Identity Crisis
- Episode aired Nov 2, 1975
- TV-PG
- 1h 35m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
2.5K
YOUR RATING
A top CIA operative commits murder, as only a brilliant agent can, never guessing he'll have to contend with a man like Lt. Columbo.A top CIA operative commits murder, as only a brilliant agent can, never guessing he'll have to contend with a man like Lt. Columbo.A top CIA operative commits murder, as only a brilliant agent can, never guessing he'll have to contend with a man like Lt. Columbo.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDirector Patrick McGoohan, also guest starring as an intelligence agent, inserted many references to his cult TV series, The Prisoner (1967), including saying "Be seeing you!" and, in one scene, wearing an outfit almost identical to that which had been his standard costume in the earlier program.
- GoofsWhen Columbo checks with the photo booth regarding identifying photos, he is shown color Polaroid prints from a pack-film camera and is told they have the negatives as well. The only Polaroid packs which produce a printable negative are in B&W (and the negatives he is shown are indeed B&W). Also, when they see Brenner's face more clearly in the second (color) photo, this isn't possible because a Polaroid can't take two pictures in such rapid succession.
- Quotes
Lt. Columbo: What do you have to do to win one of them things?
Shooting gallery attendant: Knock down the ducks ten out of ten.
Lt. Columbo: Yeah, my wife would go for that.
Shooting gallery attendant: Oh, no, sir, Lieutenant. Hey... hey, you're a pro.
Lt. Columbo: Aw, forget about it. If I'm standing on the dock, I couldn't hit the water.
- ConnectionsReferences Secret Agent X-9 (1945)
- SoundtracksUn bel di vedremo
(uncredited)
from Madama Butterfly
Composed by Giacomo Puccini
Heard over the End Credits
Featured review
Spy stuff mixes surprisingly well with the "Columbo" formula in this enjoyable episode
Nelson Brenner (Patrick McGoohan), a top CIA operative, is really a double agent who finds it necessary to rid himself of a fellow spy (Leslie Nielsen) and make it look like a mugging. Brenner inadvertently leaves tiny clues in a photo shop at a carnival, on Brenner's corpse at the beach, in a tape recording he makes while in his Agency-approved identity as a speechwriting consultant—the kind of clues that no one would ever pick up on. No one, that is, except our rumpled, redoubtable Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk). The indefatigable detective will find himself followed by mysterious agents, visited by the top man himself and entertained with a recording of "Madame Butterfly" in Brenner's own mansion before solving this difficult case.
Well, Columbo has already battled his own top boss ("A Friend in Deed"), a scientific genius ("Mind Over Mayhem") and a foreign secretary with diplomatic immunity ("A Case of Immunity"). Why not give him a really impossible job: battling a master spy?
It's strange to see standard spy stuff in a "Columbo" episode. We get the cryptic dialogue ("Colorado is a river" "Geronimo is an Indian"), a broken poker chip to prove identity, latex disguises, exploding cars—if I had wanted to see this crap I would have watched "Mission: Impossible."
No, I'm joking. This is an enjoyable episode, with McGoohan delivering two excellent performances: as director and guest villain. He films William Driskell's script at a leisurely, but not lugubrious, pace. The scene where Columbo fumbles for change at a gas station is the only one that seems overlong. McGoohan's splendid Nelson Brenner is fascinated by Columbo—the way a small rodent is fascinated by a snake.
I mean that analogy. Sometimes even we, the "Columbo" fans, underestimate our hero and see him as a simple guy with a gift for detection. But there is a moment or two in every episode where he seems menacing—almost frightening. In this episode, it's the scene where he walks backwards out of Brenner's office, smiling—yet with a penetrating glare. You'd need a master spy's nerves not to be undone by that.
The scene in Brenner's mansion is among the best in the series and make up for whatever deficiencies we might find in the plot and in the ending. Fans of McGoohan's spy series, "Danger Man" and "The Prisoner," will find as much to enjoy as "Columbo" buffs.
Well, Columbo has already battled his own top boss ("A Friend in Deed"), a scientific genius ("Mind Over Mayhem") and a foreign secretary with diplomatic immunity ("A Case of Immunity"). Why not give him a really impossible job: battling a master spy?
It's strange to see standard spy stuff in a "Columbo" episode. We get the cryptic dialogue ("Colorado is a river" "Geronimo is an Indian"), a broken poker chip to prove identity, latex disguises, exploding cars—if I had wanted to see this crap I would have watched "Mission: Impossible."
No, I'm joking. This is an enjoyable episode, with McGoohan delivering two excellent performances: as director and guest villain. He films William Driskell's script at a leisurely, but not lugubrious, pace. The scene where Columbo fumbles for change at a gas station is the only one that seems overlong. McGoohan's splendid Nelson Brenner is fascinated by Columbo—the way a small rodent is fascinated by a snake.
I mean that analogy. Sometimes even we, the "Columbo" fans, underestimate our hero and see him as a simple guy with a gift for detection. But there is a moment or two in every episode where he seems menacing—almost frightening. In this episode, it's the scene where he walks backwards out of Brenner's office, smiling—yet with a penetrating glare. You'd need a master spy's nerves not to be undone by that.
The scene in Brenner's mansion is among the best in the series and make up for whatever deficiencies we might find in the plot and in the ending. Fans of McGoohan's spy series, "Danger Man" and "The Prisoner," will find as much to enjoy as "Columbo" buffs.
helpful•474
- J. Spurlin
- Feb 9, 2007
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