A Deadly State of Mind (27 Apr. 1975)

A psychiatrist, who specializes in hypnosis, murders the husband of his mistress and convinces her to lie to the police; it's up to Lt. Columbo to discover the truth.

Director:

Harvey Hart

Writers:

Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson (creator),

Stars:

Peter Falk, George Hamilton, Lesley Ann Warren

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Falk	...	Columbo
George Hamilton	...	Dr. Mark Collier
Lesley Ann Warren	...	Nadia Donner (as Lesley Warren)
Stephen Elliott	...	Carl Donner
Karen Machon	...	Dr. Anita Borden
Bruce Kirby	...	Sergeant George Kramer
William Wintersole	...	Dr. Hunt
Ryan MacDonald	...	Charles Whelan
Jack Manning	...	Daniel Morris
Fred Draper	...	David Morris
Glorie Kaufman	...	Brenda
Redmond Gleeson	...	Arnold
Vance Davis	...	Officer Hendryx
Danny Wells	...	Gary Keppler
Morris Buchanan	...	Lab Man

Storyline

Mark Collier is a psychiatrist and Nadia Donner is a patient of his. Mark is also Nadia's lover and his main concern is for a book he is writing. When Nadia and Mark are caught by her husband, Mark kills him with a poker. When the police arrive Nadia tells an unlikely story about two robbers. But will Lt. Columbo believe her?

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Plot Keywords:

psychiatrist | police | hypnosis | book | mistress | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 April 1975 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Pepperdine University - 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min 74 min (dvd release)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nadia's emotional recollection of swimming in a "beautiful pool" is sampled quite prominently in the song "Beautiful Pool" by Neotropic.

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Goofs

As Columbo questions Nadia one day after the murder, he lights his cigar with Dr. Collier's lighter. He then holds his cigar and his notebook in his right hand. As Dr. Collier crosses from the sofa to a chair, Columbo transfers his notebook to his left hand, at which point his cigar completely disappears.

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Quotes

Dr. Mark Collier: [to Columbo] You know something, Lieutenant? You're a marvelously deceptive man. You know, the way you get to the point without really getting to the point.

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Soundtracks

"Mazurka No.6 in A Minor, Op.7 No.2"
(uncredited)
Composed by Frédéric Chopin
From the audio unit which Columbo switches on

User Reviews

Very strong episode

It isn't the best of the lot, but A Deadly State of Mind is a very strong episode. It is efficiently directed and constructed story-wise, with some nice writing, striking filming, excellent music and the pacing I had no problem with at all. The acting is great, Peter Falk is outstanding as always and George Hamilton out of the two episodes he starred in gives the better one of his performances here, his murderer is arrogant, yet likable and is a strong opponent for Columbo and they are well served with some juicy scenes with them together. Lesley Ann Warren was also lovely beyond words as Nadia. Overall, a strong episode benefited by some great acting and efficient directing and plot. 9/10 Bethany Cox