Double Exposure
- Episode aired Dec 16, 1973
- TV-PG
- 1h 10m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
2.9K
YOUR RATING
An advertisement expert uses subliminal cues to help him commit a murder. Lt. Columbo is on the case.An advertisement expert uses subliminal cues to help him commit a murder. Lt. Columbo is on the case.An advertisement expert uses subliminal cues to help him commit a murder. Lt. Columbo is on the case.
Arlene Martel
- Tanya Baker
- (as Arlene Martell)
Francis De Sales
- Patterson
- (as Francis DeSales)
E.A. Sirianni
- Norbert
- (as E. A. Sirianni)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe term "subliminal advertising" referred to and used by the murderer was actually invented by market researcher James Vicary. Vicary claimed that for a movie called "Picnic" playing at a theater in Fort Lee, NJ, he had inserted frames into the film that read "drink Coca-Cola" and "eat popcorn" that were flashed briefly on screen every five seconds during screenings. Though the duration of each flash was too short for anyone to consciously detect, Vicary claimed that this subliminal exposure boosted Coke sales by 18% and popcorn sales by 58%. Advertisers, the FCC, and research psychologists were skeptical, and in an Advertising Age article, Vicary admitted that he had never conducted the subliminal "experiment" - it was concocted as a gimmick to attract customers to his failing marketing business. The concept of subliminal advertising, nonetheless, has continued on as part of our culture.
- GoofsWhen Columbo arrives at a back office with monitors, he's being tracked by a videocamera. He arrives and sees himself live on the monitor, filmed from behind. What he sees doesn't match with his actual position, judging by a hand resting against a wall.
- Quotes
Lt. Columbo: My wife's got no head for crime. We go to those whodunit movies, she always picks the wrong murderer. I wanna tell you something: If my wife decided to murder me, she could come up with a better alibi than you got.
- ConnectionsReferences High Plains Drifter (1973)
Featured review
A Season 3 Columbo episode that is particularly underestimated for its engrossing qualities, which are facilitated by a very tightly-structured plot and script with very few secondary characters, brisk pacing and an enormous amount of screen time between Columbo and villain.
Robert Culp makes his third and final appearance as a Columbo villain, playing a motivational research specialist whose blackmailing scheme, involving his potential (married) business clients and a model he is using for the advertising campaigns, is threatened to be exposed by one of his clients...
Quite possibly this is Culp's best performance of the three; remarkably calm, assured and purposeful throughout despite the increasingly intrusive nature of Columbo's questioning. There are some great scenes between the two in a supermarket and (even better) on a golf course.
The quality of the episode is all the more remarkable given the moderate quantity of circumstantial clues, yet the basic murder set-up is really quite ingenious, particularly as the murderer is able to hide the murder weapon in a very clever and almost foolproof manner. This accentuates the lack of predictability in this story as Columbo has to be really smart to uncover the truth: the finale is superbly ironical and the elements of smartness possessed so markedly by the villain in the preceding sequences are wonderfully transferred to the dogged and ultra-persistent hero.
Addicts may also note that Columbo mentions the "Hayward case" early on in this story, which interestingly refers to the previous episode entitled "Candidate for Crime."
An undoubtedly solid episode, which is precise in its intentions and very competent in its delivery.
Robert Culp makes his third and final appearance as a Columbo villain, playing a motivational research specialist whose blackmailing scheme, involving his potential (married) business clients and a model he is using for the advertising campaigns, is threatened to be exposed by one of his clients...
Quite possibly this is Culp's best performance of the three; remarkably calm, assured and purposeful throughout despite the increasingly intrusive nature of Columbo's questioning. There are some great scenes between the two in a supermarket and (even better) on a golf course.
The quality of the episode is all the more remarkable given the moderate quantity of circumstantial clues, yet the basic murder set-up is really quite ingenious, particularly as the murderer is able to hide the murder weapon in a very clever and almost foolproof manner. This accentuates the lack of predictability in this story as Columbo has to be really smart to uncover the truth: the finale is superbly ironical and the elements of smartness possessed so markedly by the villain in the preceding sequences are wonderfully transferred to the dogged and ultra-persistent hero.
Addicts may also note that Columbo mentions the "Hayward case" early on in this story, which interestingly refers to the previous episode entitled "Candidate for Crime."
An undoubtedly solid episode, which is precise in its intentions and very competent in its delivery.
- The Welsh Raging Bull
- Jun 23, 2003
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- Ein gründlich motivierter Mord
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