Beth Chadwick (Clark) kills her brother Bryce (Anderson) when he bars her consort with Peter Hamilton (Nielsen), the last straw in preventing her from living her own life at all.
Something interesting here is how the murder is played out twice. First we see her imagining it, planning it even — and we can imagine that she has imagined it many, many times before — and then we see it carried out. And the second time we see it with all the mistakes!
This is interesting because most commonly we might see something the killer doesn't while he — in this case, she — is committing the crime, but this episode gives us "the perfect crime" she conceived and how it went awry.
Also, in other episodes in the series, while we might see one or two items (a misplaced article of clothing, say), this time we see multiple problems — he comes in the house from a direction she doesn't suspect, the newspaper, the boyfriend coming over for a chat with Bryce, just to name a few.
And this is cool: she could not have prevented them. They aren't "her" mistakes so much as aspects she could neither foresee, nor prevent if she had seen them.
For instance, she doesn't — and more importantly, can't — know enough about any of the three elements I mention above (brother's entrance, newspaper in the hall, main squeeze dropping by). In some cases, she doesn't (and can't) know anything about the many spanners in her murderous works.
For us as the viewers, we can simply enjoy the festivities — and appreciate the creativity. We not only get to see the murder in advance — a twist on the mystery genre that Columbo is known for, if not inventing than at least promulgating and popularizing.
But we also get to see essentially all of the errors in advance, too. These are the mistakes Lt. Columbo will gradually discover — as ever he does — but this time we see them first.
I really appreciate how well the show tells Beth Chadwick's story. Based on some of what happens after Bryce is dead, we must conclude the woman was chafing under her mother's and her brother's rule for some time — and had already begun to take steps to emerge/escape.
So the murder was "the last straw" in several ways, and did not so much enable her to break free (though in practical terms, yes) rather it was a culmination.
She was heading this direction for a long time.
NOTES First appearance of Fred Draper: he's the cab driver here, and will play in five other episodes, including one as the killer.
Leslie Nielsen died only recently, at age 84 in 2010. He'll be the victim in "Identity Crisis" (5:3). Later he spoofed police procedurals in the too-brief Police Squad.
Richard Anderson went on to "The Six Million Dollar Man," and as of this writing is still alive at 86.
While Norman Lloyd acted with Orson Welles and John Houseman in the Mercury Theater, 75 years ago. He was on "St. Elsewhere" in the 1980s, and at this writing is alive, age 99.
Jessie Royce Landis, playing Susan Clark's mother, Mrs. Chadwick, was Cary Grant's mother in "North By Northwest" and Grace Kelly's mother in "To Catch a Thief." She died three months after the episode first aired.
Clark purveys saucy and delish, later playing the prostitute for pubescent pricks in "Porky's." She was married to the former Detroit Lions' linemen, the late Alex Karras.
This post is excerpted from the Columbo Case Files Season One (Kindle)
Something interesting here is how the murder is played out twice. First we see her imagining it, planning it even — and we can imagine that she has imagined it many, many times before — and then we see it carried out. And the second time we see it with all the mistakes!
This is interesting because most commonly we might see something the killer doesn't while he — in this case, she — is committing the crime, but this episode gives us "the perfect crime" she conceived and how it went awry.
Also, in other episodes in the series, while we might see one or two items (a misplaced article of clothing, say), this time we see multiple problems — he comes in the house from a direction she doesn't suspect, the newspaper, the boyfriend coming over for a chat with Bryce, just to name a few.
And this is cool: she could not have prevented them. They aren't "her" mistakes so much as aspects she could neither foresee, nor prevent if she had seen them.
For instance, she doesn't — and more importantly, can't — know enough about any of the three elements I mention above (brother's entrance, newspaper in the hall, main squeeze dropping by). In some cases, she doesn't (and can't) know anything about the many spanners in her murderous works.
For us as the viewers, we can simply enjoy the festivities — and appreciate the creativity. We not only get to see the murder in advance — a twist on the mystery genre that Columbo is known for, if not inventing than at least promulgating and popularizing.
But we also get to see essentially all of the errors in advance, too. These are the mistakes Lt. Columbo will gradually discover — as ever he does — but this time we see them first.
I really appreciate how well the show tells Beth Chadwick's story. Based on some of what happens after Bryce is dead, we must conclude the woman was chafing under her mother's and her brother's rule for some time — and had already begun to take steps to emerge/escape.
So the murder was "the last straw" in several ways, and did not so much enable her to break free (though in practical terms, yes) rather it was a culmination.
She was heading this direction for a long time.
NOTES First appearance of Fred Draper: he's the cab driver here, and will play in five other episodes, including one as the killer.
Leslie Nielsen died only recently, at age 84 in 2010. He'll be the victim in "Identity Crisis" (5:3). Later he spoofed police procedurals in the too-brief Police Squad.
Richard Anderson went on to "The Six Million Dollar Man," and as of this writing is still alive at 86.
While Norman Lloyd acted with Orson Welles and John Houseman in the Mercury Theater, 75 years ago. He was on "St. Elsewhere" in the 1980s, and at this writing is alive, age 99.
Jessie Royce Landis, playing Susan Clark's mother, Mrs. Chadwick, was Cary Grant's mother in "North By Northwest" and Grace Kelly's mother in "To Catch a Thief." She died three months after the episode first aired.
Clark purveys saucy and delish, later playing the prostitute for pubescent pricks in "Porky's." She was married to the former Detroit Lions' linemen, the late Alex Karras.
This post is excerpted from the Columbo Case Files Season One (Kindle)