"Columbo" Swan Song (1974)

Director:

Nicholas Colasanto

Writers:

David Rayfiel (teleplay)
Stanley Ralph Ross (story)

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

3 March 1974 (Season 3, Episode 7)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A gospel singer wants to be rid of his zealous wife. But a murder made to look like an airplane accident does not fool the wily Lt. Columbo.

Plot Keywords:

Gospel Singer | Murder | Airplane | Plane | Pilot

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Johnny Cash	...	Tommy Brown
Ida Lupino	...	Edna Brown
John Dehner	...	Roland Pangborn
Sorrell Booke	...	J.J. Stringer
Bill McKinney	...	Luke Basket
Vito Scotti	...	Mr. Grindell
Janit Baldwin	...	Tina
John Randolph	...	The Colonel
Lucille Meredith	...	Lady
Richard Caine	...	Bennett
Don Mantooth	...	Phil (as Donald Mantooth)
Jefferson Kibbee	...	Frank
Bonnie Van Dyke	...	Maryann
Douglas Dirkson	...	Jeff (as Doug Dirkson)

Runtime:

99 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:

In-joke: Tommy Brown refers to his unseen music arranger as "Nick Solacanto"; the director of the episode is Nicholas Colasanto.

Goofs:

Continuity: The wreckage of the airplane is obviously a tubular structure, meaning it was fabric covered. It was also a tandem cockpit. However, the airplane they were flying in was clearly a Cessna 172 with bulkheads, formers, and aluminum skin. It has side by side seating.

Quotes:

Lt. Columbo: Any man who can sing like that can't be all bad

A Haunting And Very American Tragedy

Rich, sexy, haunting and ultimately quite tragic, this classic COLUMBO episode combines a stark and surprisingly powerful performance by country superstar Johnny Cash with an even more sensational star turn by screen legend Ida Lupino.

Tommy Brown is a weak, shiftless country music singer, lured into the Christian crusade by his strong-willed, majestic wife Edna. Even though his talent and charisma are what make the Lost Soul Crusade such a breakout success, Edna keeps all the money to realize her dream of building the great tabernacle. Tommy can't even afford his own car! So one night he sets up an ingenious plan to kill Edna (and her sweet, pretty young assistant) and leave himself in control of the music fortune that should rightfully be his.

What makes this crime story a classic is not really the clues or the mystery, but the way each character is so richly full and rounded. Tommy Brown is not really an evil man. At the beginning he makes a very good case that Edna should share some of the money he earns with his music. He's weak, but he's not just a nobody. He really does have a special talent and he feels very strongly that the American dream should be his. Money, fame, and success are not worth killing for -- but when a man has a special talent and has to watch his money go out of his hands, to build someone else's dream, it's not fair.

Edna Brown is equally fascinating. Even though she's a very attractive older woman, it's obvious she has no use for Tommy in her bed. She's truly a woman of God, with courage and vision and an unselfish dream. Her tragedy is that she really is too strong to understand human weakness. Using blackmail and scare tactics to keep her sinful husband in line somehow doesn't make her quite so repulsive as you would expect. She really is like a majestic and queenly figure. At the same time, watch the way she treats her assistant, Mary Ann. This is a very pretty, shy young girl Tommy seduced and ruined. It would be so easy for Edna to make the young girl's life miserable, screeching at her and picking at her for giving in to her sinful desires. But if you watch closely, it becomes obvious that Edna looks after Mary Ann just like a mother. The two of them are devoted to each other. And when Tommy makes his fateful decision, you really feel for all three people -- trapped in an American tragedy of greed, guilt, and spiritual ambition gone wrong.

Even as a ten year old boy, I was hypnotized by this story. It struck me as being far above the usual television drama. And now, thirty years later, having gone to school and read books like ABSALOM, ABSALOM and An American Tragedy, my opinion of this very special COLUMBO episode is even higher. This is not only great television, it is truly a work of art!