Columbo - General Discussion

[seacliffsal]

'I think that most, if not all, of the planned murders were brilliant but the murderer always made just one little mistake...

There were a few episodes in which the death really was an accident, but because of panic, etc., the covering up of the death led to Columbo being able to figure out the crime.  George Hamilton and Lesley Ann Warren were in an episode like that.

Just watched the one in which the older brother who loved the family winery and just funneled money down a money pit killed his younger brother who was going to sell the winery.  I felt like Columbo liked him and vice versa.

Columbo really demonstrates his quick mind in subtle ways throughout the series.  

[peacheslatour]

Yep, like in Dagger of the Mind where Columbo went to London. That was an accidental death too but they freaked out and instead of calling the police they hid the death until Columbo sussed out what happened.

And to your other point, I think Columbo liked or at least respected many of the murderers he caught. It was an interesting dynamic you don't usually  see in crime dramas.

[illdoc]

On 2/28/2018 at 10:40 AM, peacheslatour said:

I think Columbo liked or at least respected many of the murderers he caught

Don't forget the Janet Leigh one where he essentially let her get away with it (she had something like Alzheimer's and only had about a month or two to live).

[peacheslatour]

3 hours ago, illdoc said:

Don't forget the Janet Leigh one where he essentially let her get away with it (she had something like Alzheimer's and only had about a month or two to live).

He was a very kind man although he told Ruth Gordon not to count on that. ;-)

[Milburn Stone]

On 2/27/2018 at 5:21 PM, illdoc said:

I always felt that Susan Clark had the perfect plan. She removed the front door key from her brother's key chain, replaced the porch bulb with a burnt out one, expected him to come to her patio door, where the alarm would go off when he opened it, shoot him, replace the key, break the door (from the outside), throw the keys into the front bushes, then claim to the police that she was groggy from a sleeping pill, heard the door break and alarm go off, so shot what she thought was an intruder. The keys in the bushes was to be explained as "he dropped his keys, couldn't find them in the dark, so went around back to get in the house". I thought she would have gotten away with it! If only she had known about the spare key (which he used to get in)!!!!

For some reason this reminds me of James Mason's final line in North by Northwest: "That wasn't very sporting, using real bullets." :)

[VCRTracking]

There's an official Columbo channel on Youtube with many great clips:

Here's my favorite with Peter Falk's friend John Cassavetes as a famous orchestra conductor in the classic episode "Etude in Black":

 

I love Cassavetes incredulous laughing "They don't remember that?"

Edited March 11, 2018 by VCRTracking

[VCRTracking]

On 2/27/2018 at 1:08 PM, Gregg247 said:

My 2 favorite episodes were the Dick Van Dyke as the photographer one and the Richard Kiley as Columbo's boss one.  Both had committed what I thought were perfect crimes.  There was no way Columbo was going to figure these out.....and then he did.  Since he couldn't actually prove either was the murderer, he had to trick them into incriminating themselves so completely that they had no choice but to confess.  Brilliant in both episodes! 

(I have to admit that I was actually rooting for Dick Van Dyke to get away with it.  His crime was so perfectly executed that I felt Columbo was only after him because he "knew" he was that episode's guest starring villain.)

How Columbo got him was great. By tricking Van Dyke into picking out from a shelf full of different cameras the one he used. I loved Columbo asked each of the policemen there "Were you a witness to what he did?" "Were you a witness to what he did?" and them responding "Yes lieutenant."

[peacheslatour]

14 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

How Columbo got him was great. By tricking Van Dyke into picking out from a shelf full of different cameras the one he used. I loved Columbo asked each of the policemen there "Were you a witness to what he did?" "Were you a witness to what he did?" and them responding "Yes lieutenant."

The criminals may have thought Columbo was a bumbling fool (at first) but the police who worked with him had tons of respect for him.

[LakeGal]

I just watched Dead Weight from 1971.  It is the one with Eddie Albert & Suzanne Pleshette.  The General in this one always gave me the creeps.  The way he sought out the female witness and began to date her.  He had Suzanne's character doubting what she saw while Columbo believed her. It was another one where Columbo was eating chili and getting ideas.    

