A Stitch in Crime

No really, as a fan of Columbo I still find it a mystery as how I didn't see this episode until fairly recently. It is a wonderful episode and up there with Ashes to Ashes, Any Old Port in a Storm, By Dawn's Early Light, Etude in Black, Blueprint for Murder and How to Dial a Murder as one of the best episodes of the show.

As is always the case with Columbo, visually A Stitch in Crime is very striking, with skillful photography, lighting and I liked the use of locations too. The music score is good too, not the best, most memorable or most atmospheric of all the Columbo episodes, but it is suitably haunting and there are some memorable parts that don't feel obtrusive.

I was also taken with the story. What I loved most about the other episodes I mentioned in this review was that they all had great premises especially How to Dial a Murder. A Stitch in Crime is no exception. As for the story construction it is very interestingly done, is well paced and the ending wraps things up nicely never being too obvious or confusing. The writing once again is very strong, it is thoughtful sometimes yet the exchanges between Columbo and Mayfield also never fail to amuse and delight.

The acting is very good. Will Geer is quite good, not my initial idea for his character, but he plays him well, and as good as the support playing is without completely standing out particularly from Anne Francis, it is the two leads who really impress. Peter Falk is exceptional as Columbo, which came of no surprise really seeing as he always is even in the odd episode when Columbo isn't quite as well written as he can be. Mayfield for me is one of the most intriguing, smartest and calculating villains/suspects in the Columbo canon, and Leonard Nimoy played him to perfection.

Overall, wonderful and I am cross with myself that it took me so long to see it. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Of course every Columbo movie is a cat and mouse play between the Lieutenant and the killer but in this movie this is perhaps more the case than in any other Columbo movie. This is mostly due to Leonard Nimoy and Lt. Columbo gets on his back pretty early on during their first meeting already. There is some great interaction between those two. It's great also to see Columbo get angry for once.

Leonard Nimoy is actually one scary looking dude and he has a great villainous look over him. Too bad he never really made a career as playing villains, I'm sure he would had been just perfect for it. He shows some great acting skills in this movie. Also Peter Falk is great once more as the scruffy Lieutenant, that also suffers from insomnia and is ill (again) this time. There is always something unusual going on with him.

The movie features all of the usual Columbo ingredients and it handles them well, so therefor this movie can be regarded as a simply good and also definitely above average Columbo entry. Also the amount of relieving comedy is just enough to also regard this movie as an entertaining one, without loosing any of its credibility as a murder-mystery.

The movie its story is using a fine setting of an hospital, that seems to really suit murder mysteries. It's like the story is really much special but its strong enough to keep you interested throughout. The killer himself is also definitely clever enough to provide the movie with some good clever moments. It's also all being told in a good quick pace, which makes the movie perfectly good to watch. It's one fine put together movie. It's definitely a step up from Hy Averback's previously directed Columbo movie "Columbo: Suitable for Framing". Also makes it sort of too bad that Shirl Hendryx never delivered any more Columbo screenplays. As a matter of fact he hardly wrote anything again after this and it seems to me that it was more of a writer who wrote stage-plays instead.

A great Columbo entry that follows the usual formula and does very little wrong doing so.

8/10

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This is a largely potent, cleverly-titled and unpredictably effective Season 2 episode from the Columbo series which sees an impulsive and scheming surgeon (played by Leonary Nimoy) murder a nurse who realises that he is going to botch a heart valve operation on his more circumspect and cautious colleague, who are both involved in a revolutionary medical project.

Leonary Nimoy "warms up" in his role as the villain: he is initially a little wooden but ultimately his character provides a stern test for Columbo's powers of deduction and, in turn, Nimoy is very effective in portraying the villain's tenacity and calculating nature.

The script-writer allows the plot to drift a little in mid-section, primarily because of the pursuance of the drug-related theme which is the made-to-look motive used by the killer.

Will Geer's portrayal of his slightly irritating and fussy characterisation is almost too good; since it borders too much towards comedy and this dilutes the tension a little.

The last twenty minutes or so are very well-portrayed: the remarkable thing in this episode is that it is very difficult to anticipate how Columbo will nail the killer. In separate sequences, we see Columbo uncharacteristically lose his temper infront of the murderer and then shake his hand and admit defeat.....

Despite some lesser moments in the middle, the brisk opening and the relentlessly surprising end make this a highly recommended, if not totally faultless Columbo story.

What a great "Columbo" episode. For fans, this has everything. A brilliant adversary. A tricky plot. Deftly chosen jokes. And a twist ending that comes like a thunderclap.

Dr. Mayfield (Leonard Nimoy) is a surgeon with an ingenious scheme for murdering the kindly Dr. Hidemann, his infuriatingly cautious partner in a research project. But Hidemann's devoted nurse (Anne Francis) catches on to the scheme, and Mayfield murders her to prevent discovery. It's up to our Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) not only to find out who killed the nurse but prevent another murder from taking place.

Two things often trip up even the best writers of this series. One is the ending. Too often an episode ends with Columbo revealing a damning piece of evidence that doesn't seem all that damning. Or he tricks the killer into giving himself away, which never quite feels satisfactory. I won't give away this ending, of course. Let's just say it'll please the most demanding fan.

The other thing is the comedy scenes. Columbo affects dimwittedness and bad manners to trick his quarry into underestimating him. But too often the writers seem to think that he is genuinely a buffoon. For instance, there's a terrible scene in "Dagger of the Mind" where he inadvertently creates havoc at an airport. It's not funny, and it's not our Columbo. "A Stitch in Crime," by contrast, has some splendidly comic moments where he is not a clown, just a bit inattentive to manners. What he does with a hardboiled egg is priceless.

He also has the standard scene where something makes him queasy. In "Ransom for a Dead Man" it's the airplane ride. In "Dead Weight" it's the boat ride. Here it's hospitals, especially the operating room. But I like how he's able to steel himself when it really counts. I also love a novel moment. We actually see our faux-obsequious detective drop the pretense and lose his temper. I don't think he's done that since "Prescription: Murder."

Leonard Nimoy is essentially Mr. Spock in a white coat. His Dr. Mayfield is better able to keep his emotions at bay than just about any other murderer in the series. He makes brilliant move after brilliant move, but Columbo checks him every time. And then in the very last frame: checkmate.

A STITCH IN CRIME is one of the finest of the early Columbo episodes. In fact, my only complaint with it is that it's too short, and I would have liked an extra twenty minutes of watching Columbo harassing Leonard Nimoy's villain before the final denouement.

The hospital setting of this story makes for a fun change of pace and there's a notable increase in character comedy from Peter Falk, whether it's cigar stuff, the boiled egg scene, or filling up his plate at a buffet. Nimoy makes for an excellent guest villain and his many scenes with Falk are very well acted and very good fun.

The crucial murder scene is far more complex than normal and involves multiple victims. Nimoy is a proactive villain who goes out of his way to cover up his crimes, so the thing becomes something of a cat and mouse game between detective and killer. The script and production values are exemplary and I can think of nothing to dislike about this one - except I wanted more of it!