IMDb > "Columbo" Swan Song (1974)
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"Columbo" Swan Song (1974)



Overview

User Rating:
7.5/10   616 votes
Director:
Writers:
Contact:
View company contact information for Swan Song on IMDbPro.
TV Series:
Original Air Date:
3 March 1974 (Season 3, Episode 7)
Plot:
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. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
User Comments:
A guitar, a thermos flask and a home-made parachute.... more (18 total)

Cast

  (Episode Cast overview, first billed only)

Peter Falk ... Columbo

Johnny Cash ... Tommy Brown
Ida Lupino ... Edna 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 ... Lady

Richard Caine ... Bennett
Don Mantooth ... Phil (as Donald Mantooth)
Jefferson Kibbee ... Frank
Bonnie Van Dyke ... Maryann
Douglas Dirkson ... Jeff (as Doug Dirkson)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
99 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Finland:K-18 (2005) (DVD) (self applied)
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Uses footage from an actual Johnny Cash concert. more
Goofs:
Continuity: The wreckage of the airplane is obviously a tubular structure, meaning it was fabric covered. It was also a tandem cockpit. However, the airplane they were flying in was clearly a Cessna 172 with bulkheads, formers, and aluminum skin. It has side by side seating. more
Quotes:
Lt. Columbo: Any man who can sing like that can't be all bad more

FAQ

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11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful.
A guitar, a thermos flask and a home-made parachute...., 15 September 2004
Author: The Welsh Raging Bull (leighton.phillips@sihe.ac.uk) from Port Talbot, South Wales, UK

Johnny Cash's limited acting ability is remarkably offset by his semi-autobiographical portrayal of a gospel crusader who wishes to use half of the concert earnings to finance his lavishly reckless lifestyle, rather than plough all of the monies into building an ornate tabernacle. His blackmailing wife and one very young concert group member are killed off so that his reputation remains unblemished and his lifestyle can be maintained.

Everything you would want in a Columbo story is in evidence here: a refreshingly original, well-thought-out plot with an ingeniously conceived "murder" scenario; a very tightly structured script with each scene leading on nicely from the last; circumstantial clues which are clever and instinctively-developed; an abundance of well-crafted scenes between a typically persistent Columbo and a relatively self-assured murderer which have a progressive intensity about them; and well-timed injections of humour.

A crackerjack Columbo episode, that is all the better for making it look like the murderer has won(nb: the marvelous airport scene); and for not being sentimental when Columbo pities the murderer. Almost flawless in its conception and execution, this must be one of the top-three Columbo episodes.

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