You really have to admire Bikel’s performance here, especially his change of facial expressions from frustration to triumph to realization. People tend to forget that in Columbo episodes it’s the baddie who needs to do the heavy lifting for most of the story, and Bikel is one of the better ones.
He's among the more sympathetic villains. He feels guilt and shame. It is hilarious that he really wants to know how brilliant the guy is who defeated him.
The entire gotcha portion of this episode goes on much longer. It’s one of the best in the entire show. It really goes back and forward in such a satisfying manner between the two.
@@pablohanc He never actually confessed. And all of the evidence was illegally seized and if charges were brought the defense attorney would file a motion to suppress, due to fruit of the poisonous tree.
Thing is…that’s life in general….give someone enough rope they’ll soon hang themselves through their own self importance….or to put it another way….if you know what makes a person tick…especially their own ego…it’s quite easy to manipulate them. Just look at any work environment and you’ll see there’s always one person who thinks their better than everyone else, or special so to speak…but pay close attention to others…there will always be one person who knows how to manipulate this individual….e.g. getting them to pitch ideas etc etc etc
"THAT DANZINGER'S A GENIUS!" 😂😂 I stg Columbo is the biggest troll in any detective show. In an earlier scene Danzinger gave some truly idiotic theories to the murder. Columbo knew giving him any credence would drive Oliver insane.
"That Danziger's a genius!" Those words from Lt. Columbo were enough to drive Brandt over the edge (just like that huge dictionary), triggering what Edgar Allen Poe (the inventor of the modern detective story) called "The Imp of the Perverse"--or the compulsion to confess.
I would disagree - this wasn't the urge to confess, this was the desire to get his due credit. Like when Coach K told team USA that JJ Redick was the hardest worker or something and he knew it would make Kobe go super-saiyan.
In this episode Columbo tricks the killer into incriminating himself, like the murderer did in "Negative Reaction" by picking out the camera only he would have known about.
And "Any Port in a Storm" when Donald Pleasence criticizes the wine for its oxidation. My favorite Columbo traps are the ones where he uses the murder's own expertise/arrogance against them.
Except he didn't incriminate himself. Nothing he did there would even stand up to the slightest scrutiny in a court. Probably couldn't even get an arrest for that if he kept his mouth shut. This is one of those Columbos where the ending takes something out of it for me. First of all the murder plot is silly and convoluted, and second there's no way this guy should ever surrender based on that Columbo demonstration. Columbo knows everything that happened because he's Columbo, but he can't prove it. That's why he went for the ego-trap.
@@terracottapie I agree the plot was way too convoluted but that is how television portrayed people like that in the 1970s. It was just silly. What I took from it was Columbo broke him and he would have then confessed. At that point his embezzlement would have been discovered since the investigators would have a reason to start looking through his life. His entire reason for the convoluted plot was to have a solid alibi when the killing took place otherwise he believed he would be the prime suspect.
@@terracottapie But if the police did their job properly when they arrived the crime scene, it would have been sealed off and all the people there would have been questioned and searched. Then the police would have found the murder gun with the fingerprints of Oliver Brandt on it, and ballistics would be able to match the bullets in the victims body to his gun.
Great stuff.....probably wouldn't have stood up in court though, like a lot of columbos cases. "And then he put the marker pen on the record player etc......." "No I didnt" Or "Yes I did, but the idea literally just came to me" As columbo has admitted he got the umbrella burns evidence illegally, that would probably be inadmissible. Still good fun though.
The best part is Columbo was almost certainly bluffing about that. As he himself says, you can't acquire (or analyze) evidence of a crime that way, and Columbo tends to do things by the book.
I initially thought there was no way a guy as smart as Brandt would reveal this to Columbo. However, Brandt had shown during the episode that although he was smart, he lacked common sense and judgement. For example, Bertie had been his friend for life and yet he kept tickling him which got him so angry that he was prepared to expose his stealing of funds from clients. Also, Brandt didn’t need to kill Bertie. If he had just stopped tickling him, explained the problems with his big spending wife and agreed to repay the money, I think Bertie would not have exposed him.
>I initially thought there was no way a guy as smart as Brandt would reveal this to Columbo And now, a smart man's interview with Columbo! "Can I ask you a few questions sir?" "LAYWER." "I will just take a moment of your time.." "LAWYER." "It would be really easier if I talked to you and---" "LAWYER"
Not many people mention the genius of having diegetic music that also matches the building intensity of the scene to help heighten that sense of catharsis. Really brilliantly done scene
Easily my favourite episode. It illuminates perfectly the doomed romance between a detective and a murderer, tied together with a beautiful murder. Columbo tricked his opponent by exploiting their mutual respect for the great mystery.
that's such an honest, joyful laugh at 5:29. Man I absolutely adore any actor that can concincingly do an honest laugh, and this man nails it perfectly, only to quickly turn it into complete silence and a horrified expression. You can physically feel his heart sinking at that very moment, when he realizes that he just lost. Like holy moly, the show is solid, but some moments are absolutely golden. No dialogue, just a look or two, and fantastic performance by everyone involved.
