"Columbo" Ransom for a Dead Man (1971)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Richard Irving

Writers:

Dean Hargrove (teleplay)
Richard Levinson (story) ...
(more)

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

1 March 1971 (Season 1, Episode 0)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A lawyer comes up with a clever plan to murder her husband. After the deed is done, a seemingly slow-witted...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Lawyer | Detective | Crime Solving | Detective Series

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

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
Judson Morgan	...	Judge
Richard O'Brien	...	Priest
Celeste Yarnall	...	Gloria
Lisa Moore	...	Nancy
Lois Battle	...	Waitress
Reginald Fenderson	...	Mechanic
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Angelo De Meo	...	Desk Clerk (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Irving

Writing credits
Dean Hargrove		(teleplay)
Richard Levinson		(story) &
William Link		(story)
Richard Levinson		(character) &
William Link		(character)
Gene Thompson		uncredited

Produced by
Dean Hargrove	....	producer
Richard Irving	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Billy Goldenberg

Cinematography by
Lionel Lindon		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Edward M. Abroms
John Elias		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
John J. Lloyd

Set Decoration by
Bert Allen		(as Bert F. Allan)

Production Management
Donald L. Gold	....	unit manager (as Don Gold)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
George Bisk	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Robert R. Bertrand	....	sound (as Robert Bertrand)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Burton Miller	....	costumes

Editorial Department
Richard Belding	....	editorial supervisor

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Richard Levinson		creator
William Link		creator

Production Companies

• Universal TV (as A Universal Studios Production)

Distributors

• DeAgostini Japan (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2004) (Finland) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Tallmantz Aviation  aerial sequences
• Universal Title  titles & optical effects

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-7 (2004) | UK:PG | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Barney's Beanery - 8447 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, California, USA

Company:

Universal TV

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.

Quotes:

Lt. Columbo: Uh, did she ask where the body was?
Agent Carlson: No.
Lt. Columbo: I didn't think so. Oh, listen, one more thing, Mr. Carlson. She didn't, uh, ask how her husband was killed, did she?
Agent Carlson: No...
Lt. Columbo: That's what I thought.
Agent Carlson: All right, Lieutenant, what's bothering you now?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Nanny: A Fine Friendship (#2.19)" (1995)

Middling murder-mystery with Lt. Columbo indeed resorting to a shopworn bag of tricks...

Lee Grant, smirking and narrowing her eyes like a cat about to pounce, plays a hotshot lady lawyer who kills her attorney husband and makes it look like a kidnapping-turned-homicide; Lt. Columbo, curiously on the case from the very beginning (before there is a dead body), matches wits with Grant, eventually using Lee's hostile step-daughter as a tool to uncover the truth. This early "Columbo" teleplay by Dean Hargrove, with an original story conceived by the team of Levinson & Link, gives us some fun background details on Columbo himself (he's nervous in planes, likes root beer and always orders chili at Barney's Beanery in Los Angeles), but skimps a bit on the lieutenant's investigation. Without showing us the homework involved, Columbo seems to be picking details out of the air (always the right details, naturally), and when he talks about the victim's car keys missing, or the car-seat being too close to the wheel, it's unfair to spring these details on us as afterthoughts (there's no suspense involved when Columbo does his puzzle-solving off-camera). Aside from cunning Grant--and Peter Falk doing his usual solid work--the acting here is relatively mediocre, and the cut-and-dried climax seems a little flat.