[SlovakPrincess]

The most memorable murderers for me were the lawyer who killed her husband and tried to set it up as a kidnapping for ransom gone bad (played by the wonderfully spooky Lee Grant), and Ruth Gordon as the novelist who killed her nephew-in-law.   This was always playing in re-runs when I was a kid, and I must have seen the Lee Grant and Ruth Gordon episodes multiple times.

I always loved when Columbo would briefly drop his disheveled act at the end and calmly tell the murderers how they'd screwed up.  Like, with the Lee Grant murderer, he told her straight out "your weakness is you have no conscious, and you can't imagine anyone else having one.  you thought you could buy off your stepdaughter, but instead she helped us set you up."   

 

Of the newer episodes that ran in the 90s, I mostly remember the woman who tried to kill Mrs. Columbo (she was super crazy) and the guy who was supposed to be a Hugh-Hefner-type and killed his business partner for reals after a publicity-stunt fake out where she pretended to be missing (something about him putting the body in a garment body and hiding it behind drywall in a newly-renovated bathroom really freaked me out ... he was gonna just live there ... using that bathroom ... with the body in the walls the whole time ....  ick).

[peacheslatour]

Quote

I always loved when Columbo would briefly drop his disheveled act at the end and calmly tell the murderers how they'd screwed up.  Like, with the Lee Grant murderer, he told her straight out "your weakness is you have no conscious, and you can't imagine anyone else having one.  you thought you could buy off your stepdaughter, but instead she helped us set you up."  

This. Also in the Ruth Gordon episode she said "I think you are a very kind man." and he said "Don't count on that." Which I took to mean "Yes, I am kind but that's not going to stop me from doing my job."

[SlovakPrincess]

3 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

This. Also in the Ruth Gordon episode she said "I think you are a very kind man." and he said "Don't count on that." Which I took to mean "Yes, I am kind but that's not going to stop me from doing my job."

Yes!  He was kind, but he still needed to bring murderers to justice, even if they had a sad story as to why they'd done it.  He had integrity.

 

* Also, I meant "conscience" in my earlier post, not "conscious."  Silly me.

Edited March 31, 2018 by SlovakPrincess

[peacheslatour]

41 minutes ago, SlovakPrincess said:

Yes!  He was kind, but he still needed to bring murderers to justice, even if they had a sad story as to why they'd done it.  He had integrity.

 

* Also, I meant "conscience" in my earlier post, not "conscious."  Silly me.

Yes! And many times he liked and even respected the suspects. He was fascinated by their skills and talents (other than murder, of course) and he could understand why they did it. Ruth Gordon's character told him that if he had been on her niece's case there would have been no need for her to kill her nephew in law because Columbo would have caught him.

[LakeGal]

I watched Suitable for Framing and Lady in Waiting.  They are both movies that I really enjoy.  

Ross Martin is great as the greedy nephew.  His crushed velvet jacket and need to ask everyone the time to get his alibi.  I must remember to wear a bright red sweater and culottes if I am ever running away from a murder scene.  The guest stars in this one are great.  He really thought he could frame his aunt.

Susan Clark's makeover was fun.  I laughed at her fancy hat she wore to the board meeting.  She left so much to chance at her murder.

Edited April 1, 2018 by LakeGal

[peacheslatour]

Quote

Susan Clark's makeover was fun.  I laughed at her fancy hat she wore to the board meeting.  She left so much to chance at her murder.

That makeover was hilarious. The hair and fashion was at least five years out of date at the time.

And the way she dismissively waved her hand at the manicurist and actually said "Bye, Felicia."

[LakeGal]

I watched Short Fuse last night.  This one always makes me shake my head at Roddy McDowall.  He was in his 40s when he did this one.  Yet they have him dressed and acting like he is a college kid.  Playing with the silly string and dressing in a way I can't even describe.  Those tight pants.  OMG.  But the final scene is a great one.    

[peacheslatour]

20 minutes ago, LakeGal said:

I watched Short Fuse last night.  This one always makes me shake my head at Roddy McDowall.  He was in his 40s when he did this one.  Yet they have him dressed and acting like he is a college kid.  Playing with the silly string and dressing in a way I can't even describe.  Those tight pants.  OMG.  But the final scene is a great one.    

