Columbo: Columbo Cries Wolf

"Columbo Cries Wolf" is an episode that involves a Playboy-like magazine and the disappearance of its publisher. Now this SHOULD mean that the police would investigate....their Missing Persons unit. However, being "Columbo", our favorite homicide detective was assigned the case. Like nearly every episode of this long-running series, there are plenty of red herrings and twists....and the less said about them here the better, as it would clearly spoil the suspense.

This episode is so clearly 1990 in style....with some outrageous fashions and music. But it's also a show clearly trying to bring sex into the show in order to boost ratings....with tons of beautiful women in various states of dress and undress.

So is it any good? Yes, though I didn't love this one. One reason was Ian Buchanan's accent...which seemed to come and go. At times, he sounded like a typical American and other times he sounded like the Scot he is. This is especially noticeable in a scene inside the limo with Columbo....and I am surprised the director didn't spot this and re-shoot the scene. Another was that where the body would ultimately be found and how was clearly telegraphed...too much so. Still, it is entertaining and worth seeing.

Soap stars Ian Buchanan from General Hospital and the always beautiful Deirdre Hall from Days of Our Lives are involved in a disappearance and possible murder of a publisher. Of course, this brings a slew of much needed publicity for a starving magazine. Gigi Rice has a role as well. It's a familiar story with Ian playing a British Hugh Hefner style younger man and his empire in financial ruins. His partner is played by the beautiful Deidre Hall (she hasn't aged in years) wants out of the business. Of course, the motive is about money. Columbo episodes try to use simple motives rather than complex and the crimes are always pretty simply done whether it is done with a gun. We are never truly left with a gruesome crime scene in Columbo episodes and that's a good thing because Columbo has always been light-hearted at heart and his interactions with the prime suspect is always fascinating. When he thinks he's wrong, he's not.

PLOT: The majority owner of a popular men's mag (Deidre Hall), the kind with layouts of alluring women, disappears when she travels to London. Columbo smells murder and zeroes-in on her womanizing partner (Ian Buchanan), as well as his latest model-trinket (Rebecca Staab).

COMMENTARY: Who cares if the two guest-stars are soap opera actors? This is one of the better latter-day installments. The plot follows the Columbo formula up until the last act and then pulls the rug out from under you.

I thought it was good up to that point with an interesting murder scenario that includes an element of the original Columbo movie "Prescription: Murder" (1968), but the unexpected twist takes it to the next level, even though it's pretty preposterous. Entertainment is the name of the game and this episode delivers.

It's perhaps the best showcase of beautiful women in the show's history, rivaled only by the outstanding "Now You See Him" (1976). Rebecca Staab is a highlight as Tina. You might remember her as Jerry Seinfeld's winsome redhead girlfriend in the episode "The Pledge Drive" (1994).

The movie runs 1 hour, 35 minutes.

GRADE: A-

Yes, Columbo gets it wrong or does he? This is an excellent Columbo story which adds a neat twist to the usual formula. Falk is lively throughout and by setting it in the glamour world, there are plenty of opportunities for comic moments. Very well paced and a treat to watch.

I must say I was shocked at how many reviewers gave this a fine rating. And I say this as one who does not despise every episode from the later Columbos. Despite the overall downgrade in quality, and the ridiculous and failed attempts to change the formula in many, I still think there were quite a few superb episodes, including the two with McGoohan, the Faye Dunnaway and Dabney Coleman episodes, the one with the dental filling, 'R.I.P Mrs. Columbo,' and the very last episode - just to name a few. However, this one, like most of the others that changed the formula, fails miserably in my opinion. Basically, it is extremely good in the final fifteen minutes, and downright awful for the first 75 - when one is suffocated by dreadful soap opera acting, endless shots of bathing beauties, and the kind of infantile detective work that one finds in a typical cable channel movie of the week whodunit. Only when all this is mercifully gone, is the great Peter Falk allowed to shine again. Moreover, the entire plot and sleuthing in the first 75 minutes have no connection whatsoever to the Columbo style, and the clues he discovers are downright childish by his standards - such as the creamer clue upon which he builds his entire case. Basically, it is nothing more than a bit of good luck that any lousy detective could fall into, w/o requiring any of the Columbo ingenuity and brilliance to notice or decipher. When you stick to the formula, even if the actors and script are mediocre, you can at least enjoy Columbo and his inimitable acting and comments. In this film, you have neither. Just look at the list of 'Quotes.' There is not even a single line worth repeating. Likewise, no dog, car or raincoat jokes to laugh at. Humor in this flop amounts to Columbo getting splashed with water, or sitting in a limo with 6 bimbos. God have mercy on me.