Forgotten Lady (14 Sep. 1975)

A faded dance star of film and stage murders her husband and makes it look like a suicide; Lt. Columbo doubts her seemingly perfect alibi.

Director:

Harvey Hart

Writers:

William Driskill, Richard Levinson (creator),

Stars:

Peter Falk, Janet Leigh, Maurice Evans

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Janet Leigh	...	Grace Wheeler Willis
Maurice Evans	...	Raymond
Sam Jaffe	...	Dr. Henry Willis
John Payne	...	Ned Diamond
Linda Gaye Scott	...	Alma (as Linda Scott)
Robert F. Simon	...	Dr. Westrum
Francine York	...	Sgt. Leftkowitz
Ross Elliott	...	Dr. Lansberg
Jerome Guardino	...	Harris
Danny Wells	...	Bookstore Clerk
Harvey Gold	...	Coroner

Storyline

Grace Wheeler Willis was a star, a very famous star. Every night in her house she sees one of her old movies. When she decides to set up a new show and her husband refuses to finance it, Grace coldly kills him staging a suicide. Lt. Columbo is not deceived from her performance. But at the end the murderer will escape her sentence, or perhaps not.

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Plot Keywords:

suicide | murder | murderer | hollywood | butler | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 September 1975 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Payne's last role.

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Goofs

In a scene just after the start of the movie Grace walks over to the nightstand next to her husband's bed to put a sleeping pill in her husband's milk, which is on a silver serving tray. Grace puts her glass of brandy on the nightstand NEXT to the silver tray. The next shot is a close-up of her putting the pill in the glass of milk. Her brandy is now right next to the milk on the silver tray.

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Quotes

Dr. Henry Willis: [to Grace] A half million dollars is not a drop in the bucket to anybody perhaps with the possible exception of the Shah of Iran and Howard Hughes.

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Connections

References The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

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Soundtracks

"Walking My Baby Back Home"
(1931) (uncredited)
Music by Fred E. Ahlert
Lyrics by Roy Turk
Heard over main titles of movie that's projected and heard in mirror scene

User Reviews

Perhaps one of my favorite all time episodes of the series!

Film star Janet Leigh plays an aging actress who wants to be in the limelight again. Sadly, she married a doctor who provides a comfortable and secure life but it's no love match but he does take care of her well. Even though, they are in separate bedrooms. There does seem to be some kind of relationship. He tries to reason with her and her foolish dream to star on the stage again playing the roles she loved to do. Anyway, I loved Janet Leigh's performance and she was truly an excellent actress in this episode. Columbo and her character have humorous and tender moments as well. When we get to the end of the episode, we feel sorry for the prime suspect because we had no idea of the truth behind the crime. I love the maid and butler/chauffeur who are devoted Johnny Carson fans. Unlike other Columbo episodes, this episode has a twist and surprise that others don't have.