Dead Weight

Retired Major General Martin Hollister has made some money by being part of a business that gets work at very high prices, thanks to a partner inside the Government that awards him contracts and splits the profits, even though others are cheaper and better. However his partner's employers are onto him and Colonel Dutton is looking to run. Hollister can't end his career on the run and kills Dutton – effectively cutting any possible route back to him. However a woman boating off the marina thinks she sees the murder and calls it in. With no other evidence, body or weapon Columbo is ready to drop it but can't discount the eye witness account from Helen Stewart. While Columbo keeps digging for clues, Hollister gets to know Helen – hoping his easy charm will make her doubt what she has seen.

As with many TV film series (such as Perry Mason), if you like one or two of them then you'll pretty much like them all. This entry in the Columbo series pretty much follows the usual formula – we know the killer and the "perfect" plan but then watch Columbo follow his hunch and gradually starts to pick holes in the story he is told before eventually finding enough to prove his suspicions. Saying this is not a spoiler – it is simply what happens in all the films. With this strict adherence to formula it is usually down to several factors whether or not the Columbo film stands out or if it is just average. Here we try something pretty different – the cat and mouse games go three ways, with both men vying for the heart and mind of the witness to the crime. It could have been very good, and some strong moments in this dynamic show how well it could have worked, but too much of it is unconvincing and forced. If Martin and Helen had been good friends already before the murder, the step up to semi-lovers would have been easier to take. As it is, it feels too sudden and easy, and it surely would have set off alarm bells in everyone's mind – Helen would have suspected and Martin would have known better once the seeds of doubt were evident after only one or two meetings. Helen's character is well written and is a little believable that she would be suckered in by male attention, but Hollister is not as well laid out as a character – a problem since the conclusion relies wholly on an understanding of his character.

The film fails to set up Hollister as a vain and proud man early on and tries to do it suddenly at the end – mostly by Columbo telling us who he is. This weakens the solution because we have not been allowed to see these traits really until then. If it had been better written then these little things would have been evident across the film – just like personality traits are always there – it would have impressive if it had done this and it would have been further proof of Columbo's powers of observation (although, in a way it still is – but just a lot less effective). Falk is still good though, and even in 1971 he has "gotten" his character just right – almost a second skin even then. Albert is OK but could have been better; he toys with Columbo but then that didn't work because (with no evidence or body) why would he? He also seems smarter than the road he takes – not his fault as a performer but more of the material letting him down. Pleshette is good but again she is held back by the material; it was a nice performance though, and she did the best she could with it.

Overall this was a good try – but I really want to be able to say more than that. If it had been better written then it would have been a very good variation from formula but, with the unconvincing aspects looming large over the story, it doesn't work as well as the occasional strong moment suggest it could. The performances are all pretty good but the writing and development of characters and the plot lets them down when they need it most. Fans will enjoy it but, without anything being added by the change to formula, even they will probably acknowledge that it is not one of the better Columbo films.

This is a good, workmanlike episode of "Columbo." But for the first time, another guest star is more interesting than the one who plays the murderer.

A young divorcée, Mrs. Stewart (Suzanne Pleshette), and her mother (Kate Reid) are out sailing when the daughter happens to look into the window of a nearby house; she sees a man in a bathrobe shoot another man in military uniform. Her mother doesn't believe her, and she even begins to doubt herself when the man she accuses proves to be the celebrated Major Gen. Martin Hollister (Eddie Albert).

"Columbo" fans know the splendid formula here. We witness a high-status personage commit a murder. The rumpled Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) investigates and knows intuitively who the killer is. He plays a cat-and-mouse game with the criminal until he is able to prove his suspicions right and send the sophisticated perpetrator up the river. But my plot description above skews toward the witness, because for once that's who really captures our interest. Not the murderer.

