Dagger of the Mind

At least there are some English actors, with real accents. Not surprisingly Richard Basehart's accent is hilarious - but better than Dick van Dyke's Cockney. While far from the best Columbo, this is a favourite as I was studying at Imperial College at the time and saw the crew preparing for the scenes. At one point there were a lot of jeering students (definitely 'Miners' - Imperial College graduates will understand) interrupted things. For this reason it brings back very happy memories of College days.

The "London Wax Museum" is not, as was stated in an earlier review, Imperial College. It's the entrance to the Royal College of Music, which is surrounded by Imperial College. The RCM would have got the cash, not IC. The Ipcress File scenes were further east, on the corner of Exhibition Road and Prince Consort Road. I spent two years living almost opposite the RCM, so knew the area very well.

Columbo shows up in London without his suitcase as even when this was filmed, they lost them. He says it is his wife's case but why he came to London without his wife when I am sure Scotland Yard would have paid for both of them? This is a nice tourist episode as a lot of Londons sights are shown. The cast is great as almost the entire cast became well known to American audiences after this was made. Honor Blackman is a bonus as she is a great performer and she was already known as Pussy Galore before this.

The plot on this one is a little weak in that the murder is an accident and Columbo has to result to trickery to trip up the murder solution rather than using his usual proved police methods of homicide investigation. Then again, as this episode was done more for the famous cast and London scenery, I didn't really mind.

Early on in the Columbo series, the producers obviously felt confident enough to take the "man in the mac" out of his familiar American environment and place him in London, to solve a murder - nevertheless, the results are decidedly mixed.

The episode boasts a wonderfully hammy performance from Richard Basehart, as one of the murderers (ably assisted by British actress Honor Blackman)and there are some very humourous scenes as we see Columbo cause mayhem at Heathrow airport and also as he scours London to take snapshots with his brother-in-law's camera.

Notwithstanding these strengths, the adventure is rather thinly plotted and uncertainly paced (the finale really comes without any significant build-up); and the murder set-up itself does not render the ingenious array of clues typical of many of the best Columbo adventures (all we really have here is a turned-over book, an unbroken set of reading glasses, rain spots on a car and an umbrella!).

Additionally, the episode does have a fragmented feel to it owing to the fact that not all of it was filmed in London (the scenes in the London pub are somewhat exaggerated and many of the character actors have awfully manufactured Cockney accents).

This is an average Columbo adventure, but still better than many of the detective shows of its kind.

Despite some of the other reviews on this site, I had a ball with DAGGER OF THE MIND. I always enjoy the Columbo episodes that take the detective out of his Californian home ground and allow him to explore a little further; I've previously seen him both in Mexico and on a cruise ship, but this story takes him his furthest yet - to London itself, at least a Hollywood version of London that few British viewers will recognise.

And it's a real hoot. There's more comedy in this episode than in most of the others. Columbo runs around like the typical bumbling American tourist and has to take snapshots of everything. All of the British characters act in the exceedingly old fashioned way, owning country houses with butlers and driving 1930s-era sports cars. However, I wasn't upset by any of this stuff, I found it quite amusing.

The murder itself is a good one that well utilises a theatrical backdrop. Richard Basehart can be accused of hamming it up something dreadful as the Macbeth actor caught up in a vicious crime, but it's the lovely Honor Blackman who really shines here as his accomplice and Lady Macbeth of the piece. I fully believe she's the loveliest murderess seen in a Columbo story, and the episode benefits hugely as a result. Watch out for some fun at a waxworks, a droll Wilfrid Hyde-White in one of his most developed supporting turns, a typically ingenious climax (isn't that illegal?), and DIAL M FOR MURDER actor John Williams as the victim.

I am a die-hard Columbo fan and I guess all of the episodes, excluding the most recent ones, are my favorites. But Dagger of the Mind is one of my favorite favorites. It has wonderful performances by Honor Blackman and Richard Basehart and a familiar Hitchcock actor, John Williams.

This movie has one of my favorite scenes of all time - Blackman sobbing hysterically over a coffin and babbling to Columbo (we find out later she thinks he's from the press). In the midst of her over-dramatic performance, Columbo, in his most innocent voice asks, "Is there any way for me to get tickets? I'd LOVE to see the show." Too funny. Columbo is a great character. It's a shame that the last few episodes were not up to the wonderful standards of the old episodes and his comeback episodes of the early '90s. I haven't given up hoping he'll be back in top form before Falk decides to retire.