Lady in Waiting

LADY IN WAITING is a solid early episode of the COLUMBO TV show, but not one of my favourites and the reason for that lies in the character of the murderess, as played by Susan Clark. Clark starts out as a mildly sympathetic character at the beginning but undergoes a transformation into one of the most repulsive and annoying characters in the whole COLUMBO canon. I ended up gritting my teeth every time she came on screen - which is a lot - which takes away from the enjoyment a bit.

Otherwise, the mystery is a simple one for Columbo to solve. Clark murders her controlling brother and pretends that she mistook him for a burglar, but her deed doesn't go exactly to plan and Columbo soon smells a rat. Peter Falk is on excellent form here and the scenes in which Clark belittles him are particularly fine. The direction has dated a little, with some cheesy dream effects and overuse of the zoom lens, but the production benefits as a whole from featuring a typically Leslie Nielsen in support back when he was playing it straight.

Before Susan Clark became famous for the sit-com "Webster," she was a highly-touted TV movie of the week star and had a film career as well. In this Columbo, she is a mousy, albeit wealthy young woman who has lived her life under the thumb of her father, and after he dies, her brother (Richard Anderson). She hatches a plot to kill her brother, who is interfering with her plans to marry an employee (Leslie Nielsen) of the family company but if anything could go wrong on the evening of the murder, it does.

Columbo is brought in, and he immediately finds some questionable items, and things become clear as, over time, the lady completely reinvents herself, taking over the company, getting a new hair color and hairdo, a fashion makeover, and a rather unattractive, aggressive change in attitude.

There is a great performance by Jesse Royce Landis as the mother (who greets her daughter by slapping her in the face, and makes Columbo pay her exorbitant cab fare).

It's a shame that Clark does nothing today, but I suppose, sadly, her age is a factor. She seems to have found great happiness in her long marriage to Alex Karras, but her fans miss her. If you're not familiar with her work, catch her in this Columbo episode.

Beth Chadwick (Susan Clark, best known for the sitcom, "Webster") has a brilliant scheme to murder her overbearing brother. On the night the servants are off, she'll trick him into entering the house through her French windows. Then she'll shoot him and tell the police she thought he was a burglar. To make this lie seem credible, she'll leave several deceptive clues, including a burnt-out light bulb and a set of keys thrown in the bushes.

But on the night of the murder, a couple of things go wrong. Her brother does not act according to her plan. And her boyfriend (Leslie Nielsen) unexpectedly shows up at the door only minutes after she pulls the trigger. These later seem to have been minor obstacles – until our rumpled Lt. Columbo unravels her defense.

Stephen Bochco, who earlier had scripted the great "Columbo: Murder by the Book" (then went on to create TV series like "Hill Street Blues," and "NYPD Blue") gives us our most sympathetic "Columbo" killer yet. Miss Chadwick is a mousy introvert who suddenly flowers when her domineering brother is dead. And when Chadwick's belittling mother (Jessie Royce Landis) greets her daughter with a slap across the face, we're willing to forgive this murderess anything.

But Bochco makes the interesting decision to slowly turn us against her. As she reaps the rewards of her crime, she becomes arrogant and imperious. She takes over the family business, makes radical changes and threatens to fire anyone who may disagree with her. She even announces her engagement to her boyfriend, which surprises him as much as anyone else. Bochco's decision was probably wise. We can't help but root for the most diabolical of murderers in this series, but ultimately we want Lt. Columbo to triumph. Make the killer too sympathetic, and we'd want to throttle our beloved detective.

Still, this absorbing entry is not one of the top-notch "Columbo" episodes. It's one thing for a killer to be a charming rogue from beginning to end. But it's another to engage our emotions then cut them off halfway through.

I think the key to the problem is Peter Hamilton, the boyfriend. When we lose sympathy for Miss Chadwick, we naturally should be transferring it over to him. But we can't. We can accept as plausible the idea that Hamilton really loves her; we can accept that he is not the fortune hunter her family says he is. But nothing – in the script or in the male mannequin charms of Leslie Nielsen – makes this fact come alive for us. Hamilton is about to lose the woman he loves, and we don't care.

But you won't be griping about any of this when you see it. This probably won't be your favorite "Columbo" episode, but you'll still be thoroughly entertained.

PLOT: The repressed and overprotected sister (Susan Clark) of an ad agency executive murders her brother (Richard Anderson) and stages it as a mistaken burglary. This takes place right after he threatens to fire her fiancé who works for the company (Leslie Nielsen). She then morphs into a startlingly confident and ruthless power broker.

COMMENTARY: Clark is excellent as the stifled wallflower turned murderess with a semi-mad gleam in her eye while Nielsen is just as good in a convincing serious role. The intriguing plot is original (for Columbo, at least) and the way the rumpled gumshoe pesters the woman with details, even after an inquest declares the killing accidental, is gripping drama. So "Lady in Waiting" is on par with the stronger Columbo outings. But there are glaring plot holes that lower my grade...

Why is there no trace of blood on the floor where her brother falls on the floor? After all, she shot him three times. And why is there no line of blood leading to where the body is dragged, keeping in mind that she had zero time to clean anything up?

Furthermore, since when are American detectives allowed to freely march into a citizen's abode in the middle of the night and confront a suspect in her bedroom? Officers must knock before entering a home, declare their presence, and wait for the inhabitant to come to the door. This is called the "knock-and-announce" rule. The reason for this rule is to allow people a chance to respond so that violence can be avoided and privacy ensured, otherwise police can waltz right into any abode and watch individuals having sex, bathing or going to the bathroom.

Also, do detectives continue pursuing cases after the suspect has been declared innocent by a court of inquiry? Are they paid to keep harassing the individual or do they do this on their free time?

And doesn't Columbo take a great risk at the climax? After all, this woman has proven that she's a little sociopathic (to put it nicely) and more than willing to murder someone in cold blood. Yes, he takes a similar risk in "Columbo Goes to the Guillotine" (1989), but he was much older then and confident of his conclusions on the suspect's character based on decades of experience.

"Lady in Waiting" is an entertaining episode, but there are too many blatant plot issues.

GRADE: B-/C+

A few things are notable about this episode from the first season of the show. It was one of several Columbos written by that great TV writer, Stephen Bochco, and directed by that acting/producing legend, Norman Lloyd. Among many other career accomplishments, Lloyd had worked closely with (and presumably learned a few things about directing from) master director Alfred Hitchcock, as had the supporting actress who plays the mom of Sharon Clark's character here (and of her brother, the victim, Richard Anderson), Jessie Royce Landis (who played Grace Kelly's mom in "To Catch a Thief" and also Cary Grant's in "North by Northwest"). And an early, totally serious role is played by Leslie Nielsen. And the plot is a little different from the typical Columbo setup, in that not only do we the audience know "who dunnit," but all of these the other characters do, too, as Clark admits to it all right off the bat, claiming it was an (unfortunate and understandable) accident. But her excuse doesn't survive our beloved Lieutenant's intense scrutiny. I give this one an extra star for the never less than convincing Ms. Landis, who died just a few months after appearing in this episode.