"Columbo" Last Salute to the Commodore (1976)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Patrick McGoohan

Writers:

Jackson Gillis (written by)
Richard Levinson (creator)

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

2 March 1976 (Season 5, Episode 6)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Charlie Clay runs the ship building business of his father-in-law, Commodore Swanson, who turns up murdered; Lt. Columbo is on the case.

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Whodunit | Murder | Police Detective | Alcoholism

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Lt. Columbo
Robert Vaughn	...	Charles 'Charlie' Clay
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Kittering, Esq.
John Dehner	...	Commodore Otis Swanson
Dennis Dugan	...	Sergeant Theodore "Mac" Albinsky
Diane Baker	...	Joanna Clay
Bruce Kirby	...	Sergeant George Kramer
Joshua Bryant	...	Wayne Taylor
Susan Foster	...	Lisa King
Fred Draper	...	Swanny Swanson
Rod McCary	...	Coast Guard Officer
John Finnegan	...	Guard (as J.P. Finnegan)
Joseph Roman	...	Shop Foreman
Hanna Hertelendy	...	Woman
Jerry Crews	...	Watchman

Runtime:

Germany:105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:11 (DVD) (2007) | Sweden:15 (DVD) (2007) | Denmark:15 (DVD) (2007) | Finland:K-18 (DVD) (2007) (self applied)

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

This is the first Columbo "whodunnit" where the murderer is revealed at the end of the episode.

Goofs:

Continuity: Columbo sprawls out on the pier with his left leg extended beneath him, and his right leg up and bent. Then he instantly switches to having his right leg extended below, and his left leg up - then switches back again.

Movie Connections:

Follows "Columbo: Death Lends a Hand (#1.2)" (1971)

Columbo shifts gears from "Hedunit" to "Whodunit."

This departure from the basic Columbo script works out well, for once. For reasons not revealed here, Columbo's singular murder suspect has to be dropped from consideration. From then on, the show becomes more like a classical whodunit. After some twists and turns, the conclusion has Columbo in a room full of potential culprits, smoking out the guilty one. Columbo is as clever, adept, and at home with this tactic as in his usual one-on-one battles. And there's no skimping on the touches that make "Columbo" a unique and special detective show.