Eddie Albert is best known as the straight man in the wacky sitcom, "Green Acres," but also played a wide variety of supporting roles in Hollywood, two of which earned him Oscar nominations. Here he plays a war hero who has aged into a corrupt businessman capable of cold-bloodedly murdering a colonel (John Kerr). This fellow Marine, who has conspired with him in illegal shenanigans, visits the bathrobe-clad Hollister to warn him that they are about to be exposed. Hollister thinks he can prevent discovery by getting rid of his co-conspirator. Albert is far too amiable to give this potentially fascinating character any depth; which is a shame, because Columbo finally discovers the damning piece of evidence through his understanding of Hollister's psychology. The impact of this revelation is muted because Hollister is not a fully realized character.

But Mrs. Stewart and her mother are. We meet them at the moment before the shooting; the camera cuts to the two of them just as it happens. Mrs. Stewart tells her mother what she just saw, and the mother immediately belittles the idea.

We soon learn this is the essence of their relationship. Mrs. Stewart phones the police, despite her mother's mockery. Columbo investigates, but Hollister has covered up the murder so well that not even our eagle-eyed detective can find anything. And when he meets Stewart and her mother, he thinks even less of her report. Mrs. Stewart clearly lives an empty life, poisoned by a mother who never misses a chance to denigrate her. Later, Hollister appears and seduces his witness. Finally even she begins to doubt what she saw.

Suzanne Pleshette ("The Bob Newhart Show"; Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds") gives a splendidly sympathetic performance, further enhanced by her interplay with the excellent Kate Reid ("The Andromeda Strain"). They are the heart of this episode. Eddie Albert's performance never really gels and prevents this from being a top-notch "Columbo" outing.

MISCELLANY: The music is credited to Gil Mille, but the score seems to be stock music from earlier episodes, primarily from Mille's "Death Lends a Hand."

Mrs. Stewart calls Columbo "an unmade bed," probably the first time anyone had used this apt metaphor.

A solid early Columbo effort. Much of the success of any Columbo episode hinges on the chemistry between Columbo and the murderer. Here Peter Falk and Eddie Albert rate high marks. Albert is if anything a little too controlled and smug. Not unrealistic for a general who is accustomed to getting his way. And sometimes he dangles clues in front of the detective as if trying to get caught. The banter between Kate Reid and Suzanne Pleshette is also quite good. BTW Suzanne looks ultra fetching in those mod clothes she wears. A cameo by semi-regular Timothy Carey adds to the fun. I agree with the consensus that the ending is a little too pat and abrupt, but a minor quibble.

PLOT: A famous retired general (Eddie Albert) shoots a subordinate officer to safeguard his past shady business dealings in the military, but a troubled divorcee (Suzanne Pleshette) witnesses the event from a sail boat and reports it to the police. The pompous war hero then starts smoodging her.

COMMENTARY: Pleshette was only 33 during shooting and really cute while Albert makes for a worthy antagonist. There were unfortunately some problems on set with Falk storming off and missing a day due to a power play with Universal involving their reneging on the original agreement to allow Falk to direct other episodes. But this caused problems with the co-stars and the studio had to get a stand-in for Peter to shoot scenes with Albert and Pleshette. The director refused to reshoot the scenes after Falk returned. Suzanne expressed her frustrations years later on a talk show (watch it on Youtube) while Albert frankly told Peter that he was a such-and-such (a word that starts with 'a').

Thankfully, I was never able to discern any problems with the episode, which reveals the expertise of the director, actors and editors. "Dead Weight" may not be as good as the previous two installments, but it's still a solid Columbo entry. There's a sequence where the general takes Columbo for a ride on his yacht, which is reminiscent of a plane scene in the second pilot "Ransom for a Dead Man."

GRADE: B

The cool demeanor of Eddie Albert's Martin J. Hollister and his enjoyable interplay with Columbo makes "Dead Weight" a pleasure to watch multiple times. This is one of Columbo's toughest cases because Hollister has convincingly succeeded in swaying unstable Helen Stewart from what she originally thought she had witnessed. Excellent plot, excellent directing. The music score adds to this first season episode's likability. The final clue, additionally, is rather unique. It points to the villain's tragic flaw, which is exciting to discover and shows that Hollister is yet more complex with more compassion inside than we realized.