"Columbo" Swan Song (1974)

Director:

Nicholas Colasanto

Writers:

David Rayfiel (teleplay)
Stanley Ralph Ross (story)

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

3 March 1974 (Season 3, Episode 7)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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.

Plot Keywords:

Gospel Singer | Murder | Airplane | Plane | Pilot

Cast

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)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (2005) (DVD) (self applied)

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

Uses footage from an actual Johnny Cash concert.

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.

Quotes:

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

A guitar, a thermos flask and a home-made parachute....

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.