Peter Falk really put himself on the line to get his man in this Columbo episode. One of two perpetrators is one of the civilian police commissioners of the LAPD so he'd better get this one right.
There are two murders in this episode, one a crime of passion, the other a crime of opportunity. Michael McGuire kills his wife right at the beginning of the episode. He runs to the house of his neighbor Commissioner Richard Kiley, maybe Kiley will get him a lawyer, maybe a fix will be put in for leniency.
But Kiley has another scheme in mind. In their Bel Air neighborhood there have been a series burglaries and it could easily be made to look like this was the work of the burglar. And maybe another murder could fit the pattern as well, that of Kiley's wife Rosemary Murphy who apparently he's been contemplating murder for some time about.
So Murphy is done away with and the police are looking to pin this on a burglar. That is every cop except Columbo who has his own ideas.
Kudos have to go to Val Avery who plays a professional burglar who Columbo gets for some professional advice. The two make quite a team in taking down Kiley and McGuire.
Avery in his own way is a mirror image of Columbo, a working guy who happens to be on the other side of the law. One of the best performances from that under-appreciated character actor.
There are two murders in this episode, one a crime of passion, the other a crime of opportunity. Michael McGuire kills his wife right at the beginning of the episode. He runs to the house of his neighbor Commissioner Richard Kiley, maybe Kiley will get him a lawyer, maybe a fix will be put in for leniency.
But Kiley has another scheme in mind. In their Bel Air neighborhood there have been a series burglaries and it could easily be made to look like this was the work of the burglar. And maybe another murder could fit the pattern as well, that of Kiley's wife Rosemary Murphy who apparently he's been contemplating murder for some time about.
So Murphy is done away with and the police are looking to pin this on a burglar. That is every cop except Columbo who has his own ideas.
Kudos have to go to Val Avery who plays a professional burglar who Columbo gets for some professional advice. The two make quite a team in taking down Kiley and McGuire.
Avery in his own way is a mirror image of Columbo, a working guy who happens to be on the other side of the law. One of the best performances from that under-appreciated character actor.