Das Aschenpuzzle

"Ashes to Ashes" from 1998 is a great Columbo episode, with Falk coming up against repeat offender from past years, Patrick McGoohan, as a murderous funeral director.

McGoohan plays Eric Prince, an ex-actor turned funeral director who sold gossip to a Louella Parsons-type TV columnist Verity Chandler (Rue McClanahan) while they were having an affair.

The affair over, Verity has done some investigation and learned that when a great screen star, Dorothea Page died, a million-dollar necklace that accompanied her to the funeral home disappeared and is what enabled Prince to buy more and more funeral homes. While attending the funeral of an old cowboy star, Verity makes the mistake of announcing to Prince that she'll be exposing him on national television in a few days.

McGoohan is terrific, perfectly controlled in his internalized anger.

It's time for Lieutenant Columbo to investigate, and we all know the rest. McGoohan and Falk play off one another perfectly.

Very entertaining episode, certainly as good as any from Columbo's golden years. Falk was 71 here - most lieutenants would have retired by then, but not this guy. Good thing.

A tremendous cast, by latter-day Columbo standards, including Rue McClanahan, Sally Kellerman, Edie McClurg, Richard Libertini, Aubrey Morris, and Ron Masak have a field day chewing up the scenery in clever scene after clever scene. Legendary tap dancer Arthur Duncan even shows up to add the proper element of theatre d'absurd to the proceedings. The dialogue is well-above average in the cleverness department as well. The twists and turns are ingenious. McGoohan has a field day as director and actor. The last line puts the proper icing on the cake. This is one of the very best of the latter-day Columbo movies.

This episode is just great...Peter Falk's acting is great. He obviously liked doing the show and it is enjoyable to watch it. I saw it several times and I love seeing it again and again. The more often you see it, the more you discover. Columbo...just great, nothing can be compared...and the "undertaker"...my sympathy was with the killer in this case. This episode is a great piece of entertainment...all the actors doing an excellent job...there are so many little things in this episode worthwhile noticing. I really do love this episode...Thank you, Sir Peter!

Walter

To be honest: I love every single episode of the 69!

Should win some sort of dubious award for worst Southern accent ever!

There is no doubt that Columbo's star Peter Falk loves this character. He always takes him out of the closet in a manner of speaking. Peter Falk would be knighted if he was a British actor but since he is an American actor and icon, we'll take him the way he is. I remember watching this episode with Golden Girls' star Rue McClanahan as the gossip columnist Verity Chandler. Of course, Patrick McGoohan has often been associated with Columbo whether he is directing, writing or starring. There is something addictive about Columbo. He doesn't dumb down the role or the characters. He learns just as well as we do. He is quite the detective. He always gets his man or woman and I just adore Columbo. He is always worth watching. He mixes humor and seriousness with the most serious crime of murder. His job might be murder but it sure is fun watching him get the man or woman to be caught. Even then, you kind of feel sorry for the criminal for his actions. It' the Columbo touch that you pity the criminal and love the detective.