The man's ego just couldn't take it. It would have been so insulting for him to be accused of not thinking of everything and leaving something to chance.
"Yes, of course, you are right, sir! And then he ...." Always agreeing, always adding another step, and inevitably the smartest man gives himself away. A great Gotcha moment....
One of the most complicated Columbo murder mysteries. The acting in this scene is one the finest in all of the Columbo series. The crescending ending is amazing.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate how this was shot as well? The camera work is fantastic and does really well to work with the tone and frantic nature of the scene as Columbo tightens the noose on him and gets him to incriminate himself by playing with his ego.
The ending of this is so real because people who think they're a genius cannot resist letting others know how smart they are. Even if it convicts them of murder.
Mine is the subliminal cuts for the beautiful irony and because the killer was so arrogant and mean. But this is a great one, especially because Bikel pulls it off so well.
@@ramonalejandrosuare If you’ve ever seen Russian Doll, I like the idea of Natasha Lyonne as the new Columbo. Love the idea of any new one being a niece or nephew, though.
4:35 -- Columbo admits that some of the members of the high IQ club helped him figure out how the alibi was constructed. (Reminds me of a game we had when we were kids called 'Mousetrap' where one event triggered another which triggered another.........). He outsmarted the killer by gambling on the possibility that the killer's ego would get the better of him if told that his elaborate construction was flawed.
I always liked how the most intelligent adversary Columbo ever came up against, a Mensa genius like Brandt, picked him out as a genius right off the bat when he gave him that "minimum information" problem after their first meeting. Brandt never once underestimated Columbo or took him for a bumbling fool.
Although I grew up with my parents watching Columbo, I've driven my own kids crazy watching Columbo on repeat as much as possible since I rediscovered the show/movies as an adult in the 90s.
This episode is one of my favorites...and I always laugh at the sly look that Columbo gives Oliver after encouraging him to incriminate himself... a pure masterpiece
The murderer's look of disbelief when they realise too late that they fell into Colombo's trap, pretending to being the idiot in order to catch them out and cleverly get them to incriminate themselves, pure genius.
They always underestimate him. He's the greatest detective in modern times. He's so respectful to the killer and never ever shows his hand. Until the very end. So they walk around with an air of comfort and arrogance,like he has no idea its them.
playing the music was a genius move. an auditory warning that you only have a few more seconds to think the scene plays out in tune with the music, getting faster and more frantic (emotionally) as time winds down. the man is on the clock, he's scared, he's insulted.
I can't help thinking that without the inadmissible umbrella evidence and without witnesses to this display that a good lawyer would get him off. His admission of guilt is also without witnesses. Good catch though and a really enjoyable episode.
Columbo only has to catch the killer he don't have to convict them in court as well. If he did have to convict them in court as well, all the screenwriters would have needed to add is an extra scene where there are police witnesses in the background observing the display.
@@patrickjohnson5658 in some episodes this scene was included :) off the top of my head, some of the 'gotchas' that included an element of trickery witnessed by police officers include Negative Reaction, A Friend in Deed, Columbo Goes to College.
The best example of that is the one with George Hamilton in his first appearance. The gotcha with the " blind" witness. That gotcha is dramatic no doubt but any half decent lawyer could get beat that case.
@@dchegu But the 'gotcha' with the blind witness at the end of that episode would not be the only evidence that would place him there the night of the murder. The fresh Tire tracks of his car the only European car there outside of Columbo's car would place him there. Not to mention in his hurry to get away from the scene he crashed into a gatepost, that would have left a dent on his car and forensic evidence from the gatepost behind.
One of my favourite episodes. I must admit, I take great pleasure in watching the villain (mainly wealthy or privileged) totally underestimate Columbo, this episode exemplifies this. In this episode, when the villain is caught, Columbo talks about when he first joined the force, and what motivated him to become better, it's utterly brilliant!
Yes, they obviously had to do that for filming it for the program. The marker doesn't look heavy enough to be knocking the book over by itself, so they had to give it a little help.
