By Dawn's Early Light (27 Oct. 1974)

The commandant of a military academy murders the chairman of the board, who wants to oust him. Lt. Columbo takes up residence in the barracks to expose the killer.

Director:

Harvey Hart

Writers:

Howard Berk, Richard Levinson (creator),

Stars:

Peter Falk, Patrick McGoohan, Burr DeBenning

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Patrick McGoohan	...	Col. Lyle C. Rumford
Burr DeBenning	...	Capt. Loomis
Madeleine Sherwood	...	Miss Brady (as Madeleine Thornton-Sherwood)
Tom Simcox	...	William Haynes
Mark Wheeler	...	Cadet Roy Springer
Bruce Kirby	...	Sergeant George Kramer (as Bruce Kirby Sr.)
Sidney Armus	...	Officer Corso
Robert Clotworthy	...	Boodle Boy (Miller)
Karen Lamm	...	Susan Gerard
Bruno Kirby	...	Cadet Morgan (as B. Kirby Jr.)

Storyline

Colonel Lyle C. Rumford, the proud Commandant of a military academy, is incensed that William Haynes, the owner of the property, wants to turn it into a co-ed college. So, Rumford plots to kill Haynes with a back-firing cannon that Haynes is due to fire in a ceremony. Rumford arranges for the cannon to explode by blocking its discharge with a cleaning rag and thereby making the explosion seem an unfortunate accident caused by a clumsy attendant. Los Angeles Police Department's Lieutenant Columbo comes to the academy to investigate Haynes' death and instantly suspects that Rumford had something to do with the explosion, which Columbo believes was not accidental. Columbo unrelentingly seeks to prove that Rumford had motive and opportunity to rig the cannon.

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Plot Keywords:

cannon | military | military academy | cadet | co ed | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 October 1974 (USA)

Filming Locations:

The Citadel - 171 Moultrie Street, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the only "Columbo" episode out of the four Patrick McGoohan appears in which he did not direct.

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Goofs

When Columbo cannot sleep in the barracks and has to make a telephone call, he gets out of bed barefoot. As he starts to walk, we hear the sound of shoes on the floor. He wears laced shoes, so he couldn't have simply slipped into them as he rose.

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Quotes

Col. Lyle C. Rumford: There're not so many people want to be soldiers these days.

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Soundtracks

"The Thunderer"
(uncredited)
Written by John Philip Sousa

User Reviews

a pinnacle of Columbo episodes

maybe my favourite Columbo and maybe the best too.

Just look at McGoohans eyes behind that stiff and unyielding exterior, particularly in the one scene where he unbends a little in the office interview with the Lieutenant. No wonder he won the Emmy for this performance.

The contrast in his style with Falks is the highlight of this episode, no wonder they became good friends with many invitations to come back as yet another murderer and also to direct. They bounce off each other superbly taking an already high quality TV series into new realms.

Highly recommended.