When the wealthy owner of a shipyard drowns at sea, suspicion falls on his ambitious son-in-law and Columbo is called in to investigate. The case looks simple until the son-in-law also turns up dead ...
This is a very atypical Columbo story, but one of the best. It breaks most of the traditions of the series - we never see the murder, the chief suspect ends up dead, there are a gallery of suspects and Columbo even has an assistant (very nicely played by Dugan). The reason it's so good is partly down to a great script by Jackson Gillis, but mostly because Falk and McGoohan (old cronies from several previous Columbos together) milk every scene for all the oddball comic potential they can - four men squashed in a car built for two, lots of sailing gags ("So this is the mizzen boom ?"), an interview with so much background noise you can't hear any of the dialogue, Columbo attempting transcendental meditation, a running gag about giving up smoking, and so on. The cast are variable - Vaughn is a fine straight-man to the buffoonery, but Baker as his lush of a wife is a chore to watch. The humour is sly and infectious, the story is gripping, McGoohan's direction is excellent, the Los Angeles marina locations are beautiful and Falk is just sensational in his greatest role. Classic TV murder-mystery fare.
This is a very atypical Columbo story, but one of the best. It breaks most of the traditions of the series - we never see the murder, the chief suspect ends up dead, there are a gallery of suspects and Columbo even has an assistant (very nicely played by Dugan). The reason it's so good is partly down to a great script by Jackson Gillis, but mostly because Falk and McGoohan (old cronies from several previous Columbos together) milk every scene for all the oddball comic potential they can - four men squashed in a car built for two, lots of sailing gags ("So this is the mizzen boom ?"), an interview with so much background noise you can't hear any of the dialogue, Columbo attempting transcendental meditation, a running gag about giving up smoking, and so on. The cast are variable - Vaughn is a fine straight-man to the buffoonery, but Baker as his lush of a wife is a chore to watch. The humour is sly and infectious, the story is gripping, McGoohan's direction is excellent, the Los Angeles marina locations are beautiful and Falk is just sensational in his greatest role. Classic TV murder-mystery fare.