A Deadly State of Mind 

A psychiatrist, who specializes in hypnosis, murders the husband of his mistress and convinces her to lie to the police; it's up to Lt. Columbo to discover the truth.

Director:

Harvey Hart

Writers:

Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson (created by)

Stars:

Peter Falk, George Hamilton, Lesley Ann Warren

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Falk	...	Columbo
George Hamilton	...	Dr. Mark Collier
Lesley Ann Warren	...	Nadia Donner (as Lesley Warren)
Stephen Elliott	...	Carl Donner
Karen Machon	...	Dr. Anita Borden
Bruce Kirby	...	Sergeant George Kramer
William Wintersole	...	Dr. Hunt
Ryan MacDonald	...	Charles Whelan
Jack Manning	...	Daniel Morris
Fred Draper	...	David Morris
Glorie Kaufman	...	Brenda
Redmond Gleeson	...	Arnold
Vance Davis	...	Officer Hendryx
Danny Wells	...	Gary Keppler
Morris Buchanan	...	Lab Man

Storyline

A clinical hypnotist kills the husband of one of his patients during a violent confrontation after the victim uncovers his wife's affair with the hypnotist. The patient, who witnessed the event, is convinced by the hypnotist to lie to the police but when she eventually becomes a liability, he kills her by encouraging her to take a 'swan dive' off her hotel balcony.

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Plot Keywords:

fireplace poker | beach house | mistress | balcony | cigarette lighter | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

This whole incident could have been considered justifiable homicide if only the Doctor had called police immediately. The couple were leaving, the victim attacked the Dr and then started beating the wife. All 50 States have laws that justify deadly force to prevent bodily harm or death to a victim. Had the couple simply explained the circumstances then at worst it would be manslaughter and at best justified. They both could have walked away free.

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Goofs

The murderer's car hit a column and there's a blind witness for that. The car must have been damaged and some material from the bumper must have smeared on the column. Still, the police fail to check that.

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Quotes

Columbo: Can we talk off the record, sir?

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Soundtracks

Mazurka No.6 in A Minor, Op.7 No.2
(uncredited)
Composed by Frédéric Chopin
From the audio unit which Columbo switches on

User Reviews

In flagrato

In a lot of Columbo episodes you can feel sorry for the perpetrator, sometimes they're driven to kill and the one who died probably should have. Other episodes show a carefully planned scheme gone awry because of the way Peter Falk digs for clues. But this one was spontaneous as it gets. Husband Stephen Elliott catches his psychiatrist colleague George Hamilton with his wife Lesley Ann Warren and Hamilton kills him in the struggle.

Hamilton was one of the most hateful perpetrators ever in the Columbo series. Being a psychiatrist and knowing how the human mind works, he prepares a careful scenario about a home invasion and it looks pretty good. But an extremely tiny piece of evidence convinces Falk otherwise and also Warren begins to fall apart.

However what Hamilton does to cover up after this is where his true worthlessness of a human being is shown. You will stand up and cheer when Falk nails him and how he nails him.

Got to love that Lieutenant Columbo.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 April 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Schlaf, der nie endet

Filming Locations:

605 Paseo Del Mar, Palos Verdes Estates, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min 74 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1