investigate? Not quite, as it's merely a reenactment of a true crime for Anders' CrimeAlert show. The expectations of the viewer are cleverly toyed with, and a somewhat amusing parallel is established, in that Columbo and the murderer are in a similar line of business, bringing criminals to justice. Off to a good start.
Anders is an intriguing character. He is charismatic and comes across as very self-confident, though not really arrogant. Very focused on his blossoming TV career, he appears to know exactly what he wants from life and isn't going to let anyone get in the way of his success, especially not Budd Clarke, someone he hardly has any personal appreciation for in the first place. Because we are privy to his secret past, we are somewhat invited to reflect on his life and his motivations, on what drove him from A to B. There is a sense of mystery there, and there is room to speculate, even if a clear answer will remain elusive.
Budd Clarke, his blackmailer and eventual victim, is a chain smoker, so Anders will use this Achilles' heel to send him to the grave (hence the clever title). There is a lovely four-minute sequence in which Anders, alone at night in his production office (Wade Anders Productions-- but of course) prepares a pack of cigarettes by poisoning them. A quiet scene, with no dialogue, driven only by his methodical actions, the terrific music score by John Cacavas (more on that later) and good editing and cinematography. A highlight of the episode, in my opinion.
Clarke meets with Anders, and threatens to go public with this compromising tape he found, on a Friday. The scene in which Anders prepares the cigarettes, by which point he has obviously settled on murder, takes place later that day. Anders sure makes quick, dramatic decisions. There is an enjoyable sense of boldness there. He just knows he has no choice if he wants to continue hosting the show.
The murder itself takes place the next day, when the characters are to get together in Clarke's house, so that Anders can verify Clarke has the tape, and then discuss the situation with him. I'm going to dwell on this scene as there is a lot to unpack.
Clarke's pack of cigarettes is replaced with the poisoned one, and when he tries one, he gets this lethal coughing attack from which he never recovers. It's a fairly sinister moment, especially when Anders starts to put on some gloves to avoid fingerprints while Clarke is still dying in front of him ("Wade, I can't breathe!", he says). I would have greatly appreciated a wider shot here, to show Clarke looking at Anders putting on the gloves before passing away. Nonetheless, the scene suggests the cruel possibility Clarke became well and truly aware the guy sitting across the desk from him was his executioner.
The aftermath of this moment is also another quietly compelling part of the episode, in its methodical and procedural style. While manipulating the crime scene to make Clarke's death look like a heart attack, Anders wears gloves, he handles objects in plastic bags that he carries neatly in his briefcase... his level of control and the extent of his planning are enjoyable to watch.
A couple of plot clarifications are perhaps in order at this point. Elsewhere on the internet, someone wondered why Anders would bother to bring put out cigarettes and cigarette ashes with him. In fact, he brought them so that if/when a poisoned cigarette was placed on the ashtray, he could replace its contents so as not to leave any traces of the poison. Of course, he placed it there himself when putting it out, but there is a logic to it, no doubt.
Also, someone asked how did Anders expect the police not to find out Clarke was poisoned. The point is that in an accidental death with no loose ends, there would have been no reason to request a toxicology report, therefore the fact poison was involved would have been missed (had it not been for Columbo, of course).
The only plot criticism I have in this episode also arises at this point: I don't understand why Anders replaced the news story Clarke was writing about him in his computer with another one. Wouldn't it have been enough to delete the story without replacing it? I imagine the screenwriters thought this through in a certain way, but it's not explained well, so it remains iffy for the viewer. That said, this plot point provides a couple of enjoyable clues. One of them is outright brilliant.
In so many films and TV shows you always see a murderer placing the victim's fingers on a gun or any other object, but only in the most superficial of ways, never accounting for all the different ways the object should have been held by the victim. In this episode, Anders prints the replacement news story and places Clarke's fingers on the page. Columbo will later wonder how it's possible his fingerprints were only on one side of the page, considering the page had to be taken off the printer and placed on the desk. A very logical question to ask! Especially amusing when you consider that in a previous Columbo episode, Agenda for Murder, released only the previous year, Patrick McGoohan places the victim's fingers on the supposed suicide note (only on the top side, of course), but that little detail is never questioned by Columbo or anyone else!
