"Columbo" Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star [DVD] [Region 2] (IMPORT) (No English version)

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Why do you say that? - Because of the statements in the report from the neighbours and the guys playing volleyball. Richard, skilled counselor that you are, I suspected that you’d beat me to the punch about Creighton’s phantom lawyering “skills”. And it’s even worse than that! Columbo has entered and passed along a message to the judge that Creighton’s girlfriend has been killed. This, of course, has no relation to the case being argued. But naturally, the judge declines to wait for Creighton to wrap things up, and she immediately invites a mistrial by shutting down his closing argument so he can get the news.

I gave this a 7 because of the great cast and some wonderful scenes, but it's a problematic script. And let's face it, the alibi is absolutely no good. My 11-year-old daughter (prior to illness), watching this episode for the first time, immediately recognised that having the dog jump up on both Anders’ and Columbo’s cars would provide key evidence. Likewise, hearing gardener Juan so openly explain to Anders that he was trimming all the hedges that week made it impossible for her to miss the significance of the hedges on the CCTV tape in breaking Anders’ alibi. Imagine how much more satisfying it would have been to have Paul Gerard school blue-collar Columbo in food delicacies, with Columbo’s questions drawing out the care that’s needed to create some dishes. That might lead to a slip by Gerard, perhaps about Japanese blowfish, and Columbo can put the puzzle pieces together through his inquiries and psychological maneuvering. As it is, Columbo pushes himself into a dinner party where Gerard happens to be serving – how fortunate – poisonous fugu. Case solved, yay! The killer is supposed to have a first-class brain of a hotshot lawyer. He also has the looks of Homely Uncle Bob. Yet he is clearly expecting sexual fidelity from a far younger, kinda bratty starlet. That fact alone makes him seem rather pathetic and, more importantly, stupid. A very naive and poor judge of character, at least. And that’s not what a good Columbo villain should be. While it’s true that Suzie only learned of the allegations of Krutch’s crime at her interview with Columbo, after the fact, Suzie at that point knew “that said principal [Krutch] committed such felony or [or would shortly be] charged with such felony”–making her “an accessory to such felony” if she persisted with providing the false alibi for Krutch.This is only conjecture, mind you, but You see, I from time to time have a little drinking problem myself, and I happen to take a little disulfiram.

Gory Discretion Shot: We only get to see Creighton prepare to strangle Marcy before the film instantly cuts to Creighton washing out the champagne bottles in the kitchen sink and cleaning up the crime scene. Danese appeared in several Columbo episodes during it's run and I actually think this is one of her best performances, playing well off of Coleman and obviously Falk, although I've seen plenty of real life acting couples who have zero onscreen chemistry. But the writers (and I'm guessing Mr. Falk) smartly never had her play nothing other than peripheral characters to the pesky Lieutenant. In addition to Danese, the episode features another beauty in redheaded 70s icon Sondra Currie playing the uniformed officer doing legwork for Columbo on the case. Elsewhere, an otherwise enjoyable scene with Columbo annoying a tightly wound housekeeper is marred by the questionable decision to have Columbo carrying on while wearing a stupid cap with NFI emblazoned over it. Word on the street is that Falk simply borrowed the cap from a bystander and decided to wear it for sh*ts and giggles. Would he have done this in the show’s golden age? Not a chance! So why do it now? And why weren’t people telling him not to?

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Sondra was known for her adventurous spirit and her willingness to take risks in her film roles and choices - including performing her own stunts. She went on to star in numerous features, among them, 1970's cult favorites "Jessi's Girls,""Policewomen" and "Mama's Dirty Girls" and the '80's "Concrete Jungle". She refers to these early projects as "slice and dice" films where she definitely got her degree at the college of human nature. Since then, Sondra has continued her focus on working and training with the best that Hollywood has to offer. Sondra is a lifetime member of the famed Actors Studio, studying under such greats as Martin Landau, Mark Rydell, Lou Antonio and Salome Jens. Sondra also studied under Milton Katselas' as a member of his Master Class for 17 years.

However, it is beautifully filmed and directed with some striking locations, and the music is both atmospheric and driven and not too twee. The acting from the leads is great, Peter Falk continues to embody the role, and Dabney Coleman while not among my favourite guest stars of the series is very enjoyable and interacts with Falk very well. Their scenes together are the best of the entire episode and both make the most of them. Shera Danese is solid in her role and Little Richard is a hoot even with his screen time, but the rest of the support cast while not bad at all also don't stand out in the same way.Despite the nucleus of a decent mystery, there’s nowhere near enough story here to fill the 90-minute running time.” Yes! Trish wanting Creighton to marry her bugged me, too. A lot, and for exactly the reasons you list. It feels like a weird echo of Karen, the secretary from “Any Old Port,” but Karen was a quiet, lonely, repressed secretary. Trish, as second in command to great lawstar Creighton, should have a line of young law hopefuls clamouring for her attention and no interest in the boss apart from the monetary, which she can satisfy much better by becoming a partner in the firm – which she demands, anyway! But then, to Murder under Glass, having thought about it some more. I like Columbo’s knowledge of cooking there and I’ll tell you why: Paul Gerard and Columbo are rivals here, trying to best each other in the other’s specialist field: Columbo by devising a trap while cooking a meal together and Gerard by devising a very clever crime. Knowing about the poisonous fish is one thing, but how the poison got into the victim, that was close to brilliance. Columbo is in fact adjusting. I always like reading your assesments and views, as much as I like to read Richard’s, because you are thorough and know how to write and expand your views. Here I think you are looking for, and loving, a certain consistancy that would be impossible to find in any human being, not in any fictional character who is simply ageing and gaining experience.

This dovetails with a nagging suspicion I’ve had since first viewing 1990’s “Columbo Cries Wolf”. The point seems minor, but if we’ve learned anything at all from watching Columbo, it’s that the minor discrepancies matter. It bugged me immediately – Columbo lifting off for a helicopter ride, smoking his stogie and calmly surveying the L.A. landscape. Later, he further compounds this by climbing a shaky ladder on a high roof to directly stare down a chimney. You think you believe him? He admits he was there, he's had trouble with women, and you don't think he did it? I don't think he did it. Yes, yes, perhaps only marriage guarantees her access to all of Creighton’s wealth, blah blah blah. We’re talking about a woman who makes a good living as a lawyer and is set to make a ton more as a partner — how is a little extra dough worth being murdered in your sleep or, hell, even worth being tied to a dude you aren’t in love with? Maybe we are supposed to believe that the amoral ambitious Trish had the hots for jerk Creighton all along, but why should we? We never see any redeeming qualities of Creighton, and even if Trish is a nihilistic kindred spirit of sorts, it doesn’t serve her interest to be with someone as selfish as she is.Complications for Creighton include his colleague Trish Fairbanks ( Shera Danese), who unwittingly assists him in faking an alibi before taking advantage of her leverage to secure a partnership and engagement to Creighton and Columbo’s successful apprehension of Malcolm, with assistance from Sgt. Hubach ( Sondra Currie) and Little Richard (himself). Creighton’s gardener ( Tad Horino) also supplies vital evidence. And who do you think they'll believe? The shyster lawyer or sweet little me? - How much do you want? - The same as I'd get as your wife. She doesn’t say “Where’s Freddy?” or “Who are you?”. She seems to know that Freddy is dead even though she never sees the body. Are you out of your mind? Ever since you borrowed my car and sent me on that assignment I've been trying to figure out why. So what can I do for you today, Lieutenant? Well, sir, what I want to do is cut right to the heart of this thing.