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"Imagine, a harmless cream that can actually make wrinkles disappear! It's like alchemy! It's the dream of the centuries! It's what women have longed for since ancient Egypt!"That clunky exposition gives you a good idea of what you can expect from this episode. Viveca Scott (Vera Miles) runs Beauty Mark, the cosmetics company whose products are in every woman's home. But sales are dropping, and she's counting on the miraculous new beauty cream created by her chief chemist (Fred Draper) to boost sales and overtake her rival David Lang (Vincent Price). Too bad the chemist's assistant (Martin Sheen) steals the formula. Scott attempts to negotiate with him, but in a rage knocks him over the head with a heavy microscope, killing him. Her rival's secretary (Sian Barbara Allen, in an engagingly quirky performance) finds out and attempts to blackmail her. What's the cosmetic queen's worst news? Our rumpled but brilliant detective, Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk), is on the case.Jeannot Szwarc directs a contrived but entertaining script by Jackson Gillis based on a story by Myrna Bercovici. Szwarc does a workmanlike job, but I didn't care for the opening scene, unaccountably made to look and sound like a cheesy horror film. (Is this because Vincent Price is in the cast?) What makes this lesser "Columbo" episode enjoyable for any fan is Vera Miles, whose Viveca Scott is beautiful, chic, self-confident, imperious and condescending. She's the perfect foil for our cigar-chomping Columbo. Their scenes together are a hoot.
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