Anyway, throughout the episode we will learn Anders left a truckload of clues for Columbo (in fact, Peter Falk told the screenwriters there were too many clues), but what I like about them is that they seem like reasonable mistakes. They are oversights one could see an intelligent person make, albeit one who has never killed anyone before. They propel the story and the investigation but don't make Anders appear stupid. A couple of important clues (with the hedges and the dog) even come up because of simple bad (good) luck. I think by the end, Columbo has a pretty solid case here. Supposed accidental death revealed not to have been, murderer's alibi shot down, murderer placed at the scene of the crime.
A couple of thoughts on the interplay between Falk and Hamilton. I like how their scenes together are not really confrontational. Anders remains calm and collected around Columbo, and his displays of annoyance are for the most part beneath the surface, to the viewer's amusement. It's Anders dealing with a truly polite fellow, just someone who becomes a little tiresome. Around Columbo, Anders reminds me a bit of Nelson Hayward, only much less nervous. A funny little moment happens when Columbo demonstrates the aforementioned point regarding the fingerprints on the piece of paper, and does so in a slow and deliberately obtuse way so as to wind Anders up. Then they're both trying to figure out how the fingerprints could be only on one side of the page (the fact it was murder hasn't been established yet), and they're both thinking, standing next to the other in the exact same pose, hand on cheek. Great stuff.
One observation I could make about Anders is that perhaps he becomes slightly too passive a character after the murder, and doesn't try to do something to get Columbo off his back after seeing he's not going away, but he's not the only murderer to have been in this situation, and in his defense, his alibi appeared very strong so he probably thought he just had to play it cool to make it through the Columbo onslaught.
There are three priceless comedy bits in this episode. The main one is when Columbo, visiting a porno store, runs into a creepy-looking costumer wearing a raincoat identical to his, and this guy says to the Lieutenant that he "hopes we both have fun tonight, pal."
The second one is a fender bender between Anders and Columbo while the latter arrives to pick up the security tape that will provide the former's alibi. A scene probably added to get the episode to the required length, but a very enjoyable moment. I don't mind it if Columbo is shown as occasionally clumsy (after all, we know it's his mind and logical thinking what make him brilliant, not his physical grace or his sartorial taste), and this accidental moment even leads the Lieutenant to a crucial clue.
The third bit of humor involves Anders and Columbo at a police party, with Columbo wearing a tux, and with his wife, supposedly there with him and eager to meet Anders, having suddenly disappeared despite having been there "a minute ago." Haha!
Last but not least, I have to address the great music score. John Cacavas hits all the right notes here, literally. I already mentioned the music that plays while Anders prepares the murder (I adore how that "scheming" piece of music returns at the end, when Columbo is watching Anders' surveillance tape-- it ties the episode together in a musical sense), but there is also the seedy, bohemian piece at the beginning, the farcical music that precedes the fender bender, and the catchy end credits. Very nice.
My personal favorite Columbo episode.
Surprised no one's pointed out this, but a Columbo episode shares its name with the next Bond film.
I agree with you about the ABC episodes. There are plenty of good episodes there too. I just rewatched 'Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health' not very long ago. It's a good solid episode and George Hamilton gives a good performance as the guest killer.
Yes, I think I was one of the first here to point out the shared title as a big fan of both series. It was of course the first thing I thought of when I saw the title reveal on Facebook. It's funny to me as members here were ruminating about Swan Song (or even the variant Swann Song) as a possible title and that's of course yet another Columbo episode title. It is nice that my two favourite things have a title in common now.
A BIRD IN THE HAND
Gambler Harold McCain is in big trouble. He owes money to the wrong people, and now they are after him. His uncle, Big Fred, is a millionaire who owns a football team, but despite Harold's efforts to get on his good side, Fred completely hates Harold and his gambling ways, and won't lift a finger to help him. Harold has an ongoing fling with Fred's wife, Dolores, so he figures out with Fred out of the way, he might get the money he needs from her. He plants a pipe bomb in Fred's car, but things will take an unexpected turn...
