Columbo (TV Series) Death Lends a Hand (1971) User Reviews

One of the best "Columbo" episodes

[bwaynef · 8/10 · 31 May 1999]

The second official episode of the "Columbo" series ("Murder by the Book," filmed later, hit the airwaves first), "Death Lends a Hand" is also among the best. Robert Culp, who would match wits with Peter Falk's detective in several future installments, is terrific as the short-tempered head of a sophisticated private detective agency who murders a client's wife (Patricia Crowley) when she refuses to cave-in to his blackmail schemes.

Ray Milland plays the client. With the addition of a toupee, he'd return the next season as a killer in "Greenhouse Jungle."

Falk and Culp are well-matched in this clever cat-and-mouse exercise. Trivia fans might like to know that the scene featuring a crashing mirror was directed by Steven Spielberg for the "Eyes" segment of the 1969 "Night Gallery" pilot. Universal was so impressed, they added it to their library of stock footage.

Brian W. Fairbanks

excellent early entry in Columbo series--impressive direction and acting

[django-1 · 9/10 · 9 December 2004]

This was the second entry in the regular Columbo series, and it holds up well today. As I am able to look at it closely now on DVD and see how it is constructed, I am very impressed with the direction of Bernard L. Kowalski (who directed the fine MACHO CALLAHAN as well as countless TV episodes)--watch how the post-murder actions of the killer are shown on a split-screen effect on his two eyeglasses, watch how the murder itself is shown in montage fashion, watch the point-of-view shot from the perspective of the corpse. Also, the wild but impressive avant-garde musical score from noted jazzman Gil Melle was incredible and helped so much to create atmosphere. And the supporting performance of Brett Halsey as the golf pro was wonderful--such subtlety and complexity in a role that nine out of ten times would be a one-dimensional cutout. The "formula" had not yet been set when this episode was filmed, so there are still some surprises in Columbo's methods. Of course, Falk, Robert Culp, and Ray Milland are the highest-quality actors and it's a pleasure to see them work--all men are familiar from many other roles yet lose themselves in their characters here. In all, this entry in the Columbo series--and MANY of the others--are as well-crafted as a very good feature film.

This is one great Columbo movie!

[Boba_Fett1138 · 9/10 · 26 January 2008]

This was the first regular filmed Columbo movie episode but yet it aired as the second, after Steven Spielberg's "Columbo: Murder by the Book". It's also at the same time among one of the better ones!

Bernard L. Kowalski was one great creative director! No wonder that they later asked him to direct three more Columbo movies. The movie has some real creative and innovative shot sequences and the movie as a whole is also clearly made with style, passion and eye for detail. Every shot connects and is a reason why this movie is better and also better looking just any other average made for TV movie. It's definitely one of the better directed Columbo movies.

It's a quit original Columbo entry for a couple of reasons. The murder is more or less an accident and was an impulsive act. So the killer this time doesn't have any time to plan out the 'perfect murder' in advance and his to clean up any of the traces afterward and has to dispose the body. The killer in this movie is not only being handled as the man who committed the crime but more as the man who helps out Lieutenant Columbo to solve the murder. It makes the character a more interesting and layered one as well and also helps to make the way Columbo solves the whole crime seem way more interesting as well because of that. Of course Columbo starts to suspect him pretty early on and as always he comes to solution by making himself vulnerable and look more stupid than he of course truly is and by gaining the killer's trust. This is obviously no spoiler since this is the way every Columbo movie gets set-up. I liked the story of the movie and how it progressed.

It also helps the movie that it has such a fine cast. At the time of this movie Peter Falk had really made the Columbo character his own and the character at this was already fully developed. Robert Culp is truly great as the short tempered Brimmer. Funny thing is that he would later star in three different Columbo movies again and one "Mrs. Columbo" episode, only in totally different roles. He even played the murderer in a couple of those movies as well again. He by the way was not the only actor that did this in other later Columbo movies. Also the great Ray Milland makes an appearance in this movie, as the husband of the victim.

