Box set: Columbo: The Complete Series

Columbo: Season 1

Universal Studios (1968)

Crime, Mystery
 /   / Color / 725 mins
5050582868487 
/     / 
In Collection
#671
8.2

Plot

Many criminals made the mistake of underestimating Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide investigator with a crumpled trench-coat and a beat-up car, who certainly acted as an incompetent bumbler. But he was so polite to every suspect, and he talked so much about his wife (who we never got to see on any episode, but who many believe later had her own show, starring Kate Mulgrew, later of Star Trek: Voyager fame) that he lulled even the shrewdest murderer into a false sense of security. And although the audience had witnessed the murder in the beginning of each episode, it was still a surprise to see what mistakes the killers had made during the seemingly perfect murder.

Cast

Paul Carr Hammond
Peter Falk Lt. Columbo
Harold Gould Agent Carlson
Lee Grant Leslie Williams
John Fink Michael Clark
Patricia Mattick Margaret Williams
Jed Allan Phil
Charles Macaulay Richard
Jean Byron Pat
Richard Roat Perkins
Norma Connolly Celia
Harlan Warde Paul Williams
Bill Walker Crowell
Timothy Carey Bert
Celeste Yarnall Gloria

Crew

Director
Richard Irving
Producer Richard Irving , Dean Hargrove
Writer William Link , Richard Levinson

Episodes

Disc 01

1
Murder by the Book
120 mins  15/09/1971
One member of a mystery-writing-team decides to kill his more talented partner when the better writer decides to go solo.

Director:  Steven Spielberg 

Writer:  Steve Bocho 

Guest starring: Jack Cassidy, Rosemary Forsyth, Martin Milner, Barbara Colby, Lynette Mettey, Bernie Kuby, Hoke Howell,  Marcia Wallace, Haven Earle Haley, Anitra Ford

2
Death Lends a Hand
120 mins  06/10/1971
A private investigator kills his client's wife after she threatens to expose his blackmail scheme. The client then hires the detective to assist Columbo in the search for the killer.

Director:  Bernard L. Kowalski 

Writer:  Richard Levinson  / William Link 

Guest starring:  Robert Culp, Pat Crowley,  Ray Milland, Brett Halsey, Eric James, Don Keefer, Len Wayland, Lieux Dressler, Barbara Baldavin, Bill Hickman

Disc 02

3
Dead Weight
120 mins  27/10/1971
A famous general kills a business associate, then woos a neurotic female witness to thwart Columbo's investigation.

Director:  Jack Smight 

Writer:  John T. Dugan 

Guest starring:  Eddie Albert, Kate Reid, Suzanne Pleshette, John Kerr,  Val Avery,  Timothy Carey, Clete Roberts, Ron Castro, Glen Vernon, Jim Pelham, James Halferty

4
Suitable for Framing
120 mins  17/11/1971
An art critic, Dale Kingston, kills his uncle for his valuable collection of paintings. All the clues lead to the dead man's first wife. Can Columbo correct the Lieutenant's error before it is too late?

Director:  Hy Averback 

Writer:  Jackson Gillis 

Guest starring: Ross Martin, Don Ameche, Kim Hunter, Rosanna Huffman, Joan Shawlee, Barney Phillips,  Mary Wickes, Vic Tayback, Sandra Gould, Curt Conway, Claude Johnson, Dennis Rucker, Kenny Salvatt

Disc 03

5
Lady in Waiting
120 mins  15/12/1971
A woman shoots her overbearing brother, claiming she thought he was a burglar. Columbo doesn't buy the self-defense claim - he know's it's murder

Director:  Norman Lloyd 

Writer:  Steven Bochco  / Barney Slater 

Guest starring: Susan Clark,  Jessie Royce Landis, Richard Anderson,  Leslie Nielsen, Joel Fluellen, Richard Bull, Garry Walberg, Barbara Rhoades, Jon Lormer, Frank Baxter, Susan Barrister,  Fred Draper, Frances E. Nealy,  Marcia Wallace

6
Short Fuse
120 mins  19/01/1972
A chemist rigs a bomb in his uncle's car to gain control of his uncle's company, then plants clues to make Columbo suspicious of the company's Vice-President.

Director:  Edward M. Abroms 

Writer:  Jackson Gillis  / Lester Pine 

Guest starring: Roddy McDowall, Anne Francis, James Gregory, Ida Lupino,  William Windom, Steve Gravers, Lawrence Cook, Rosalind Miles, Lew Brown, Jason Wingreen, Eddie Quillan, Stuart Nisbet, Annette Molen, Jim Neumarker, George Sawaya

Disc 04

7
Blueprint for Murder
120 mins  09/02/1972
An architect kills his business partner and deliberately lets Columbo suspect him, leading Columbo to think that he's hidden the body in the foundation of a building under construction. He plans to let Columbo dig up the site and find nothing, knowing that its the perfect place to hide the body since Columbo would never look in the same place twice.

Director:  Peter Falk 

Writer:  William Kelley  / Steven Bochco 

Guest starring: Patrick O'Neal, Janis Paige, Pamela Austin,  John Fiedler, Forrest Tucker, Bettye Ackerman, John Finnegan, Nick Dennis, Robert Gibbons, Cliff Carnell, Jimmy Joyce

Disc 05

8
Prescription: Murder
120 mins  20/02/1968
Columbo's first mystery pits him against a cheating doctor out to get rid of his wife in favor of his young, pretty actress girlfriend.

Director:  Richard Irving 

Writer:  Richard Levinson  / William Link 

Guest starring: Gene Barry,  William Windom, Katherine Justice, Nina Foch,  Virginia Gregg, Andrea King, Susanne Benton, Ena Hartman, Sherry Boucher, Anthony James, Tom Williams, Don Stewart, Clark Howat, Jim Creech

Disc 06

9
Ransom for a Dead Man
120 mins  01/03/1971
A high-flying lady lawyer kills her husband for the insurance money, and tries to makes It look like a kidnapping gone wrong.

Director:  Richard Irving 

Writer:  Richard Levinson  / William Link 

Guest starring:  Lee Grant, John Fink,  Harold Gould,  Patricia Mattick, Paul Carr,  Jed Allan,  Charles Macaulay, Hank Brandt,  Jean Byron, Richard Roat,  Norma Connolly,  Harlan Warde, Bill Walker,  Timothy Carey, Judson Morgan

Edition Details

Series Columbo
Release Date 2009
No. of Disks/Tapes 6

Personal Details

Links Movie Collector Connect
IMDB
TheTvDb.com

Images

Backdrop