Columbo: Candidate for Crime (1973) (TV)

Director:

Boris Sagal

Writers:

Irv Pearlberg (teleplay) and
Alvin R. Friedman (teleplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

4 November 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Senatorial candidate Nelson Hayward murders his domineering campaign manager, staging it to appear that Hayward himself was the intended victim of a mob hit gone wrong. Columbo hits the campaign trail to catch the killer.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Police | Detective | Investigation | Lt Columbo

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Lt. Columbo
Jackie Cooper	...	Nelson Hayward
Joanne Linville	...	Mrs. Hayward
Tisha Sterling	...	Linda Johnson
Ken Swofford	...	Harry Stone
Robert Karnes	...	Sgt. Vernon
Jay Varela	...	Sgt. Rojas
Vito Scotti	...	Chadwick
Regis Cordic	...	Deputy Commissioner
Sandy Kenyon	...	Harris
Jack Riley	...	Director
Mario Gallo	...	Dr. Perenchio
Jude Farese	...	Highway Patrolman
Clete Roberts	...	TV Anchor Man
Angelo Grisanti	...	1st Detective
Lew Brown	...	2nd Detective
Don Diamond	...	Larry
James G. Richardson	...	Shelly
Bill Andes	...	Campaign Mgr.
Lucille Meredith	...	Lucy
Katey Sagal	...	Secretary (as Katie Sagal)
Larry Burrell	...	Newsman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Val Bisoglio	...	Dentist (uncredited)
Dianne Turley Travis	...	Blonde At Birthday Of Mrs Hayward (uncredited)

Directed by
Boris Sagal

Writing credits
Irv Pearlberg		(teleplay) (as Irving Pearlberg) and
Alvin R. Friedman		(teleplay) and
Roland Kibbee		(teleplay) &
Dean Hargrove		(teleplay)
Larry Cohen		(story)
Richard Levinson		(creator) &
William Link		(creator)

Produced by
Edward K. Dodds	....	associate producer
Dean Hargrove	....	executive producer
Roland Kibbee	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Dick DeBenedictis		(as Dick De Benedictis)

Cinematography by
William Cronjager		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Robert L. Kimble

Art Direction by
John W. Corso		(as John Wm. Corso)

Set Decoration by
Bill McLaughlin		(as William J. McLaughlin)

Production Management
Brad H. Aronson	....	unit manager (as Brad Aronson)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Walt Gilmore	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Edwin S. Hall	....	sound

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Grady Hunt	....	costumes

Editorial Department
Richard Belding	....	editorial supervisor

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

Other crew
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer: main titles

Production Companies

• Universal TV

Distributors

• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2006) (Finland) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Universal Title  titles & optical effects

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (2005) (DVD) (self applied)

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

The children's song, "This Old Man" appears in almost every episode of the Columbo series, sometimes as background music, but more often Lt. Columbo is seen singing, humming, or whistling the tune. The episode, "Candidate for Crime" is the only episode where the murderer ('Jackie Cooper', as political candidate Nelson Hayward) is seen using it, in this case whistling it, as he prepares to film a campaign commercial.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Columbo speaks to Linda Johnson to introduce himself, a woman with a white woollen hat with holes in passes in front of them. In the next shot the same woman is having a conversation with someone behind Columbo and Miss Johnson.

Quotes:

Lt. Columbo: Evening, Commissioner.
Deputy Commissioner: You're late, Lieutenant.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Columbo: Double Exposure (1973) (TV)

Soundtrack:

This Old Man

Jackie Cooper tries to turn the tables on our redoubtable detective in this excellent episode

Nelson Hayward (Jackie Cooper) is running for senate as a man tough on crime. His campaign manager Harry Stone (Ken Swofford) demands the candidate dump his mistress (Tisha Sterling) and backs up the demand with threats to expose the politician's shady past. But Stone approves of the candidate's publicity-minded lie that anonymous killers are threatening the politician's life, little guessing that Hayward will murder him and blame it on these invented assailants. Hayward sets up a tricky alibi for himself that includes a surprise birthday party for his wife (Joanne Linville). No one guesses the truth except that annoying Italian cop in the rumpled raincoat—our redoubtable Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk).

Except for comic scenes included to pad the running time, this is a top-notch "Columbo" episode. The dialogue—from a script credited to four writers, not counting the story credit—is particularly sharp, especially in the scene where Cooper turns the tables on Columbo and insists on giving him his undivided attention; this time it's the suspect interrupting our clever detective with irrelevancies. Swofford, Linville and Sterling all give sterling support; and Jackie Cooper makes a splendid villain—a charming but unscrupulous politician with a wrinkled but handsomely boyish face that makes him look like a mortified schoolboy in the last scene.