All in all, a real great early Columbo movie and among the better ones out of the long running series of movies.

9/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

A well-plotted and solid early Columbo adventure

[The Welsh Raging Bull · 8/10 · 19 April 2002]

A very high-standard Columbo story which was actually the first filmed episode of the long-running series but was originally transmitted second (after "Murder By The Book").

Robert Culp makes his first of three appearances as the guest murderer in the series and plays the owner of a private detective agency, who blackmails the wife (Patricia Crowley) of a rich, highly influential businessman (played very sympathetically by Ray Milland) after he falsifies a report, in her favour, after it is discovered she was having an affair. The wife later rebels against the blackmail scheme but is killed in a fit of rage....

A very satisfying episode in many respects, particularly as the plot is so strongly set-up and subsequently developed and also because of the rare Columbo ingredient that the crime is an unpremeditated killing. The whole thing is further enhanced when the widowed husband uses the murderer to assist Columbo in his investigations: a feature that facilitates numerous good quality scenes, particularly in the first sequence when the three central characters meet and Columbo's crucially deceptive qualities are wonderfully in evidence.

Directed with flair by Bernard L. Kowalski and acted to an appropriately high level, this really set the tone for whole series (since "Murder By the Book" was let down by a poor ending). The script by Columbo creators Richard Levinson and William Link is precise, well-structured and well-thought-out and is underpinned by a steady, productive pace and meaningful sequences which really exhibit the unpredictability of the story. Ultimately, the finale fittingly epitomises that Columbo has always been one step ahead of the murderer.

Overall, this is a very fine piece of detective work for Columbo, and strongly suggests that the production team had worked positively and constructively to render a polished Columbo story.

A change of pace for Columbo...

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 22 October 2023]

... in the sense that, rather than a carefully planned premeditated murder of somebody that the killer knows well, this is the unintentional killing of somebody that the killer barely knows. So on the one hand, the killer will not be suspect number one, but on the other hand, in his haste to cover up the crime he could have missed something, and he'll constantly worry that he did miss something.

Brimmer (Robert Culp) is an ex-cop who has become a P. I. and heads a thriving agency. The wealthy Arthur Kenicutt (Ray Milland) has hired Brimmer to determine whether or not his wife, Lenore, is having an affair. Brimmer tells Kennicutt that his wife is not seeing anybody, but that's a lie. Brimmer uses this knowledge to blackmail Lenore into spying on her husband - who is a powerful newspaper publisher - and feed him information. She comes to his beach house and tells him not only "No", but that she plans to confess her past brief indiscretion herself, plus tell her husband about Brimmer lying to him and trying to blackmail her. He tries to stop her from leaving his house, he gets angry in the tussle, he hits her, she hits her head when she falls, and dies.

Of course Brimmer panics, he takes Lenore's body to a remote location and dumps it, and does his best to clean up the broken furniture and glass from the fight. The police investigate when the body is found, and Kennicutt, once he is cleared of suspicion himself, hires Brimmer to help the police in the investigation. Brimmer can't believe the beauty of his situation. But then Lieutenant Columbo enters the search for the killer and interrupts Brimmer's beauty contest.

Columbo makes some leaps of logic here, because Brimmer did not know Lenore Kennicutt. I have to wonder about the victim's logic here as well as Brimmer's. Brimmer has made a fortune doing PI work, so he has to be pretty bright. Why didn't he realize that Lenore had the upper hand the minute he lied to her husband? How would he make good on his blackmail of her? Tell her powerful husband - who seems to have all of the milk of human kindness of WIlliam Randolph Hearst - I was lying BEFORE but I'm telling the truth NOW? And why would Lenore go to Brimmer's house, alone, to tell him she's about to ruin his life? Because you have no movie if people only make good decisions.

With great production values, good acting, and the always humorous antics of Lieutenant Columbo, this is good viewing.

