Dead Weight (27 Oct. 1971)

A war hero shoots and kills his business partner; an easily manipulated young divorcée is the only witness.

Director:

Jack Smight

Writers:

Richard Levinson (creator), William Link (creator),

Stars:

Peter Falk, Eddie Albert, Kate Reid

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Eddie Albert	...	Maj. Gen. Martin J. Hollister
Kate Reid	...	Mrs. Walters
Suzanne Pleshette	...	Helen Stewart
John Kerr	...	Col. Roger Dutton
Val Avery	...	Harry Barnes
Timothy Carey	...	Bert
Clete Roberts	...	TV Newsman
Ron Castro	...	Officer Sanchez
Glen Vernon	...	1st Officer
Jim Pelham	...	2nd Officer (as Jimmy Pelham)
James Halferty	...	1st Marine Cadet (as Jim Halferty)

Storyline

While on a sailing-boat Helen Stewart witnesses far-away, inside a room, a man with a gun killing another. She notifies the fact to the Police and Lt. Columbo begins to investigate. The man is the famous General Martin Hollister, a war hero. Lt. Columbo searches his house and afterwards he is very doubtful about Helen's statement...

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Plot Keywords:

war hero | general | police | witness | sailboat | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 October 1971 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First and only episode of the original series that had the writer and director shown at the beginning.

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Goofs

At the airport check-in, "Mrs Flemming" is asked if she has any hand luggage to carry on and she replies; "No." Yet she clearly has a large white handbag on her arm.

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Quotes

Helen Stewart: There are some men, Lieutenant, that do not want to look like an unmade bed!

User Reviews

Too Much Interest

As many retired military officers do, especially if they have good reputations as heroes, Eddie Albert has gone into the defense contracting business. One night he gets a hurried visit from one of his aides telling him that the business is about to blow up and he's leaving country. Not good enough for Albert who shoots him right then and there in the living room of his bay front house.

But off in the distance is Suzanne Pleshette sailing with her mother Kate Reid who sees someone shoot someone through Albert's window. A call to the police brings the intrepid Lt. Columbo to the scene.

This is where the episode truly is one of the weaker Columbos. There is an old saying that if you're caught doing wrong by the cops, keep a cool head and say nothing until you've obtained counsel. Peter Falk has absolutely nothing to go on with this one, not even the hint of a crime scene as Albert has taken the body on his yet and dropped it into the ocean.

But Albert does some investigating on his own and finds out who put the police on him and when he finds out he makes some moves on Pleshette and that arouses Columbo's interest. If he had sat back and done nothing, they could never have caught him.

One of the lesser Columbos, but even at that Peter Falk is always a treat.