"Columbo" A Friend in Deed (1974)

Director:

Ben Gazzara

Writers:

Peter S. Fischer (written by)
Richard Levinson (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

5 May 1974 (Season 3, Episode 8)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A police commissioner provides a false alibi for a wife killer, but then expects an alibi in return.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Murder | Crime Solving | Detective | Nude Woman Murdered

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Richard Kiley	...	Mark Halperin
Rosemary Murphy	...	Margaret Halperin
Michael McGuire	...	Hugh Caldwell
Val Avery	...	Artie Jessup
Eric Christmas	...	Bruno Wexler
Eleanor Zee	...	Thelma
John Finnegan	...	Lt. Dreyer
Arlene Martel	...	Salesgirl (as Arlene Martell)
Victor Campos	...	Doyle
Joshua Bryant	...	Dr. MacMurray
John Calvin	...	Charlie Shoup
Byron Morrow	...	Amos Lawrence
James V. Christy	...	Sharkey
Alma Beltran	...	Mrs. Fernandez

Runtime:

USA:95 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:

Richard Kiley and Rosemary Murphy had not met before shooting their first scene, where Kiley's character Mark Halperin dives into a swimming pool to pull out his drowned wife, played by Murphy, and attempt to give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Upon finishing the scene, Kiley held out his hand to Murphy and said, "How do you do? I'm Richard Kiley."

Goofs:

Continuity: The helicopter in the night patrol scene switches between two distinctly different makes and models. When Deputy Commissioner Mark Halperin goes on helicopter patrol, his helicopter actually changes type twice during the flight. First we see a Bell 206 JetRanger, which then turns into a Hughes 369 before reverting back to the Bell 206. Commissioner Halperin is then seen climbing out of the Hughes 369 to drag his wife's body out of the pool. The two helicopters are very different, even to the untrained eye.

Soundtrack:

Jesus, Joy of Man's Desiring

A fairly good "Columbo" outing that moves fast enough for us to ignore the implausibilities

Hugh Caldwell (Michael McGuire) kills his cheating wife in a fit of anger, then turns to his friend, Police Commissioner Mark Halperin (Richard Kiley), who agrees to give him an alibi by making the crime look like the work of Artie Jessup (Val Avery), a longtime burglar. Our rumpled Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) is on the case, which gets more complicated when Halperin kills his own wife and then demands an alibi from Caldwell.

The best "Columbo" murderers are the ones who either kill in a fit of passion and then cleverly cover up the crime; or are driven to desperation, and so plot the murder cleverly in advance before killing in cold blood. This episode varies the formula a bit: a man kills his wife in a fit of passion and then has a clever friend cover it up for him. But this story goes awry when the Police Commissioner kills his own wife. He has a good motivation: he wants his wife's money, in part to pay his gambling debts. But is he desperate? It seems he only commits the murder because he can bully Caldwell into providing an alibi. What an opportunity! Except the murder is dumb. I won't give away details, but his plot seems incapable of fooling anyone, much less our brilliant detective.

"A Friend in Deed" is no loss, though. Richard Kiley, with those white streaks in his manicured beard that make him look saber-toothed, is enjoyably pompous. The fat, pock-marked Val Avery is good in support. And it's certainly a good idea to have Columbo battling his own top boss. This is still a fairly good "Columbo" outing.