This is an interesting episode to analyze, since it tries to shake up the formula a bit. It does a decent, but not sterling job at it. It's a competent and enjoyable entry in the series, and all the characters, with their individual storylines, are engaging to follow, and somewhat surprisingly given the extended screen time they get. However, there are a few important things that bother me, about the structure of the story and the logic of the wrap up. More on them later.
In what was probably inspired by then-recently-released Goodfellas, A Bird in the Hand begins with Tony Bennett's Rags to Riches playing over images of Las Vegas. Appropriate in a way, since right after it, gangster Mr. Hacker shows up in a casino looking for Harold, who owes him money. Harold makes a quick getaway, and knowing that he's going to have to come up with the money quickly, goes to LA to see Fred and Dolores. Harold is played by Greg Evigan, in a very colorful character and performance. He dresses in a cowboy hat and boots, and has a moustache that for some reason, when combined with his sometimes devious facial expressions, makes him seem untrustworthy in a most entertaining way.
Big Fred is played by Steve Forrest and Dolores by Tyne Daly, so you can see this is quite the starry cast. Fred is presented as a fairly bad-tempered, unsympathetic and somewhat brash figure who appears only briefly, but does make an impression in his scenes with Evigan. Dolores begins as ditsy and harmless --someone happy with her comfortable lifestyle, and her flings with Harold and the players of the football team--, but will eventually reveal her true colors. These are all entertaining characters and how they try to use and manipulate each other is a big part of what makes the episode watchable.
The formula shake up is fairly inspired. After being turned down for help by Fred, Harold settles on murder, hoping the police will assume Fred's mobster connections had something do with it. He builds the pipe bomb in his cabin (following the instructions from Soldier for Hire magazine), gives it a test run with a car in a deserted place, and eventually he plants it in Fred's car. The next morning, he gets the news that Fred has died, however, when he shows up in his mansion, he finds out it happened in a hit-and-run, not through the explosion! So begins a great and tense little sequence in which Harold tries to disarm the bomb without the police --including Columbo, who is introduced snooping around the deadly car-- finding out. Great stuff. Eventually, Harold fails to disarm the explosive and the gardener --whose truck had been stolen and was the one that was used to kill Fred-- is himself blown up when he tries to move Fred's car.
Everything has been impeccable in this episode, so far, and the surprising turn the story takes is exciting to watch. However, as the rest of the story unfolds, you will notice that Harold and Dolores --with the former trying to manipulate the latter for money, and the latter suddenly showing herself to be fairly shrewd and power-hungry-- take up much more screen time than usual, with Columbo's scenes being reduced. This is certainly unfortunate, as it makes the episode lighter than usual in terms of the investigative side and reduces the time alloted to interactions between Columbo and the murderer, although what we are served on the screen is still surprisingly enjoyable and interesting. Even if somewhat pushed to the background, Columbo is still his good old self, and he begins to piece things together, with his suspicions for the car bomb centering on Harold, but as it happens, the other half of the story, involving Harold's attempts to get money from Dolores, needs to cover much more territory for the Lieutenant to be allowed to fully take the center stage.
Eventually, what one could have suspected about Dolores once she showed herself to be brighter than she seemed, is demonstrated to be fact, as she is revealed to be the one who murdered Fred. It's another exciting development and when Harold attempts good old blackmail, Dolores murders him and makes it seem he was offed by the gangsters he owed money to. Only then is Columbo truly allowed to become a more prominent figure as he solves this later murder, and while he can't prove Dolores murdered Fred, he can prove she murdered Harold (hence the title of the episode).
Going back to the earlier point, regarding the relative lack of screen time for Columbo in the first part of the story, I think this could have been easily remedied by showing him beginning to suspect Dolores of the murder of Fred at a much earlier point, while still being suspicious of Harold and his attempted murder of Fred (as it is in the episode, we don't find out Columbo knows Dolores did it until the very last scene). We could have gotten several more scenes of Columbo interacting with her given these suspicions, and seen him putting things together regarding Fred's death. This would have diluted the revelation that Harold knows Dolores killed Fred, but as I said before, that is something one begins to suspect anyway when she goes from being ditsy and apparently not too bright, to comfortably becoming the new owner of Fred's fortune. With this change, Harold's clever deductions that led him to suspect Dolores could have been transferred to --or even better, duplicated in-- Columbo's character, with both Harold and the Lieutenant noticing unusual things in her routine to make them wary of her and her seemingly clumsy and frail disposition.
