PLOT: Roger Stanford's uncle David Buckner owns a chemical plant and Stanford has plans to take over the company. The only solution he can come up with to make this happen is to plant a bomb in a cigar case in Buckner's car, which explodes and the car rolls down a hill. Soon Columbo is on the case and begins to suspect foul play. Stanford is behaving oddly, though he is an odd man at the best of times. Anyone could have planted the bomb in the cigar case as it was kept in an office which many people entered on the day of the murder. In the end Columbo tricks the villain into incriminating himself. In the final scene Columbo and Stanford are travelling up on a cable car. Columbo informs Stanford that they found the package of cigars intact from the wreckage and that it had been an accident after all. He shows Stanford the package and tells him they hadn't opened it yet. Stanford becomes extremely irate as Columbo opens the package and tells him to open the doors and throw it out. It transpires Columbo has set the whole thing up and there is no bomb in the case. He tells Stanford this and the episode ends with Stanford throwing the cigars in the air and laughing in a hysterical and very bizarre manner. No wonder Columbo looks puzzled. Perhaps he is puzzled that they can make such a bad episode!
VERDICT:
Roddy McDowall gives an over the top and irritating performance as the villain Roger Stanford and the plot is weak. This is one of the few failures of the first few series, in which the standard on the whole was very good.
Written by Mark Wilson
(C) Copyright Wilson/Young Enterprises 2006.
CAST:
Roger Stanford......Roddy McDowall
Doris Buckner...........Ida Lupino
Miss Bishop...........Anne Francis
Everett Logan.......William Windom
David L Buckner......James Gregory
Sergeant.............Steve Gravers
Murphy...............Lawrence Cook
Nancy...............Rosalind Miles
