Tonight's TV: Columbo (1975): "Troubled Waters," "Playback," "A Deadly State of Mind" - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

It's been quite a while since my last COLUMBO post, owing to extensive travel last fall along with numerous movie screeners to review, but I'm happy to have recently watched a trio of good episodes from 1975.

"Troubled Waters," "Playback," and "A Deadly State of Mind" concluded Season 4. There are three seasons left to go in the Kino Lorber "Columbo - The 1970s" boxed Blu-ray set, which runs through Season 7.

As an aside, Season 7 concluded in 1978. Kino Lorber has a second boxed set, "Columbo - The Return," containing episodes which aired between 1989 and 2003. I'll be watching and reviewing episodes from that set immediately after concluding this original collection.

Of the three most recently watched episodes, I especially loved "Troubled Waters," much of which was filmed on an actual cruise ship.

Actor Ben Gazzara directed "Troubled Waters," with filming by William Cronjager, based on a screenplay by William Driskill. Driskill created the story with Jackson Gillis.

"Troubled Waters" boasts a terrific cast, including Robert Vaughn, Jane Greer, Patrick MacNee, and Dean Stockwell. It was a particular treat for me to see Greer, playing Vaughn's wealthy wife; my only complaint is I wanted to see more of her!

Vaughn plays an unfaithful husband who bumps off his mistress, a shipboard entertainer, when she blackmails him. He doesn't want his wife to find out and lose access to her deep bank account.

MacNee is also fun as the ship's captain who initially has impatience with Columbo but is cooperative.

The cruise ship has a deliciously '70s look, with lots of orange decor and wood paneling. The behavior is very '70s too - especially the young nurse (Susan Damante) on watch in the ship's infirmary smoking while reading her book!

The next episode, "Playback," was directed by Bernard L. Kowalski and filmed by Richard C. Glouner from a script by David P. Lewis and Booker Bradshaw.

As we've seen in other episodes, conflict in family businesses often leads to murder, and that's the case here when inventor Harold Van Wick (Oskar Werner) bumps off his mother-in-law (Martha Scott), who plans to fire him from her company.

This episode again has some interesting aspects, including the late Oscar-winning actress Gena Rowlands - an offscreen friend of Falk's - as Van Wick's wheelchair-bound wife Elizabeth.

Van Wick has built Elizabeth an early form of "smart house" where clapping opens doors and video monitors are everywhere.

Van Wick seems genuinely fond of his wife, but not enough to stop himself from setting up an elaborate plan to kill her mother. Like past killers on the show, he somewhat gives away the game by getting increasingly testy with Columbo. The show's irony is that while the home's various features help Van Wick set up the murder, they also lead Columbo to catch him.

I was frankly unfamiliar with Werner but learned he was a Best Actor Oscar nominee for SHIP OF FOOLS (1965). Scott was also a past Oscar nominee, for OUR TOWN (1940), so the guest cast was certainly loaded with talent.

Other interesting cast members were Herbert Jefferson Jr., fondly remembered by some of us as Boomer on the original BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (1978-78); Robert Brown of HERE COME THE BRIDES (1968-70); and Patricia Barry, a busy working actress I especially recall for a favorite MAVERICK episode, "Two Beggars on Horseback" (1959).

The final episode of the season, "A Deadly State of Mind," finds a psychiatrist (George Hamilton) accidentally killing the husband (Stephen Elliott) of his lover Nadia (Lesley Ann Warren).

Dr. Collier (Hamilton) and Nadia lie to Columbo, blaming the murder on robbers, but Columbo feels the story doesn't add up from the start.

Dr. Collier, fearing the emotionally unstable Nadia will crack and tell the truth, hypnotizes her into killing herself.

This was quite an interesting story, written by Peter S. Fischer and directed by Harvey Hart, with photography by Earl Rath.

The show, incidentally, did some exterior filming at Pepperdine University. I loved the interior set of Dr. Collier's lab, with its striking multicolored striped floors and doors.

There was a particularly brilliant scene where Columbo holds court among Dr. Collier's party guests, laying out some of his concerns about the case as Collier listens - and then picks up the phone to trigger Nadia's high drive off a balcony.

I also loved a moment in which Columbo confronted Collier's colleague, Dr. Borden (Karen Machon), and we actually see him get angry, a relatively rarity on the series. I only wish it hadn't cut to commercial there in the original airing; we never get to directly see the results of their conversation.

Bruce Kirby (father of Bruno) shows up again as Sergeant Kramer, one of a handful of times he played the role.

As always, Kino Lorber's Blu-ray discs look sharp and sound great - a very enjoyable way to watch the series.

Next up: Season 5, starting with one of the most lauded episodes of the series, "Forgotten Lady" (1975), guest starring Janet Leigh and John Payne.

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), "Swan Song" (1974), "A Friend in Deed" (1974), "An Exercise in Fatality" (1974), "Negative Reaction" (1974), "By Dawn's Early Light" (1974).

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

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