Those tight pants were a riot. I must say though, he had the bod for them.

[Milburn Stone]

48 minutes ago, LakeGal said:

I watched Short Fuse last night.  This one always makes me shake my head at Roddy McDowall.  He was in his 40s when he did this one.  Yet they have him dressed and acting like he is a college kid.  Playing with the silly string and dressing in a way I can't even describe.  Those tight pants.  OMG.  But the final scene is a great one.    

This is the only episode I actively loathe. A good Columbo villain has a certain kind of oily charm. McDowall is just a complete *sshole!

[meowmommy]

4 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

This is the only episode I actively loathe. A good Columbo villain has a certain kind of oily charm. McDowall is just a complete *sshole!

So it's really the casting that's the problem, not the script. 

I dislike the reboot episode Columbo Goes to College, mostly because the bratty, entitled punks (and smug entitled daddy Robert Culp) never give Columbo credit for being smart enough to catch them.  They act like he fell into it.

I recently rewatched the one with Louis Jourdan as the food critic, and Columbo speaks fluent Italian to the young waiter.  Then years later, in the episode with Rod Steiger, Columbo says he doesn't speak Italian.  Always made me batty.

6 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

That makeover was hilarious. The hair and fashion was at least five years out of date at the time.

Too true, but I always loved how shiny and bouncy her hair was, wishing mine could be like that!

[VCRTracking]

Hill Street Blues and LA Law creator and former Columbo writer Stephen Bochco(Murder By the Book) passed away at the age of 74. Here he is talking about the show:

[Milburn Stone]

2 hours ago, meowmommy said:

So it's really the casting that's the problem, not the script. 

I think the casting did have a lot to do with it. If the portrayal came off as some silly, likable, anarchic kid who turned out to have a dark side--maybe a Yippie type like Abbie Hoffman--it might actually have worked. But maybe Universal felt such a character would have been too "polarizing."

[peacheslatour]

RIP Mr. Bochco.

[LakeGal]

Etude in Black. I love this one.  John Cassavetes and Peter Falk were close friends.  They obviously enjoyed doing this show.  They have great chemistry.  I also found John sexy and attractive.  Everything in this episode worked.  Blythe Danner as the mousy wife.  Myrna Loy as the mother.  I can watch this one over and over.  I still laugh when Alex Benedict states he is going to use the bathroom in the gas station to wash his hands.  We know he went in there to open the window for later.  But the fact a smart dressed man is going to use that disgusting dirty bathroom to wash his hands is hilarious.     

[Milburn Stone]

6 hours ago, LakeGal said:

Etude in Black. I love this one. 

My favorite.

[Normades]

I love the episode with Jack Cassidy playing a magician. Columbo gets the goods on him with the typewriter ribbon.  Now that typewriters are a thing of the past, youngsters wouldn't get it! Makes me feel like a dinosaur!

[peacheslatour]

I also love the episode Murder, A Self Portrait about an artist who essentially has three wives. His first wife lives next door but still sleeps with him. His second wife and mistress live with him. He paints a portrait of Lt. Columbo that I've trying to find out what happened to it. All I've been able to discover is that it was painted by a well known artist. 

Then there's Last Salute to the Commodore. For some reason Falk kept sitting on Robert Vaughn through the whole episode. I've heard that Peter Falk could be a bit of a brat.

[LoneHaranguer]

On 4/1/2018 at 8:31 PM, meowmommy said:

I dislike the reboot episode Columbo Goes to College, mostly because the bratty, entitled punks (and smug entitled daddy Robert Culp) never give Columbo credit for being smart enough to catch them.  They act like he fell into it.

I recently rewatched the one with Louis Jourdan as the food critic, and Columbo speaks fluent Italian to the young waiter.  Then years later, in the episode with Rod Steiger, Columbo says he doesn't speak Italian.  Always made me batty.

Columbo doesn't always tell the truth, but maybe his Italian was rusty after all those years (17 according to IMDB). Columbo Goes to College gets a plus from me for bringing back Robert Culp and having him not be the murderer that time; for some reason he grated on me the earlier times.