This is the best type of Columbo moment. There is Columbo setting everything in motion, the killer playing their hand too hard, and the "well f**k me then," moment where the killer realizes Columbo has them. Brilliant
This scene is not just incredibly well acted, you also have to respect the way it's written, shot and the music that so perfectly ramps up while the situation gets more heated every second with a huge and glorious finale. The music, that's part of the scene taking place, is also the perfect musical score for the situation and perfectly matches the emotional rollercoaster, that the murderer goes through.
Quite an enjoyable episode which I recently watched again. Not only featuring Jamie Lee Curtis in one of her debut acting roles but also the return of Mrs Melville from Murder by the Book, if you're eagle eyed of course :)
The turntable featured in this _Columbo_ clip is an Accutrac 4000 model. Introduced in 1976, it features the ability to program the order of the tracks played on an LP-record, and allowed the user to skip over tracks they did not want to hear. Basically a very early version of "shuffle play" which became a popular feature on CD players a decade later. This model also came with a remote control - which turntables sold today do not even offer.
" The killer is a very intelligent man sir" Columbo says. Unfortunately, not as intelligent as Columbo though! A dramatic end to a great episode, Theodore got a little bit carried away demonstrating his ingenious method of achieving this murder! Not so clever! 🤔
Well, the killer was exactly as intelligent as Columbo thought, otherwise he would not have set this kind of trap... The point is that Columbo counted on the great desire of the killer to show his intellectual supremacy... and in the end also on the fact that the killer was not so determined to get away with all this... He was bored of everything, as he admitted in the end.
@@GreenHoleSun smart people don't necessarily care about joining societies for smart people but arrogant smart people do. Just his being in that club meant this trick would probably work lol
@@hello-ox5rf yes, but I think he had a complex personality. In a way he was arrogant and eager to show that he could make the "perfect murder", with the same attitude he would have approached an IQ test, on the other hand he perceived that all this stuff was futile, in the end.
The killer betrays himself if he has information that only the killer can know. This is the classic criminal case from The Cranes of the Ibicus. Colombo constructs an amateurish, simple solution (triggered by vibration). The genius considers Colombo's version to be inferior and presents his own correct, ingenious version. Only the murderer himself can know it because he has carried it out himself.
Certainly one of the best endings ever. There are many really episodes, but this one is unique and extremely good. At 2:19 we can see almost the panic on his face, haha! And, of course, like all geniuses or really intelligent people, they can't resist showing how they did it because others are "stupid," of course. Unfortunately for him, he revealed how he operated his crime ... himself. HAHAHA!
The way that Columbo uses the killer's conceitedness to trick him into revealing incriminating details about the way the murder was committed, which only the killer would know, is brilliant. Columbo probably surmised the details about the use of the marker pen in this setup before this reenactment, but deliberately gave the killer a sub par version of the theory attributed to his rival Danzinger, knowing that the killer's vanity would goad him into foolishly giving himself away by revealing incriminating details whilst trying to prove that he was cleverer than the president of the club.
This is my favorite _Columbo_ episode. All the classic Columbo ingredients are in this one. A highly intelligent murderer that's just vile enough to prove a tasty meal for Columbo's common sense intellect. When all else fails, appeal to the pompous man's narcissism and he'll catch himself. 👍🍷
I wouldn't call him vile. He married a woman who loved him only for what she could buy because of him. Intelligence is not the same as wisdom. While Brandt may have been highly smart, he was a poor judge of character. Today, we might say that he, and maybe the other members of the club, have autism spectrum disorders.
I have decided what I need to do- buy the Columbo series on DVD and watch every one. I didn't watch it back then as I had no access to a TV but I'm going to rectify that soon. I am really enjoying these clips of the show.
This was the episode that placed Columbo as a bonafide Genius such as the rest of the cohorts there. His specific skills are forensics and investigations through meticulous attention to detail, context, and practical logic.
The combination of a master performer and great writers. I never saw an episode that I didn't enjoy, and I watched the first one the first time it ran on NBC's Mystery Movie.
Him showing how the book was made to fall doesn’t prove he did it. It wouldn’t stand up in court. He could just very easily say he saw the solution to the problem.
The point is to discredit the killer's alibi, its not actually evidence that he was the killer. The actual evidence is the partygoers can all now testify that the killer and the victim left the party at the same time and only the killer returned.
Doesn't matter. He is ready to confess. And that would stand up. Plus the point of detectives is typically not winning the court case. It is about solving the mystery.
Theodore Bickel’s range is severely understated. He goes from playing one of the most detestable characters in the history of the twilight zone (4 o-clock) to playing one of the more layered murderers in the series. I don’t agree with anything he is doing, but I can see how he become so insecure and how he comes to the conclusion of killing. I won’t say he’s sympathetic, but he is tragic.
