Back in the early 20th century, on of the first of many 'trials of the century' took place in America. Two very spoiled rich young men decided to murder someone...just for the thrill of it. Despite being 100% guilty and that the murder was completely premeditated, they had a good lawyer and lots of money...and ultimately both were given amazingly light sentences for their crime. Leopold and Loeb's case must have in some way influenced "Columbo Goes to College" as their are certainly a lot of similarities between the story and the famous murder trial.
The story centers on two very spoiled rich kids who you know committed the murder of their professor. But, considering they were sitting in on a lecture with Lieutenant Columbo leading the class during the moment when the man was murdered, the crime seems fool-proof. But Columbo often does what he does with narcissists he suspects of the crime...he gets them to help with the investigation. One of the punks even gets his daddy (Robert Culp) involved in the case...all in an attempt to prove to himself how smart they are and how dumb Columbo is. Naturally, they've underestimated this crime fighter!
This is a generally enjoyable story but it's not without some flaws. First and foremost, the way they killed the man is incredibly farfetched and easily could have misfired. Getting everything to work perfectly is the problem...and it's a case where the crime is so complicated that you cannot imagine anyone actually doing this. Also, the whole angle about the dumb security guard who lets one of the young men man his station....well, that also comes off as ridiculous. If you can ignore the problems with the plot, then you'll likely enjoy yourself. After all, it IS "Columbo"!
The story centers on two very spoiled rich kids who you know committed the murder of their professor. But, considering they were sitting in on a lecture with Lieutenant Columbo leading the class during the moment when the man was murdered, the crime seems fool-proof. But Columbo often does what he does with narcissists he suspects of the crime...he gets them to help with the investigation. One of the punks even gets his daddy (Robert Culp) involved in the case...all in an attempt to prove to himself how smart they are and how dumb Columbo is. Naturally, they've underestimated this crime fighter!
This is a generally enjoyable story but it's not without some flaws. First and foremost, the way they killed the man is incredibly farfetched and easily could have misfired. Getting everything to work perfectly is the problem...and it's a case where the crime is so complicated that you cannot imagine anyone actually doing this. Also, the whole angle about the dumb security guard who lets one of the young men man his station....well, that also comes off as ridiculous. If you can ignore the problems with the plot, then you'll likely enjoy yourself. After all, it IS "Columbo"!