"Columbo" Lady in Waiting (1971)

Director:

Norman Lloyd

Writers:

Steven Bochco (teleplay)
Barney Slater (story)
(more)

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

15 December 1971 (Season 1, Episode 5)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A mousy heiress murders her brother, pretending she thought he was a burglar. Lt. Columbo unravels her alibi.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Police | Family Business | Fratricide | Crime Solving

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Susan Clark	...	Beth Chadwick
Jessie Royce Landis	...	Mrs. Chadwick
Richard Anderson	...	Bryce Chadwick
Leslie Nielsen	...	Peter Hamilton
Joel Fluellen	...	Charles
Richard Bull	...	2nd Detective
Garry Walberg	...	1st Detective
Barbara Rhoades	...	Hostess
Jon Lormer	...	Hearing Officer
Frank Baxter	...	Fred
Susan Barrister	...	Waitress
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fred Draper	...	Cab Driver (uncredited)
Frances E. Nealy	...	Hilda (uncredited)
Marcia Wallace	...	Woman at Inquest (uncredited)

Directed by
Norman Lloyd

Writing credits
Steven Bochco		(teleplay)
Barney Slater		(story)
Richard Levinson		(creator) &
William Link		(creator)
Ted Leighton		story (uncredited)

Produced by
Everett Chambers	....	producer
Richard Levinson	....	executive producer
William Link	....	executive producer
Robert F. O'Neill	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Billy Goldenberg

Cinematography by
Russell Metty		(director of photography) (as Russell L. Metty)

Film Editing by
Edward M. Abroms

Art Direction by
Archie J. Bacon		(as Arch Bacon)

Set Decoration by
Richard Friedman

Costume Design by
Burton Miller

Production Management
Henry Kline	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ralph Ferrin	....	assistant director

Sound Department
David H. Moriarty	....	sound

Editorial Department
Richard Belding	....	editorial supervisor
Steve Johnson	....	colorist (uncredited)

Music Department
Henry Mancini	....	composer: theme music

Other crew
Steven Bochco	....	story editor
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer: main title

Production Companies

• Universal TV

Distributors

• DeAgostini Japan (2008) (Japan) (DVD)
• TV2 (2005) (Hungary) (TV)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2004) (Finland) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Universal Title  titles & optical effects

Runtime:

72 min | Italy:68 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-7 (2004) | Australia:PG

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

Last film of Jessie Royce Landis.

Goofs:

Continuity: Beth's sitting on her bed, waiting for Bryce to come home. She opens a box of chocolates and reaches in for a piece. There are no wrappers on the bed at this point but as she puts the piece of candy in her mouth, the bed is suddenly littered with candy wrappers.

Soundtrack:

Love Theme from 'Red Sky At Morning'

solid acting all around

This is one of the earlier episodes of the great Columbo series which stars Leslie Neilson, Susan Clark, and Richard Anderson, and the plot revolves around an attorney dating the sister of a wealthy CEO. To this reviewer, both Clark and Neilson were the highlights of this segment, as both portrayed their characters with conviction; Clark(perhaps too quickly)goes from mousy sister to a take charge woman in control flawlessly, and Neilson does fine himself in a serious role as an attorney and partner to Clark's character; I feel Neilson is an underrated actor when he plays it straight, as he does here. There's also this annoying little dog named Enrico who keeps chasing Columbo around and constantly barking at him, providing comic relief.

There's a nice mansion with an exceptional outdoor garden(I'm a big fan of those sunny California days depicted in Columbo)with a blue Ferrari that we get to enjoy, which always makes an episode enjoyable to me. I think this one of the better endings, especially the final scene between Columbo and Neilson, which is very effective.

As I said above, the only minor problem I had is with the quick transformation of Beth, who basically does a complete role reversal after she kills her brother, Bryce, and becomes a completely different and domineering woman; otherwise, this is a very enjoyable episode.