LADY IN WAITING is a solid early episode of the COLUMBO TV show, but not one of my favourites and the reason for that lies in the character of the murderess, as played by Susan Clark. Clark starts out as a mildly sympathetic character at the beginning but undergoes a transformation into one of the most repulsive and annoying characters in the whole COLUMBO canon. I ended up gritting my teeth every time she came on screen - which is a lot - which takes away from the enjoyment a bit.
Otherwise, the mystery is a simple one for Columbo to solve. Clark murders her controlling brother and pretends that she mistook him for a burglar, but her deed doesn't go exactly to plan and Columbo soon smells a rat. Peter Falk is on excellent form here and the scenes in which Clark belittles him are particularly fine. The direction has dated a little, with some cheesy dream effects and overuse of the zoom lens, but the production benefits as a whole from featuring a typically Leslie Nielsen in support back when he was playing it straight.
Otherwise, the mystery is a simple one for Columbo to solve. Clark murders her controlling brother and pretends that she mistook him for a burglar, but her deed doesn't go exactly to plan and Columbo soon smells a rat. Peter Falk is on excellent form here and the scenes in which Clark belittles him are particularly fine. The direction has dated a little, with some cheesy dream effects and overuse of the zoom lens, but the production benefits as a whole from featuring a typically Leslie Nielsen in support back when he was playing it straight.