Tonight's TV: Columbo (1974): "Swan Song," "A Friend in Deed" - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

My latest COLUMBO viewing consisted of the final two episodes of Season 3, "Swan Song" and "A Friend In Deed."

Overall I feel Season 3 has been the strongest to date, and that's illustrated by this pair of excellent shows.

"Swan Song" was directed by actor Nicholas Colasanto (CHEERS) and features a rather remarkable pairing of lead guest stars in Johnny Cash and Ida Lupino.

Cash plays gospel singer Tommy Brown, currently touring with his group The Lost Soul Crusaders to raise money for an expensive tabernacle.

The church project is being pushed by Tommy's older wife Edna (Lupino), who has blackmail material to get what she wants. It seems that Tommy had an affair with Maryann (Bonnie Van Dyke) when she was just 16, which is illegal.

Tommy devises an elaborate plan to kill both Edna and Maryann in an airplane crash which he "miraculously" survives. I'll leave it to viewers to watch his complicated plan unfold.

Columbo is soon on the crash scene, tasked to investigate as Edna's brother (Bill McKinney) has reported to the police his suspicion that his sister's death wasn't an accident. An aviation accident investigator (wonderfully played by John Dehner, seen below) gets Columbo up to speed and soon the detective is noticing some unusual things...

One of the aspects I liked about this episode is that Cash's villain for the most part reins in any obvious exasperation with Columbo, calmly answering questions. So often the villains, convinced of their own brilliance, don't hesitate to let Columbo know they think he's an idiot, which is in itself suspicious.

Tommy gets a little edgy every so often but for the most part he's quite low-key. This makes him all the more dangerous, as his relative subtlety could help him get away with a double murder.

Cash was a very fine actor who turned up on TV every so often; I recall watching him in an episode of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE when I was young. His music is an added plus in this episode. As for Lupino, she's only in the show briefly but she manages to make the viewer loathe her, even though Cash's character was the one with the truly bad behavior.

Among the episode's fun moments, there's a scene with Columbo and an undertaker where the gradually building humor eventually had me laughing out loud. I also enjoyed an inside joke in the show when an arranger's name is a reversed version of director Colasanto's last name, something like Solacanti.

The supporting cast includes Sorrell Booke, John Randolph, and Vito Scotti. The episode was written by David Rayfiel from a story by Stanley Ralph Ross.

"A Friend in Deed" has a more typical COLUMBO villain, a man who's absolutely sure he's smarter than Columbo. He's played by one of my favorite TV actors, Richard Kiley, directed by actor Ben Gazzara.

This long, well-scripted episode might be the very best one to date. When Hugh Caldwell (Michael McGuire) accidentally kills his wife, his neighbor, Police Commissioner Mark Halperin (Kiley), does the friendly thing: He sets things up so that it appears Caldwell's wife was killed by a robber.

Very soon after, Halperin kills his own wife, Margaret (Rosemary Murphy), forcing Caldwell to help in a plot to make it appear the same "burglar" killed both women.

This episode, scripted by Peter S. Fischer, is elaborately plotted and quite unique, in that Columbo works for the man he comes to suspect is a murderer.

Richard Kiley was such a wonderful actor (and singer!) in so many things, and it's absolutely fabulous watching him spar with the determined detective, insisting that Columbo focus on his "theory" regarding the robberies rather than following his own leads. Halperin would surely have known of Columbo's track record, but his ego is such that he believes he can outsmart and outmaneuver the dogged detective.

Columbo eventually enlists the help of small-time jewel thief Artie Jessup (Val Avery); one of the best scenes in the show is when Columbo tells Artie he thinks he knows the identity of the killer. The ultimate "gotcha" ending the episode is superb.

Both of these fine episodes were filmed by William Cronjager.

As always, Kino Lorber's Blu-ray prints look great. This set continues to be a wonderful way to watch a marvelous show.

Previous COLUMBO review posts: "Murder By the Book" (1971), "Death Lends a Hand" (1971), "Dead Weight" (1971), "Suitable for Framing" (1971), "Lady in Waiting" (1971), "Short Fuse" (1972), "Blueprint for Murder" (1972), "Etude in Black" (1972), "The Greenhouse Jungle" (1972), "The Most Crucial Game" (1972), "Dagger of the Mind" (1972), "Requiem for a Falling Star" (1973), "A Stitch in Crime" (1973), "The Most Dangerous Match" (1973), "Double Shock" (1973), "Lovely But Lethal" (1973), "Any Old Port in a Storm" (1973), "Candidate for Crime" (1973), "Double Exposure" (1973); "Publish Or Perish" (1974), "Mind Over Mayhem" (1974).

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray set.

Tweet