FORGOTTEN LADY is an episode from the short-lived fifth season of COLUMBO, which followed this with A CASE OF IMMUNITY. It's a surprisingly touching episode of the show, which is thanks in part to an excellent performance from PSYCHO's Janet Leigh as the guest villain; she plays a faded movie actress who bumps off her husband and then makes it look like suicide.
It's a complex role for Leigh to play but she copes with the part admirably. Her character isn't sympathetic in the way she carries out the crime - her husband certainly doesn't deserve it - but thanks to some unique and unusual plot twists that take place along the way, you come to sympathise with her situation.
Elsewhere, it's business as usual, with Peter Falk giving a slightly shier and more sensitive turn as the detective. The supporting cast is excellent: layabout Sam Jaffe as the husband, John Payne as the former star, Maurice Evans as the comic butler. A sub-plot involving firearms training adds to the fun, and Dog makes a cameo too so there are some very funny scenes here. What really lifts FORGOTTEN LADY, though, is the ending, which is simply magnificent and one of the best in all of the Columbo episodes.
It's a complex role for Leigh to play but she copes with the part admirably. Her character isn't sympathetic in the way she carries out the crime - her husband certainly doesn't deserve it - but thanks to some unique and unusual plot twists that take place along the way, you come to sympathise with her situation.
Elsewhere, it's business as usual, with Peter Falk giving a slightly shier and more sensitive turn as the detective. The supporting cast is excellent: layabout Sam Jaffe as the husband, John Payne as the former star, Maurice Evans as the comic butler. A sub-plot involving firearms training adds to the fun, and Dog makes a cameo too so there are some very funny scenes here. What really lifts FORGOTTEN LADY, though, is the ending, which is simply magnificent and one of the best in all of the Columbo episodes.