"Columbo" Columbo Goes to the Guillotine (1989)

Director:

Leo Penn

Writers:

Richard Levinson (creator) &
William Link (creator) ...
(more)

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

6 February 1989 (Season 8, Episode 1)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

An egocentric psychic murders his old mentor, a magician charged to expose him as fraud, by beheading him while he's rehearsing his guillotine trick.

Plot Keywords:

Psychic | Magician | Mentor | Guillotine | Beheading

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Anthony Andrews	...	Elliott Blake
Karen Austin	...	Dr. Paula Hall
James Greene	...	Bert Spindler
Alan Fudge	...	Mr. Harrow
Dana Andersen	...	Dori
Robert Costanzo	...	Sgt. Russo
Anthony Zerbe	...	Max Dyson
Michael Bacall	...	Tommy
Charles Howerton	...	Colonel Eckherdt
Milt Kogan	...	Medical Examiner
Tony Amendola	...	Clergyman
Rob Garrison	...	Young Man
Frank Simons	...	Polygraph Operator
Lenny Hicks	...	Eddie
Ben Yudell	...	Kevin
Nick DeMauro	...	Locksmith (as Nick Demauro)
Peter Noel Duhamel	...	Detective
Steve Zettler	...	Lieutenant Bravo
Andrew Philpot	...	Captain Alpha
Charles Champion	...	Major Charlie
Christopher Hart	...	Magician at Cemetary
Dan Birch	...	Magician at Cemetary

Directed by
Leo Penn

Writing credits
Richard Levinson		(creator) &
William Link		(creator)
William Read Woodfield		(written by)

Produced by
Peter Falk	....	co-executive producer
Stanley Kallis	....	producer
William Link	....	supervising executive producer
John A. Martinelli	....	associate producer
Philip Saltzman	....	supervising producer
Richard Alan Simmons	....	executive producer
Abby Singer	....	coordinating producer
Peter V. Ware	....	co-producer
Todd London	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
John Cacavas

Cinematography by
Robert Seaman		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
John A. Martinelli

Production Design by
Archie J. Bacon		(as Arch Bacon)

Art Direction by
Cameron Birnie

Set Decoration by
Richard B. Goddard

Costume Design by
Brienne Glyttov		(as Brienne)

Makeup Department
Carolyn Elias	....	hairstylist
Greg LaCava	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Abby Singer	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Brenda Kalosh	....	second assistant director
Richard A. Wells	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Thomas R. Cahill	....	assistant property master (uncredited)
Thomas R. Cahill	....	set propmaster (uncredited)
Bruce Wayne Mecchi	....	leadman (uncredited)

Sound Department
James R. Alexander	....	sound mixer (as Jim Alexander)
Deni King	....	sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Jeff Greene	....	first assistant camera (uncredited)
William Mayer	....	dolly grip (uncredited)
Lee Nakahara	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Randall Robinson	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Joseph Staton	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)

Casting Department
Darlene Kaplan	....	casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Michael J. Long	....	costume supervisor (as Michael Long)
Karen Bellamy	....	set costumer (uncredited)

Music Department
Laurie Higgins Tobias	....	supervising music editor (as Laurie L. Higgins)
Mike Post	....	composer: "Mystery Movie" theme

Other crew
Jackson Gillis	....	executive story consultant
Bruce Sinclair	....	magic technical advisor
Robert Visciglia Jr.	....	special consultant (as R.J. Visciglia)
Huey Redwine	....	stand-in (uncredited)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Richard Levinson		creator
William Link		creator

Production Companies

• Universal TV (from) (as Universal® An MCA Company)

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1989) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• TV2 (2006) (Hungary) (TV) (re-release)
• Viasat3 (2007) (Hungary) (TV) (re-release)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Esselte Video (1989) (Finland) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1993) (Finland) (TV)
• RTL Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Howard Anderson Company, The  titles & optical effects (as Howard Anderson Co.)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

Germany:87 min | USA:120 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:Unrated | Iceland:L | Denmark:15 (2007) (DVD) | Norway:15 (2007) (DVD) | Sweden:15 (2007) (DVD) | Finland:K-18 (2007) (DVD) (self applied) | Finland:S (1989) (VHS) | Netherlands:6 | UK:PG (video rating) (1989) (2008) | Australia:M (video rating)

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

On the wall of Max's workshop is a framed poster of Randi - this is The Amazing Randi, a magician turned skeptic and debunker of fake psychics, who is obviously the model for the character of Max Dyson.

Quotes:

Elliott Blake:Why did you help me today, Max?
Max Dyson:Quite a little stunt we pulled. Maybe we should take it on the road.
Elliott Blake:Why, Max?
Max Dyson:You have to ask me that, after what we went through in Uganda? So we cooked up a little illusion for Mr. Harrow. I'll survive the insult. See how you like this.
[Max triggers the guillotine, and the blade falls, but leaves Elliott unharmed]
Max Dyson:Beautiful effects, huh?

Not the classic series but does enough to entertain fans by sticking near formula

Elliot Blake is a well-known psychic who is working to prove his skills to the US Government so he can enter the lucrative and highly secretive programme for developing psychic powers. Despite having blitzed the tests (with a little help from the inside) the game appears up when magician and renowned cynic Max Dyson is brought in by the Government to give him a harder test. What the Government agents don't know is that the men have a history and Dyson helps Blake by passing him despite him being a fake. However this history also drives Blake to kill Dyson in the latter's own magic guillotine – making it look like a tragic accident. It appears an open and shut case of death by misadventure but a Philips head screwdriver is enough to put doubt in Columbo's mind. Finding that Dyson had just worked with Blake and signed him off as genuine, Columbo turns to his unique talent to assist him with the case.

As with many TV film series (such as Perry Mason), if you like one or two of them then you'll pretty much like them all. This entry in the Columbo series pretty much follows the usual formula – we know the killer and the "perfect" plan but then watch Columbo follow his hunch and gradually starts to pick holes in the story he is told before eventually finding enough to prove his suspicions. Knowing this ahead of time won't ruin anything for you; it is simply what happens in all the films. With this strict adherence to formula it is usually down to several factors whether or not the Columbo film stands out or if it is just average. The new Columbo films don't always pull this trick off but this one is enjoyable enough thanks to sticking close to the formula to cover up for the unlikely nature of the plot. Although it provides some nice ideas, the narrative lacks a real lack of convincing development and this at times put me off but generally it had enough about it to keep me interested.

The way Columbo solves the mystery isn't a nice, logical story but moves in jumps and sudden discoveries; again it is entertaining enough but not quite as satisfying where he picks at smaller details. The magical aspect of the story has been done better earlier in the series but it still works well here, providing Columbo with some nice scenes where he turns the tricks on Elliott to get his man. It isn't classic fare but it should satisfy fans. Falk is on good form, which helps, and he does enjoy a nice chemistry with Andrews. The latter is not great but he is good enough to work within the formula and make for an interesting target for Columbo. Support from Zerbe is good but other than him nobody else is really that memorable.

Overall this is not up to the standard of the better Columbo episodes from the 1970's but it is actually reasonably good. By sticking to formula it covers up the plot weaknesses and will do enough to satisfy fans of the film. A much better alternative would be "Columbo: Now You See Him" but failing a return to the best days this is an OK modern Columbo.