Fade in to Murder (10 Oct. 1976)

An egotistical but successful star off a TV detective show murders his blackmailing producer and makes it look like a robbery.

Director:

Bernard L. Kowalski

Writers:

Lou Shaw (teleplay), Peter S. Feibleman (teleplay),

Stars:

Peter Falk, William Shatner, Bert Remsen

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Peter Falk	...	Columbo
William Shatner	...	Detective Lucerne / Ward Fowler
Bert Remsen	...	Mark
Alan Manson	...	Sid Daley
Lola Albright	...	Clare Daley
Danny Dayton	...	Director
Timothy Carey	...	Tony (as Timothy Agoglia Carey)
Walter Koenig	...	Sgt. Johnson
John Finnegan	...	Assistant Director (as J.P. Finnegan)
Victor Izay	...	Conroy
Shera Danese	...	Molly
Jimmy Joyce	...	Camera Operator
Frank Emmett Baxter	...	Walter Gray
Fred Draper	...	Joseph (first scene, flubbed line)

Storyline

Ward Fowler is an actor of a soap opera and his character is Detective Lucerne. His producer is Claire Daley, once his lover and now his blackmailer. Fowler decides to kill Claire and to do in such a way as to accuse her husband. Lt. Columbo begins to investigate and he is helped by Detective Lucerne who at a certain moment suspects the actor Fowler...

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Plot Keywords:

detective | actor | star | blackmailer | murder | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 1976 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This episode starred William Shatner, but also has a minor role for Walter Koenig, both of whom starred throughout the Star Trek series as Captain James Kirk and Pavel Chekov, respectively.

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Goofs

Ward Fowler and Mark are watching a Dodgers baseball game at night. When the game is shown on TV it is a bright sunny day.

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Quotes

Lieutenant Columbo: I sometimes have a funny effect on people, being a police lieutenant. At least I hope that's what it is.

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Connections

References Jaws (1975)

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Soundtracks

"This Old Man' (uncredited)
Traditional English children's counting folk song.
Hummed by Peter Falk while in Shatner's dressing room.

User Reviews

A curious, patchily enjoyable Columbo yarn

Decently plotted and reasonably originally conceived Columbo Season 6 opener, which sees him square-off, rather interestingly, against an actor renowned for his portrayal of the television detective Lt. Lucerne (played by William Shatner) who murders his blackmailing ex-lover (the show's producer) in a made-to-look-like robbery.

The most noticeable thing about this episode is the inordinate amount of screen time between Columbo and murderer, which therefore places a heavier emphasis than normal on having a quality script. In this respect, the scenes are carefully drawn and many of them are executed in a pleasing style, particularly as we get more information on the murderer's motives behind his crime. Nevertheless, the playful style of Columbo's interfacing with his rival (which may be too strong a word) is not a particularly rewarding approach by the script-writer, who almost airs on the side of caution to maintain a lighter atmosphere than is often the case in Columbo adventures. This style also renders a lack of build-up to the conclusion, which with all the open-mindedness in the world, is very inauspicious and unsatisfying.

Shatner's performance is carefully executed but overly hammy; although he probably does everything he is asked of in the script, particularly in conveying his character's deep-rooted insecurity, which is rather heavily portrayed at the end as he tries to seek sympathy for his crime.

I especially liked the final piece of dialogue after Columbo collars the murderer: Lt. Lucerne to Columbo - "...you would do me a enormous favour if you would stop calling me sir...."

It's a very curious episode with positives and negatives in equal measure; perhaps the script-writer could have allowed Lt. Lucerne's character to possess more self-assuredness, particularly as he gifts Columbo evidence off and on during this adventure.