"Columbo" Playback (1975)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Bernard L. Kowalski

Writers:

David P. Lewis (written by) &
Booker Bradshaw (written by) ...

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

2 March 1975 (Season 4, Episode 5)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A gadget-happy inventor murders his mother-in-law; Lt. Columbo is on the case.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Mother In Law | Detective | Gadget | Camera

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Oskar Werner	...	Harold Van Wick
Gena Rowlands	...	Elizabeth Van Wick
Robert Brown	...	Arthur Meadis
Patricia Barry	...	Francine
Martha Scott	...	Margaret Meadis
Herb Jefferson Jr.	...	Baxter
Trisha Noble	...	Marcy Hubbard
Bart Burns	...	Thompson
Steven Marlo	...	Policeman
Joe Ohar	...	Attendant (as Joe O'Har)

Runtime:

USA:73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (2006) (DVD) (self applied)

Company:

Universal TV

Quotes:

Harold Van Wick: Mother dear, have you done something to your hair?
Margaret Meadis: No?
Harold Van Wick: That's what I thought.

Movie Connections:

Followed by "Columbo: Try and Catch Me (#7.1)" (1977)

Soundtrack:

Ballade No.1 in g-minor, op.23

Excellent early Columbo

Especially in its early years, the Columbo series often showcased modern technology - the IBM Selectric typewriter (yes, before it was obsolete, it was brand new), the Betamax years before it was available to the public, the digital watch, and in this episode, Playback, it's home gadgetry. In order to help his wheelchair-bound wife (Gena Rowlands), her husband (Oskar Werner) has outfitted their home with doors that open when one claps one's hands, etc. He also has a state of the art security system complete with videotape, which he maneuvers in order to show the killing of his mother-in-law, who's about to close down his business, but not her killer, while he's out for the evening. Columbo finds it terribly convenient that the killer managed to avoid the camera. A little too convenient.

Werner makes an excellent villain. He's smooth as silk, and all the more of a sleaze due to the soft and sympathetic portrayal of Gena Rowlands, who seems to truly love this philanderer/murderer. By the time Columbo's through with him, though, he's toast. A really wonderful entry in the series.