Elsewhere on the net, someone pointed out the death of Harold negates the first part of the story and Columbo's investigation of the car bomb, and it does to some extent, or at least it appears to do so, and that's because during the first part of the episode, we only see Columbo looking into the bomb, and not Dolores and the hit-and-run. The problem lies in the sequential approach of seeing the Lieutenant investigating A, then B, rather than A and B simultaneously. Once again, I would have sacrificed the attempt at surprise with Harold's revelation about Dolores, and shown Columbo being suspicious about her from early on.
The other shortcoming in the story is that in the end, Columbo seems to lack some vital piece of evidence to prove Dolores murdered Harold. He certainly has managed to prove she lied about practically everything she said Harold told her in their phone conversation, but that still doesn't prove she was the one who murdered him, even if Columbo's intuition is pitch-perfect and he has managed to determine how everything must have happened. Columbo's investigation of this final murder (with yet another interesting actor, Frank McRae, showing up as a fellow Lieutenant) still yields some interesting clues, and his reconstruction of how Harold spent his last few hours --and how it doesn't jibe with Dolores' claim that he had been threatened by the gangsters only hours earlier-- is engaging to watch.
I think these problems with the story and its structure could have been solved with a few changes, and this episode could have been an absolute winner. As it is, it's very entertaining to watch and has some lively characters, but it fails to reach its full potential.
The few interactions between Peter Falk and Greg Evigan are pretty good, with Harold having little patience for Columbo's antics. The chemistry is good and I would have liked to see more of it. Likewise, Falk's scenes with Tyne Daly --whose crocodile tears over the deaths of everyone else are second to none-- are also enjoyable. The clue the Lieutenant shows her, regarding Harold's eyes closing before the car bomb goes off, is vintage Columbo.
On the whole, a good, but not great attempt at shaking the formula. The surprise involving the death of Big Fred is terrific, as are the later shenanigans between Harold and Dolores, but the script could have used a rewrite to take it to the next level, and give Columbo a more prominent role in the episode (though when he does take center stage, he is as compelling to watch as always, and the clues he discovers are enjoyable and logical, even if we are missing enough of them for a conviction).
A FRIEND IN DEED
When Hugh Caldwell accidentally kills his wife, his neighbor and friend, Mark Halperin, creates an alibi for him, and alters the crime scene to make it look like the murder was committed by a burglar who had robbed several houses in the neighborhood. Halperin will later ask Caldwell to return the favor, by providing him with an alibi for a murder he had long been wishing to commit himself. Columbo will eventually investigate the case, but it just so happens that Halperin is a police commissioner, and his boss...
For my money, this is one of the most tightly plotted Columbo stories. Everything little detail and deduction makes sense and serves some purpose, from a torn piece of clothing, to an unanswered phone call, to a fake piece of jewelry. Columbo's discoveries that lead him to realize an accomplice must have been involved in the first murder are especially satisfying, such as the business involving the nightgown below the pillow. The story, somewhat reminiscent of Strangers on a Train, is ingenious --especially with the idea of pinning the murders on the thief-- and it takes a surprising turn with the second murder, though one can already sense a slightly tense and uncomfortable vibe between Halperin and his wife in their first scene together, which hints at the events to come. The ending is very enjoyable, since the final piece of evidence is completely and thoroughly unescapable. There's no way for Halperin to lie or argue his way out of it, kind of like with Nelson Hayward's staged assassination attempt in Candidate for Crime.
