Columbo: Death Hits the Jackpot

When the episode begins, Freddy is arguing with his estranged wife. They apparently are in the process of getting a divorce and he wants to either get it over with or get back together. But as he's talking to her, he notices they are giving out the winning lottery numbers on TV....and he just won the $30,000,000 jackpot! But Freddy is greedy and knows he will have to split this with his wife...but the wife doesn't love him and makes no bones about it. So, he and his uncle (Rip Torn) come up with a really dumb and poorly thought out plan...to have the uncle claim the money and give it to Freddy later. Of course, this is NOT an easy thing due to taxes and laws governing transfers of money...and he never even considers that his uncle MIGHT be a crook and will try to cheat him....which, of course, he does because Freddy is an idiot.

I mostly enjoyed this installment of "Columbo" although for the life of me, I have no idea why they included a chimp in the show! Yes, a chimp!! But in spite of this, it is an entertaining episode and is well worth seeing...even if the victim was amazingly foolish.

PLOT: Ready to finalize his divorce, a struggling photographer (Gary Kroeger) wins $30 million in the lottery, but doesn't want his wife (Jamie Rose) to get half of it, so he gives the ticket to his secretly bankrupt uncle (Rip Torn) to cash it in, promising him 10%. But the uncle wants the whole shebang and is willing to murder to get it.

COMMENTARY: Everything clicks. There's a good sense of reality with the photographer's apartment/studio, his friends/family, the costume party and the pet chimpanzee. The air is kinetic, sprinkled with elements of amusement, like the swank auction sequence. Torn makes for an effective antagonist and redhead Rose is striking head-to-toe.

GRADE: A-/B+

A nice cosy little mystery for Columbo and one of the better revamped TV movies I've watched. So far, this one seems closest to the spirit of the '70s originals, with a rather complicated murder scene and lots of clues for the detective to pick up on. No twists with the formula here, just straightforward detective work.

The delightfully rascally Rip Torn stars as an unscrupulous fellow who takes immediate action when his nephew wins thirty million dollars on the lottery. Due to the guy's soon-to-be ex wife's entitlement to half the sum, he convinces his nephew that he himself will cash in the cheque and pretend to be the winner, and pass on the cash further down the line. Inevitably he bumps his nephew off instead, making it look like an accident, which is where Columbo comes in.

Torn makes for a fine guest star villain. He doesn't really have any big or shouty moments with the crumpled gumshoe, but he exudes an air of quiet menace which works well. Falk acquits himself well with the material and has quite a few comic scenes in the midsection which work well in a gently humorous way. Betsy Palmer (FRIDAY THE 13TH) shows up playing Torn's wife, and there are enough twists and turns along the way to keep viewers enthused. Watch out for the chimp!

Freddy Brower (Gary Kroeger) is an out-of-work photographer in the throes of getting a divorce from his wife Nancy (Jamie Rose). Whilst discussing the divorce settlement with her is watching the television & finds he has won the jackpot (30 million dollars) on the national lottery. His wife has not yet signed the divorce papers & so is legally entitled to a half of his winnings. So he consults his Uncle Leon (Rip Torn) seeking his advice about how to avoid losing half to his wife. He tells his nephew the best way around the problem is a "switcheroo". Give him the winning ticket for his uncle to collect the money which he will collect & later hand back over to Freddy without his wife knowing. Uncle Leon owns a jewellery business which is in serious financial difficulty & he has already decided he will keep the money & murder his nephew. This is a very good late Columbo episode & Rip Torn is an absolute hoot as the scheming, conniving Uncle Leon.

For me, Death Hits the Jackpot is one of the better later Columbo episodes. It starts off a little slow perhaps, but it picks up significantly and doesn't have any more problems as far as I am aware. The story is interesting and well-structured, and the script has a lot of nice humorous touches between Lamarr and Columbo which was a delight to see, in fact I liked this episode especially for its less-serious yet somewhat light-hearted tone. The direction is as solid as rocks, and there are several good scenes, any scene between Lamarr and Columbo is winning, but the murder scene is quite intense, the denouncement is clever and the party itself was a nice touch for those sumptuous costumes. The music is great once again, and the acting is too. Peter Falk is exceptional as always, and Rip Torn is simply brilliant and seems to be relishing a very interesting character. Overall, delightful and one of the better later episodes. 9/10 Bethany Cox