"Columbo - Mord mit der linken Hand" (1975)

When the story begins, rich Arthur Kennicutt (Ray Milland) is meeting with a private detective, Mr. Brimmer (Robert Culp). It seems Kennicutt suspected his wife was cheating on him....but Brimmer assures him that there's nothing to it and his investigations have turned up nothing incriminating. However, after Kennicutt leaves, Brimmer then meets with Mrs. Kennicutt (Pat Crowley) and tells her he KNOWS she cheated on her husband and he tries to blackmail her. But Mrs. Kennicutt is insistent...she'll tell her husband and hope he forgives her. Well, this is NOT Brimmer's plan and he attacks her...killing her in his rage!

When Lieutenant Columbo begins investigating the killing, he is told by Mr. Kennicutt that he is ALSO having the case investigated by private investigators....not to hurt Columbo but to assist him. But the head of this organization is Brimmer....and you know Brimmer will do everything he can to send Columbo looking in the wrong directions. To get to the truth, Columbo later resorts to a trick...and it naturally works. After all, Columbo ALWAYS catches the killer!

This episode surprised me with how viscious the killing was...as well as that it was NOT premeditated (unusual for "Columbo"-type shows). Additionally, it was a bit unusual because it featured two big-time actors--Milland and Culp. Overall, excellent acting and writing...I am surprised that although this was supposed to be the first show of the series shown, the network chose to air the second one first. Both are dandy...and well worth your time.

This was the first regular filmed Columbo movie episode but yet it aired as the second, after Steven Spielberg's "Columbo: Murder by the Book". It's also at the same time among one of the better ones!

Bernard L. Kowalski was one great creative director! No wonder that they later asked him to direct three more Columbo movies. The movie has some real creative and innovative shot sequences and the movie as a whole is also clearly made with style, passion and eye for detail. Every shot connects and is a reason why this movie is better and also better looking just any other average made for TV movie. It's definitely one of the better directed Columbo movies.

It's a quit original Columbo entry for a couple of reasons. The murder is more or less an accident and was an impulsive act. So the killer this time doesn't have any time to plan out the 'perfect murder' in advance and his to clean up any of the traces afterward and has to dispose the body. The killer in this movie is not only being handled as the man who committed the crime but more as the man who helps out Lieutenant Columbo to solve the murder. It makes the character a more interesting and layered one as well and also helps to make the way Columbo solves the whole crime seem way more interesting as well because of that. Of course Columbo starts to suspect him pretty early on and as always he comes to solution by making himself vulnerable and look more stupid than he of course truly is and by gaining the killer's trust. This is obviously no spoiler since this is the way every Columbo movie gets set-up. I liked the story of the movie and how it progressed.

It also helps the movie that it has such a fine cast. At the time of this movie Peter Falk had really made the Columbo character his own and the character at this was already fully developed. Robert Culp is truly great as the short tempered Brimmer. Funny thing is that he would later star in three different Columbo movies again and one "Mrs. Columbo" episode, only in totally different roles. He even played the murderer in a couple of those movies as well again. He by the way was not the only actor that did this in other later Columbo movies. Also the great Ray Milland makes an appearance in this movie, as the husband of the victim.

All in all, a real great early Columbo movie and among the better ones out of the long running series of movies.

9/10

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... in the sense that, rather than a carefully planned premeditated murder of somebody that the killer knows well, this is the unintentional killing of somebody that the killer barely knows. So on the one hand, the killer will not be suspect number one, but on the other hand, in his haste to cover up the crime he could have missed something, and he'll constantly worry that he did miss something.

Brimmer (Robert Culp) is an ex-cop who has become a P. I. and heads a thriving agency. The wealthy Arthur Kenicutt (Ray Milland) has hired Brimmer to determine whether or not his wife, Lenore, is having an affair. Brimmer tells Kennicutt that his wife is not seeing anybody, but that's a lie. Brimmer uses this knowledge to blackmail Lenore into spying on her husband - who is a powerful newspaper publisher - and feed him information. She comes to his beach house and tells him not only "No", but that she plans to confess her past brief indiscretion herself, plus tell her husband about Brimmer lying to him and trying to blackmail her. He tries to stop her from leaving his house, he gets angry in the tussle, he hits her, she hits her head when she falls, and dies.

Of course Brimmer panics, he takes Lenore's body to a remote location and dumps it, and does his best to clean up the broken furniture and glass from the fight. The police investigate when the body is found, and Kennicutt, once he is cleared of suspicion himself, hires Brimmer to help the police in the investigation. Brimmer can't believe the beauty of his situation. But then Lieutenant Columbo enters the search for the killer and interrupts Brimmer's beauty contest.

Columbo makes some leaps of logic here, because Brimmer did not know Lenore Kennicutt. I have to wonder about the victim's logic here as well as Brimmer's. Brimmer has made a fortune doing PI work, so he has to be pretty bright. Why didn't he realize that Lenore had the upper hand the minute he lied to her husband? How would he make good on his blackmail of her? Tell her powerful husband - who seems to have all of the milk of human kindness of WIlliam Randolph Hearst - I was lying BEFORE but I'm telling the truth NOW? And why would Lenore go to Brimmer's house, alone, to tell him she's about to ruin his life? Because you have no movie if people only make good decisions.

With great production values, good acting, and the always humorous antics of Lieutenant Columbo, this is good viewing.

Rant: when I read reviews I don't need a plot summary except as the plot point is necessary to the review itself. But...

I find it interesting to see early Columbo episodes when the character has not fully developed. This episode was well made and produced. Some of the outdoor scenes were just beautiful, more so than many other episodes that are sometimes more like stage plays. Ray Miland was excellent because he didn't come across as the 'star' and was understated even though he played a 'powerful' character. All of the actors were believable so kudos to director and the actors and the cinematographer too.

A good watch for sure and the story moved along.

I am a huge fan of Columbo, and while Death Lends a Hand is not my favourite of the entire series, it is one of my personal favourites of the early episodes. As with all Columbo episodes the production values are first-rate with location work that is striking and camera work that is skilled and always well placed. The music also is fitting with the episode's mood and with the setting, the script is sharp, funny, clever, sophisticated and with structure and the story while going at a purposefully steady pace has plenty of delightful scenes, like when Columbo pretends to palm read, is compelling and never any less than that with an intriguing final solution. The acting is great, Peter Falk is brilliant and very natural as Columbo, and Robert Culp matches him perfectly in perhaps his best episode and performance of the Columbo series. Ray Milland(in a very sympathetic performance) and Patricia Crowley also excels as does Brett Halsey who brings gravitas to a character that could've easily been one-dimensional and bland. The episode is very stylishly directed as well. Overall, a very strong Columbo and one of the best of the early episodes. 9/10 Bethany Cox