Although we only get to see darkest side quite briefly, it seems to me that Halperin is one of the most sinister, scheming and cruel killers in the series, with these qualities being disguised under his apparently strong dedication to his job and his supposed love for his wife. In fact, I can almost imagine him having a superiority complex, born out of his position of power within the police force, which --considering it's an organization meant to stand for justice-- eventually inflated his ego, and caused him to start thinking of himself as above the moral considerations the rest of the world has to live with. The scene in which he murders his wife is surely one of the darkest moments in a Columbo episode, and infuriating to watch to some extent. There's a real sense of cruelty at its core.
The unlikely premise of having one of the killers be the Lieutenant's boss has some interesting effects. First of all, the interaction between Columbo and Halperin is more subdued in this episode than in others. To an extent, this has to do with the fact that generally, Columbo sets out to catch John Smith, whom he has quickly determined to be the murderer. Instead, in this episode, it's almost like Columbo sets out to catch the murderer, and after a while he comes to the unlikely conclusion it happens to be John Smith. Another effect of the unusual premise is that, because it's his boss he's talking to, Columbo's insinuations and double-edged comments are not as many as usual. Also, his recurring visits to Halperin appear, from the perspective of the murderer, less like Columbo zeroing in on him as a suspect and more like him just reporting his progress to his boss. To some extent, this aspect of the Columbo formula --the psychological game between the Lieutenant and the murderer-- is a bit less enjoyable than usual this time around, but this is because the story demands it to be that way, and at any rate, this aspect is more than offset by all the interesting things the episode has to offer.
Val Avery is fantastic in A Friend in Deed. Just remarkable. The character he plays is so angry, sad, and real. Through some very fine acting, and some elegant exposition that is perfectly integrated into a number of dialogue scenes, you get to understand some of his motivations in life, as well as his regrets, and what he thinks of his own line of work and how it should be performed. He has some very funny scenes with the wife, and overall adds a great deal to the episode.
Over at the Columbophile website, several people were questioning why Halperin needed to assign Columbo to the case, considering the Lieutenant is so good at his job that it could only have put his attempt at getting away with murder in jeopardy. For me, this is an absolute non-issue, when one takes into account either of the following theories: a) At the beginning of an episode, Columbo is supposed to be back to being "just a cop", rather than a detective renowned within the department-- the formula more or less resets itself as a matter of convenience, an idea which is compatible with the fact the show has little in the way of continuity, and barely any recurring characters. b) Halperin thought if not even Columbo, one of the finest detectives in the force, would be able to prove he did something or even suspect him of it, his apparent innocence would be reinforced. An egotistical thought, for sure, but not out of the ordinary for a Columbo murderer.
Lastly, it's worth repeating something that was also mentioned in the Columbophile site: this episode has a grittier, more street-based feel to it. Less in the way of glamorous locations and characters. It gives it a different and refreshing feel, compatible with the already unusual premise.
A terrific entry in the series, that demonstrates the Columbo format is suitable for a greater number of situations and stories than you might think at a first glance.
I liked the cat and mouse game here and took some delight in watching this very bad cop get what's coming to him. I agree he's a nasty bit of work. In fact that meeting in the bar you wouldn't suspect he's a high ranking police officer. The gotcha is all the more better for how nasty this guy was.
Great review as always @mattjoes
Thank you.
Actually, I don't disagree that there's a drop off in quality. I think there is, it's only that for some people there's a massive difference in quality, with the ABC episodes apparently having nothing at all to offer, and I do disagree with that. I think they get into some interesting new situations for Columbo to explore (college life, dream analysis, paranormal research by the government, the rave scene...); they try to do some new things with the formula, which sometimes work and sometimes don't; and happily Peter Falk generally goes back to playing Columbo like he did before Last Salute to the Commodore (or even Identity Crisis!)-- just this last point makes me prefer to watch the new run of Columbo over, say, season 7, as good as its scripts might be. In the ABC era, it's not so much the dialogue that is noticeably inferior to me, but some of the clues and deductions, and some of the choices made in the scripts in regards to story structure. But, on the whole, I don't rate the ABC era any less than very good, since when Columbo gets around to discussing some (good) clue or thing that bothers him with the murderer, it's still top-notch stuff. There are, admittedly, some blunders, but there are also several episodes that can stand proudly next to some of the best of the 70s run, such as the George Hamilton and McGoohan ones, and certainly the one with the college boys. The last episode was also a very fine send off, which felt both classic --somewhat harkening back to Prescription: Murder-- and modern, with its setting.
