Columbo "Dagger of the Mind" #2.4 (1972) (TV)

One of the Worst of the Columbo Series, 18 March 2005

While on a trip to England to learn about some of Scotland Yard's latest innovations, Columbo stumbles upon a murder. The producer of a Shakespearean play has been killed and Columbo's suspicion soon fall on a husband and wife acting team appearing in the producer's latest play. Columbo must match wits with this pair of thespians to prove their guilt.

The long running series of Columbo movies was in its second year when Dagger of the Mind was made. It's amazing that the people behind the movies felt it necessary to "jump the shark" so early in the series. The whole idea of Columbo in England is ridiculous. It's something you do when you are desperate for ratings. Fortunately for fans of Columbo, the series survived this misguided attempt to (I suppose) spice things up and continued for years.

I have several problems with the movie, but I'll focus on only one - the ending. Without going into details, the evidence that catches the pair of killers is a bead inside an umbrella placed there by Columbo. Had the murderers only remained silent, there's no way a jury would have convicted them with such obviously planted evidence. But, in order to wrap things up in two hour time slot, one of the killers immediately falls to pieces and begins to confess to everything. How utterly silly. A man who is capable of killing someone is surely capable of withstanding the pressure of a little illegally planted evidence.

This is easily the worst of the Columbo movies I've seen to date.

5/10