Columbo: Murder, Smoke and Shadows

TV Movie
1989
TV-PG
1h 38m

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

2.4K

YOUR RATING

Columbo: Murder, Smoke and Shadows (1989)

Cop Drama Police Procedural Crime Drama Mystery

An egocentric young director murders a childhood friend who threatened to expose his complicity in the negligent death of the friend's sister years before he found fame and success. Lt. Colu... Read allAn egocentric young director murders a childhood friend who threatened to expose his complicity in the negligent death of the friend's sister years before he found fame and success. Lt. Columbo is investigating.An egocentric young director murders a childhood friend who threatened to expose his complicity in the negligent death of the friend's sister years before he found fame and success. Lt. Columbo is investigating.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

2.4K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
A bust of Alfred Hitchcock is prominently displayed between the two arcade games in Alex Brady's office. Hitchcock was a shareholder in MCA-Universal studios and spent his last 20 years at the studio.

Goofs
Columbo spots a couple of ice cream sodas left on the counter in Alex Bradey's office, known as his "boys' club". One glass is almost full, and the other about half-full. Not only can the viewer see this, but Columbo comments on it at length, theorizing with uncanny accuracy how the full and the half-full glasses show what happened earlier, when the victim (Fisher) was visiting Bradey's office. The moment Columbo leaves, Bradey rushes to the soda glasses to destroy the evidence. Inexplicably, both glasses are now nearly empty.

Quotes
Columbo: [referring to the water bed] You know, I've never tried one of these. My wife, that's Mrs. Columbo, she tried to get me interested.
Alex Bradey: [after Columbo lies on the bed] Well, how do you like it?
Columbo: Well, to tell you the truth, sir, it feels all swimmy. Makes me wonder what Mrs. Columbo had in mind.

Connections
Featured in JFK to 9/11: Everything Is a Rich Man's Trick (2014)

User reviews43

Featured review

7/10

Good but not great

As I have said many times I love Columbo and always have done. Murder, Smoke and Shadows(wonderful title) is a good episode, but it is not my definition of a truly great episode. It looks great, and is scored very nicely. The script and story are more than acceptable, but I have seen better in other episodes. The script is clever with some nice wit, but it did feel a little too talky, slowing the pace of the story, a component that has been more diverting and perhaps more original before and since but still interesting and entertaining in the clues, the interaction between Falk and Stevens and Columbo deductions. The ending is great. Peter Falk while not as alert as he was pre-1989 is still terrific in perhaps his most iconic role, and while not my favourites of the series by all means Fisher Stevens still delights as a Steven Spielberg-like director character, who is a complete jerk often. Overall, a good episode, but just falls short of greatness. 7/10 Bethany Cox