The most important Columbo ever. And yes I do repeatedly refer to Agent Carlson as Agent Carson. What are you gonna do eh? I own nothing. #Columbo #RansomforaDeadMan #PeterFalk #LeeGrant #EpisodeGuide #Review
Lee Grant was fantastic playing the cold and calculating Leslie Williams, and thought that the character of Margaret, though on the bratty and petulant side, served as a nice counterpoint to her iciness. Like you, I loved the moment where Columbo stood up to Agent Carlson shortly after Paul's death was announced. "Um, just one minute, Mr. Carlson. It's like this. This is not just a kidnapping. This is a murder now and kinda figure that's my department. see ya around."
You make an excellent point about the importance of this episode. Fortunately, it was brilliant at many levels. It established the dynamic of Columbo playing like a chess master against a murderer wielding a plan worthy of a Hercule Poirot mystery: except here there is no mystery apart from how Columbo is going to break the case. This episode also shows a familiar trope where Columbo lets the murderer know usually no later than 3/4 into the episode that he's got 'em pegged for the crime. Usually, he has them pegged within the first ten minutes of arriving on the scene, but he waits to see how the clues line up before he starts rattling their cages. Lee Grant was outstanding, as usual, making top shelf acting look too easy. She balances her role as perpetrator-in-control with taunted victim from the random variable of the step-daughter antagonist whose arrival was certainly not part of the plan. But there were a few plot holes like when Leslie Williams tells Margaret that she closed out the trust fund to be able to pay the ransom when they are arguing at the stairs and then to turn right around later in the episode when she bargains for Margaret's departure and says that she will pay $20,000/yr "until the trust kicks in." Was the trust closed out or not to pay the ransom? Considering how central that was to catching Leslie, it seems the screenwriters might have paid a little more attention to the consistency of their story line. And then, there is no explanation how Leslie manages to carry her husband's man-sized corpse from the living room to the trunk and then from the trunk to the cliff edge before she kicks him into the water. They show no gurney, no dolly, no sled, no magic lasso or invisible jet, . . . NOTHING to explain her Amazonian feat of strength (plus she looks as good after hauling his dead butt all over Redondo Beach as when she capped him with the 22 in her living room). And finally how would anyone even find the body, which must have been served up to every carnivore in the Pacific biosphere by the time the ransom payoff was even "delivered"? Then there is also Columbo's unforgivable misogynistic quip to the associate attorney in Leslie's office telling him he doesn't see how he can "work for a woman." Disgusting and totally non-contributing to the plot other than to make Columbo look like a prejudiced jerk. It needs to be edited out. But you gotta give it to the screenwriters for the extra-happy way they have Margaret nodding knowingly as she says "good-bye" to Leslie at the flight gate and then Margaret skips like a pixie to the plane--because she KNOWS NOW THAT SHE'S FINALLY GOT THE EVIDENCE FOR COLUMBO TO NAIL LESLIE'S ARROGANT HYDE FOR MURDERING HER DAD!!! Finally, five stars to Billy Goldenberg for his amazing leitmotif that adapts to almost every scene in the episode from hauntingly opening with the murder to the excitement of Columbo's flying lesson and the final, stylish arrest of Leslie! His music was remarkable and in this episode was as much a plot mover as any of the cast or the scenes.
There was nothing on TV at that time that had the Class, writing, fabulous set designs, and camera angles that this show had. On top of an always marvelous cast!
OMG! I never thought I would find another Columbo fan and one who REVIEWS! If I can make a request could you please review A Stitch in Crime? It is my ABSOLUTE favorite Columbo episode!
Looking forward to reviews of my faves - Etude in Black, Forgptten Lady, Try and Catch Me, and Make Me a Perfect Murder. All with the most charming and polite murderers you could ever hope to meet!
But playing him exactly the same! I liked him. The first time me and my dad saw him was in the Ben Gazzara film Convicts 4, in which he did all his character's lines behind clenched teeth. My dad referred to him thereafter as 'the one with the teeth'!
I just love Lee Grant in this and I guess I'm a little less bothered by the daughter. Lee Grant was already in her mid 40s here and I think is just radiant and a superb actress. I would have loved to have seen her make another appearance in the series. An interesting fact about Lee Grant was she lost many of her best acting years due to being blacklisted as part of the HUAC investigation in the 1950s.
Awesome video! I love all the references you add in (like Street Fighter!?!) . Great editing. I was also going to reference Murder in Malibu, but you beat me, lol. Fantastic review 😊
This is a great episode to me but I love the point about Falk's Columbo. In prescription murder (also a excellent episode even better than this one) I thought Gene Barry was the unquestioned star miles away from Peter Falk but this episode was Columbo establishing himself as the star of the show & series. Not to say Lee Grant wasn't excellent herself but Peter Falk found a way to match her & established the things about Columbo we love & making him the standout of the show from here on out or atleast matching his adversary in performance
Boo! I had such a crush on Margaret as a young man and I still think she's great in this episode. I suppose, given the date of production and time to free-to-air in those days, I would have been but early teens (if that). Mercy. So pretty. So clever. I've watched the episode many times since then and I never find her character intrusive or distracting; I think she adds to the overall dynamic of the episode and pushes it to a conclusion. Still, having commenced a re-watch the other night with Prescription Murder, I'm particularly looking forward this. Ms Grant was fantastic in this; she still - per IMDB - has a credit for voice work in 2020; almost a centenarian and still working. Bravo!
