Columbo: Rançon pour un homme mort

Three years after making "Prescription: Murder", the character Lieutenant Columbo was revived for a second made for TV film. This time, the formula convinced the network to greenlight the show and soon it became a regular on the weekly "Mystery Movie".

Lee Grant plays a very skilled trial lawyer who is used to winning. However, one thing in her life is NOT perfect. She's married to an older man and now that he no longer is useful in forwarding her career, she's bored with him. Instead of divorce, however, you KNOW it will end in murder. After all, it's "Columbo"!

The story is well written, the acting by Grant and the rest is quite nice and it's well worth your time. My only quibble is early in the show, you see the Lieutenant making an illegal search of a locker. With no search warrant or apparent need to search it, he did anyway.

By the way, on IMDB this is listed as the first installment of "Columbo"....but as I mentioned above, it's actually the second.

I'm a fan of Columbo, and Ransom for a Dead Man is a personal favourite. It does drag towards the beginning and Patricia Mattick is rather annoying. However, the usual ingredients are there. While the production values improved a tad in quality as it progressed, the episode is still very striking to look at, and the music score is one of my personal favourites of any Columbo episode. The story once it gets going is compelling, with a well-used pivotal telephone gimmick and a classic Columbo scene at an airport, and the writing is strong throughout having some funny, thoughtful and atmospheric moments. The performances are excellent, Peter Falk is exceptional as usual and Lee Grant as a very beautiful, cold, confident and also arrogant murderess is superb. In conclusion, a great episode. 9/10 Bethany Cox

If I recall correctly, Lee Grant won or was nominated for an award for her great performance of Leslie Williams, a cold blooded killer and confident lawyer who is both arrogant and greedy. She exhibits no remorse whatsoever during the entire episode, as we get to see her coldly murder her influential husband. She manipulates the detective in charge, but when the husband's body finally surfaces, Columbo is in charge and he sees right through Leslie, even when she falls apart at the bad news in front of several people. Without describing in detail the rest of the episode, there are some memorable scenes which has Columbo attempting to fly Leslie's plane, and how Leslie's step daughter Margaret constantly hounds her, because she feels that Leslie murdered her father. I thought perhaps there was a bit too much Margaret, as her tirades towards her step mother go on and on for much of the latter half of the segment. Anyhow, you'll have to sit through close to 2 hours before we finally get to the underwhelming finale when Columbo finally arrests Leslie, which seems slightly convenient rather than grand.

This is a solid season 1 episode, and watch for the fine portrayal by Lee Grant, who makes this Columbo a memorable one. Peter Falk also does a fine job as he's on the hunt after the killer.

Leslie Williams is a very clever lawyer and has just become an equally clever murderer. Shooting her husband and dumping his body, Leslie uses a tape recorder and some threatening letters to make it appear that her husband has been kidnapped. Naturally she contacts the police and drops off the money only for her husband to be found dead with the police all lamenting their failed attempt to get him back alive. However the liaison with the local police (Lieutenant Columbo) has one or two things that just don't ring true and suspects something other than a simple kidnapping.

As with many TV film series (such as Perry Mason), if you like one or two of them then you'll pretty much like them all. This entry in the Columbo series pretty much follows the usual formula – we know the killer and the "perfect" plan but then watch Columbo follow his hunch and gradually starts to pick holes in the story he is told before eventually finding enough to prove his suspicions. Knowing this ahead of time won't ruin anything for you; it is simply what happens in all the films. With this strict adherence to formula it is usually down to several factors whether or not the Columbo film stands out or if it is just average. However with this film we are really in the territory where the formula was created. This second pilot sees a murder committed in the first few moments, Columbo brought in and filled with doubts and suspicions. In essence the plot is solid and interesting, with Columbo picking away at small things that bother him but it doesn't quite ring true.

The film brings in Columbo quickly, which is a good thing, but it seems to spend too much time on Margaret, which is a bit of a drag. The film could have lived with her in a smaller role but outside of her the rest is still pretty strong. Falk is much, much better as Columbo than he was in the first pilot (Prescription Murder) as he is much more animated and quirky rather than flat as he was then. He is funny and dogged and, although he isn't as good as he would quickly become, he is still pretty good. Grant is strong and is a good foil for Columbo – shame they do not have as much time together as other films allow. Mattick is annoying and, like I said, she gets in the way and is a misjudged part of the film generally.

Overall a good start proper to the successful series. The majority of the formula is in place and it is surprising how little tweaking it needed to make it run and run from there. Fans will love it of course but it has an appeal beyond that (it was released in cinemas in the UK) and is worth a look.

Three years after the original Columbo pilot "Prescription: Murder", the great man got another chance for immortality in this film. Of course, the rest is history as Columbo went on to become one of the greatest and best-loved TV characters ever.

This pilot sets a high standard (which wasn't always maintained, let's be honest) and has strong writing and characterisation, as well as showing some visual flair with slow fades, jump cuts and other effects.

Columbo here is the Lieutenant we will come to love, absent-minded, rambling, but with pin-sharp instincts and a deep sense of justice ("I couldn't have you convicted on false evidence" he says at one point. He wants to catch the criminal but he will do it fairly and properly). The performances of Peter Falk and Lee Grant are excellent.

Some reviewers have felt the suspect wouldn't be stupid enough to use the ransom money after being so smart in planning the crime and covering her tracks. I think the fact the money was going into a *Swiss* bank probably made her feel it was a risk worth taking - you can't get any information out of those guys, so no-one would know it was the ransom money. Besides, she really doesn't have a conscience.