"Columbo" Columbo Goes to the Guillotine (1989)

Director:

Leo Penn

Writers:

Richard Levinson (creator) &
William Link (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

6 February 1989 (Season 8, Episode 1)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

An egocentric psychic murders his old mentor, a magician charged to expose him as fraud, by beheading him while he's rehearsing his guillotine trick.

Plot Keywords:

Psychic | Magician | Guillotine | Mentor | Fraud

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Anthony Andrews	...	Elliott Blake
Karen Austin	...	Dr. Paula Hall
James Greene	...	Bert Spindler
Alan Fudge	...	Mr. Harrow
Dana Andersen	...	Dori
Robert Costanzo	...	Sgt. Russo
Anthony Zerbe	...	Max Dyson
Michael Bacall	...	Tommy
Charles Howerton	...	Colonel Eckherdt
Milt Kogan	...	Medical Examiner
Tony Amendola	...	Clergyman
Rob Garrison	...	Young Man
Frank Simons	...	Polygraph Operator
Lenny Hicks	...	Eddie

Runtime:

Germany:87 min | USA:120 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | Denmark:15 (2007) (DVD) | Norway:15 (2007) (DVD) | Sweden:15 (2007) (DVD) | Finland:K-18 (2007) (DVD) (self applied) | Finland:S (1989) (VHS) | Netherlands:6 | UK:PG | Australia:PG | USA:Unrated

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

The "Isolation Chamber" used at the Institute isn't very isolating. A wide gap can be easily seen around the "one way mirror" at the front of the chamber. Clearly sounds and even some bits of light would be discerned through that gap.

Quotes:

Lt. Columbo: Always remember it's a trick. Keep that in mind and you can figure out how it's done.

One of the best of the "new" Columbos

This is not the first time Columbo has entered the world of magic and illusion in the course of his investigations; it is an ideal setting for murder, with its built-in "things are not what they seem to be" theme. This movie, however, goes into greater detail exploring the mechanics of trickery, and adds in the richer theme of (supposed) paranormal phenomena to make things more confusing. A renowned magician and debunker of fake mystics (perhaps modelled somewhat on James Randi) declares that a celebrated young psychic is the genuine article, and has actually succeeded in passing rigorous laboratory tests to prove his psychic ability. In fact, the psychic is a fake, as the magician is fully aware, but a combination of guilt and sentiment over some shared history between the two men leads him to cover up for the young man, who takes advantage of this weakness to kill him. Columbo must not only work his way through the tricky surfaces presented by professional magicians, he has to also deal with a murderer who has been authoritatively declared a genuine psychic by the victim. The most useful advice he gets comes from a rather snotty little boy who is a magic buff and tells him "It's a trick. You start out knowing it's a trick, and then you figure out how to do it." Watching Columbo learn how to duplicate the apparently mystical feats of his opponent is highly enjoyable.