Blueprint for Murder 

Elliot Markham, a brilliant architect and con-man, murders a Texas millionaire and hides his body in order to keep his visionary construction project financed.

Director:

Peter Falk

Writers:

Steven Bochco (teleplay by), William Kelley (story by)

Stars:

Peter Falk, Patrick O'Neal, Janis Paige

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Patrick O'Neal	...	Elliot Markham
Janis Paige	...	Goldie Williamson
Pamela Austin	...	Jennifer Williamson
John Fiedler	...	Doctor
Forrest Tucker	...	Bo Williamson
Bettye Ackerman	...	Miss Sherman
John Finnegan	...	Carl
Nick Dennis	...	Guard
Robert Gibbons	...	Clerk
Cliff Carnell	...	Officer Wilson
Jimmy Joyce	...	Workman

Storyline

Millionaire Bo Williamson returns from two months in Europe and finds an unpleasant surprise: his second wife, Jennifer, has financed a new town construction project. Incensed, Bo confronts Elliot Markham, the architect with the original idea. Shortly thereafter, Bo disappears again, and it looks as if he's off on another European trip, but his first wife, Goldie, doesn't think so and - despite the lack of a body - gets Lt. Columbo to look into it for her. It doesn't take the detective long to sense something is indeed amiss, but where's the corpse?

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Plot Keywords:

false evidence | dead body in a car trunk | millionaire | construction | architect | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Forrest Tucker slaps Patrick O'Neal in the face; in IN HARM'S WAY, Kirk Douglas slaps O'Neal, who usually plays a weaselly yet sophisticated villain.

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Goofs

Just after Markham kills Williamson he drives straight over to his ranch where it is clearly sometime during the day as you can see the sun shining and it reflects of the windscreen as he's driving down Williamson's driveway towards his ranch but as soon as he let's himself into the ranch it's night time and still night time when he leaves about 5 minutes later.

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Quotes

Columbo: Carnegie Hall and Nashville - they don't mix.

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Connections

Featured in La Une est à vous: Episode #1.16 (1973)

User Reviews

He's just gone and not dead

Forrest Tucker is a stereotypical Texas millionaire who keeps a careful close watch on his money. So when architect Patrick O'Neal prematurely starts work on a project named after Tucker, Tucker blows up and threatens to cancel the whole thing. It's something his wife Pamela Austin and O'Neal cooked up in any event. But O'Neal has a lot invested in this in terms of reputation and posterity. So Tucker has to be killed.

First wife Janis Paige calls the police and of course she gets Columbo. This one is a puzzler for Peter Falk. O'Neal has hidden Tucker's body well and while there are hints that he's gone, that's it, he's just gone and not dead. No body and things just continue on as if he were alive and Austin spends his money.

It's one elaborate ruse that Falk uses to trap O'Neal. In the end it's all worth while though. O'Neal is a particularly smug perpetrator and it's a pleasure to see him cornered.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

9 February 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Denkmal für die Ewigkeit

Filming Locations:

Hidden Valley, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1