"Columbo" The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case (1977)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Sam Wanamaker

Writers:

Robert M. Young (written by)
Richard Levinson (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

22 May 1977 (Season 6, Episode 3)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Columbo this time tries to tackle a murderer who has one of the highest IQs in the world. The victim...

Plot Keywords:

Murderer | Murder | Genius | Murder Suspect | Investigation

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Theodore Bikel	...	Oliver Brandt
Kenneth Mars	...	Mike
Sorrell Booke	...	Bertie Hastings
Samantha Eggar	...	Vivian Brandt
Basil Hoffman	...	Mr. Danziger
Howard McGillin	...	George Camponella
George Sperdakos	...	Mr. Wagner
Todd Martin	...	Sergeant Burke
Dorrie Thomson	...	Miss Elsenback
Carol Jones	...	Caroline Treynor
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Waitress
Carlene Watkins	...	Amy
Fay DeWitt	...	Angela (as Fay Dewitt)
Kathleen King	...	Suzy

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:11 (2007) (DVD) | Sweden:15 (2007) (DVD) | Denmark:15 (2007) (DVD) | Finland:K-18 (2007) (DVD) (self applied)

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

Theodore Bikel appeared as a member of a Mensa-like society and is a real-life member of Mensa.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The murder is committed with a silenced revolver. Revolvers cannot be silenced.

Quotes:

Oliver Brandt: I was an imitation adult, because that's what was expected of me. Most people don't like smart people. Most children despise smart children. So, early on, I had to hide my so-called gift... painful, lonely years.

Soundtrack:

Romeo and Juliet

The extravagantly titled, moderately entertaining, less than credible Murder Case

Columbo is pitted against a murderous accountant with an exceptionally high I.Q., but despite, possibly, the best premise in the whole series, the results are average rather than spectacular.

There are three problems here:

Firstly, the script-writer's insistence that the murderer's supreme intelligence must be mirrored in the way the murder is conceived and executed.

Secondly, the increasing lack of strength, smugness and assuredness shown by the murderer after he commits his crime.

Thirdly, the ease with which Columbo solves the case, particularly, the way he details the objects and materials used to create the illusion that the victim was shot whilst the murderer was downstairs with several other people.

Essentially, more subtlety and simplicity was needed to make the whole thing believable, whilst the murderer's characterisation should have been more sinister and hard-edged.

A slight improvement on the other season's episodes "Fade Into Murder" and "Try and Catch Me", but generally, not Columbo at his best.