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"Columbo" Lady in Waiting (1971)
7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Decent Columbo episode but the revealing clue could have been spotted earlier!?, 19 April 2002
Author: The Welsh Raging Bull (leighton.phillips@sihe.ac.uk) from Port Talbot, South Wales, UK
Susan Clark gives a fine performance as a male-dominated female who "bumps-off" her brother to protect her relationship with her boyfriend (Leslie Nielsen) and give her back her independence.
This story gathers intensity as the murderess (the first female killer in the actual TV series) is dismissive of any intrusion by others into her family business and she becomes more manipulative and insensitive as Columbo gets closer to the truth - an effective piece of scripting and a hallmark of the series in that Columbo invariably annoyed his chief suspect almost to the point of a nervous breakdown!
The ending is also significant since Columbo's life is clearly on the line. However, the effectiveness of the irony that the killer's boyfriend unwittingly gives Columbo the vital piece of incriminating information, is undone by the fact that the clue could easily have been pinpointed earlier.
This clearly gives the impression that the script-writer had some difficulty in providing a satisfactory conclusion to an originally well-thought-out concept.
6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
A "Columbo" movie where the killer elicits our sympathy only to lose it halfway through, 15 March 2005
Author: J. Spurlin from United States
Beth Chadwick (Susan Clark, best known for the sitcom, "Webster") has a brilliant scheme to murder her overbearing brother. On the night the servants are off, she'll trick him into entering the house through her French windows. Then she'll shoot him and tell the police she thought he was a burglar. To make this lie seem credible, she'll leave several deceptive clues, including a burnt-out light bulb and a set of keys thrown in the bushes.
But on the night of the murder, a couple of things go wrong. Her brother does not act according to her plan. And her boyfriend (Leslie Nielsen) unexpectedly shows up at the door only minutes after she pulls the trigger. These later seem to have been minor obstacles – until our rumpled Lt. Columbo unravels her defense.
Stephen Bochco, who earlier had scripted the great "Columbo: Murder by the Book" (then went on to create TV series like "Hill Street Blues," and "NYPD Blue") gives us our most sympathetic "Columbo" killer yet. Miss Chadwick is a mousy introvert who suddenly flowers when her domineering brother is dead. And when Chadwick's belittling mother (Jessie Royce Landis) greets her daughter with a slap across the face, we're willing to forgive this murderess anything.
But Bochco makes the interesting decision to slowly turn us against her. As she reaps the rewards of her crime, she becomes arrogant and imperious. She takes over the family business, makes radical changes and threatens to fire anyone who may disagree with her. She even announces her engagement to her boyfriend, which surprises him as much as anyone else. Bochco's decision was probably wise. We can't help but root for the most diabolical of murderers in this series, but ultimately we want Lt. Columbo to triumph. Make the killer too sympathetic, and we'd want to throttle our beloved detective.
Still, this absorbing entry is not one of the top-notch "Columbo" episodes. It's one thing for a killer to be a charming rogue from beginning to end. But it's another to engage our emotions then cut them off halfway through.
I think the key to the problem is Peter Hamilton, the boyfriend. When we lose sympathy for Miss Chadwick, we naturally should be transferring it over to him. But we can't. We can accept as plausible the idea that Hamilton really loves her; we can accept that he is not the fortune hunter her family says he is. But nothing – in the script or in the male mannequin charms of Leslie Nielsen – makes this fact come alive for us. Hamilton is about to lose the woman he loves, and we don't care.
But you won't be griping about any of this when you see it. This probably won't be your favorite "Columbo" episode, but you'll still be thoroughly entertained.
3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Another excellent Columbo mystery, 20 November 1999
Author: Rosabel from Ottawa, Canada
Susan Clark plays an excellent murderess in this movie, stifled and controlled by her brother who manages the family business and the money. Her plan to break free of his control and take over the business herself is well worked out and seems foolproof, but one miscalculation leaves her having to improvise her way out one problem after another. Leslie Nielsen, as her lawyer boyfriend, turns in a fine performance, as he plays a sensible, serious role with humour but without the manic quality that has come to be his trademark. Peter Falk's Columbo does a good job worrying and nibbling at the truth, forcing the killer to come up with more lies and explanations, until the contradictions close in on her and she is caught. The viewer finds himself sympathizing with the murderer at the beginning, but her growing confidence and arrogance as she reaps the fruits of her crime succeed in making her downfall a satisfying one.