Honestly, this doesnt amount to incrimination at all. The dude got agitated. He as good as recreated the crime, but so what? Theyre spitballing. The guy has a notorious ego. A good lawyer could make the case (before he went and confessed), that he was just excited to solve a case that even a veteran detective couldnt crack. He never said "THIS IS WHAT I DID!" he said "THIS IS WHAT THE KILLER DID!" he never identified himself as the murderer.
If you look closely, you can clearly see the fact that the book moved long before being hit by that red object. Yes to vibrations. No to those helping the book to fall down :)))
You really have to admire Bikel’s performance here, especially his change of facial expressions from frustration to triumph to realization. People tend to forget that in Columbo episodes it’s the baddie who needs to do the heavy lifting for most of the story, and Bikel is one of the better ones.
Yes, great point the guy was perfect in this role, those facial expressions and gestures were hilarious😂
He's among the more sympathetic villains. He feels guilt and shame. It is hilarious that he really wants to know how brilliant the guy is who defeated him.
I like Bikel's facial expressions in this episode. Makes the episode more brilliant
@@nicholasschroeder3678 Especially when he finds Lt. Frank Columbo isn't the idiot he'd hoped Columbo made himself to be after all.
@@theodorehsu5023 Frank? Columbo more likely to carry a gun then allow someone to call him Frank
The entire gotcha portion of this episode goes on much longer. It’s one of the best in the entire show. It really goes back and forward in such a satisfying manner between the two.
The way the villain screams offended "vibrations???", amazing acting!
As always, the best Columbo traps are the ones where he uses the murderer's own arrogance/expertise against them.
Traps them with their own stupidity as presumably the guy confesses next. I hope so anyway as there's no way a conviction could come without it.
@@pablohanc He never actually confessed. And all of the evidence was illegally seized and if charges were brought the defense attorney would file a motion to suppress, due to fruit of the poisonous tree.
That’s pretty much every episode
The conclusion of "Suitable for Framing" is the supreme example of this.
Thing is…that’s life in general….give someone enough rope they’ll soon hang themselves through their own self importance….or to put it another way….if you know what makes a person tick…especially their own ego…it’s quite easy to manipulate them. Just look at any work environment and you’ll see there’s always one person who thinks their better than everyone else, or special so to speak…but pay close attention to others…there will always be one person who knows how to manipulate this individual….e.g. getting them to pitch ideas etc etc etc
4:50, I love how Columbo pronounces these lines, that faux-shock that Brandt completely misses as he's too far gone in his rant at that stage.
"THAT DANZINGER'S A GENIUS!" 😂😂 I stg Columbo is the biggest troll in any detective show.
In an earlier scene Danzinger gave some truly idiotic theories to the murder. Columbo knew giving him any credence would drive Oliver insane.
"That Danziger's a genius!" Those words from Lt. Columbo were enough to drive Brandt over the edge (just like that huge dictionary), triggering what Edgar Allen Poe (the inventor of the modern detective story) called "The Imp of the Perverse"--or the compulsion to confess.
Or what we on the Internet understand as the compulsion to prove someone wrong.
I would disagree - this wasn't the urge to confess, this was the desire to get his due credit. Like when Coach K told team USA that JJ Redick was the hardest worker or something and he knew it would make Kobe go super-saiyan.
In this episode Columbo tricks the killer into incriminating himself, like the murderer did in "Negative Reaction" by picking out the camera only he would have known about.
A killer so smart he kept the incriminating umbrella when he had a spare already.
And "Any Port in a Storm" when Donald Pleasence criticizes the wine for its oxidation. My favorite Columbo traps are the ones where he uses the murder's own expertise/arrogance against them.
Except he didn't incriminate himself. Nothing he did there would even stand up to the slightest scrutiny in a court. Probably couldn't even get an arrest for that if he kept his mouth shut.
This is one of those Columbos where the ending takes something out of it for me. First of all the murder plot is silly and convoluted, and second there's no way this guy should ever surrender based on that Columbo demonstration. Columbo knows everything that happened because he's Columbo, but he can't prove it. That's why he went for the ego-trap.
@@terracottapie I agree the plot was way too convoluted but that is how television portrayed people like that in the 1970s.
It was just silly.
What I took from it was Columbo broke him and he would have then confessed. At that point his embezzlement would have been discovered since the investigators would have a reason to start looking through his life. His entire reason for the convoluted plot was to have a solid alibi when the killing took place otherwise he believed he would be the prime suspect.
@@terracottapie But if the police did their job properly when they arrived the crime scene, it would have been sealed off and all the people there would have been questioned and searched. Then the police would have found the murder gun with the fingerprints of Oliver Brandt on it, and ballistics would be able to match the bullets in the victims body to his gun.
