The Peacemaker

One of the most clever murders in the Columbo series were stud Robert Conrad breaks his victim's neck and rigs it up to look like he was lifting weights which killed him. He also tries to mask the time of death by forging a phone call. When Peter Falk shows up to investigate, boy, do the enemies ever get sick of each other fast. In a hospital-set scene, Columbo even yells that he believes Conrad is responsible for the death- rare for Columbo, who tries to hide that fact normally. Interesting watching the lieutenant sort through the clues, and the office-set conclusion has the viewer hooked. Highly recommended.

OK, I know people are going to yell at me, but I think this film has a poor conclusion which doesn't really make sense anyway. Everything else in this film was good, but it was so uncharacteristic. In this one, Columbo takes on Ernst Stravo Blofeld- well, Donald Pleasence, anyway. Starts off interesting enough: Pleasence murders his brother, Gary Conway, and hides away his body for some time in his wine chambers. Columbo weaves his net in an interesting way, but I found the scenes were Donald and his secretary or whatever discussed marriage were exceeding boring. Watch other NBC epsiodes instead, even the new ABC ones, even read Willaim Harrington's novels (except for Columbo: The Hoffa Connection, even this is better than that) but avoid this one.

The gentleman burglar and his sidekick, Gainard, come to the small screen in a one-season cartoon that once aired on teletoon and is now on a-channel at 11:00 am (in Alberta). Lupin is in his same old style, charming, gentlemanly, and clever. However, it's slightly changed from Maurice LeBlanc. It now takes place in the 1930s, the stories are updated (and re-written, to a degree, though fortunately a descendant of Leblanc works on the show), and new characters (such as May Hem) are introduced. "Max" Leblanc is turned into an orphan living with Kelly Kincaid. Also, in several episodes a sort of cameo appears. Ever heard of Lupin's most famous story, 813? That number appears on boxes, turns up on Lupin's hotel room, is the time on the smashed clock- even Gainard's licence plate!-try to find out how many you can catch!

The show aired in French as Les Exploits'd Arsene Lupin, as well. A Japanese Animator named "Monkey Punch" made a show called "Lupin III" about the burglar's grandson. Just a bit of trivia!

As you may or may not know, Sherlock Holmes appeared in the stories. However, due to Conan Doyle's objection, they were translated into English as "Herlock Sholmes", and usually in French that's what he's called, too. Having read the whole Holmes canon, I noticed LeBlanc made Holmes do some uncharacteristic things, but he still paid him respect, even letting the great detective catch Lupin (he, of course, escaped) and the first episode of the series: Elementary, My Dear Lupin; has Sholmes and Watson (as Wilson) humbling Lupin. An interesting show. Some changes, a few technical errors, and Lupin's hair is changed to brown, but I recommend it to Lupin fans.

Episode Guide:

ENGLISH FRENCH 1 Elementary, My Dear Lupin 1 Élémentaire, Mon Cher Lupin 2 The Modern Weapon 2 L'Arme Moderne 3 The Von Luppo Affair 3 L'Affaire Von Luppo 4 $20 Million Beneath the Sea 4 20 Millions Sous les Mers 5 The Empire Karst Building 5 L'Empire Karst Building 6 Sam The Golden Hand 6 René Les Doigts d'Or 7 The Diva's Diamonds 7 L'Aire des Bijoux 8 The Secret of the Golden Scarab 8 Le Secret du Scarabée d'Or 9 A Prince on the Orient Express 9 Un Prince dans l'Orient Express 10 The Archduke of Austrovia 10 L'Archiduc d'Austrovie 11 The South African Mine Shakedown 11 Mains Basses Sur les Mines 12 Operation Iris 12 Operation Iris 13 The Mystery of Captain Blade 13 Le Secret du Capitaine Blade 14 Lupin Takes Pole Position 14 Pôle Position Pour Lupin 15 The Pearl of Simbad 15 La Perle de Simbad 16 Lupin Hits Seventy 16 100 À l'Heure 17 When Lupin Steps into Action 17 Quand Lupin S'en Mele 18 Lady M 18 Lady M 19 The Green Star 19 L'Étoile Verte 20 The Dove of Peace 20 La Colombe de la Paix 21 President's Oil 21 Le Pétrole du Président 22 Sicilian Power 22 Des Bulles d'Air Électriques 23 A Fistful of Gold 23 Une Poignée d'Or 24 The Arkinite Crystal 24 Le Cristal d'Arkinite 25 Karst for President 25 Karst President 26 To Catch Lupin 26 Chantage Pour Lupin