Any Old Port in a Storm

ANY OLD PORT IN A STORM is the greatest of all the Columbo TV movies that I've been watching recently as it's just the perfectly-made episode. It features an excellent and humble performance from Peter Falk as the investigating detective and a wonderful guest star in the form of Donald Pleasence, who brings warmth, quirkiness, and humour to his role. It has everything you'd want from a Columbo story and more besides.

The storyline involves the fussy owner of a winery who prides himself on his ability to sniff out and collect only the very best wines. Unfortunately he's saddled with a younger half-brother who plans to sell the business for his own ends, and the winery owner isn't about to let that happen. A moment of rage is followed by a carefully-considered plan to make murder look like an accident, but will Columbo be fooled?

We all know where this story is going, but ANY OLD PORT IN A STORM features wonderful scripting, the great solving of clues, and some hilarious set-pieces to enjoy. The scene where Columbo is trying to find out the previous week's weather is a comic highlight, but Pleasence's explosion in a high-class restaurant is the stand-out moment. Watch out for Gary Conway (LAND OF THE GIANTS) in his cameo as the younger brother.

"Any Old Port In A Storm" is my own personal favourite Columbo episode & I have read that it was also Peter Falk's. It begins with wine connoisseur & maker of fine wines Adrian Carsini holding up a wine-glass full of one of his wines to the light. "Titian himself could not have created a better colour & would have gone mad trying". Donald Pleasance plays Adrian Carsini who runs a California winery. The property is owned by his younger half-brother Enrico played by Gary Conway. Adrian is a wine-snob who loves his business of wine-making to the exclusion of just about everything else. When his playboy brother needs money to finance his own interests he decides to sell the family business to rival wine producers, the Marino brothers. This infuriates Adrian who rages, "The Marino brothers. 5 cents a gallon Marino brothers. They don't make wine. They don't even make good mouthwash". In his fit of rage he clubs Enrico over the head with a lamp knocking him unconscious. He then ties him up in his wine cellar just before travelling to a wine conference in New York with his secretary played by Julie Harris. When he returns 5 days later Enrico is dead & Adrian tries to cover up his murder by making it look like a scuba-diving accident. When Columbo is put on the case he soon begins to suspect Adrian Carsini may be involved & what follows is great entertainment. The scripting is top-notch as is the acting by all concerned. Even the minor roles are excellent. Vito Scotti as a restaurant Maitre d' is great as is George Gaynes playing a Frenchman who owns a wine-shop. The latter teaches Columbo some of what he knows about wines in order to help him trap his suspect. "Let's start with the basics. How can you tell a good wine from a bad wine?", is Columbo's first question. "Er, by the price!", answers the wine-shop owner. This, for my money, is just a fabulous Columbo entry!.

This was another episode that I saw recently and I am still mystified at how I missed this episode for so long. Any Old Port in a Storm defines the term classic Columbo and has next to nothing wrong with it.

While it is a slow-paced episode, Any Old Port in a Storm is never dull. The script is excellent, with some very snappy lines and some of the interactions are among my favourites in a Columbo episode. The story lives up to its great premise and is always interesting and absorbing, the ending is tricky but not confusing as it is paced and explained very well.

Any Old Port in a Storm looks striking too, the photography doesn't jar in any way and the location shooting still looks pleasing on the eyes. The music is atmospheric and is careful not to intrude too much. The direction is top notch, as is the cast. Peter Falk is spot on and Donald Pleasance is so classy in an equally strong performance.

All in all, a classic Columbo episode with very little to fault it. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Donald Pleasence stars as Adrian Carsini, a wealthy wine connoisseur and merchant about to be awarded a man-of-the-year award from his colleagues that is disrupted by the ill-timed arrival of his half-brother(played by Gary Conway) who plans on selling the vineyard to hated rivals, prompting Adrian to hit him over the head, then locking him in his wine vault to be disposed of later. Lt. Columbo(Peter Falk) is brought in to investigate the missing man, but whose supposed accidental death at sea doesn't convince Columbo, who reluctantly targets the otherwise likable Carsini, whose beloved wines are the key to his arrest. One of the best episodes has a superb performance by Pleasence creating the first real "sympathetic" murderer, and though the plot isn't quite airtight, is still very entertaining.

This Columbo film is one of my favorites with Donald Pleasance as the murderer, a fanatical wine connoisseur who Peter Falk eventually traps into a confession of murder. This was not a planned murder by any means, in fact Pleasance does it in a fit of rage. But he plans well the alibi and that due to the fact that apparently no one saw his victim come or go from his home.

The victim here is Gary Conway, Pleasance's half brother who owns the land where the vineyards of the family business grow. Pleasance got the cash, but he spends it foolishly on expensive wines for his educated palate. The business has gone to rack and ruin and Conway wants to sell it and get out.

Both these guys are not prizes, Conway is a playboy who's about embark on his latest marriage, this one to Joyce Jillson. Pleasance is an egotistical fool who won't pay attention to business.

This Columbo film contains one of my favorite moments, it's when Conway informs Pleasance that he's considering an offer from the Marino Brothers for the vineyards. Just watch Pleasance literally foam at the mouth at the thought that these guys who apparently supply the stuff favored by the wino community are going to own his vineyards. You would have thought that he was being asked to sacrifice a child to Baal. It's what drives him to murder Conway. You can't really understand it, but you feel his rage.

There is one other major character in this film, that of Julie Harris, Pleasance's devoted secretary who has her suspicions about Conway and hopes to use them to form a closer relationship with Pleasance. She's a piece of work.

Still Donald Pleasance really shines as one of the best foes Peter Falk ever came up against.