Columbo and a fishy detective

[Petey-10 · 25 June 2008]

Robert Culp plays a private detective named Brimmer.He's hired by Arthur Kennicut (Ray Milland), a prominent Los Angeles publisher.He tells the detective to follow his wife Lenore (Pat Crowley) he suspects of having an affair.She does, or did but instead of telling him he decides to blackmail her in order to get some information of the people close to her husband.But she doesn't want to play that game and wants to tell Arthur about the affair she had with the golf instructor.The short-tempered Brimmer kills her.Now Columbo (Peter Falk) appears to investigate the case and he gets some "help" from the actual killer.Bernard L.Kowalski's Columbo: Death Lends a Hand (1971) is another great episode in the Columbo series.Peter Falk was born to play this character.Robert Culp is terrific as Brimmer.And the legendary Ray Milland is fantastic as Mr.Kennicut.In Columbo series it was never about who did it.We always saw the murder take place.It was about how Columbo found out who did it.And in this one he works in a masterly way.Who else could come up with solutions such as Columbo does? Nobody, I can tell you that.

Classic Early Columbo Vs Uptight Security Consultant

[ShootingShark · 6/10 · 22 January 2007]

Brimmer is the head of a private security firm who blackmails an adulterous wife into providing him with an information pipeline to her powerful media magnate husband. When she refuses and threatens to expose his tactics, she has to be eliminated and the intrepid Lieutenant Columbo must lock wits with an expert in criminal investigations.

This is one of the earliest and best Columbo movies, and one of only five of the original seventies series written by the show's creators, Richard Levinson and William Link. The setup is amusing; the grieving widower unwittingly hires his wife's killer to help solve the crime ! The contrast between Columbo's investigation (vague hunches, unorthodox methods, feigned ignorance) and Brimmer's (surveillance, high-tech systems, a platoon of freelance guys) is hilarious, particularly since Columbo rumbles the killer literally from the moment he meets him. As ever, what makes it really work is the chemistry between Falk and the killer, in this case a fine nervous performance by Culp as the ambitious, short-tempered autocrat unable to think his way out of his predicament and all too easily snared by Columbo's high jinks. Craftily directed by Kowalski, who helmed some of the best in the series (Playback, Fade In To Murder), with some lovely touches, like the split-screen body-disposal sequence reflected in Culp's glasses and the palm-reading diversion. A great TV murder mystery with the inimitable Falk really hitting his stride in his classic role. Don't miss the potato-in-the-tailpipe gag !

The accidental murderer

[ColumboCaseFiles · 8/10 · 11 March 2013]

After Culp's character, a private detective named Brimmer, inadvertently kills Kennicut's wife, the lieutenant must show how, and even why. This is going to be interesting, because Brimmer himself isn't sure why: this is the first accidental killing in Columbo.

Not that it matters: it's Brimmer's temper — he's … well, brimming … with it — and there would certainly be a legal situation here, anyway. And in fact there is.

Because Brimmer had already been trying to blackmail the missus, who was making time with someone who was not the master. Culp's character hopes to use this as leverage against her, or more precisely with her for leverage against her husband, who owns newspapers.

He looks that part, too: much more Charles Foster Kane than the goofy dude in the first episode of next season — a guy who also supposedly owns a newspaper.

So when Mrs. Kennicut makes the classic TV mistake of telling the major bad guy everything you're going to do, well her trajectory is set. Of course she didn't know he would … well watch.

In this episode, I think Columbo suspects the killer fairly quickly: he seems "on" immediately … he gets a sense of Brimmer's temper … and really, there aren't many other options.

Culp's Brimmer merits special mention: he's excellent. The terseness in speaking, in actions — he is precise, cutting, and careful, and not careful enough. And you'll like watching him try not to bust out laughing when Falk is into his patter.

Meanwhile, Columbo is always noticing, always asking questions — and he's funny about it, as in the palm reading scene, and he's audacious, as when he's riffling the golf pro's appointment book.

He keeps moving forward — what's the other guy going to do? Resist?

Culled from The Columbo Case Files: Season One.

Things don't Makes sense!

