Grand Deceptions (1 May 1989)

After the head of a private paramilitary think tank who is embezzling funds murders a blackmailer, he has to match wits with the persistent Lieutenant Columbo.

Director:

Sam Wanamaker

Writers:

Richard Levinson (creator), William Link (creator),

Stars:

Peter Falk, Robert Foxworth, Andy Romano

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Robert Foxworth	...	Frank Brailie
Andy Romano	...	Sergeant Major Lester Keegan
Janet Eilber	...	Jenny Padget
Stephen Elliott	...	General Padget
Michael McManus	...	Tanzer
James Lashly	...	Sidney Winnik
Lynn Clark	...	Marcia
Bennett Liss	...	Corporal
Lee Arenberg	...	Paramilitary Man #3
John William Gibson	...	Paramilitary Man #2
Stephen Quadros	...	Paramilitary Man #4
Milt Kogan	...	Medical Examiner
Christopher Titus	...	Paramilitary Man #1
Rick Marzan	...	Police Officer

Storyline

A Colonel works for a highly revered and well respected General. Among the things that he has been doing is having an affair with the invalid General's wife and been diverting funds from the General's foundation to fund arms sales. The General discovers some peculiarities going on at the foundation, so he instructs Sergeant Keegan to investigate, he learns of the Colonel's activities, then instead of reporting it to the General, he tries to blackmail the Colonel. The Colonel in turn kills the Sergeant. But it's not long until Lt. Columbo is on the case and on the Colonel's trail.

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Plot Keywords:

colonel | general | sergeant | paramilitary | murder | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 May 1989 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min 120 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Columbo looks at the body of Sergeant Major Lester Keegan, you can see him blinking.

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Quotes

Colonel Frank Brailie: The sexual life of a camel is much stranger than anyone thinks.
General Padget: He lies on the bank of the Nile and tries to make love to the Sphinx.
Colonel Frank Brailie: But the Sphinx is only a statue...
General Padget: ...Beset by the sands of the Nile.
Colonel Frank Brailie: Which accounts for the humps on the camel...
General Padget: ...And the Sphinx's inscrutable smile.

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Soundtracks

"I've Got A Crush On You"
(uncredited)
Written by George Gershwin

User Reviews

Not bad, but for me one of the lesser episodes of the Columbo series

I have always been a big lover of the Columbo series for the diverting stories, great villains(think Patrick McGoohan, Leonard Nimoy, Nicol Williamson, Jack Cassidy and Robert Culp), intelligent dialogue and of course Columbo himself embodied by the now regrettably late Peter Falk. Grand Deceptions is not a bad episode, but while not as dull as Last Salute to the Commodore or as lame as No Time to Die it is one of the lesser episodes of the series to me. I have heard a lot of people saying that the later episodes don't quite match the pre-1989 episodes. I kind of agree with this, however that is not to say they are bad.

With a small handful of exceptions, a lot of them are decent and some like Ashes to Ashes, Agenda for Murder, A Bird in the Hand and Death Hits the Jackpot are to a standard worthy of the pre-1989 episodes. I will give credit where it's due, like all Columbo episode it looks great with slick editing and striking locations, and it is solidly directed. The music is nothing extraordinary, but it still has a certain groove and atmosphere to it. Peter Falk tries his best and there are times where he does deliver but there is not him at his best, and it felt as though he was secondary to the rest of the characters. This wouldn't matter so much, if those characters were actually interesting, but on the whole I found them dull, and that is including Brailie.

Likewise with the story, which instead of bright, breezy and above all diverting, was too drab, too stiff and too serious, complete with an ending that was good in idea but underdeveloped and implausible in execution and build-up that quite frankly takes too long to set up. The scripts I often found intelligent and clever with some good tension and humour. Not here though, it felt stiff and humourless. The acting is not great, though Steven Elliot is quite good. Robert Foxworth has to work with one of the blander villains of the series, and while I have nothing against arrogant characters(Columbo has had its fair share of them and some of them, like Leonard Nimoy's character in A Stitch in Crime are some of the most memorable guest turns) the material is below the usual standards I get from watching Columbo, so I actually found his arrogance got on my nerves. His interaction with Columbo didn't spark much joy either.

All in all, somewhat watchable, but in my opinion a lesser entry while not the worst. It's not as if Columbo is a poor series, in fact it is one of the finest series of its kind, all the more reason for Grand Deceptions to have been so much better. If I were to say whether it was worth watching, I'd say any Columbo episode is worth watching once, but for me, I'd rather stick to the likes of A Stitch in Crime, By Dawn's Early Light, Any Old Port in a Storm, Etude in Black, Forgotten Lady, Death Lends a Hand, Blueprint for Murder and How to Dial a Murder.

5/10 Bethany Cox