[Mystery]

On 4/1/2018 at 10:41 AM, peacheslatour said:

That makeover was hilarious. The hair and fashion was at least five years out of date at the time.

And the way she dismissively waved her hand at the manicurist and actually said "Bye, Felicia."

No, did she? I have to find that!

 

eta: and I did 

Edited April 5, 2018 by Mystery

[LakeGal]

The Greenhouse Jungle.  This is the one with Ray Milland.  I always laugh when the younger detective shows Columbo the quickest way down to the yellow sportscar.  Columbo runs down the hill so fast he loses control and ends up falling in a hole.  Peter Falk is hilarious with his arms and raincoat flapping around. 

[LakeGal]

The Conspirators from 1978. This has always been an episode I prefer to skip. I don't know if it is the annoying Irish accent that is used by Clive Revill or just the storyline. But I think it is just an odd Columbo episode. I watched it today looking for something to enjoy about it. Jessica Fletcher's nephew Grady (Michael Horton) is also in this one. We do learn Columbo can hit the bulls eye on a dart board. He has a funny scene in a book store with a big erotic art book. I chuckled when he sat in the middle of the seat in the tow truck. Plus it was satisfying to see the look of horror on Devlin's face when the bartender brought him the exact bottle of whiskey from the crime scene.

[peacheslatour]

On 5/27/2018 at 5:40 AM, LakeGal said:

The Conspirators from 1978. This has always been an episode I prefer to skip. I don't know if it is the annoying Irish accent that is used by Clive Revill or just the storyline. But I think it is just an odd Columbo episode. I watched it today looking for something to enjoy about it. Jessica Fletcher's nephew Grady (Michael Horton) is also in this one. We do learn Columbo can hit the bulls eye on a dart board. He has a funny scene in a book store with a big erotic art book. I chuckled when he sat in the middle of the seat in the tow truck. Plus it was satisfying to see the look of horror on Devlin's face when the bartender brought him the exact bottle of whiskey from the crime scene.

Is that the episode where he does the limerick about pelicans?

[LakeGal]

23 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Is that the episode where he does the limerick about pelicans?

I don't remember anything about pelicans.  But I might have missed it.  They were reciting poetry.

[peacheslatour]

“A wonderful bird is the Pelican.
His beak can hold more than his belly can.
He can hold in his beak
Enough food for a week!
But I'll be damned if I know how the hellican?”

[Pindrop]

Any Old Port in a Storm I tend to enjoy the episodes where the killer comes to like and begrudgingly respect Columbo. The final scenes with Donald Pleasence discarding his wine collection and then having a final drink selected by Columbo are great. 

[peacheslatour]

23 hours ago, Pindrop said:

Any Old Port in a Storm I tend to enjoy the episodes where the killer comes to like and begrudgingly respect Columbo. The final scenes with Donald Pleasence discarding his wine collection and then having a final drink selected by Columbo are great. 

Same with Murder Under Glass. The villain and Lt. Columbo prepare a dinner together and Louis Jordan says it's perfect and that Lt. Columbo should have been a chef.

[JAYJAY1979]

Of the tv movies that aired in the 80s and 90s.. my favorite had to be It's all in the Game with Faye Dunaway... they played a fun game of cat and mouse.. and the twist was that he let her accomplice go.  It was well written and acted... and netted her an Emmy if I recall.

But otherwise, the tv version from the 70s was superior.

[Pindrop]

18 hours ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

Of the tv movies that aired in the 80s and 90s.. my favorite had to be It's all in the Game with Faye Dunaway... they played a fun game of cat and mouse.. and the twist was that he let her accomplice go.  It was well written and acted... and netted her an Emmy if I recall.

But otherwise, the tv version from the 70s was superior.

Yes, the 70’s were better, but there was also the mobile phone episode with Captain James T Kirk (I forget it’s name) from the 80s/90s period. Shatner is .... always fun.... to watch.