[skarylarry-93400 · 7/10 · 3 March 2022]

When Columbo is talking to the golf instructor for the first time, he tells him to not say anything else without an attorney, that he could hurt his case; HE ISN'T EVEN A SUSPECT, WHY WOULD HE NEED AN ATTORNEY????? And, the Golf instructor is cheating with a powerful man's wife; would he put her appointments in his appointment book????? I don't think so!

great episode featuring a repeat offender

[blanche-2 · 10/10 · 10 September 2005]

This is one of the first and best Columbos, starring Robert Culp and Ray Milland. Robert Culp appeared on another Columbo, as did several other villains, including Patrick McGoohan, William Shatner, and Jack Cassidy. Ray Milland also made a later appearance.

In this one, Ray Milland is convinced his beautiful wife, played by Patricia Crowley, is having an affair, so he hires Culp to investigate. Culp has a blackmailing business on the side, so he gives Milland a fake report and threatens Crowley with the real one if she doesn't pay up. They get into a huge fight in Culp's home, and she winds up murdered. Enter Columbo.

Culp does everything he can to get Columbo off the case, including offering him a job, but Columbo is on to him from the beginning.

Excellent episode.

Solid early outing for the crumpled detective

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 8 September 2015]

DEATH LENDS A HAND is a perfectly serviceable episode of the COLUMBO TV detective show, featuring a prime Peter Falk pitting his wits against a devious Robert Culp. This instalment is notable for featuring one of the most straightforward murder cases out there, although the motive is more muddled. The twist comes in having the actual murderer helping our detective out by conducting his own investigation, in much the same way as the coroner would "help" out Columbo in the later episode A TRACE OF MURDER.

The production values of this story are very good, and Robert Culp gives a good portrayal of a complex and surprisingly likable man driven to an extreme act. The ever-dependable Ray Milland is excellent in support, while Falk brings plenty of humour and wry charm to his role. The eventual denouement is quite predictable with Columbo pulling one of his favourite tricks, but this is a short and snappy story that never outstays its welcome.

One of the best early Columbo episodes

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 27 September 2011]

I am a huge fan of Columbo, and while Death Lends a Hand is not my favourite of the entire series, it is one of my personal favourites of the early episodes. As with all Columbo episodes the production values are first-rate with location work that is striking and camera work that is skilled and always well placed. The music also is fitting with the episode's mood and with the setting, the script is sharp, funny, clever, sophisticated and with structure and the story while going at a purposefully steady pace has plenty of delightful scenes, like when Columbo pretends to palm read, is compelling and never any less than that with an intriguing final solution. The acting is great, Peter Falk is brilliant and very natural as Columbo, and Robert Culp matches him perfectly in perhaps his best episode and performance of the Columbo series. Ray Milland(in a very sympathetic performance) and Patricia Crowley also excels as does Brett Halsey who brings gravitas to a character that could've easily been one-dimensional and bland. The episode is very stylishly directed as well. Overall, a very strong Columbo and one of the best of the early episodes. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Robert Culp working

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 10 September 2023]

Former cop Mr. Brimmer (Robert Culp) is a crooked private investigator. A client hired him to follow his wife and he gives her a clean bill of health. Secretly, he knows that she's cheating. Brimmer blackmails her to spy on her husband. When she refuses, he accidentally kills her. Columbo (Peter Falk) gets the case.

Robert Culp makes a good villain without going over the top. Like other Columbo movies, this is a howcatchem. It makes for a simple plot. Columbo slowly catches up to the audience. It's a chill watch. It's more about watching Robert Culp's face and seeing the gears in his head working.

I guess this means he's fired...

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 11 August 2019]

When the story begins, rich Arthur Kennicutt (Ray Milland) is meeting with a private detective, Mr. Brimmer (Robert Culp). It seems Kennicutt suspected his wife was cheating on him....but Brimmer assures him that there's nothing to it and his investigations have turned up nothing incriminating. However, after Kennicutt leaves, Brimmer then meets with Mrs. Kennicutt (Pat Crowley) and tells her he KNOWS she cheated on her husband and he tries to blackmail her. But Mrs. Kennicutt is insistent...she'll tell her husband and hope he forgives her. Well, this is NOT Brimmer's plan and he attacks her...killing her in his rage!

