"Columbo" Lovely But Lethal (1973)

Director:

Jeannot Szwarc

Writers:

Jackson Gillis (teleplay)
Myrna Bercovici (story)
(more)

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

23 September 1973 (Season 3, Episode 1)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

The formula for a miracle wrinkle cream leads the founder of a cosmetics company to murder. Lt. Columbo is on the case.

Plot Keywords:

Cosmetics | Formula | Chemist | Secretary | Blackmail

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Vera Miles	...	Viveca Scott
Martin Sheen	...	Karl Lessing
Sian Barbara Allen	...	Shirley Blaine
Vincent Price	...	David Lang
Gino Conforti	...	Ferdy
Colby Chester	...	Jerry
Fred Draper	...	Dr. Murchison
Bruce Kirby	...	Lab Attendant
John Finnegan	...	Sergeant
Richard Stahl	...	Burton (as Dick Stahl)
Marc Hannibal	...	Fingerprint Man
David Toma	...	Policeman
Layne Mathess	...	Fashion moderator (as Layne Matthess)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dianne Travis	...	Blonde Instructor (uncredited)

Directed by
Jeannot Szwarc

Writing credits
Jackson Gillis		(teleplay)
Myrna Bercovici		(story)
Richard Levinson		(creator) &
William Link		(creator)

Produced by
Douglas Benton	....	producer
Robert F. O'Neill	....	associate producer
Richard Levinson	....	producer (uncredited)
William Link	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Dick DeBenedictis		(as Dick De Benedictis)

Cinematography by
Harry L. Wolf		(director of photography) (as Harry Wolf)

Film Editing by
Larry Lester

Art Direction by
Loyd S. Papez

Set Decoration by
George Gaines

Production Management
Kenny Williams	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Doran	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Terry Kellum	....	sound

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Grady Hunt	....	costumes

Editorial Department
Richard Belding	....	editorial supervisor
Steve Johnson	....	colorist (uncredited)

Music Department
Hal Mooney	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer: main titles
Jackson Gillis	....	executive story consultant

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Richard Levinson		creator
William Link		creator

Production Companies

• Universal TV

Distributors

• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD) (Included in "Columbo: The Complete Third Season")
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Viasat3 (2008) (Hungary) (TV) (re-release)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1973) (USA) (TV) (original airing)

Other Companies

• Universal Title  titles and opticals
• Saks Fifth Avenue  wardrobe furnished by

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | Finland:K-18 (2005) (DVD) (self applied) | Australia:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Casa Blanca Poolhouse - 851 Sand Point Road, Carpinteria, California, USA

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

Actor David Toma who plays a police officer in this episode, was a real policeman and had a TV series (TOMA) named after him.

Goofs:

Continuity: Safe door is already open before she turns the dial to unlock it.

Quotes:

Viveca Scott:[to a competitor in the cosmetics business] Mr. Lang, why don't you just go gobble up a pill company?

Soundtrack:

The Girl from Ipamnema

A rather lightweight but watchable Columbo story

A cosmetics queen tries to save her flagging Beauty Mark empire by acquiring a revolutionary wrinkle-removing cream from a disloyal chemist working within her company, who is ready to sell the formula to one of her rivals. Realising his total reluctance to do a deal with her she kills him in a rage....

Not a particularly strong Season 3 opener, which has an interesting if somewhat far-fetched plot. Vera Miles's characterisation does not quite have the complexity and substance of other murderesses in the series (e.g. Susan Clark and Janet Leigh) and despite her best efforts, she cannot bring much out of her rather bland part.

The approach by the script-writer (the prolific Jackson Gillis) is rather subdued and subtle. Columbo scenes with the murderess don't really have much impact until the finale and the one main clue (which leads Columbo to deduce that the murderer was woman),where he finds a magazine at the murder scene with sums of money written on it in eyebrow pencil, is symptomatic of a rather unintelligent murderess and a struggle for the script-writer to point Columbo in the direction of that person.

Disappointingly, Vincent Price, only has two scenes and his character could have been developed much more, especially as Columbo curiously seems to get very little information from him. Ultimately, one can't help thinking about Vincent Price's calibre as a Columbo murderer - he would have really shone with the right script!

The contagious nature of poison ivy becomes an all-too-easy focal point of the episode also, since both Columbo and the murderess catch it from the same source.

Two other things: the coincidence that gives Columbo the case is not particularly believable and the second murder (of the murderesses's rival's blackmailing secretary) is not referred to in a slightly rushed ending, which is also guilty of no significant build-up.

Despite the somewhat negative comments, this is generally an average but distinctly watchable Season 3 story, which is well above the quality of the series's weak episodes like "Dead Weight", "Fade Into Murder", "Old-Fashioned Murder" and "Last Salute To The Commodore."