Columbo: Season 2, Episode 7

The Most Dangerous Match (4 Mar. 1973)

TV Episode  -   -  Crime | Drama | Mystery
7.2
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Ratings: 7.2/10 from 771 users  
Reviews: 20 user | 5 critic

A chess player murders his opponent before a big match. Lt. Columbo must out-maneuver this crafty, but craven, killer.

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Title: The Most Dangerous Match (04 Mar 1973)

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Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
...
...
Lloyd Bochner ...
Mazoor Berozski
...
Tomlin Dudek
Heidi Brühl ...
Linda Robinson (as Heidi Bruhl)
Paul Jenkins ...
Sergeant Douglas
Michael Fox ...
Oscar Beregi Jr. ...
Proprietor (as Oscar Beregi)
Mathias Reitz ...
Anton
Richard Drout Miller ...
1st Reporter (as Drout Miller)
Manuel DePina ...
2nd Reporter
...
Dr. Sullivan
Abigail Shelton ...
Nurse
...
1st Workman
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Storyline

Emmett Clayton has a nightmare before an important chess match: he and his opponent are chess pieces on a giant, fog-covered chess board. Clearly he's worried about his match with Tomlin Dudek, a kindly old fat Russian. Later, the two meet, not coincidentally, in a French restaurant, where they begin using the salt and pepper shakers and other objects on the table as chess pieces. The game continues in Clayton's apartment - secretly, because both Dudek's doctor and his coach would throw fits if they knew the diabetic Russian was out late, eating rich foods with his opponent. Clayton loses the impromptu game and has a nervous fit, from which Dudek tries to calm him down. The next day, Clayton decides he must murder Dudek before the match. He concocts a scheme that makes it look as if Dudek had met with an untimely accident in the hotel's trash compactor. But our rumpled and seemingly disorganized Lt. Columbo is on the case. Written by J. Spurlin

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis


Certificate:

Not Rated | See all certifications »
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Release Date:

4 March 1973 (USA)  »

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4:3
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Did You Know?

Trivia

During his simultaneous exhibition, Clayton says that Frank Marshall once played 155 games simultaneously, losing only eight, and later having complete recall of all the moves from all the games except two of them. This actually happened, in 1922. See more »

Goofs

Clayton doesn't have his ear piece in when walking down the hall to enter the doctors room. He has it in while talking to Columbo in the lobby before entering the elevator and as he enters the doctors room once Anton has left. See more »

Quotes

Emmett Clayton: Well, chess *is* the ultimate test of the human mind, isn't it?
Tomlin Dudek: You think so? I always thought it was women.
See more »

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User Reviews

 
One of the best acted of the Columbo episodes
9 April 2006 | by (Camilla, GA) – See all my reviews

Featuring a cast that includes Laurence Harvey, veteran actor Jack Kruschen, and Lloyd Bochner, along with star Peter Falk, "The Most Dangerous Game" ranks as one of the TOP TEN Columbo installments. Harvey soars as a self-centered chess master whose ego won't let him be defeated by his arch-rival, Krushen as a Russian champion. Harvey, an actor that seemed always on the verge of stardom, plays his part with relish, especially in the last few exchanges between himself and Falk. The "denouement" is one of the few times when an "expletive" is heard in a "Columbo" installment.

Of course, the storyline reflects the Cold War thinking that permeated much of the world at the time, and it's a bit quaint to see the mistrust between American and Soviet bodyguards to both chess players.

An added bonus for the show is the intriguing camera-work and large props used in a dream sequence.


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