"Columbo" The Most Crucial Game (1972)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Jeremy Kagan

Writers:

John T. Dugan (written by)
Richard Levinson (creator) ...
(more)

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

5 November 1972 (Season 2, Episode 3)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

The manager of a football team murders its callow owner, making it look as if the young man had had an accident in his swimming pool. Lt. Columbo is on the case.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Swimming Pool | Block Of Ice | Ice Cream Truck | Phone Tap

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Robert Culp	...	Paul Hanlon
Dean Jagger	...	Walter Cunnell
James Gregory	...	Coach Rizzo
Valerie Harper	...	Eve Babcock
Susan Howard	...	Shirley Wagner
Dean Stockwell	...	Eric Wagner
Val Avery	...	Ralph Dobbs
Kathryn Kelly Wiget	...	Miss Johnson
Richard Stahl	...	Mr. Fremont
Don Keefer	...	Deputy Coroner
Cliff Carnell	...	Plainclothesman
Joe Renteria	...	Box attendant Jimmy
Ivan Naranjo	...	Sgt. Hernandez, LAPD
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
LeRoy Ellis	...	Himself (uncredited)
Keith Erickson	...	Himself (uncredited)
Harold 'Happy' Hairston	...	Himself (uncredited)
Jim McMillan	...	Himself (uncredited)
Pat Riley	...	Himself (uncredited)
Flynn Robinson	...	Himself (uncredited)

Directed by
Jeremy Kagan

Writing credits
John T. Dugan		(written by)
Richard Levinson		(creator) &
William Link		(creator)

Produced by
Edward K. Dodds	....	associate producer
Dean Hargrove	....	producer

Original Music by
Dick DeBenedictis		(as Dick De Benedictis)

Cinematography by
Harry L. Wolf		(director of photography) (as Harry Wolf)

Film Editing by
J. Terry Williams

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

Set Decoration by
John McCarthy Jr.		(as John McCarthy)

Costume Design by
Grady Hunt

Production Management
Henry Kline	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Brad H. Aronson	....	assistant director (as Brad Aronson)

Sound Department
Edwin S. Hall	....	sound

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

Music Department
Henry Mancini	....	composer: theme "Sunday Mystery Movie"
Hal Mooney	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer: main titles
Jackson Gillis	....	executive story consultant

Production Companies

• Universal TV

Distributors

• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1972) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2005) (Finland) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Technicolor  color
• Universal Title  titles & optical effects

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-7 (2005) | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

The murder victim's (Eric Wagner's) house is the same used in "Columbo: Murder by the Book (#1.1)" (1971) where it was the house of Ken Franklin.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When Shirley Wagner lands at the airport, there is a scene showing the wheels of her plane touching down. The wheels are of a B-52 bomber, and not a commercial airliner.

Quotes:

Lt. Columbo: Uh, sir?
Walter Cunnell: Yes?
Lt. Columbo: You don't mind if I ask you a personal question, do you?
Walter Cunnell: No.
Lt. Columbo: What'd you pay for those shoes?

Movie Connections:

Followed by "Columbo: Negative Reaction (#4.2)" (1974)

Fast-Moving, Interesting Episode But Ending Was Disappointing

Robert Culp is the "bad guy" here, after killing his boss: a young, spoiled owner of a pro football team who is basically a good-for-nothing. Culp, the general manager of the team, does all the work for the team and has little use for the "kid."

He decides to kill the owner while the latter is in his swimming pool during the middle of the one of the team's games. (The owner could care less about his club play) Culp has to make it look like he never left the stadium during the murder, so they can't blame it on him.

In the end, Lt. Columbo figures a flaw in his alibi, but I thought it was kind of weak, to be honest. I wonder, if it was real-life story, if the court would have gone along with it. I doubt it; Culp probably would have walked.

Nonetheless, it's an interesting 75 minutes. It also was interesting to see Valerie Harper's very short (too short) appearance near the end as a call girl. That was bizarre. There were good "names" in here with a young Dean Stockwell playing that owner; James Gregory as the coach and Dean Jagger as the man who used to be the lawyer for Stockwell's dad. Lots of other interesting characters in here, too. Too bad the ending was so abrupt and weak.