Thank you so much for your work on this video. One thing. The outside of Barney's Beanery was authentic, but the scene shot inside was not. Keep up the great work and thanks again. Most Sincerely, Chris Howley, Wollaston, Massachusetts, USA
The part not shown here where Lee Grant who's about 5'-3" and 120-lbs somehow manages all by herself to put her 6'-0" 170-lb dead husband outside in the car trunk from inside in the living room is very unrealistic about this episode..
I think another element that bothered me about the Margaret character was that I felt like she had no life outside of the scenes she had in the story. She only existed as a function to move the plot. Her whole inclusion kept me aware I was watching a TV drama.
I agree, the margaret thingy was a real drag on this. The interaction between Cumbo and the killer should always be the big focus. Like someone once said "keep the main thing the main thing".
Margaret provided an interesting contrast with Columbo. They both could tell that Leslie did it, seeing through the hoax she pulled on the FBI. But Margaret was a hothead going after Leslie (for all the obvious reasons of her character) and prone to sloppy mistakes that Leslie could handle, while Columbo knew this had to be done with finesse.
I just saw Ransom for the first time recently, and I must say I liked Margaret's character. I felt like she was a believable teenage character (Leslie at one point says she's a minor) and while she is a little annoying, it felt very realistic. It's established early on that Leslie and Margaret dislike each other and now Margaret's dad is dead.
Lee Grant was stunning and chic , and set against the backdrop of planes, mansions and courtrooms, brought an element of old Hollywood glamour to this episode that can't be said of many of the others. While I'd also prefer to see her in more scenes with Falk rather than her annoying daughter, all her appearances are smooth, sophisticated, and a feast for the eyes.
The thing that did bother me about this episode was Lee Grant's gigantic wig. That's the sole thing to which my eyes connects throughout the movie. I can see nothing else! It's so evident. Did I mention that the wig is huge?...
This was actually one of the best endings, I've thought: She's a psychopath and so doesn't have the emotional understanding to understand Margaret. It reminds me a lot of the Criminal Intent episode where the murderer is shown the definition of Asperger's syndrome and says "Nobody ever told me about this." Brilliant.
Every single episode of Columbo rests on one thing. If any of the suspects had a lawyer and only spoke to Columbo with that lawyer, there would be no show. That's lazy writing.
I largely agree with this review. I like the beginning and the end, but the middle with Leslie and the stepdaughter almost seems like they were going for something analagous to a fairy tale, with Leslie as the evil stepmom. In the actual series, that portion would usually be taken up with either Columbo annoying the murderer with questions or questioning someone else. Considering Dean Hargrove both wrote this pilot and created Diagnosis: Murder, do you have any thoughts on him?
He worked on a lot of great shows and was producer for some of Columbo's finest seasons, but to be honest the episodes that he actually wrote for I'm not the biggest fan of. I did love Diagnosis Murder as a kid but haven't seen much of it in years... Still, I usually enjoy it whenever I can catch it on TV.
Your opinion of this episode matches mine almost perfectly, especially about Patricia Mattick’s performance. I always felt bad thinking it but it’s hard to deny. I do love the gotcha moment in this one though. The next episode that felt this epic in production imo would be A Friend In Deed, my all time favorite.
Just one more thing 🚬... you at least went into the scene where Margaret (stepdaughter of Mrs. Williams) presents a set of keys to Columbo, thereby tying her step-mother to the murder of her father. Columbo then chastises her for manufacturing evidence. But is that really what was going on here? As she is sitting at breakfast watching "Double Indemnity", starting at 37:28 she says "They've got fuzz of some kind out on the street, watching the house". Now if Margaret KNOWS that, are we really expected to believe that she would hire a locksmith to come to the house and make a fake set of keys for her, all in plain sight of the 'fuzz'? A set of keys that anyone with an ounce of intelligence would KNOW couldn't convict Mrs. Williams since they would check it to see if one of the keys did indeed fit Mr Williams' car and find that it didn't. Or is Columbo just saying that as part of their little plot? Isn't it more probable that Columbo and this girl got together to play out a scene in front of Leslie Williams, to make sure she didn't suspect they are working together to get the goods on her, since in the end this is exactly what they do. Mr. Schlock Horror! seems to feel that Margaret's hysterics have no place in a Columbo episode, but when you want to stage a fake duel for a murderer, do you really want to be subtle?
I just watched this episode and I agree, Margret SUCKED. I liked the MURDERER more than Margret. I hated that she tried to forge evidence, I hated her attitude, I HATED that she's slap-happy and that she tried to slap COLUMBO and overall, I say she really dragged the episode down.
It's a really great episode -- one of the 4 or 5 I repeatedly revisit. The battling redheads is priceless, the acting superb. If anything disturbs me it's (hate to say it) the otherwise excellent Mr. Carlson's excessive politeness to the rich bitch. Am enjoying your commentary and revelations in any case. BTW, have you ever worked for a woman?
Wow, even the pilot episode was a cut above the rest of the other shows at that time. So what the hell happened??? It went from being the best cop show to the worst show on the planet.
*Mrs Columbo* Pop quiz, my friends: how much did my husband earn as a LAPD lieutenant and in which episode was this disclosed? Hint: his nemesis went on to become famous, but I personally felt that the episode was lacking and the multiple (now) famous actors under-performed.
Never liked this episode. I watch Colombo excluding the 2000 episode every couple of years and I always have a tough time watching this episode in one sitting. The villian and plot bore me.