Gotcha.
And the awesome credits music:
At the very end of Double Exposure, Dr. Keppel sheds a tear while laughing at the fact Columbo used subliminal messages on him. Personally, I didn't catch that until very recently. I like that touch, as it makes his reaction to getting caught more detailed and complex, psychologically speaking. One can speculate about the combination of thoughts and emotions racing through his mind. Honest admiration for the trick Columbo pulled, disappointment over "losing the game" to him, sadness for being caught, perhaps a transient regret for having committed the crime in the first place, or perhaps for even feeling the want/need to murder-- for being the way he is. Keppel is an interesting antagonist, as one can extrapolate from his actions and behavior --and certainly from his shady business practices--, that adjusting to the idea of murdering someone wasn't as big a stretch for him as for other killers in the series. While the episode begins with his murder plan already in progress, and thus we don't get to see the idea developing in his mind, given how adept he is at it, how skillful he's in his psychological duel with Columbo, and crucially, how much he seems to relish it, it's easy to deduce he seems to have eased into the situation fairly easily. You can imagine sitting down for a conversation with this guy, and hearing something like what Dr. Ray Flemming says about how morals are relative, and how he was just being pragmatic when committing murder, or blackmail, or when he threw the golf ball into a more comfortable spot. Not the kind of thing you would hear from someone like, say, Abigail Mitchell, or even from Paul Hanlon, and certainly not from Brimmer.
And I love the eerie piano going up and down the scale at the end of the episode. Brilliant.
Haha. Good one. In a similar note, I wonder if you've seen this before:
To be serious though, I Iove that episode. It's easily the best one from Season 2 and one of the very best Columbo episodes overall. You think Columbo's actually been defeated this time around. It actually goes right down to the wire. I often think Dr Mayfield had a brief window of time there to retrieve the incriminating dyed dissolving suture from Columbo's surgical gown and dispose of it. However, I suppose he thought Columbo was finally gone for good, hence the sigh of relief.
I had not seen that. Very funny!
It's a very fine episode, with a really good music score. When Columbo leaves at the end, I always desperately wish for Dr. Mayfield to immediately grab the dissolving suture and throw it out the window or something. He was so, so, so close to getting away with it! Look, I'm always rooting for Columbo, but for someone to defeat him in that intellectual duel of wits would be so wonderful and exciting to see. I suppose Columbo Cries Wolf plays with that idea!
I was just thinking about Columbo getting angry. The Columbophile website had a piece on Columbo's moments of rage, and it came to the --in my opinion, accurate-- conclusion that some of his angry moments are calculated, and some are not. This one, in A Stitch in Crime, is calculated to some extent, since Mayfield isn't responding to the usual Columbo treatment, and by getting angry he throws him off balance. But in something like the hospital scene in An Exercise in Fatality, Columbo is just letting out his anger. I'm sure in the back of his mind, he's always thinking strategically about it to some extent, but in that moment, it's mostly about just letting the guy know he's never going to rest until he's behind bars.
You've got some new fans over on Twitter, @mattjoes!
Maybe you could provide them with this?
And I was one of those fans on Twitter! Darn, I knew that poster was familiar! Great work from @mattjoes. Nice to see it being appreciated on Twitter too and a chance to potentially sell his poster artwork. :)
I didn't have a high res version of the poster, but I went ahead and made it. I post two versions of it, one just like the one posted on Twitter, with aging effects, and one without them.
I've posted them at the Columbophile forum as well, but the thread is pending moderation. I trust @columbophile will eventually post the link to the thread or the images in that Twitter conversation, though if he doesn't, I would be very grateful if @Dragonpol could send them a message. (I don't have Twitter myself.) And thank you @Torgeirtrap, for alerting me to that conversation!
You're welcome! The poster tweet popped up in my Twitter timeline so I felt I needed to let you know. Hopefully @columbophile will post an update. ;-)
Also, didn't know there was a Columbophile forum!
That would be a great username! Should probably register myself, too.