When Lieutenant Columbo begins investigating the killing, he is told by Mr. Kennicutt that he is ALSO having the case investigated by private investigators....not to hurt Columbo but to assist him. But the head of this organization is Brimmer....and you know Brimmer will do everything he can to send Columbo looking in the wrong directions. To get to the truth, Columbo later resorts to a trick...and it naturally works. After all, Columbo ALWAYS catches the killer!

This episode surprised me with how viscious the killing was...as well as that it was NOT premeditated (unusual for "Columbo"-type shows). Additionally, it was a bit unusual because it featured two big-time actors--Milland and Culp. Overall, excellent acting and writing...I am surprised that although this was supposed to be the first show of the series shown, the network chose to air the second one first. Both are dandy...and well worth your time.

Brilliant Early Episode

[stubbers · 9/10 · 26 February 2010]

"Death Lends A Hand" is one of the pivotal early episodes of "Columbo" that helped define the show for the next thirty years. It marks the first of Robert Culp's four appearances (three as a murderer), playing much the same role in each show.

In this case Culp plays Brimmer, the head of a large private detective company who is asked to investigate whether the wife of a wealthy newspaper magnate, Mr Kennicut, is having an affair. Although she is, Brimmer decides not to tell Kennicut, in the hope that he can blackmail his wife in return for snippets of information about her husband's business associates. She reacts badly to this suggestion, an argument ensues which rapidly turns violent as Brimmer whacks her across the face. Because he is wearing a large ring, the blow knocks her to the ground and kills her.

There are some really priceless moments in this episode. One of my favourite scenes is where Columbo pretends to be into palm-reading, although this is in fact a ruse to discover the shape and size of Brimmer's ring without admitting that he knows the killer wore a ring. Columbo being Columbo, he only reveals what he really knows when the time is exactly right to turn the screws a little. So initially he goofily plays the part of a rather simple-minded man who gets excited by the "lifeline going over the mound of the moon", or some equally ridiculous palm-reading mumbo-jumbo.

Another great scene is when Brimmer tries to offer Columbo a job for his firm, effectively bribing him to stop poking his nose around. Again, Columbo doesn't reveal that he knows what's going on, he pretends to be honoured and excited by this job offer.

And there's another where Columbo says to Kennicut, in front of Brimmer, that he wishes the murderer could hear their conversation. He wants to hint to Brimmer that he is onto him, without directly accusing him, so he rather cruelly (but understandable in the circumstances) decides to play mindgames on Brimmer in order to spook him into panicking and doing something stupid. Which of course he does! All the while, the grieving Kennicut is unaware of the subtext of this conversation. It's only near the end that Columbo explains all to Kennicut (not shown on screen).

I won't reveal how Columbo finally nails the killer bang to rights, but let's just say there's a potato involved...

A really really good episode, possibly the very best of the first series. If you liked this then you'll like "Double Exposure" too, also featuring Robert Culp.

An enjoyable twist from the formula that sees a nice trap being set

[bob the moo · 28 June 2005]

Brimmer is head of a private investigation firm hired to look into the potential that the young wife of newspaper magnate Arthur Kennicut is having affairs. Brimmer finds evidence that she is of course, but covers it up, tells him that she is in the clear and then turns to his wife in secret and tells her to pass information on her husband's powerful friends back to him in return for his silence. When Mrs Kennicut visits Brimmer late at night and refuses to do this she says she will reveal the truth (the whole truth) to her husband. Knowing this will destroy him, Brimmer kills her and dumps her body on the other side of town. The police have no leads so Kennicut employs Brimmer to aid the investigation; Columbo welcomes the help but soon things begin to make him suspect Brimmer.

