"Columbo" Negative Reaction (1974)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Alf Kjellin

Writers:

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

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

15 October 1974 (Season 4, Episode 2)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A photographer murders his wife and blames her death on a bungled kidnapping. But Lt. Columbo has an even sharper eye than the Pulitzer Prize winner.

Plot Keywords:

Photographer | Kidnapping | Police | Murder | Crime Investigation

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Dick Van Dyke	...	Paul Galesko
Don Gordon	...	Alvin Deschler
Larry Storch	...	Mr. Weekly
Antoinette Bower	...	Frances Galesko
Joyce Van Patten	...	Sister of Mercy
David Sheiner	...	Ray
Michael Strong	...	Sergeant Hoffman
JoAnna Cameron	...	Lorna McGrath (as Joanna Cameron)
Vito Scotti	...	Thomas Dolan
Alice Backes	...	Mrs. Moyland
Harvey Gold	...	Harry Lewis
Bill Zuckert	...	Capt. Sampson
Adrian Ricard	...	DMV clerk
Thom Carney	...	Manager

Runtime:

USA:91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (2006) (DVD) (self applied) | USA:Unrated

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

Paul Hanlon's distinctive fireplace fan in "Negative Reaction", which was also in Nelson Heyward's house in "Columbo: Candidate for Crime (#3.3)" (1973).

Quotes:

[Lt. Columbo goes down to the evidence room to follow up on an idea]
Captain Sampson: Columbo! Hey! What are you doing down here in the dungeon?
Lt. Columbo: How ya doing, Captain. Well, I was just checking out a few things; the Galesko kidnapping.
Captain Sampson: Galesko? I thought that case was closed.
Lt. Columbo: Well, you know me, Captain. Just uh, tying up some loose ends.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Brilliant But Cancelled (2002) (TV)

The great Dick Van Dyke fails as a "Columbo" villain—or maybe the character fails him

The Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Paul Galesko (Dick Van Dyke) has a scheme for murdering his overbearing wife (Antoinette Bower). He hires a newly released ex-convict (Don Gordon) to be his assistant and asks him do things that seem innocent—rent a remote cabin, buy a camera, etc. Then Galesko lures his wife to the cabin, ties her up, takes pictures of her with the ex-con's camera—and finally kills her. Later this will look like a bungled kidnapping. Galesko has sent ransom notes to himself that seem to have come from the ex-con. He's pretended to have a phone conversation with a kidnapper in the presence of the maid. He even stages a scene that leaves the ex-con dead and himself with a bullet in his leg. To the police, it looks the way Galesko wants it to look. He tried to pay the kidnapper the ransom money, but the man panicked and shot him; then he defended himself by shooting back. Now Galesko can take his secretary/mistress (JoAnna Cameron) on a trip to the Philippines and live happily ever after. Too bad for him our rumpled Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) has an even sharper eye than the famed photographer.

Mystery fiction is filled with meek little men who murder their domineering wives (see Alfred Hitchcock's "Back for Christmas"). But whatever the opening scenes in Peter S. Fischer's script may try to imply, there's nothing meek about Paul Galesko. He's cold, ruthless and conniving. We feel some sympathy for him when we meet his despicable wife, but lose it the moment he murders a man just to strengthen his alibi. At no point after the murder do we find him to be a man capable of being browbeaten—by his wife or anyone else. This robs him of a proper motive for his crime. And that robs us of seeing a believable human being as the lead villain—something essential to a successful "Columbo" movie. Dick Van Dyke is a great favorite of mine, but he never manages to make this empty character seem real.

Once again, a "Columbo" episode has comic scenes that exist purely to pad the running time. The scene with the kindly Sister of Mercy (Joyce Van Patten) is funny at first—but it's three times longer than it should be. The scene with the driving instructor (Larry Storch) isn't funny at all.

The music credited to Bernardo Segall seems to have been written by Generic TV Music Unlimited; very different from the weird but effective scores written by Billy Goldenberg. The final scene is only mildly satisfying, bringing to a close this disappointing "Columbo" effort.