7 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Great Murderer, Great Plot, Lousy Evidence, 8 August 2005
Author: Tarasicodissa from Pennsylvania
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
The Columbo episodes that most engaged me were the ones where he responded emotionally to the murderer. Those where he clearly likes the killer (Susan Clark in this episode, Donald Pleasance's wine geek, Ruth Gordon's mystery writer avenging the murder of her niece) and those where he despises the murderer (Robert Conrad's fitness chain owner, Leonard Nimoy's ice veined surgeon, Louis Jourdan's TV chef).
Here, we see Columbo's clear sympathy for a woman ground down by a domineering mother and brother. He acknowledges that her brother's death is the best thing that ever happened to her. He sympathizes with her desire for freedom. We share her freedom as she busts loose in sexy clothes and a hot new sports car. When we see what a hateful bitch her mother is, it is sealed.
The plot device of trying to diminish sympathy for Beth by making her turn into a tyrant was inadequate. The lawyer wanted a sweet, meek little creature. He wanted to be a milder version of her brother. Beth wasn't about to be anybody's meek little dependent again. He couldn't handle that. I do not find her determination that she will have only equal relationships in the future at all unsympathetic. At the board meeting she tellingly demanded when that company had had a new customer. The board was content to take things easy. She wanted to grow the company and was encountering resistance from those who wanted to just coast on existing accounts. When the leader of the board tried to talk down to her with her brother's patronizing tone she asserted her authority quite correctly. A part of growth is firing complacent people.
Ah, but the ending ! Were I sitting on the jury in Beth's murder trial, I would have found the evidence totally unconvincing. It depended entirely on Peter suddenly remembering the correct sequence of the shots and the alarm. But remember, he had already testified at the inquest exonerating her. He never said anything about any shots before the alarm then when he was her boyfriend. Now, Peter suddenly remembers it differently within hours of Beth dumping him ? A man trained to be precise and detail oriented changes his sworn testimony after his relationship with Beth Chadwick changes radically ? Counsel for the defense would have no difficulty depicting him under cross examination as a resentful ex-lover trying to get even. Or a manipulative schemer trying to take over the company. No jury is going to convict of murder almost entirely on the changed testimony of a cast off lover. Very, very reasonable doubt.
I like Beth Chadwick and take some pleasure in the knowledge that she would have beat this rap.
2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Susan Clark in a wonderful performance, 8 September 2005
Author: blanche-2 from United States
Before Susan Clark became famous for the sit-com "Webster," she was a highly-touted TV movie of the week star and had a film career as well. In this Columbo, she is a mousy, albeit wealthy young woman who has lived her life under the thumb of her father, and after he dies, her brother (Richard Anderson). She hatches a plot to kill her brother, who is interfering with her plans to marry an employee (Leslie Nielsen) of the family company but if anything could go wrong on the evening of the murder, it does.
Columbo is brought in, and if things weren't clear to him when he first enters the house, they become so after the lady completely reinvents herself, taking over the company, getting a new hair color and hairdo, a fashion makeover, and a rather unattractive, aggressive change in attitude.
There is a great performance by Jesse Royce Landis as the mother (who greets her daughter by slapping her in the face and makes Columbo pay her exorbitant cab fare).
It's a shame that Clark does nothing today, but I suppose, sadly, her age is a factor. Hopefully she's satisfied with her long marriage to Alex Karras and that's enough for her. But her fans miss her. If you're not familiar with her work, catch her in this Columbo episode.
1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Columbo and a family thing, 30 July 2008
Author: Petri Pelkonen (petri_pelkonen@hotmail.com) from Finland
Beth Chadwick's brother Bryce is running the family business and she feels left out.So she decides to kill him.Her plan is to make it look like she shoots a burglar trying to get into her house.Things don't quite go as planned and her boyfriend Peter Hamilton, who works for Bryce comes there at the wrong moment.Next we see Lt.Columbo coming.His job is to prove Beth murdered her brother.Norman Lloyd is the director of Columbo: Lady in Waiting (1971).Billy Goldenberg is behind the original music and Henry Mancini is the composer of the theme music.The cast does a very good job.There's Peter Falk, of course.Susan Clark plays Beth.Richard Anderson is the brother Bryce.Their mother is played by Jessie Royce Landis, who does her last performance there.Leslie Nielsen does a serious role as Peter.The 80's brought out the comedian in him but the previous decade saw the serious side of Leslie.Garry Walberg is the 1st detective.Richard Bull, who we remember from Little House on the Prairie playing Nels Oleson, is the 2nd one.Also Marcia Wallace, who does Edna Krabappel on The Simpsons is there as Woman at Inquest.This Columbo is good, maybe not the very best, but good.It's always fun to watch Columbo annoy those murderers.He's always there, you can't escape from him.What a character!
