"Columbo" Publish or Perish (1974)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Robert Butler

Writers:

Peter S. Fischer (written by)
Richard Levinson (creator)

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

18 January 1974 (Season 3, Episode 5)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A publisher hires a bomb enthusiast to murder a bestselling author of sex novels. Lt. Columbo is on the case.

Plot Keywords:

Publisher | Murder | Vietnam Veteran | Author | Writer

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Jack Cassidy	...	Riley Greenleaf
Mickey Spillane	...	Alan Mallory
Mariette Hartley	...	Ms. McRae
Jacques Aubuchon	...	Jeffrey Neal
John Davis Chandler	...	Eddie Kane (as John Chandler)
Gregory Sierra	...	Lou D'Allessandro
Alan Fudge	...	David Chase
Paul Shenar	...	Sgt. Young
Jack Bender	...	Wolpert
Ted Gehring	...	Security Guard
Vern Rowe	...	Restaurant Manager
Lew Palter	...	Lab Technician
George Brenlin	...	Locksmith
J.S. Johnson	...	Palmer

Runtime:

Germany:70 min | Italy:68 min | USA:73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

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

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

If you pay attention to piano being played in the bar you will notice that its the exact same music used as a theme in the previous film starring Jack Cassidy "Columbo: Murder by the Book (#1.1)" (1971).

Goofs:

Factual errors: Although Greenleaf's publishing company is located in Los Angeles (where Columbo works), a cover letter is addressed to him in New York City.

Quotes:

Policeman in office: Wanna cup of coffee or something?
Lieutenant Columbo: No thanks I just ate. You want some advice, be careful where you eat chilli.
Policeman in office: Why, too hot?
Lieutenant Columbo: Too high!

Movie Connections:

Follows "Columbo: Double Shock (#2.8)" (1973)

Mickey Spillane is in for it in this amusing rehash of "Murder by the Book"

Riley Greenleaf (Jack Cassidy) publishes the bestselling sex novels of Alan Mallory (Mickey Spillane), who is about to leave Greenleaf and sign with a rival firm eager to publish his new novel set during the Vietnam War. But Greenleaf's firm has a life insurance policy on Mallory. Enter Eddie Kane (John Chandler), a bomb enthusiast and Vietnam veteran, who has written a manuscript called "How to Blow Anything Up in Ten Easy Lessons." Greenleaf thrills him with the promise of getting it published; Kane in turn considers doing a hit job on Mallory a trivial favor. Little does Kane guess what Greenleaf has planned for him after filling that part of the bargain.

"Publish or Perish" is a rehash of a great early "Columbo" episode, "Murder by the Book," which also starred Jack Cassidy. This time Cassidy has a far more complex murder plot—too complex for his own good. There are too many ways it could go wrong, as it inevitably does. Still, he seems to have our rumpled Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk) going for awhile. Although Greenleaf makes some tiny Freudian slips, which Columbo immediately seizes upon, he actually seems to convince our brilliant detective that someone is trying to frame him. Then again, we can never quite read Columbo. Is he—as is almost always the case—only pretending to buy the murderer's line of bull?

This is no "Murder by the Book," but it's an entertaining episode with a good cast. Cassidy is fine doing pretty much what he did in "Book." Chandler is perfectly cast as the hit-man and gives a memorably creepy performance. Mariette Hartley appears as a rival publisher, beautifully freckled and free of makeup. Spillane is no actor, but it's fun seeing the real-life pulp novelist in this role. Robert Butler directs Peter S. Fischer's script in a show-offy, but mainly effective manner: the murder scene, at one point, shows us Cassidy, Chandler and Spillane in a thrice-split screen. Billy Goldenberg provides a weird electronic score that I enjoyed. "Columbo" fans will be happy with this one.