"Columbo" Étude in Black (1972)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Nicholas Colasanto

Writers:

Steven Bochco (teleplay)
Richard Levinson (story) ...

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

17 September 1972 (Season 2, Episode 1)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

An amoral conductor murders the gifted pianist with whom he is having an affair. Lt. Columbo is on the case.

Plot Keywords:

Pianist | Murder | Musician | Mistress | Asphyxiation

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
John Cassavetes	...	Alex Benedict
James Olson	...	Paul Rifkin
Blythe Danner	...	Janice Benedict
Anjanette Comer	...	Jenifer Welles
Myrna Loy	...	Lizzy Fielding
James McEachin	...	Billy
Don Knight	...	Mike Alexander
Pat Morita	...	The House Boy
Michael Pataki	...	Sam
Michael Fox	...	Dr. Benson
Dawn Frame	...	Audrey
Charles Macaulay	...	Durkee
George Gaynes	...	Everett
Wallace Chadwell	...	TV director

Runtime:

90 min | USA:120 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-7 (2005)

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

This is the debut episode for Dog, Columbo's pet basset hound.

Goofs:

Plot holes: While Alex Benedict takes great pains not to leave fingerprints from his right hand as he climbs through the washroom window, John Cassavetes rests his bare left hand on the tiled wall at least twice, leaving distinct hand and fingerprints.

Quotes:

Audrey: Chopin was a composer. He wrote piano pieces. She named her bird after him.

Wonderful interaction between Cassavetes and Falk.

Interesting to see this movie 30 years later; it's still good theater, even better TV. I think the unique qualities of this particular Columbo episode may have been largely due to the relationship between Falk and Cassavetes off screen, but it certainly worked in this show. This one reiterated Columbo's quirky, irritating methods; and again, one of the reasons the entire series was so watchable was the low-key progression of the drama. This is one of the few 'cop shows' I ever watch because it's based in human interaction and pyschological issues, not in violent shocks. I think Bochco did a very good job on this film.