As with many TV film series (such as Perry Mason), if you like one or two of them then you'll pretty much like them all. This entry in the Columbo series pretty much follows the usual formula – we know the killer and the "perfect" plan but then watch Columbo follow his hunch and gradually starts to pick holes in the story he is told before eventually finding enough to prove his suspicions. Saying this is not a spoiler – it is simply what happens in all the films. With this film the formula is pretty different because Columbo finds himself working alongside the murderer with no suspicions and no reason to suspect. However this quickly changes but although Columbo starts with the usual cat and mouse games, Brimmer is less guarded because he never seems to suspect that Columbo suspects him and it allows the script to throw in some clever moments. Specifically it is fun to watch Columbo play down certain facts while playing up others, all as part of drawing things out of Brimmer and gradually setting the trap to draw him in. The script doesn't manage to set up the reasons for Columbo's suspicions very well but the formula carries us through this because really it is only doing what we expect it to.

The cast do well and they help things immensely. Even at this early stage in the series, Falk is impressively natural as Columbo and he is subtle and enjoyable. Culp is good and the fact that he doesn't allow himself to know he is being setup makes it all the better; the way that the murder is played out allows us to see his horror and cold precision and it is the unpremeditated aspect that makes him interesting. Milland is good in a minor role but, as always it is the main two characters that make or break the film – in this case making it.

Overall an enjoyable Columbo film that changes the formula so that the usual cat n' mouse games are all on one side, allowing a nice trap to be set up even if the reasons for Columbo's initial suspicions are not that convincing. Fans will enjoy it and the casual viewer will also find much to appreciate.

The Wife

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 20 February 2016]

Robert Culp plays the hot-tempered president of a detective agency named Brimmer, who has just completed an investigation into the supposed infidelity of the wife to a powerful newspaper magnate named Arthur Kennicutt(played by Ray Milland). Brimmer falsely gives the wife a clean bill of health in order to mine her for inside information to her politically connected husband, but her defiant refusal causes Brimmer to strike her, killing her accidentally, but making it look like a murder that gets the attention of Lt. Columbo(Peter Falk) whose investigative talents may get him hired to the agency, as long as he drops the case... Fine cast distinguishes this entry.

What an excellent early episode!

[wesperkins · 10/10 · 28 June 2017]

A nearly perfect episode to set up the future episodes. Without going into the details of the plot others do, I found this a great episode. It was an early one, and Columbo begins to show us his trade mark ways in perfect balance. He does not try too hard and it isn't forced. The acting is superb, as Faulk naturally shows us the things we love about Columbo and it's as natural as breathing. Every action by Columbo has a purpose, and it's not too much as is the case in some later episodes. He lets the murderer walk into the trap he sets and incriminate himself, without him even knowing he is being set up. What makes this cat and mouse game even more impressive is Columbo is going head to head with an ex cop and one of the best private eyes in the business. To be able to lull him into a trap shows the brilliance of Columbo. Robert Culp does an excellent job in his role. He seems smart and cool, but you can see that everything is gradually getting to him. He slowly begins to lose his grip, and Culp does a great job of slowly showing the effects of having Columbo hound him. But it isn't too much. Even when Columbo guesses the exact way the murder was done and runs his theory by Culp, he stays cool and it's not until later you can see him get flustered. It's also one of the only times I remember Columbo being bribed, and he uses it to his advantage.

Culp comes across as someone that really could have been a ex cop and running a business. Superb acting all around. The plot is not too complicated to follow but not too slow either. Just an all around excellent episode, and a definite top 10 for me.

Blackmailing Detective

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 12 August 2012]

This episode of Columbo features a blackmailing owner of a private detective agency in Robert Culp. He's a former cop, a law enforcement professional and even though the murder he commits is spontaneous, he's clever enough to do a good cover-up.

It's never good enough when you're dealing with Lt. Columbo. Culp is doing a job for wealthy publisher Ray Milland following his wife Patricia Crowley to make sure she's not having an affair. He gives Milland a clean bill of health for Crowley.

