Columbo: How to Dial a Murder (1978) (TV)

Regisseur:

James Frawley

Drehbuchautoren:

Tom Lazarus (teleplay)
Anthony Lawrence (story)

Premierendatum:

5. April 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Krimi | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Dr. Eric Mason is a self-controlled man and he teaches how to get control over one's own life. His wife...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Police | Affair | Animal Attack | Dog

Filmpreise:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys.

Nutzerkommentare:

Williamson is good, but don't say 'Rosebud'.

Besetzung

Peter Falk	...	Lt. Columbo
Nicol Williamson	...	Dr. Eric Mason
Kim Cattrall	...	Joanne Nicholls
Joel Fabiani	...	Dr. Charles Hunter
Frank Aletter	...	Dr. Garrison
Tricia O'Neil	...	Mrs. Cochran - the dog trainer
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Officer Stein
Fred J. Gordon	...	Technician

Alternativ:

Columbo - Mord per Telefon (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]

Länge:

Germany:70 Min | USA:73 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe (Technicolor)

Seitenverhältnis:

1.33 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Mono

Altersfreigabe:

Sweden:15 (2007) (DVD) | Finland:K-18 (2007) (DVD) (self applied) | Norway:11 (2007) (DVD) | Denmark:15 (2007) (DVD)

Firma:

Universal TV

Dialogzitate:

Lt. Columbo: Most people could sit and listen to somebody talking about their personality for hours - Lord knows *I* could.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweist auf/spielt an auf/erwähnt The Lucky Dog (1921)

Williamson is good, but don't say 'Rosebud'.

British actor, Nicol Williamson, as the guest murderer, earns his transatlantic paycheck in this fine story. As always with Columbo, the culprit is rich, resourceful and highly intelligent, and Williamson's take on the character, a motivational psychologist, is detailed and meticulous. It may not be his finest screen performance (check out The Bofors Gun and Inadmissible Evidence), but he makes a worthy foil to Falk.

The story has some interesting cultural asides, such as L.A.'s burgeoning self-help craze of the 70's, and the cult of the movies, particularly Citizen Kane; something which proves to be both the killer's murder weapon and his eventual undoing.

The only let-down is the somewhat low-key ending. I would have preferred more of a flourish from both actors, but it wasn't really in the script for them.

Over all, it's an intelligent and interesting movie. Patrick Williams' ethereal/ominous music (woodwinds and low strings) is rather good, and which, once or twice, quotes a fragment of Bernie Herrmann's Psycho score; why? For the hell of it. And why not?