"Columbo" Murder, Smoke and Shadows (1989)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

James Frawley

Writers:

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

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

27 February 1989 (Season 8, Episode 2)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

An egocentric wunderkind director murders a childhood friend who threatens to expose his negligent complicity in the death of his sister years earlier.

Plot Keywords:

Director | Movie Director | Murder | Actress | Camera Crew

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Fisher Stevens	...	Alex Bradey
Molly Hagan	...	Ruth 'Ruthie' Jernigan
Nan Martin	...	Rose Walker
Jeff Perry	...	Leonard Fisher
Steven Hill	...	Mr. Marosco
Jerome Guardino	...	Sergeant Burke
Elizabeth Ruscio	...	Fran
Al Pugliese	...	Phil Crossette
Time Winters	...	Stan
Gayle Harbor	...	Lisa
Stewart J. Zully	...	Sewell
Avner Garbi	...	Kardarsian
Meg James	...	Tour guide
Lisa Barnes	...	Waitress

Runtime:

95 min | USA:120 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Norway:15 (2007) (DVD) | Denmark:15 (2007) (DVD) | Sweden:15 (2007) (DVD) | Finland:K-18 (2007) (DVD) (self applied) | Finland:S (1989) (VHS) | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal TV

Goofs:

Continuity: Columbo spots a couple of ice-cream sodas left on the counter in Alex Brady's office, known as his "boys' club". One glass is almost full, the other about half-full. Not only can we see this, but Columbo comments on it at length, theorizing with uncanny accuracy how the full and the half-full glasses show what happened earlier, when the victim was visiting Brady's office. The moment Columbo leaves, Brady rushes to the soda glasses, to destroy the evidence. Inexplicably, he finds both glasses are now empty except for a milky residue.

Quotes:

Columbo: [referring to the water bed] You know, I've never tried one of these. My wife, that's Mrs. Columbo, she tried to get me interested.
Alex Bradey: [after Columbo lies on the bed] Well, how do you like it?
Columbo: Well, to tell you the truth, sir, it feels all swimmy. Makes me wonder what Mrs. Columbo had in mind.

Movie Connections:

References Frankenstein (1931)

What happened to Columbo?

After a considerable hiatus, Columbo returned to TV in 1989, and all 5 episodes from that year are very uneven. It's mostly because of the writing, but it is also because of the casting. None of these episodes has any of the fun "big" names that the Columbo character was associated with before. No Shatner. No Mickey Spillane. No Ruth Gordon. This particular episode typifies that problem. Fisher Stevens, who is so obviously supposed to be Spielberg that it hurts to watch him, just is not in the league with the type of guests starts Columbo was known for previously. He seems like he's 12 years old and gives no depth to his character. He tries to be quirky but he just can't pull it off. Peter Falk attempts to save the episode but he is saddled with a script that puts him in embarrassing situations that are uncomfortable to watch. One example is when he tells Stevens his friend is dead then asks if he can make himself an ice cream soda. I know Columbo is supposed to be disingenuous but here he seems just rude and/or dumb. Falk does his best with the rest of the teleplay but Stevens is just not strong enough an actor to make the interplay between detective and murderer either intriguing or entertaining. After a while, it is all rather tiresome and fails to satisfy as the best of the old Columbo series did.