Columbo

Most of the critiques of this movie find this Columbo episode to be sorely lacking in comparison to other Columbo movies like"Murder By The Book" or "Suitable for Framing." But not every Columbo movie has to be a suspenseful battle of wits. To my observation, there are two types of Columbo plots: The Battle of Wits and The Character Study. The Battle of Wits, of course, is where Columbo takes on a wily, arrogant opponent who practically dares Columbo to catch him or her. The Character Study is an engaging examination of the person driven to commit murder.



The scenario for this particular episode of Columbo is quite elaborate, and is brought wonderfully with great continuity. Since in this case the murder is so complex, the actual character of Columbo is less pronounced than in some of the other episodes.

However, it is still him, and his wife is still with him (in spirit, as always).