"Columbo" Suitable for Framing (1971)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Hy Averback

Writers:

Jackson Gillis (written by)
Richard Levinson (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

17 November 1971 (Season 1, Episode 4)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Noted art critic Dale Kingston kills his uncle for his valuable collection of paintings. Despite Columbo's suspicions, all the clues point to the dead man's ex-wife. Can the lieutenant reveal the true culprit before it is too late?

Plot Keywords:

Art Critic | Ex Wife | Murder | Painting | Murder Investigation

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Ross Martin	...	Dale Kingston
Don Ameche	...	Frank Simpson
Kim Hunter	...	Edna Matthews
Rosanna Huffman	...	Tracy O'Connor
Joan Shawlee	...	Mitilda
Barney Phillips	...	Captain Tyler
Mary Wickes	...	Landlady
Vic Tayback	...	Sam Franklin
Sandra Gould	...	Matron
Curt Conway	...	Evans
Claude Johnson	...	Policeman
Dennis Rucker	...	Parking Boy (Joe)

Runtime:

USA:72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-7 (2004) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Universal TV

Goofs:

Continuity: Dale removes several paintings from the wall. Then, when Tracy enters, we see her admire the paintings still on the wall, including two of the painting that Dale had taken down already. These two paintings not only have jumped back onto the wall, they also mended themselves where Dale had sliced them with a knife.

Quotes:

Lt. Columbo: Oh, listen, one more thing...
[Kingston groans in exasperation]
Lt. Columbo: It'll just - it'll just take a second. I stopped by your apartment a few times.
Dale Kingston: Why, do you want to search my place?
Lt. Columbo: No. Just to ask you something about art. You said you had some books and things there that I could see.
Dale Kingston: You may look at anything you wish. You can snoop in all of my closets. You can peek under the beds. You won't find any stolen paintings.
Lt. Columbo: Oh, really, I've never said anything about...
Dale Kingston: [removes key from key ring] Here, would you like the key to my apartment? You may simply leave it under the mat when you leave.
Lt. Columbo: Oh, really, I...
Dale Kingston: No, no, go ahead, I insist. See what I live like, find out what kind of human being I am, learn everything you can about me.
[...]

Soundtrack:

Promenade

interesting, early Columbo

Dale Kingston (Ross Martin) is a TV personality and art critic who knocks off his uncle in order to inherit his art collection. In order to do so, he enlists the help of a bedazzled, untalented art student, whom he promises to help with her career. The two make it look like a robbery, Kingston intending to frame his uncle's ex-wife (and heir), played by Kim Hunter. It might have worked, but guess who's assigned to the case.

This is very entertaining, and of course, the original Columbos like this one were the best. A couple of the plot points are similar to the pilot for the series, which starred Gene Barry. Dangling the prospect of marriage, Barry uses his girlfriend in a plot to kill his wife.

Ross Martin was an effective actor who died too young, and he's marvelous as the critic, and Kim Hunter is fabulous as the frail, ditsy, ex-wife. One of the posters seemed to know her from Planet of the Apes. She has a few other credits, including the role of Stella in the original "Streetcare Named Desire," which she repeated in the film version and won an Oscar. She would be blacklisted during the McCarthy era, but she overcame this and continued her career. Her testimony to the New York Supreme Court in 1962 against the publishers of "Red Channels" helped pave the way for clearance of many performers unjustly accused of Communist connections.