Columbo: Ashes to Ashes

"Ashes to Ashes" from 1998 is a great Columbo episode, with Falk coming up against repeat offender from past years, Patrick McGoohan, as a murderous funeral director.

McGoohan plays Eric Prince, an ex-actor turned funeral director who sold gossip to a Louella Parsons-type TV columnist Verity Chandler (Rue McClanahan) while they were having an affair.

The affair over, Verity has done some investigation and learned that when a great screen star, Dorothea Page died, a million-dollar necklace that accompanied her to the funeral home disappeared and is what enabled Prince to buy more and more funeral homes. While attending the funeral of an old cowboy star, Verity makes the mistake of announcing to Prince that she'll be exposing him on national television in a few days.

McGoohan is terrific, perfectly controlled in his internalized anger.

It's time for Lieutenant Columbo to investigate, and we all know the rest. McGoohan and Falk play off one another perfectly.

Very entertaining episode, certainly as good as any from Columbo's golden years. Falk was 71 here - most lieutenants would have retired by then, but not this guy. Good thing.