Columbo: Butterfly in Shades of Grey

Is hilarious, but fits Shatner's character quite well. Billy's performance made this episode worth watching, due to his usual over the top melodramatic antics.

I've been watching all the episodes of Columbo once a week since forever on Peacock and it's fascinating to see how he aged in both his physical and acting aspects. This one still has the little tune of "this ol' man" playing in the background when he's at work on a particular focus of his investigation.

The plot is not quite as good as earlier episodes, but the clever twists of the villain make it fun.

The biggest part was of course Shatner, but wait there's more: Go find a film noir titled "The Big Clock" from 1948. It stars the famous Charles Laughton. As "Butterfly" opens with Shatner, I immediately saw Laughton in his demeanor, right down to the moustache! Was Billy Shatner mimicking Laughton? They both acted in the same dramatic fashion in their respective roles in their films. Maybe Shatner was paying homage.

As Spock would say..."Fascinating."

For Columbo fans, William Shatner plays the controlling Fielding Chase who kills a man who can separate him from his adoptive daughter played wonderfully by Molly Hagen. The key to solving the case is as fascinating as the actual murder. Columbo figures out who done it but how does he catch him. As in any Columbo feature, all the crimes are solved by one loose thread or link. It is nice to see Three's Company Richard Kline as his daughter's friend and literary agent. William Shatner plays Fielding Chase as the overly protective suffocating surrogate father to Molly Hagen's character in this film. It is a believable one and fun to watch anyway. Like I said, I will watch Columbo all the time. I am waiting for the Columbo Cable Channel.

Fielding Chase is a popular if outspoken talk radio host. His foster daughter works alongside him as his assistant, always in his shadow, which is pretty much how he likes it. However he learns that one of his staff, Gerry Winters, has been helping Victoria and encouraging her to write a novel and get it published. When Fielding finds this out he goes behind his daughter's back and convinces the publisher (an old friend) to drop the deal. Victoria is crushed but Gerry reckons he knows why the deal fell apart and convinces her to come away with him anyway. To prevent this Fielding asks Gerry to call him at a set time but actually sneaks into the house at that time. While the answer machine catches them both chatting, Fielding shoots Gerry in the back – making it appear that he was miles away at the time of the murder. However one slip of the tongue is all it takes of Columbo to suspect that it is not as clear-cut as all that.

Although it is not one of the routinely better classic episodes in the Columbo series (the newer ones tend to be more hit and miss) I decided to give it a go because generally they are OK plus this had the added interest of old ham Shatner making his second appearance in the series. The film doesn't open well though, with a seemingly poor motive from Shatner for the crime and a murder that wouldn't have taken much to have it all fall to pieces. With this as the basis for the mystery, it doesn't develop that well Falk himself is pretty good as per normal, showing himself the usual good sport with the running gags about his appearance (a nice moment on a TV set). The problem does lie with Shatner unfortunately. He is too hammy and forceful – it felt like he was pushing a one-note character too hard. The two men don't work that well together because, like other average Columbo murderers, Shatner plays it confrontation and thus loses the fun of the cat'n'mouse game that usually makes for a strong chemistry. Support is unmemorable from Hagan, Laufer and a few others – nobody bad but certainly nobody is given much to do.

Overall this is an OK Columbo film but the weaknesses in the plot setup and the lack of spark between the two actors means it never gets up a good head of steam. Fans of the series will still enjoy it because it holds pretty well to the formula but just don't expect it to be any where near the standard of the series at the height of its powers.

PLOT: A controversial radio-show host (William Shatner) murders a former member of his staff, a gay man, who was about to whisk his beloved foster daughter off to New York City to become a novelist (Molly Hagan).

COMMENTARY: This episode is superior to Shatner's first appearance on Columbo, "Fade in to Murder" (1976); of course the story & characters are totally different, except for our beloved disheveled detective. As usual, Shatner is entertaining as he hams it up in the role of the semi-shock jock.

There's a priceless sequence where Columbo shows-up on the set of a soap opera and is mistaken for an actor playing a homeless man enlisted for the shoot. There's also a compelling on-air bit involving a senator rudely confronted with his wayward past. I must say, the radio host's mansion in the mountains of Malibu is magnificent.

GRADE: B

This is certainly not a bad episode, but it is not a great one either. It is strikingly filmed as the Columbo episodes often are, the music is good, the script is decent enough as is the direction and story, while Peter Falk is excellent and Molly Hagen is wonderful. However, the pacing is rather sluggish, and the murderer's motive is quite weak. Also I just didn't buy William Shatner in his role, he tries hard but he is too over-the-top and forced and his moustache was falling off in some scenes.

Overall, it is certainly worth watching but it wasn't brilliant. 6/10 Bethany Cox