However Culp lied and he then confronts Crowley with a proposition to help ferret out information with a little pillow talk on another matter Milland is interested in. She refuses and threatens to expose Culp, so he kills her in a fit of anger.

As it is Culp's willingness to help arouses Peter Falk's suspicions. And what trips him up is those littlest of details which I will not reveal.

Culp's a cold calculator, but no match for the guy in the raincoat.

Great performance by Culp

[qormi · 10/10 · 12 November 2013]

Excellent episode. Robert Culp displayed rare acting talent as an arrogant, dishonest, powerful man. All the emotions, deviousness, duplicity, and insecurities of this character were given life by Robert Culp, who delivered a flawless performance. I was fascinated because he had all the physical characteristics and nuances of a ruthless boss I once had. Absolutely riveting. The way Columbo toyed with him until he reached the breaking point was incredible. He laid a trap for him and he took the bait.First class drama from start to finish. Certain anachronisms of 1971 were alarming...primitive reel-to-reel computers that couldn't do the job of a laptop filling the room, the revelation that a $30,000 per year salary back then was equivalent to over a quarter of a million now...

Good Number Two

[arfdawg-1 · 7/10 · 30 May 2014]

The second episode of the first season is a good show, that is a bit mired down by a few flimsy ways Colombo gets his information.

Not as good as some episodes, but still a winner.

The Plot.

Brimmer, a short-tempered private detective, is hired by Arthur Kennicut, a prominent Los Angeles publisher, to investigate the publisher's wife's activities under suspicion of an extra-marital affair.

Although his investigation discovers an affair with a golf instructor, Brimmer chooses not to tell Kennicut about it and proposes Mrs. Kennicut to act, in return for Brimmer's silence, as a "pipeline" for information involving powerful persons with whom her husband is involved.

When Mrs. Kennicut refuses to cooperate and threatens to tell her husband about Brimmer's unsavory proposal, Brimmer becomes enraged and accidentally kills her.

He then transports her body across Los Angeles and dumps it in an industrial area, hoping her death will look like a robbery gone awry.

Enter Lieutenant Columbo, the cigar-smoking detective in a rumpled raincoat, who does not accept the murder-by-mugging theory surrounding the woman's death.

A review or a plot summary?

[bobvonb · 8/10 · 23 January 2019]

Rant: when I read reviews I don't need a plot summary except as the plot point is necessary to the review itself. But...

I find it interesting to see early Columbo episodes when the character has not fully developed. This episode was well made and produced. Some of the outdoor scenes were just beautiful, more so than many other episodes that are sometimes more like stage plays. Ray Miland was excellent because he didn't come across as the 'star' and was understated even though he played a 'powerful' character. All of the actors were believable so kudos to director and the actors and the cinematographer too.

A good watch for sure and the story moved along.

I do you a favor.. You do me a favor

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 25 September 2006]

***SPOILERS*** Investigation newspaper tycoon Arthur Kennicut, Ray Milland, wife's Lenore, Pat Crowley, extramarital activities private investigator Brimmer, Robert Culp,gives her a clean bill of health in not fooling around behind her husbands back. The fact is that Lenore had indeed been having an affair with her hunky and handsome golf instructor Ken Archer, Brett Halsey, but Brimmer had that lifted and expunged from the report.

Trying to get an inside line to Arthur's wheelings and dealings, mostly in the appointment of federal judges, Brimmer shrewdly saves his wife Lenore from being exposed as an adulteress. That would have her divorced by Arthur and put an end to her life of luxury and around the clock fun games and partying. It's later that Lenore has a change of heart and confronts Brimmer at his beach-front home telling him she's going to expose him to her husband, as a sleazy blackmailing creep. The sparks really start to fly with Lenore getting smacked across the face by Brimmer and cracking her skull as she fell backwards on the coffee table killing herself.