Edited July 5, 2018 by Pindrop

[LakeGal]

I just did a rewatch of all the Columbo episodes & movies.  It was sad to see how old Peter Falk looked in the last couple ones.  I normally prefer the original series.  But there are a few of the later movies that I do enjoy.  I did find myself sighing every time his wife Shera Danese showed up in one.  She did 6 of them.  I know he used some actors in more than one of them.  But she really was overdone.  I enjoyed seeing Robert Culp or Robert Vaughn among others in multiple shows.  But I did not have the same opinion of her.

I did notice that in the earlier ones Columbo often ended up in a projection room.  I did not realize how often till I watched several in a short period of time.  He should have been able to run it by himself with all the time he spent learning how to run a projector.  He loved his dog and his chili.  He also loved "This Old Man".  I found myself listening for that tune in all the movies.  

[peacheslatour]

I'm so pissed. Ever since Cozi TV left our market we could only watch Columbo on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. Now they're doing that stupid Christmas in July thing, so no Columbo for us.

[meowmommy]

On 7/5/2018 at 11:05 AM, LakeGal said:

I did find myself sighing every time his wife Shera Danese showed up in one.  She did 6 of them.  I know he used some actors in more than one of them.  But she really was overdone.  I enjoyed seeing Robert Culp or Robert Vaughn among others in multiple shows.  But I did not have the same opinion of her.

Well, yeah, seeing as they could act and she...well...couldn't act her way out of a paper bag.  And it's a tribute to their skills, as well as those of folks like Patrick McGoohan, that they could appear multiple times in different roles and we accepted them each time.

On 7/5/2018 at 11:05 AM, LakeGal said:

It was sad to see how old Peter Falk looked in the last couple ones. 

And why had he not been promoted in all that time?????

[SlovakPrincess]

On 4/2/2018 at 12:54 PM, LakeGal said:

Etude in Black. I love this one.  John Cassavetes and Peter Falk were close friends.  They obviously enjoyed doing this show.  They have great chemistry.  I also found John sexy and attractive.  Everything in this episode worked.  Blythe Danner as the mousy wife.  Myrna Loy as the mother.  I can watch this one over and over.  I still laugh when Alex Benedict states he is going to use the bathroom in the gas station to wash his hands.  We know he went in there to open the window for later.  But the fact a smart dressed man is going to use that disgusting dirty bathroom to wash his hands is hilarious.     

John Cassavetes is so attractive, but I've only ever seen him play hideous villains - in Columbo and in Rosemary's Baby.    I do love the Blythe Dinner and Myrna Loy are also in this one.   

[Pallas]

See Cassavetes in Tempest, adapted from Shakespeare, with Gena Rowlands as his wife, Susan Sarandon as his lover, Molly Ringwald as his daughter, and a hilarious Raul Julia as a latter-day Caliban. Privilege hasn't looked so self-regarding and buoyant since Fitzgerald -- but it's still a brave new world. 

[VCRTracking]

There's a great old show John Cassavetes did called "Johnny Staccato" where he played a jazz pianist/private detective. It only ran for one season, from 1959-1960 but it's on DVD and you can find episodes online. Very cool noir atmosphere like Peter Gunn. It had guest stars like Elizabeth Montgomery and Michael Landon and his wife Gena Rowlands.

Edited August 7, 2018 by VCRTracking

[peacheslatour]

That's so cool. I love Noir whether black and white or technicolor. There's a fairly recent movie called Brick that captures the feeling and language of film noir perfectly.

[VCRTracking]

2 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

That's so cool. I love Noir whether black and white or technicolor. There's a fairly recent movie called Brick that captures the feeling and language of film noir perfectly.

Rian Johnson's directorial debut. I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt in it.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, VCRTracking said:

Rian Johnson's directorial debut. I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt in it.

I could watch on a loop.

[illdoc]

25 out of 30!

[peacheslatour]

I got 24 out of 30.

[seacliffsal]

I got 25 out of 30.  Thanks for posting the quiz.  

[seacliffsal]

Just wanted to let everyone know that the Hallmark Mystery Channel is starting up with Columbo again (after all of the holiday movies) and is starting with the first episodes today (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday).  Lee Grant's episode is tomorrow.  I'm so excited!