Swan Song (3 Mar. 1974)

A gospel singer wants to be rid of his zealous wife. But a murder made to look like an airplane accident does not fool the wily Lt. Columbo.

Director:

Nicholas Colasanto

Writers:

David Rayfiel (teleplay), Stanley Ralph Ross (story),

Stars:

Peter Falk, Johnny Cash, Ida Lupino

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Johnny Cash	...	Tommy Brown
Ida Lupino	...	Edna Basket Brown
John Dehner	...	Roland Pangborn
Sorrell Booke	...	J.J. Stringer
Bill McKinney	...	Luke Basket
Vito Scotti	...	Mr. Grindell
Janit Baldwin	...	Tina
John Randolph	...	The Colonel
Lucille Meredith	...	Jean the seamstress
Richard Caine	...	Bennett
Don Mantooth	...	Phil (as Donald Mantooth)
Jefferson Kibbee	...	Frank
Bonnie Van Dyke	...	Maryann Cobb
Douglas Dirkson	...	Jeff the airport mechanic (as Doug Dirkson)

Storyline

A popular folk singer's plane has crashed. Two passengers have died, and one has escaped with minor injuries. Was it really an accident? How could it not have been? Or, was it really a nearly perfect murder? Columbo is called in to find out.

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Plot Keywords:

gospel singer | airplane | murder | pilot | seat belt | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 March 1974 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor) (as Technicolor®)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In-joke: Tommy Brown refers to his unseen music arranger as "Nick Solacanto"; the director of the episode is Nicholas Colasanto.

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Goofs

When Tommy is playing with the band in the back yard, you can tell his singing is amplified. However, there is no microphone.

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Quotes

Lt. Columbo: Any man that can sing like that can't be all bad

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Soundtracks

"I Saw the Light"
(uncredited)
Written by Hank Williams
Performed by Johnny Cash

User Reviews

An enjoyable "Columbo" show for fans; but Johnny Cash doesn't quite pull it off

Tommy Brown (Johnny Cash) is a hugely successful gospel singer unable to enjoy the usual benefits of his fame and wealth. His zealous wife (Ida Lupino) can prove he had committed statutory rape with one of his backup singers, Tina (Janit Baldwin). With this weapon she blackmails him from enjoying the company of other women and even from spending his own money. She wants every penny to go towards building a tabernacle for the Lord. Brown, an experienced pilot, takes his wife and Tina up in a plane; but he's the only one who comes back down alive. It's up to our rumpled Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) to figure out how he did it.

This is a fairly entertaining episode, but it has serious flaws. The effectiveness of the murder sequence is undermined by some awful special effects showing the plane in bad weather and the equally phony-looking shots from inside the plane. The script is badly padded: the comic sequences with the funeral director, the colonel and the seamstress all could have been cut, and no one would have missed them. Johnny Cash is an okay actor: he's naturally talented but too inexperienced to pull off a role this large and complex—even though it was clearly tailored for him. Still, the plotting is good if you ignore the extraneous scenes; and the ending is satisfying. Cash sings two or three enjoyable songs; and his acting is best in the scenes that are always the heart of any "Columbo" episode: when the clever killer and the brilliant detective match wits. Fans will enjoy this one.