2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
A generally enjoyable entry in the series despite some so-so aspects, 20 June 2005
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
Beth Chadwick has spent her life under the domineering thumb of her businessman father and, when he dies, her brother Bryce takes on the same role. Beth decides to take action and kill Bryce. Swapping his house key for a dud, replacing the front door light with a dead bulb, loading her gun and waiting, Beth plans to force Bryce to enter the home via her bedroom window where upon she will set off the alarm and shoot him – making it look like it was a terrible, terrible accident. It doesn't quite go to plan but she shoots him anyway and sets it up the best she can. The inquest finds it to be an accident but it's the little things that stick in Columbo's mind and make him keep coming back till he can get answers to those questions.
As with many TV film series (such as Perry Mason), if you like one or two of them then you'll pretty much like them all. This entry in the Columbo series pretty much follows the usual formula – we know the killer and the "perfect" plan but then watch Columbo follow his hunch and gradually starts to pick holes in the story he is told before eventually finding enough to prove his suspicions. Saying this is not a spoiler – it is simply what happens in all the films. With this film Columbo is in no doubt that Beth did the shooting and finding evidence that she did will not help him – no, he has to prove that she had planned it. The film also lets us see the "perfect" crime before showing us the emotional and flawed version that then really takes place. This way of doing it works well and twists the formula slightly. The development of the plot is interesting – although Columbo picks up on little things along the way but none of them are enough to overcome the obstacle posed by this story. The ending is OK but the pivotal thing at the end of the film is rather simple though and it struck me that this is the sort of clue that Columbo would usually pick up on right away (unless, as here, it wouldn't help the story for him to do so).
Despite his weakened character, Falk is still good – his comic touch is weakened by not having as good material as in other films but he still wears the character well. Clark is OK but her character is not convincing enough; I could see why it would all make sense in terms of her upbringing and so on, but it didn't quite come off – perhaps because the series was never really about getting to the core of people and thus it couldn't do it here. Neilsen is good but it is always hard to watch him in his earlier straight roles, I can't help but expect him to drop deadpan lines at any moment. Support is generally good, but Landis' domineering and upper-class mother is easily the pick of the bunch.
Overall a good entry in the series that has a nice twist on the formula without ever going away from what makes Columbo so enjoyable. The narrative is good even if the conclusion is less satisfying and, although I applaud what the complexity and depth they tried to put into the character of Beth, it just doesn't come off as convincingly as it needed to.
3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Includes a serious Leslie Nielsen, 6 April 2001
Author: Mort-31 from Vienna, Austria
This is one of the less witty episodes. Susan Clark plays the murderer, and according to the script she has to act like a completely out-of-the-world woman who doesn't realize that she is not the only person in the world. I mean, she's a murderer trying to hush up what she did. Also the film lacks suspense because – unlike in other episodes – it's too obvious which evidence Columbo is going to use to convict the murderer in the end. There are no susepcts this time, everybody knows that she did it and everybody except Columbo believes her that it was an accident because she thought he's a burglar. Does that sound plausible?
Leslie Nielsen gives an early TV performance here. It's strange to see him when he's serious. His face permanently seems to be prepared to be funny and so his dialogues seem unconvincing somehow. Probably I'm doing him wrong.
solid acting all around, 24 July 2009
Author: bushwood80 from Jupiter
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.
Favourite Fussy Flatfoot Foils Femme Fatale's Fiendish Fratricide, 6 November 2006
Author: ShootingShark from Dundee, Scotland
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
Beth Chadwick shoots her brother, making it look like she thought he was a burglar, in order to gain wealth and power in the family advertising business. Columbo however is unconvinced, and has a witness who may just be able to break her story ...
This is an early Columbo but a good one, thanks as usual to a tight script (by Steven Bochco) and a fine cast. Clark, a hard-working seventies actress, is one of the series more cold-blooded killers and her pale green eyes and constant self-interest make her transformation from repressed wallflower to blunt, ruthless power-broker very arresting. Nielsen is great as the straight-talking fiancé who holds the key to the case, and Landis, a great character player from the fifties (To Catch A Thief, North By Northwest), is funny and disparaging in the widower-with-a-prize-pooch role. Falk is full of his customary nuances and head-scratching bemusement, puzzling over a newspaper which shouldn't be there, hidden keys, a lightbulb that's too clean and a sportscar ordered too far in advance. The last piece of the puzzle is a doozy, and director Lloyd (himself a talented actor and producer) turns in a fine TV thriller.
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