We truly have been blessed this day, with one of the finest gotchas in the whole show. Fantastic stuff!
He overcooked his own goose there.
Great stuff.....probably wouldn't have stood up in court though, like a lot of columbos cases.
"And then he put the marker pen on the record player etc......."
"No I didnt"
Or
"Yes I did, but the idea literally just came to me"
As columbo has admitted he got the umbrella burns evidence illegally, that would probably be inadmissible.
Still good fun though.
@@pablohanc yeah, defo wouldn't stand up in court but it's still good drama 🙃
@@Acbr78 oh absolutely. Probably the most entertaining detective drama ever.
This and the one with the air-pressure wine cork puller were favorites that have stayed with me since I watched them when they first aired.
The sudden terror you feel when Colombo says "By the way I took the wrong umbrella"
You'd think he'd be more on guard after Columbo said his umbrella was tested in the lab.
When you hear Columbo say "I took the wrong umbrella..I took yours"...just confess already, he got you by the balls..you just didn;t know it.
The best part is Columbo was almost certainly bluffing about that. As he himself says, you can't acquire (or analyze) evidence of a crime that way, and Columbo tends to do things by the book.
I initially thought there was no way a guy as smart as Brandt would reveal this to Columbo. However, Brandt had shown during the episode that although he was smart, he lacked common sense and judgement. For example, Bertie had been his friend for life and yet he kept tickling him which got him so angry that he was prepared to expose his stealing of funds from clients. Also, Brandt didn’t need to kill Bertie. If he had just stopped tickling him, explained the problems with his big spending wife and agreed to repay the money, I think Bertie would not have exposed him.
>I initially thought there was no way a guy as smart as Brandt would reveal this to Columbo
And now, a smart man's interview with Columbo! "Can I ask you a few questions sir?" "LAYWER." "I will just take a moment of your time.." "LAWYER." "It would be really easier if I talked to you and---" "LAWYER"
Any clever lawyer would still get him off. There's no witnesses other than Columbo and the criminal to that demo.
@@pablohanc Not to mention Columbo admitting himself he seized evidence illegally.
@@DeathnoteBB yep
This man may have high intelligence but he has very low wisdom
Not many people mention the genius of having diegetic music that also matches the building intensity of the scene to help heighten that sense of catharsis. Really brilliantly done scene
Very true. Columbo doesn't rely on music often,but here,where Columbo and the murderer are debating and shouting,it fits
Easily my favourite episode. It illuminates perfectly the doomed romance between a detective and a murderer, tied together with a beautiful murder. Columbo tricked his opponent by exploiting their mutual respect for the great mystery.
This is probably one of the the most unforgettable episodes for me, the man literally used the most trickiest device and *STILL* lost to Columbo!
Well, we don't know if he lost. He revealed to Columbo how it was done..... but there was no witnesses to that reveal.
that's such an honest, joyful laugh at 5:29. Man I absolutely adore any actor that can concincingly do an honest laugh, and this man nails it perfectly, only to quickly turn it into complete silence and a horrified expression. You can physically feel his heart sinking at that very moment, when he realizes that he just lost.
Like holy moly, the show is solid, but some moments are absolutely golden. No dialogue, just a look or two, and fantastic performance by everyone involved.
A man, when blinded by his own genius, becomes a fool in the face of his ineptitude to recognize that he, too, can be made to be so.
Yes
Sorry, what? This doesn't make sense.
@@dIancaster it means when he thinks of others as nothing more than fools and his ego is played against him he too can be made into a fool as well
@@ArkhamKnight-uj6ww Right, okay. That makes sense. An English teacher might have a stroke with the first comment though, lol.
@@dIancaster oh sorry
The man's ego just couldn't take it. It would have been so insulting for him to be accused of not thinking of everything and leaving something to chance.
Reminds me of Jake Peralta from Brooklyn 99 busting the dentist guy.
You're goddamn right
"Yes, of course, you are right, sir! And then he ...."
Always agreeing, always adding another step, and inevitably the smartest man gives himself away. A great Gotcha moment....
One of the most complicated Columbo murder mysteries. The acting in this scene is one the finest in all of the Columbo series. The crescending ending is amazing.
I love the pace of this scene. It’s builds perfectly and the pay off is brilliant.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate how this was shot as well?
The camera work is fantastic and does really well to work with the tone and frantic nature of the scene as Columbo tightens the noose on him and gets him to incriminate himself by playing with his ego.
The ending of this is so real because people who think they're a genius cannot resist letting others know how smart they are. Even if it convicts them of murder.
