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"Columbo" Agenda for Murder (1990)
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showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clips"Columbo" Agenda for Murder (1990)
Overview
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TV Series:
Original Air Date:
10 February 1990
(Season 9, Episode 3)
Plot:
This time Columbo is put on a murder that was made to look like a suicide. However, he notices some loose ends, and asks a lawyer and a governor to clear these problems up. full summary | add synopsis
User Comments:
It restores your faith in the new Columbo movies
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Cast
(Episode Cast overview, first billed only)| Peter Falk | ... | Columbo | |
| Patrick McGoohan | ... | Oscar Finch | |
| Denis Arndt | ... | Paul Mackey | |
| Louis Zorich | ... | Frank Staplin | |
| Penny Fuller | ... | Mrs. Finch | |
| Bruce Kirby | ... | Sergeant Kramer | |
| Anne Haney | ... | Louise | |
| Stanley Kamel | ... | Tim Haines | |
| Steven Ford | ... | Toby Ritt | |
| Arthur Hill | ... | The Governor | |
| Michael Goldfinger | ... | Laundry truck driver | |
| Shaun Toub | ... | Amir | |
| Annie Stewart | ... | Rebecca Christy | |
| Carol Barbee | ... | Diane | |
| Peter Allas | ... | Security man #1 |
Additional Details
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Runtime:
Germany:90 min | USA:120 min (including commercials)
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Aspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1 more
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Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Last film of Arthur Hill.
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Goofs:
Continuity: After Columbo demonstrates to Finch how the gun had fallen on top of a drop of blood, Columbo says: ''The information that you just gave me is priceless'' and he picks up the gun with his right hand, keeping his arm stretched next to his body. Halfway the sentence the shot changes and Columbo now has his right arm in front of his chest with no gun in sight.
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Quotes:
Movie Connections:
References Singin' in the Rain (1952)
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Soundtrack:
Mystery Movie Theme
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This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (14 total)
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The effervescent Patrick McGoohan plays a Columbo murderer for the third time (and does a directorial turn to boot), as he depicts the hitherto untouchable lawyer, Oscar Finch, whose past comes back to haunt him in the form a notorious racketeer, Frank Staplin, who threatens to expose a 21 year old scandal in which Finch bribed the District Attorney at the time, Paul Mackey (who is now running for Vice President) to discard vital evidence that would have had severe consequences for Staplin.
McGoohan's performance deservedly won him an Emmy - McGoohan encapsulates the "charm" of a Columbo villain effortlessly with a crisp, precise and purposeful portrayal, tinged with a mild eccentricity, ensuring that his scenes with Falk have a razor-sharp entertainment value.
The script-writer, Jeffrey Bloom, also ensures that the vital commodity of humour is inserted at several well-timed moments in this TV movie, and like the 1973 episode from the original Columbo series "Candiadate for Crime", Columbo's intrusions with key personnel become increasingly antagonising as the presidential campaign reaches it's climax.
Satisfying as a whole, the episode is really only guilty of losing some its initial zest and pace around its mid-section when some of the investigation becomes a little drawn-out as the discussion of the clues becomes deliberately selective and individualised.
The resolution is totally unexpected and it astounds the murderer and viewer in equal measure: a devilishly clever element to a largely solid, well-made adventure for Columbo, which is probably one of the most polished stories of Columbo's latter-day movies.