Columbo: Short Fuse (1972) (TV)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Edward M. Abroms

Writers:

Jackson Gillis (teleplay)
Lester Pine (story) ...

Release Date:

19 January 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Crime

Plot:

A chemical plant's director gets threats and issues threats, and one of the employees develops and plants a bomb in his car. When the car turns out to be missing, Columbo is called to find out what happened.

Plot Keywords:

Threat | Murder | Bomb | Chemical Factory | Police Investigation

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys.

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Lt. Columbo
Roddy McDowall	...	Roger Stanford
Anne Francis	...	Valerie Bishop
James Gregory	...	David L. Buckner
Ida Lupino	...	Doris Buckner
William Windom	...	Everett Logan
Steve Gravers	...	Sergeant
Lawrence Cook	...	Murphy
Rosalind Miles	...	Nancy
Lew Brown	...	Farrell
Jason Wingreen	...	Policeman
Eddie Quillan	...	Ferguson
Stuart Nisbet	...	Pinstripe
Annette Molen	...	Girl
Jim Neumarker	...	Plainclothesman

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-7 (2004)

Filming Locations:

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, Palm Springs, California, USA

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

The last episode of the first season of "Columbo" to be filmed, though it aired before Columbo: Blueprint for Murder (1972) (TV)

Goofs:

Continuity: In the elevator scene as well as in the scene that follows where Columbo is standing on the small and narrow road in the mountains, the character obviously suffers from vertigo. However, a few scenes later he is walking down the high metal staircases at the outside of a factory building and suddenly his vertigo seems to have completely disappeared.

Quotes:

Doris Buckner: I called the Commissioner and he said he'd send his very best man.
Roger Stanford: Is that a fact.
Lt. Columbo: My wife says I'm the second-best, she claims there are eighty men tied for first.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Columbo: No Time to Die (1992) (TV)

It should have been Sir Roddy McDowall!

It should have been Sir Roddy McDowall in my opinion. Why he never got knighted for his contributions to acting and drama, I will never know. This episode also feature Ida Lupino, another legendary actress, writer and director herself. Sir Roddy as I will call him plays a genius character who wants too much from his stepfather who played the evil Vice Presidential candidate in the original Manchurian Candidate. His plan is ingenious but there are exceptions being that Sir Roddy's character is still no match for Lieutenant COlumbo's genius. You have to laugh with him at the end of the film. Like most COlumbo episodes, you have to pay attention. We know who kills the character but how does Columbo catch him or her in some cases is just as fascinating as the episodes themselves.