Ransom for a Dead Man (S0E2)
Jan 11, 2014 14:26:34 GMT -5
Franko and ThisIsNotAnInternetMeme like this
Post by Ron Howard Voice on Jan 11, 2014 14:26:34 GMT -5
“Ransom for a Dead Man” was, in a sense, the Columbo pilot. It was a trial balloon, aired as a TV movie in early 1971, and when response was positive, the network commissioned a series. It’s easy to see why the movie was a success: Lieutenant Columbo is such an amiable slob that you can’t help liking him. His grand entrance this time is losing his pen on the murderer’s front porch. Later he fails to conquer his fear of flying and hunts for clues over a bowl of chili.
The murderer this time is a Mrs. Williams (Lee Grant), an attorney who bumps off her filthy rich husband because she’s bored with him. (Apparently she hasn’t heard of divorce.) She works out an elaborate fake kidnapping which allows her to keep the ransom money, but a complication arises in the form of her too-knowing step-daughter (played by the frankly terrifying Patricia Mattick, age 19, who with her weirdly Victorian glasses looks like she just came from stoning witches or mocking Hester Prynne). The step-daughter’s shrill accusations and alarming countenance are some of the episode’s great pleasures.
Lieutenant Columbo has the same suspicions, but he doesn’t want to be caught endorsing Mattick’s crazy-eyes theories, so they conspire in secret to catch the murderer. The final checkmate is harder evidence than average for the series, but maybe less dramatically satisfying.
The pilot reuses two pivotal tropes which had already appeared in the first TV movie, “Prescription: Murder.” First, Columbo is once again a working-class hero in filthy-rich surroundings, with the Williams family occupying a preposterous mansion. Just how many doors does she have to open to get into her safe? There’s the closet, and then a Russian nesting closet inside that closet.
Second, the killer once again states a sort of thesis for the show:
“You know, Columbo, you’re almost likeable in a shabby sort of way. Maybe it’s the way you come slouching in here with your shopworn bag of tricks.”
“Me? Tricks?”
“The humility, the seeming absentmindedness, the homey anecdotes about the family, the wife, you know.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Lt. Columbo, fumbling and stumbling alone, but it’s always the jugular he’s after, and I imagine that more often than not he’s successful.”
I don’t mean to suggest that this episode was entirely to my liking; it’s not. For one thing, if the mansion is outside Columbo’s jurisdiction and no murder has occurred, he really has no business being there from the very start. For another, he gets at least one eyebrow-raising line, spoken to one of Mrs. Williams’ employees: “I don’t know how you do it – work for a woman.”
One other thing count: 1
Tying up loose ends count: 0
Just more than one more thing:
- Columbo gets taken off the case in both this episode and "Prescription: Murder".
- A jazzy version of the main theme music plays in the airport café at the end.
- Gosh, Columbo attempting to pilot a plane is funny.
- Barney’s Beanery is real. It was one of Peter Falk’s favorite chili spots, and apparently Jimi Hendrix was a regular too; it’s still open and the menu boasts of celebrity fans. Apparently there are five kinds of chili, including Texas style (with beer) and turkey-corn. Plus you can get chili and spaghetti. Here's a picture of a Barney's chili bowl.
The murderer this time is a Mrs. Williams (Lee Grant), an attorney who bumps off her filthy rich husband because she’s bored with him. (Apparently she hasn’t heard of divorce.) She works out an elaborate fake kidnapping which allows her to keep the ransom money, but a complication arises in the form of her too-knowing step-daughter (played by the frankly terrifying Patricia Mattick, age 19, who with her weirdly Victorian glasses looks like she just came from stoning witches or mocking Hester Prynne). The step-daughter’s shrill accusations and alarming countenance are some of the episode’s great pleasures.
Lieutenant Columbo has the same suspicions, but he doesn’t want to be caught endorsing Mattick’s crazy-eyes theories, so they conspire in secret to catch the murderer. The final checkmate is harder evidence than average for the series, but maybe less dramatically satisfying.
The pilot reuses two pivotal tropes which had already appeared in the first TV movie, “Prescription: Murder.” First, Columbo is once again a working-class hero in filthy-rich surroundings, with the Williams family occupying a preposterous mansion. Just how many doors does she have to open to get into her safe? There’s the closet, and then a Russian nesting closet inside that closet.
Second, the killer once again states a sort of thesis for the show:
“You know, Columbo, you’re almost likeable in a shabby sort of way. Maybe it’s the way you come slouching in here with your shopworn bag of tricks.”
“Me? Tricks?”
“The humility, the seeming absentmindedness, the homey anecdotes about the family, the wife, you know.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Lt. Columbo, fumbling and stumbling alone, but it’s always the jugular he’s after, and I imagine that more often than not he’s successful.”
I don’t mean to suggest that this episode was entirely to my liking; it’s not. For one thing, if the mansion is outside Columbo’s jurisdiction and no murder has occurred, he really has no business being there from the very start. For another, he gets at least one eyebrow-raising line, spoken to one of Mrs. Williams’ employees: “I don’t know how you do it – work for a woman.”
One other thing count: 1
Tying up loose ends count: 0
Just more than one more thing:
- Columbo gets taken off the case in both this episode and "Prescription: Murder".
- A jazzy version of the main theme music plays in the airport café at the end.
- Gosh, Columbo attempting to pilot a plane is funny.
- Barney’s Beanery is real. It was one of Peter Falk’s favorite chili spots, and apparently Jimi Hendrix was a regular too; it’s still open and the menu boasts of celebrity fans. Apparently there are five kinds of chili, including Texas style (with beer) and turkey-corn. Plus you can get chili and spaghetti. Here's a picture of a Barney's chili bowl.
