Columbo: Caution - Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health (1991) (TV)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Daryl Duke

Writers:

Sonia Wolf (written by) and
Patricia Ford (written by) ...

Release Date:

20 February 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Columbo investigates a self-proclaimed security expert turned crime show host for the murder of a rival with incriminating evidence of pornography.

Plot Keywords:

Pornography | Television | Child Pornography | Security Expert | Television Show

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Lt. Columbo
George Hamilton	...	Wade Anders
Peter Haskell	...	Budd Clarke
Penny Johnson	...	Maxine Jarrett
Robert Donner	...	Arnie
Steven Gilborn	...	George
Rick Najera	...	Henry Santos
Marie Chambers	...	Lisa
Dennis Bailey	...	Sergeant Lewis
Patricia Allison	...	Melanie
Jack Tate	...	John
Paul Ganus	...	Jack
Linda Dona	...	Barbara Baylor
Michael Russo	...	Duke Dimarco
Louis Herthum	...	Technician

Runtime:

Germany:85 min | USA:120 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Parker Center Police Headquarters - 150 N. Los Angeles Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

Columbo's car is a 1959 Peugeot Model 403 convertible.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: While Columbo is putting his car in gear, we hear the gears grinding, yet his right hand is clearly visible on the steering wheel.

Movie Connections:

Follows "Columbo: An Exercise in Fatality (#4.1)" (1974)

Enjoyable entry into the Columbo series

After being off the air for a while, Columbo returned with some new made-for-TV mysteries that, while not being as good as the original series, are better than the shows that were done in the later '90s.

"Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health" used the then (and I guess now, if you think about it) true crime shows as the situation for a murder. The murder is committed by a very successful, egomaniacal true crime show host, George Hamilton (in a nice bit of casting). His chain-smoking nemesis, who lost the job to him, played by Peter Haskell, attempts to blackmail Hamilton when he discovers a porno video Hamilton made with an underage actress in his salad days. Hamilton uses Haskell's cigarettes to deliver the death blow via poison, giving himself an alibi as well.

Columbo is brought in to find out what happened. You know the rest. Highly entertaining.