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showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clips"Columbo" Ransom for a Dead Man (1971)
Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Dean Hargrove (teleplay)
Richard Levinson (story) ...
more
TV Series:
Original Air Date:
1 March 1971 (Season 1, Episode 0)
Plot:
A lawyer comes up with a clever plan to murder her husband. After the deed is done, a seemingly slow-witted... more | add synopsis
User Comments:
Those digital zooms! more (15 total)
Cast
(Episode Cast overview, first billed only) | Peter Falk | ... | Columbo |
 | Lee Grant | ... | Leslie Williams |
| John Fink | ... | Michael Clark |
 | Harold Gould | ... | Agent Carlson |
| Patricia Mattick | ... | Margaret Williams |
| Paul Carr | ... | Hammond |
| Jed Allan | ... | Phil |
| Charles Macaulay | ... | Richard |
| Hank Brandt | ... | Attorney (as Henry Brandt) |
| Jean Byron | ... | Pat (as Jeane Byron) |
 | Richard Roat | ... | Perkins |
| Norma Connolly | ... | Celia |
| Harlan Warde | ... | Paul Williams |
| Bill Walker | ... | Crowell |
 | Timothy Carey | ... | Bert |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
120 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Finland:K-7 (2004) | UK:PG | Sweden:11
Filming Locations:
Barney's Beanery - 8447 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, California, USA more
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Produced as a second pilot for the Columbo TV series, three years after Prescription: Murder (1968) (TV). Its success led to Columbo being made part of a rotating Mystery Movie wheel of programs for most of the 1970s. more
Quotes:
Leslie Williams:
You know, Columbo, you're almost likable in a shabby sort of way. Maybe it's the way you come slouching in here with your shopworn bag of tricks.
Lt. Columbo:
Me? Tricks?
Leslie Williams:
The humility, the seeming absent-mindedness, the uh, homey anecdotes about the family: the wife, you know?
[laughs]
Lt. Columbo:
Really?
Leslie Williams:
Yeah, Lieutenant Columbo, fumbling and stumbling along. But it's always the jugular that he's after. And I imagine that, more often than not, he's successful.
Lt. Columbo:
I appreciate that compliment, Mrs. Williams, and I particularly appreciate it coming from you.
more
Movie Connections:
Spoofed in "Rupan sansei: Part II: The Skateboard Murder Mystery (#3.21)" (1979) more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (15 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for "Columbo" (1971)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Why is Colombo on a kidnapping case? | jonjax71 |
| Music Score? | girlhasknife |
Related Links
| Main series | Episode guide | Full cast and crew |
| Company credits | External reviews | IMDb TV section |
| IMDb Crime section | IMDb USA section | Add this title to MyMovies |
The murderess was brilliantly acted, but for a victim to be so honest and principled as he was described, why would such a clean living man want to marry a woman of pure deceit? I thought the step-daughter was bad tempered and obnoxious because her father had been killed, as well of her dislike of her step-mother.
Production wise, the editing showed us some rather sloppy cutting. The scene where Columbo picks the locker is bad, and the scene where the plane with Columbo and the murderer lands, suddenly has a huge building right behind it. Obviously, re-shooting these small things is a buck too far.
But a good episode, a better pilot in my view, which got its worst marks for the large amount of digital zooms, put there by the director, which I started to look out for.