Selection bias. Only the ones that get caught would have this issue.
This is my favourite ending to a Columbo episode.
Columbo is fantastic and could never be re-done.
Without Peter Faulk its nothing
Mine is the subliminal cuts for the beautiful irony and because the killer was so arrogant and mean. But this is a great one, especially because Bikel pulls it off so well.
I'd actually like to Mark Ruffalo in a reboot as his nephew.
My favourite is when Columbo takes his hands out of his pockets and shows that he's wearing gloves after the art critic accuses him of framing him.
Peter Faulk (sic) is not an actor in Columbo, however Peter Falk is.
@@ramonalejandrosuare If you’ve ever seen Russian Doll, I like the idea of Natasha Lyonne as the new Columbo. Love the idea of any new one being a niece or nephew, though.
The Lieutenant outsmarts the genius because he is a genius himself!!! 👍
You just described the plot of every episode
Unfortunately, the genius forgot to include any other witnesses to the pen trick,
4:35 -- Columbo admits that some of the members of the high IQ club helped him figure out how the alibi was constructed. (Reminds me of a game we had when we were kids called 'Mousetrap' where one event triggered another which triggered another.........). He outsmarted the killer by gambling on the possibility that the killer's ego would get the better of him if told that his elaborate construction was flawed.
@@david10101961and geniuses love to hear the sound of their own voice
Bikel isn't just one of my favourite Columbo villains, but one of my favourite actors period.
Columbo always had a way to have the killers self incriminate themselves.
It's a tactic detectives use when interviewing suspects, to get them to reveal something they've found and only the perp would know.
Columbo always has a way to have the killers self-incriminate themselves!
Columbo, GOAT!
I always liked how the most intelligent adversary Columbo ever came up against, a Mensa genius like Brandt, picked him out as a genius right off the bat when he gave him that "minimum information" problem after their first meeting. Brandt never once underestimated Columbo or took him for a bumbling fool.
This! He even tried to convince Columbo to join Mensa and do more with his intelligence.
I always liked after this when the wife calls on the phone and he gives columbo a word puzzle.
Although I grew up with my parents watching Columbo, I've driven my own kids crazy watching Columbo on repeat as much as possible since I rediscovered the show/movies as an adult in the 90s.
.. a little crazy is not necessarily a bad thing.
0:56 the way he brutally walks through Bertie's outline.
Nice detail
This episode is one of my favorites...and I always laugh at the sly look that Columbo gives Oliver after encouraging him to incriminate himself...
a pure masterpiece
The murderer's look of disbelief when they realise too late that they fell into Colombo's trap, pretending to being the idiot in order to catch them out and cleverly get them to incriminate themselves, pure genius.
"That Danzinger! He's a genius!" What an awesome trap!
His ego was his downfall... and the Lieutenant was counting on that... Genius
They always underestimate him. He's the greatest detective in modern times. He's so respectful to the killer and never ever shows his hand. Until the very end. So they walk around with an air of comfort and arrogance,like he has no idea its them.
playing the music was a genius move.
an auditory warning that you only have a few more seconds to think
the scene plays out in tune with the music, getting faster and more frantic (emotionally) as time winds down.
the man is on the clock, he's scared, he's insulted.
I can't help thinking that without the inadmissible umbrella evidence and without witnesses to this display that a good lawyer would get him off. His admission of guilt is also without witnesses. Good catch though and a really enjoyable episode.
Columbo only has to catch the killer he don't have to convict them in court as well. If he did have to convict them in court as well, all the screenwriters would have needed to add is an extra scene where there are police witnesses in the background observing the display.
@@patrickjohnson5658 in some episodes this scene was included :) off the top of my head, some of the 'gotchas' that included an element of trickery witnessed by police officers include Negative Reaction, A Friend in Deed, Columbo Goes to College.
The best example of that is the one with George Hamilton in his first appearance. The gotcha with the " blind" witness. That gotcha is dramatic no doubt but any half decent lawyer could get beat that case.
This is a TV drama, not real life.
@@dchegu But the 'gotcha' with the blind witness at the end of that episode would not be the only evidence that would place him there the night of the murder. The fresh Tire tracks of his car the only European car there outside of Columbo's car would place him there. Not to mention in his hurry to get away from the scene he crashed into a gatepost, that would have left a dent on his car and forensic evidence from the gatepost behind.
Geniuses at work both in front of and behind the camera: the pace, volume, camera angles, and performances are all perfect.
Yet another priceless moment when you realize you've been tricked into incriminating yourself...
