After the head of a private paramilitary think tank who is embezzling funds murders a blackmailer, he has to match wits with the persistent Lieutenant Columbo.After the head of a private paramilitary think tank who is embezzling funds murders a blackmailer, he has to match wits with the persistent Lieutenant Columbo.After the head of a private paramilitary think tank who is embezzling funds murders a blackmailer, he has to match wits with the persistent Lieutenant Columbo.
- Corporal
- (as Bennett Liss)
- Mrs. Martinson
- (as Norma Macmillan)
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Did you know
- Trivia(at around 43 mins) This is one of the few Columbo episodes in which the Lieutenant's supposed first name is displayed. Columbo is showing Frank Brailie a plastic evidence bag of leaves and mud retrieved from the collar of the victim, and the name 'Frank Columbo' can be read on the bag.
- GoofsWhen Columbo looks at the body of Sergeant Major Lester Keegan, he can be seen to be blinking.
- Quotes
Lieutenant Columbo: You know, Colonel, the way we always agree with one another, that's amazing, considering the fact that we really don't like one another. Would you agree with me on that?
Colonel Frank Brailie: I think I'd have to agree.
Lieutenant Columbo: You see? We agree again.
- Crazy creditsAs the program ends and the credits roll, the camera pans across the Civil War miniature figurines on their battlefield. It ends its motion on a tight closeup of a miniature figurine of Columbo himself, complete with trademark rumpled tan raincoat and arms up in his classic pose when interrupting to make a point. Clearly, his figurine is intended not as a Civil War relic, but instead as a little joke for the viewers.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Columbo: Grand Deceptions
With a small handful of exceptions, a lot of them are decent and some like Ashes to Ashes, Agenda for Murder, A Bird in the Hand and Death Hits the Jackpot are to a standard worthy of the pre-1989 episodes. I will give credit where it's due, like all Columbo episode it looks great with slick editing and striking locations, and it is solidly directed. The music is nothing extraordinary, but it still has a certain groove and atmosphere to it. Peter Falk tries his best and there are times where he does deliver but there is not him at his best, and it felt as though he was secondary to the rest of the characters. This wouldn't matter so much, if those characters were actually interesting, but on the whole I found them dull, and that is including Brailie.
Likewise with the story, which instead of bright, breezy and above all diverting, was too drab, too stiff and too serious, complete with an ending that was good in idea but underdeveloped and implausible in execution and build-up that quite frankly takes too long to set up. The scripts I often found intelligent and clever with some good tension and humour. Not here though, it felt stiff and humourless. The acting is not great, though Steven Elliot is quite good. Robert Foxworth has to work with one of the blander villains of the series, and while I have nothing against arrogant characters(Columbo has had its fair share of them and some of them, like Leonard Nimoy's character in A Stitch in Crime are some of the most memorable guest turns) the material is below the usual standards I get from watching Columbo, so I actually found his arrogance got on my nerves. His interaction with Columbo didn't spark much joy either.
All in all, somewhat watchable, but in my opinion a lesser entry while not the worst. It's not as if Columbo is a poor series, in fact it is one of the finest series of its kind, all the more reason for Grand Deceptions to have been so much better. If I were to say whether it was worth watching, I'd say any Columbo episode is worth watching once, but for me, I'd rather stick to the likes of A Stitch in Crime, By Dawn's Early Light, Any Old Port in a Storm, Etude in Black, Forgotten Lady, Death Lends a Hand, Blueprint for Murder and How to Dial a Murder.
5/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Mar 24, 2012
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- Коломбо: Большие маневры
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