Dente per dente

As incredible and implausible as it is I still like this one because it kept me entertained. John Reed makes a great villain.

It is not unusual that fate plays a big role in making Columbo's job easier. As an example, who would normally leave the parking stub on the windshield? Besides, wouldn't it be turned in at the garage gate? Of course, this is Hollywood where many unusual things happen everyday. So, never mind that "little detail." I certainly enjoyed this episode and I'm ready to watch it again.

All in all, this was an enjoyable and clever episode. The villain is good looking but rather bland. His interaction with Columbo is nothing exciting. But where the episode excels is in Columbo's sleuthing. This episode reminds me a lot more of the vintage episodes. It follows the classic formula, no cheesy music and straight forward story telling. The newer movies only veer off when they try to be too cute or trendy. That's usually where the bad music comes in. My only complaint here is my usual gripe : choice of villain. They could have really used a more dynamic actor. The vintage episode usually had the best guest stars. The newer movies, with a couple of exceptions, used lesser known (and lesser talented, IMO) actors. Best moment : the tricky ending and Columbo's stained laundry.

One of the better of the later Columbo movies has James Read as a most prominent dentist with a gambling problem being cheated on by wife Jo Anderson with movie star Marshall Teague and also being kicked out of the practice by father-in-law Paul Burke.

Using the knowledge of his profession Read concocts a scheme to kill the lover and frame the wife for the crime. Read is one cocky and arrogant suspect as he plays the role of the wronged husband standing by his wife.

To show how prominent Read is with the prominent people there's a nice scene here with a poker party with several of his patients playing themselves. They include Dick Sargent, Nancy Walker, and Dodger great 3rd baseman Ron Cey. Read is losing there and he likes to bet frequently on slow horses.

In fact it's at the track where Peter Falk confronts him even still not quite having put it together.

Read's one of Columbo's best villains, the ones you really love seeing tripped up.

Uneasy Lies the Crown is certainly not a bad episode, in fact I thought it was quite good, just not great like a lot of Columbo episodes. It is a little far-fetched and implausible in the plot at first, luckily the clues are deft and the tone of the episode becomes grittier and diverting by the final act. James Read certainly looks the part, tall, handsome and sophisticated, and he works very well with Falk in their sparring, however there were other times in this episode especially at the start where his performance felt underplayed and bland. There are some bright spots in the supporting cast, but the general standard was inconsistent ranging from inconsistent to bland and annoying. Uneasy Lies the Crown is still a well made episode with a strong score, often clever writing like in the cat-and-mouse scenes between Falk and Read and Peter Falk is just wonderful as always as Columbo, though I do think he has given better performances in the series. Overall, decent if lacking the extra something that the best episodes of the series had. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The previous installment of "Columbo" ("Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo") was extremely weak and had several plot holes. Fortunately, the series was back in form with "Uneasy Lies the Crown".

Dr. Corman is a jerk...and a second-rate dentist. His favorite thing in life is gambling...not his wife. So, she begins having an affair. He knows about it but plays dumb....and concocts a plan to kill his wife's lover, frame her for the murder AND convince his father-in-law to keep him at his dental practice! It's a very clever plan and involves a lethal dose of Digitalis administered under a crown he implanted in the boyfriend's mouth! Will he get away with it and fool Columbo? Yeah, right!

This is a very enjoyable episode. I am not at all sure of the chemistry and if it's real...though the show made it seem plausible. Fascinating to watch and well worth seeing.