Brimmer trying to make the best of a bad situation put's Lenore's body in the trunk of his car and after driving to a deserted construction site dumps it there making it look like she was brutally murdered in a random assault and robbery. Lt. Columbo. Peter Falk, is put on the case and the first thing that he notices when he goes to see Authur at his mansion is a photo of his late wife, Lenore, wearing glasses! Lenore being very vain about her looks never let anybody on to that fact! Brimmer tying to cover his tracks get's involved in the Lenore Kennicut murder investigation since he handled Authur's investigation of her cheating on him just days before. The obvious reason for Brimmer taking such a personal interest in Lenore's murder is that he killed her. With him being right of top of the investigation Brimmer can lead it, and Lt. Columbo, away from himself as a suspect.

Lt. Columbo slowly starts to see the inconsistencies in the case with the way Lenore was killed by a violent slap across the face, that left a deep ring impression on her chin. It's also very obvious to Lt. Columbo that she was moved by her killer to another place to throw off the police. Lt. Columbo also finds out that Lenore in fact was having an affair with Archer which made Lt. Columbo very suspicious of why Brimmer hid that fact from her husband Arthur.

Brimmer sees that Lt. Columbo is making headway on who murdered Lenore and slyly offers the L.A detective a job at his agency, that pays triple what he makes as an LAPD detective, as an underhanded bribe to get Lt. Columbo off the case with him not falling for or taking the bate. Knowing that Brimmer, and his investigators, are watching every move that he makes Lt. Columbo later takes a chance to let out the fact about Lenore's contact-lenses. It turns out that Lonore may have lost one or both of them when she was actually murdered at her beach house, that Columbo didn't know at the time, not where she was found at a construction site.

Getting an exhumation order from the courts Lenore's body is unearthed and, with Brimmer listening in, Lt. Columbo tells the person in charge of the exhumation that one of the contacts is missing being that it's still at the murder site. It also turned out that the car that Brimmer used to drive Lenore's body away and dump her had been sent to a local garage. This after Lt. Columbo secretly disabled it, for servicing.

Concerned and scared Brimmer rushed to his beach-house and not finding the contact there broke into the garage and after a while he does find the missing contact lens. Brimmer is completely unaware that it was all a trap set for him to incriminate himself by Lt. Columbo! There was no contact lens! But Brimmer incriminated himself by falling into Lt. Columbo's trap by thinking that there was one, or maybe even two!

It looked like Brimmer was really and truly sorry for what he did in killing Lenore. After all it was really an accident and not premeditated murder, and may have wanted to be caught to clear his conscience. Brimmer also seemed to have lost his sense of self-protection by having his investigators constantly following and reporting back to him Lt. Columbo's whereabouts which they, these guys were pretty sharp, would realize that he was covering up and trying to impede the murder investigation making them accessories to his crime!

"Death Lends a Hand" (1971)

[Wuchakk · 8/10 · 19 January 2019]

PLOT: A private investigator mogul (Robert Culp) accidently murders the winsome wife (Pat Crowley) of a powerful client (Ray Milland) after she refuses his blackmailing scheme.

COMMENTARY: Pat Crowley sure looked good in her tight slacks with her shapely derriere. I like the angle of the killer and Columbo both being investigators, one in the private sector and the other in the public, and teaming up (to a point). There's also a golf instructor subplot. Culp would return for three future episodes.

This one's every bit as good as the previous "Murder by the Book."

GRADE: A-

The Smug Don't Inherit the Earth

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 3 June 2017]

Robert Culp, Bill Cosby's old partner, plays a private detective, who tries to blackmail the wife of a client. When she won't to along with his wishes, he bludgeons her. The interesting thing is that her husband hires the murderer to work with Lieutenant Columbo. Our rumpled flatfoot is as perceptive as can be and begins to realize that his partner has some serious baggage. Culp is glib and smooth. Often the Columbo villains are a bit too sure of themselves. Part of the game has to do with a minor slip up and an attempted cover. People don't make mistakes concerning really serious events, especially when it comes to the death of another. Columbo's antennas come out quickly under these circumstances. What's neat about this episode is that the to are comparing notes because they have a similar task. This adds an interesting twist.