One of my favourite episodes. I must admit, I take great pleasure in watching the villain (mainly wealthy or privileged) totally underestimate Columbo, this episode exemplifies this. In this episode, when the villain is caught, Columbo talks about when he first joined the force, and what motivated him to become better, it's utterly brilliant!
This is my favorite scene of the entire series! Thanks for posting 😊
I never noticed it before, but the book starts to move ever so slightly before the marker hits it.
Yes, they obviously had to do that for filming it for the program. The marker doesn't look heavy enough to be knocking the book over by itself, so they had to give it a little help.
VIBRATIONS!
THAT DANZINGER'S A GENIUS!
THE VIBRATIONS WORK
My favorite part, the banter between the two was great acting and directing
This is the best type of Columbo moment. There is Columbo setting everything in motion, the killer playing their hand too hard, and the "well f**k me then," moment where the killer realizes Columbo has them. Brilliant
I like his lowly explanation at the park on why he had an umbrella during sunny weather! Looked so guilty there.
This scene is not just incredibly well acted, you also have to respect the way it's written, shot and the music that so perfectly ramps up while the situation gets more heated every second with a huge and glorious finale.
The music, that's part of the scene taking place, is also the perfect musical score for the situation and perfectly matches the emotional rollercoaster, that the murderer goes through.
do you have any idea what that song is? heard it all my life but cant name it to save it! the vinyl says tchaikovsky but i'm stumped otherwise
Quite an enjoyable episode which I recently watched again. Not only featuring Jamie Lee Curtis in one of her debut acting roles but also the return of Mrs Melville from Murder by the Book, if you're eagle eyed of course :)
The book was falling before the marker hit it! That Danzinger is a genius with the vibration theory
The turntable featured in this _Columbo_ clip is an Accutrac 4000 model. Introduced in 1976, it features the ability to program the order of the tracks played on an LP-record, and allowed the user to skip over tracks they did not want to hear. Basically a very early version of "shuffle play" which became a popular feature on CD players a decade later. This model also came with a remote control - which turntables sold today do not even offer.
This is one of my favourite episodes.
I always love Columbo's perfect "Gotcha" look.
" The killer is a very intelligent man sir" Columbo says. Unfortunately, not as intelligent as Columbo though! A dramatic end to a great episode, Theodore got a little bit carried away demonstrating his ingenious method of achieving this murder! Not so clever! 🤔
Yes
The problem for the killer was his intellect was spread across a broad area of interests while Columbo was razor focused on one thing.
Well, the killer was exactly as intelligent as Columbo thought, otherwise he would not have set this kind of trap...
The point is that Columbo counted on the great desire of the killer to show his intellectual supremacy... and in the end also on the fact that the killer was not so determined to get away with all this... He was bored of everything, as he admitted in the end.
@@GreenHoleSun smart people don't necessarily care about joining societies for smart people but arrogant smart people do. Just his being in that club meant this trick would probably work lol
@@hello-ox5rf yes, but I think he had a complex personality.
In a way he was arrogant and eager to show that he could make the "perfect murder", with the same attitude he would have approached an IQ test, on the other hand he perceived that all this stuff was futile, in the end.
Awesome scene with the back and forth mind games and dialogue, they dont make them like this anymore nope.
Oh, my! Please, the complete episode!!!
He always tricks them...they always underestime "the man"
05:36 - 05:44 The facial expression of Columbo “Priceless, but too easy to convict”
SherlockHolmes on a Case:
“Elementary My Dear Watson, Elementary.”
0:26 Fun fact. A silencer suppresses a gun shot from 140dB to 110dB. 110dB is as loud as a chainsaw or rock concert.
Fantastic episode! 👍
That face fall is one of the classic moments of TV of all time!
their performances are amazing.
The killer betrays himself if he has information that only the killer can know. This is the classic criminal case from The Cranes of the Ibicus. Colombo constructs an amateurish, simple solution (triggered by vibration). The genius considers Colombo's version to be inferior and presents his own correct, ingenious version. Only the murderer himself can know it because he has carried it out himself.
Columbo even makes geniuses look dumb, he played that dude so easy
I love the final reveal, such a fun episode
It's like half of these comments don't understand Columbo is a mystery drama and not an accurate law procedural.
In the end, he admitted to Columbo he’s satisfied that it took someone like him to catch him.
Certainly one of the best endings ever. There are many really episodes, but this one is unique and extremely good. At 2:19 we can see almost the panic on his face, haha! And, of course, like all geniuses or really intelligent people, they can't resist showing how they did it because others are "stupid," of course. Unfortunately for him, he revealed how he operated his crime ... himself. HAHAHA!
"Bwahaha haaha ha ha a...Oh my" I'm watching this favorite scene again, thank you.
One of my favourite scenes overall!
