"Columbo" By Dawn's Early Light (1974)

Director:

Harvey Hart

Writers:

Howard Berk (written by)
Richard Levinson (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

27 October 1974 (Season 4, Episode 3)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

The commandant of a military academy murders the chairman of the board, who wants to oust him. Lt. Columbo takes up residence in the barracks to expose the killer.

Plot Keywords:

Military | Military Academy | Cannon | Colonel | Murder

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Patrick McGoohan	...	Col. Lyle C. Rumford
Burr DeBenning	...	Capt. Loomis
Madeleine Sherwood	...	Miss Brady (as Madeleine Thornton-Sherwood)
Tom Simcox	...	William Haynes
Mark Wheeler	...	Springer
Bruce Kirby	...	Sergeant Kramer (as Bruce Kirby Sr.)
Sidney Armus	...	Corso
Robert Clotworthy	...	Boodle Boy
Karen Lamm	...	Susan
Bruno Kirby	...	Cadet Morgan (as B. Kirby, Jr.)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (2006) (DVD) (self applied)

Filming Locations:

The Citadel - 171 Moultrie Street, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Company:

Universal TV

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Columbo cannot sleep in the barracks and has to make a telephone call, he gets out of bed barefoot. As he starts to walk, we hear the sound of shoes on the floor. He wears laced shoes, so he couldn't have simply slipped into them as he rose.

Quotes:

Col. Lyle C. Rumford: Geometry is logic and logic is the battlefield of adulthood.

A great way to remember Patrick McGoohan

I totally agree with another post which suggests this episode and the episode "Any Old Port In A Storm" are two of the best Colombo shows made.

The great thing about the Colombo character is that he is very human and as such he understands humanity. He doesn't seem to judge or moralise unless the killer hurts a woman. The best Colombo stories focus on the relationship that grows between the detective and the killer and this is one of those episodes.

Just as in "Any Old Port In A Storm" the killer's way of life is about to be taken away from him, everything he holds dear is is in the hands of someone who just doesn't care. I suspect Col Rumsford (McGoohan) doesn't murder the victim just for his own sake but for the sake of the academy and the boys who attend there.

Patrick McGoohan's performance in this show is exceptional, on the surface Col Rumsford is an un-sympathetic character, he is rigid, he reveals little of himself and he is very strict. But this isn't a two dimensional bad guy, we somehow sense that he is torn between blaming a cadet for the murder and succumbing to his instinct to protect the boy. McGoohan achieves this inner conflict with amazing subtlety and nuance. To be honest I didn't think he was capable of this level of acting, but I was quite moved by his performance.

This episode is a great way to remember Patrick McGoohan, highly recommended.

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