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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

I think my favorite part of any Columbo episode is that closeup on the killer when he realizes that he's not dealing with an idiot. When Rip Torn is the killer, you just can't wait for him to crash.

Freddy (Gary Kroeger) is going through an awful divorce because his wife (Jamie Rose) is refusing to be part of a debt he incurred. Consequently he is unable to convince her to sign the papers.

Then he finds out he has won $30 million in the lottery, and now he's afraid since they're not divorced, his wife can claim half. His Uncle Leon (Rip Torn), a jeweler, suggests that he claim the money for Freddy. They draw up a letter of agreement.

But Uncle Leon is going to find it difficult to part with that money, even if he is getting 10 percent off the top. He makes it look as if Freddy drowned while taking a bath, and changes the time on the victim's watch to give him a perfect alibi.

Columbo picks up problems with the scene immediately. He comes to believe it was not an accidental death, and not so slowly begins to put the pieces together.

Torn is a riot, using a very broad accent (sounds like Texas) and being a real scum. Betsy Palmer plays his dizzy wife.

Lots of atmosphere here, including a party of hippies singing songs like Where Have All the Flowers Gone, a chimpanzee in a romper, and a millionaires masquerade party. Highly entertaining.

Wow.This has got to be one of my favorite mystery/detective thrillers of all time.(And not just Columbo titles)To say the plot of this is ingenious would actually be an understatement.I just fell in love with the storyline,everything.Rip Torn takes the character of Leon Lamarr and turns him into one of my most favorite villains ever.Torn was simply brilliant.Death Hits the Jackpot is all peaks and no valleys.

The costuming at the Halloween party was delightful, and the performance of Betsy Palmer was very solid.I could watch this countless times over and never cease to be amazed with the quality of this mystery, the cast, the subtle clues and tidbits of evidence, the whole package is right up my alley.I give it a 10 out of 10.

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+

With Peter falk,Rip Torn and Betsy Palmer you know it's going to be a good one🤘

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.

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!

Gary Kroeger, a rather shiftless sort who ekes out a living as a free lance photographer has finally had his ship come in. He's the proud possessor of a 30 million dollar lottery ticket. Unfortunately he also has a greedy wife in Jamie Rose.

So he decides to ask his uncle Rip Torn to cash the check then give him the proceedings when the final divorce decree between Kroeger and Rose is signed. Big mistake because Torn is both greedy and murderous.

Between the estranged wife and the greedy uncle Kroeger never stood a chance. Still Peter Falk has a case to solve and find a motive. A few of those small details that Columbo always harps on do the trick.

And Torn is made a chump of by a chimpanzee. Believe me Columbo never could have put this one together without the chimp.

Highly entertaining.

To watch the great Rip Torn deliver such a stellar performance is worth watching the entire episode of "Death Hits the Jackpot". I have seen him in many movies and always delivers incredible performances. He is such a natural, and very believable in what ever part he is playing.

All this being said, I knocked one star down for Gary Krueger. What a lug! The guy is not only a bad actor, but he is a very unlikeable actor. I'm glad they got rid of him quickly! How did he get that part? The rest of the cast is also sub-par, however it was good to see Warren Berlinger as the portly Detective Jack Stroller, Columbo's assistant, who I remember him from the old "Love, American Style" days.

All Columbo movies had a certain amount of relieving comedy in it but this movie can really be seen as a true comedy. It's more comical than other Columbo entries and its made more as a real comedy. It perhaps makes this movie harder to take serious than other Columbo movie entries but it of course also makes it more fun to watch as well. In that regard "Columbo: Death Hits the Jackpot" is a good and welcome, slightly different, Columbo movie entry.

It's not like the movie isn't offering any mystery-thriller elements. It of course is still a Columbo movie with all of the right required genre elements in it and it still sticks to the usual successful Columbo movie formula as well. It's not like the movie is offering the best or most original story though. It's like a combination of many other previous Columbo movies in more than just a couple of ways, even more than usually is the case. But just because the movie isn't the most original doesn't mean is not the best one to watch. It's simply too well made for that. It also has some nice twists to it, though not all of them feel very likely.

Not in the least the movie works out so well due to the acting performances. Rip Torn is just great in this. He's of course also part of the reason why this movie feels as such a comical one. He at first sight doesn't seem like the most logical choice to play the murderer in a Columbo movie but he simply truly suits his role very well. There also is some nice interaction between him and Peter Falk, who himself also seemed to be a bit improvising at times, which works out nice.

The movie also has a great ending. Again, it's not really the most likely conclusion and way for Lt. Columbo to solve the murder but it nevertheless is a nice and original one.

A pleasant little Columbo movie entry. Nothing too great or original but perfectly watchable due to its entertainment value.

7/10

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The best Columbos depend on the interaction between the detective and the murderer. They also depend on the intricacy of the plot - usually the murderer puts together a elaborate charade and we get to watch Columbo gradually pull it apart by tugging a thread here and a thread there.

The supporting cast in this Columbo is not very strong - a bunch of no-name actors and Rip Torn. We really need Torn to carry the episode. But he doesn't pull it off. It's not entirely his fault. But partly it is.

His accent is grating. Is this his natural accent? But worse is the general blandness of the plot. And then, inexplicably, he's having an affair with his nephew's wife. The writing completely fails to motivate this affair. Why is this woman having an affair with a man nearly twice her age? And of all the much older men to hook up with, her husband's uncle? It's not like Rip Torn is exuding charm towards her. It's just unconvincing.

The whole story doesn't make sense. The nephew doesn't have the cash to pay his rent, but he spends $500 on a case of champagne?

The biggest problem is the lack of chemistry between Falk and Torn. There are two ways the Columbo mysteries work. The most common way is for the culprit to think that Columbo is just an idiot, and then the episode enjoys Falk playing the fool. Occasionally the culprit realizes Columbo is a genius, and the two have a good game of cat- and-mouse.

Torn does neither. He treats Columbo as an annoyance that he wants to avoid. While this is a realistic strategy, it doesn't make for a very entertaining mystery.

And then the story ends out of the blue, with very little in the lead-up that suggests that Columbo has anything close to evidence. Boom, it's over. Oh well. Torn's talent was wasted and nobody else looked capable of contributing much.

Again Columbo performs brilliantly, with all the usual details. But also the plot is quite good, with the killer acting more wise than usual. Some of the evidence is excellent and there is a wonderful side role for an Italian woman, which is subtitled.

Rip Torn stars as Leon Lamarr, a jeweler about to go bankrupt who gets an unexpected visit from his nephew Freddy Brower(played by Gary Kroeger) an equally broke photographer who has just won the lottery of 30 million dollars! Unfortunately, he is getting a divorce from his wife Nancy(played by Jamie Rose) and would have to pay her half, which he does not want to do, so instead devises a scheme with his uncle Leo who will collect the winnings himself, then take a percentage with Freddy. Sadly, Leo gets greedy, and instead murders his nephew to keep all the money, but Lt. Columbo(Peter Falk) is suspicious of course, and must find the evidence to prove it. Rip Torn is indeed a hoot here in fun episode, even if the conclusion becomes a bit cliché.

Good plot but Peter Falk seems very weary of it all by now. From the time he arrives on the crime scene, none of his old pointed curiosity.