The way that Columbo uses the killer's conceitedness to trick him into revealing incriminating details about the way the murder was committed, which only the killer would know, is brilliant. Columbo probably surmised the details about the use of the marker pen in this setup before this reenactment, but deliberately gave the killer a sub par version of the theory attributed to his rival Danzinger, knowing that the killer's vanity would goad him into foolishly giving himself away by revealing incriminating details whilst trying to prove that he was cleverer than the president of the club.
So great. Columbo lured him right into the trap. Genius and all.
This is my favorite _Columbo_ episode. All the classic Columbo ingredients are in this one. A highly intelligent murderer that's just vile enough to prove a tasty meal for Columbo's common sense intellect. When all else fails, appeal to the pompous man's narcissism and he'll catch himself. 👍🍷
I wouldn't call him vile. He married a woman who loved him only for what she could buy because of him. Intelligence is not the same as wisdom. While Brandt may have been highly smart, he was a poor judge of character. Today, we might say that he, and maybe the other members of the club, have autism spectrum disorders.
I have decided what I need to do- buy the Columbo series on DVD and watch every one. I didn't watch it back then as I had no access to a TV but I'm going to rectify that soon. I am really enjoying these clips of the show.
This right here, is pure genius storytelling.
This was the episode that placed Columbo as a bonafide Genius such as the rest of the cohorts there. His specific skills are forensics and investigations through meticulous attention to detail, context, and practical logic.
Such a clever man who proved he wasn't so clever in the end.
"i accidentally took your umbrella and brought it to the lab"
"Uh huh... well in that case i want to talk to a LAWYER"
A wonderfully directed, shot, and acted scene
Just great writing and editing. And acting.
He “Sideshow-Bob”ed him!
A work of Machiavellian art.
Man was so sharp he cut himself
How you lure a genius out you play their ego against them
Rest in powerful peace Peter Falk 🙏
16 September 1927 ~
23 June 2011⚘
The combination of a master performer and great writers. I never saw an episode that I didn't enjoy, and I watched the first one the first time it ran on NBC's Mystery Movie.
😄Columbo is emphasizing the word VIBRATIONS, which immediately triggers the murder.
Jake Peralta uses the same "You did it this dumb way" strat in that one brooklyn 99 interrogation episode
If you look carefully at 5:25 the dictionary starts falling before the red object falls on it.
Of course! It's the vibration!! Just after he yelled "THIS!!" ....you know....
@@chalcedonv6997 🤣
@@chalcedonv6997 are you a member of the Sigma Society too? ;)
Him showing how the book was made to fall doesn’t prove he did it. It wouldn’t stand up in court. He could just very easily say he saw the solution to the problem.
But there was also other incriminating stuff like the umbrella.
The point is to discredit the killer's alibi, its not actually evidence that he was the killer. The actual evidence is the partygoers can all now testify that the killer and the victim left the party at the same time and only the killer returned.
Doesn't matter. He is ready to confess. And that would stand up. Plus the point of detectives is typically not winning the court case. It is about solving the mystery.
His triumphant laughter is infectious
Theodore Bickel’s range is severely understated. He goes from playing one of the most detestable characters in the history of the twilight zone (4 o-clock) to playing one of the more layered murderers in the series. I don’t agree with anything he is doing, but I can see how he become so insecure and how he comes to the conclusion of killing. I won’t say he’s sympathetic, but he is tragic.
Whoever writes this stuff is the real genius 👍👍💯💯
Honestly, this doesnt amount to incrimination at all. The dude got agitated. He as good as recreated the crime, but so what? Theyre spitballing. The guy has a notorious ego. A good lawyer could make the case (before he went and confessed), that he was just excited to solve a case that even a veteran detective couldnt crack. He never said "THIS IS WHAT I DID!" he said "THIS IS WHAT THE KILLER DID!" he never identified himself as the murderer.
the whole point of the serie was not to convict the murderers but to solve the mysteries
I don't get it. Brandt didn't admit he did the killing; he only showed he knew a clever way to make it work. What did I miss?
Great performance from Zach Galifinakis here
Good lord that smile as he gets him riled up.
It's not the best show ever, but Columbo is the best TV character ever.
you can practically see the color drain from his face! brilliant!
3:49, the way he says "preposterous nonsense" always cracks me up
You could say, pride did him in,..... or the smarts of the true genius. Colombo was one smart dude.
The book begins to fall/tilt before the ink marker hits it!
Lmao Columbo didn't have to say anything after Mr. Brandt realized.
If you look closely, you can clearly see the fact that the book moved long before being hit by that red object. Yes to vibrations. No to those helping the book to fall down :)))