THE MOST CRUCIAL GAME is a strong early showing for everyone's favourite TV detective. It features regular guest villain Robert Culp as one of his most belligerent bad guys, the manager of an American football team who decides to do away with the wayward young owner in an almost perfect crime.
I say almost, because it doesn't take long for Peter Falk to get involved in the case and begin to unpick loose ends. As with the other TV movies starring Culp, watching the interplay between both actors is inherently amusing and difficult to dislike. Culp seems particularly short-tempered here, and he certainly gives Falk a hard time as the story progresses.
Also of note is the strong supporting cast, including the likes of Deans Jagger and Stockwell, and Valerie Harper as the call girl. There's plenty of natural, free-flowing humour in this one, particularly in Columbo's hunt for a new pair of shoes. Unlike some other reviewers, I didn't have a problem with the ending, which I actually thought was really great in the way it was filmed, with the camera zooming in on both Culp's and Falk's faces as the realisation hits. Top stuff.