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

I have loved most of the Columbos. This one is a favorite because of the cast: Leonard Nimoy, Anne Francis, Nita Talbot and Will Geer. There's a wonderful relationship between Geer and Francis, which makes the murders all the sadder.

Nimoy plays a doctor, Dr. Barry Martin, working on a promising research project with an older doctor, Heideman (Geer) who is more conservative. Martin wants to get the work out there; Heideman wants to do more tests and is conversing with another doctor. Since Martin has only attached himself to this project and not done a lot of real work, he's unhappy at the idea of someone else coming in.

When Heideman needs a valve replacement, Martin operates. After the surgery, a nurse (Anne Francis) realizes that he used a different kind of suture. It's actually dissolving suture, so in a few days, it will kill the doctor. Martin kills her before she can investigate.

Of course, leave it to Nita Talbot to provide one of the funniest Columbo scenes, where she describes the differences between herself and her roommate, Francis. Paraphrasing: "She is kind and devoted to helping people, so she works in a hospital...I am only interested in shallow things like money, so I work for a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon." She's fabulous as always.

Great episode, and as someone else said, it's great because you're just not sure how Columbo will get this guy. Also, Martin's arrogance causes Columbo to lose his temper in a great scene.

One of the best.

It is clear from perusing the reviews how special this series was to people. For those who don't know, Columbo aired only every 3rd week as part of the NBC Mystery Movie, along with McMillan and Wife (Rock Hudson and Susan St. James), and McCloud (Dennis Weaver from Gunsmoke).

This episode, with our old pal Leonard Nimoy from Star Trek is one of my favorites. Nimoy is quite up to playing out a battle of wits with Peter Falk. The only bummer in this episode was the loss of the beautiful Anne Francis (Forbidden Planet / Honey West) so early in the show.

The key moment in this episode is when Columbo slams the vase (or whatever it was) onto the desk and accuses Nimoy's character of murder. He so rarely loses his cool it's fun to be there when he does.

In this episode of Columbo, Peter Falk takes down a doctor who is one cool customer as he plans what he thinks is a truly inventive homicide. As his adversary here is Leonard Nimoy who gave us the ultimate in cool under fire in Star Trek as Spock we know we are in for a good battle of wits.

The problem is that Nimoy intends to murder his colleague Dr. Will Geer so he can take over a research project. Certainly something hard to prove except to Anne Francis who catches on really early because of her medical training. That necessitates her murder, done a bit more crudely, but still with Nimoy throwing some real good red herrings in the mix for Peter Falk to field. And there's yet a third murder to cinch up the reason for the Anne Francis murder that has nothing whatever to do with the hospital or Will Geer.

Three murders and like his Spock character, Nimoy doesn't bat an eye. He really turns his Star Trek persona for evil in this Columbo episode. Although Falk notices something that Nimoy inadvertently does when they first meet to zero in on him, still Nimoy is one good adversary.

For fans of Columbo and of Mr. Spock.

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.