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.

Susan Clark plays an excellent murderess in this movie, stifled and controlled by her brother who manages the family business and the money. Her plan to break free of his control and take over the business herself is well worked out and seems foolproof, but one miscalculation leaves her having to improvise her way out one problem after another. Leslie Nielsen, as her lawyer boyfriend, turns in a fine performance, as he plays a sensible, serious role with humour but without the manic quality that has come to be his trademark. Peter Falk's Columbo does a good job worrying and nibbling at the truth, forcing the killer to come up with more lies and explanations, until the contradictions close in on her and she is caught. The viewer finds himself sympathizing with the murderer at the beginning, but her growing confidence and arrogance as she reaps the fruits of her crime succeed in making her downfall a satisfying one.

Very enjoyable early Columbo with good location and stars, especially the lead actress. Nice fashion too.

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.

Susan Clark gives a fine performance as a male-dominated female who "bumps-off" her brother to protect her relationship with her boyfriend (Leslie Nielsen) and give her back her independence.

This story gathers intensity as the murderess (the first female killer in the actual TV series) is dismissive of any intrusion by others into her family business and she becomes more manipulative and insensitive as Columbo gets closer to the truth - an effective piece of scripting and a hallmark of the series in that Columbo invariably annoyed his chief suspect almost to the point of a nervous breakdown!

The ending is also significant since Columbo's life is clearly on the line. However, the effectiveness of the irony that the killer's boyfriend unwittingly gives Columbo the vital piece of incriminating information, is undone by the fact that the clue could easily have been pinpointed earlier.

This clearly gives the impression that the script-writer had some difficulty in providing a satisfactory conclusion to an originally well-thought-out concept.