A renowned psychologist trains his two Dobermans to kill his wife's lover and uses a phone call to make them attack. Columbo is sure of his guilt, but needs to find out the kill command to prove the dogs were murder weapons.
This is one of the best known Columbo films and a great yarn. Both Falk and Williamson are excellent, although as criminal masterminds go, Williamson is pretty stupid - his method is rather blunt, he leaves obvious clues like an unplugged phone, he takes too long to try and obscure his motive, and he even commits the murder whilst an ECG machine is monitoring his heart-rate. The real pleasure comes from watching Columbo try to trap him into revealing the kill command word, as well as a plethora of references to and props from Citizen Kane and other movies (the lovable dogs are called Laurel & Hardy). It's an extremely well-made story, with fantastic photography by Isidore Mankofsky which makes it look more like an A-list production than a television film - don't miss the wordless sequence where Falk visits an old western main-street studio set. An excellent crime-drama. Rosebud !
This is one of the best known Columbo films and a great yarn. Both Falk and Williamson are excellent, although as criminal masterminds go, Williamson is pretty stupid - his method is rather blunt, he leaves obvious clues like an unplugged phone, he takes too long to try and obscure his motive, and he even commits the murder whilst an ECG machine is monitoring his heart-rate. The real pleasure comes from watching Columbo try to trap him into revealing the kill command word, as well as a plethora of references to and props from Citizen Kane and other movies (the lovable dogs are called Laurel & Hardy). It's an extremely well-made story, with fantastic photography by Isidore Mankofsky which makes it look more like an A-list production than a television film - don't miss the wordless sequence where Falk visits an old western main-street studio set. An excellent crime-drama. Rosebud !