By Dawn's Early Light

Just fantastic! Along with 'Any Old Port in a Storm' (Donald Plesance) this is in my opinion, one of the two best Columbo episodes ever made. The story is gripping from start to finish, the direction is tight, the script is full of wonderful moments, and the acting is superb as the two leads spark off one and other. Patrick McGoohan fully deserves the Emmy he won for his performance here.The characterisation is excellent too. Although it's impossible to condone murder, you can almost sympathise with McGoohan's character, such is the strength of his performance. He has no family and his military academy is his whole life. In a sense he loves it and would do anything to protect it; even kill a man who tries to, in effect, destroy it. The supporting players all put in enjoyable turns too and despite their short amount of screen time, play fully developed characters rather than just one dimensional cardboard cut-outs. I must have watched 'By Dawn's Early Light' a dozen times, and I will probably watch a dozen times more in the the future. What more can I say? Go and watch it!

Col. Lyle C. Rumford (Patrick McGoohan) is commandant of a military academy whose chairman of the board, William Haynes (Tim Simcox), wants to turn the place co-ed. (That's about the best motive for murder I've seen in a "Columbo" episode.) Haynes, who is the grandson of the academy's founder and was once a cadet under the colonel, has further decided to boot out his hated former commandant. He also insists on firing the ceremonial cannon on Founder's Day, which gives Rumford a devious idea. After an explosion that kills Haynes and looks like an accident caused by a negligent cadet (Mark Wheeler), our rumpled Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) is on the case—and he quickly learns this was no accident.

"Columbo" is always a good showcase for the actor playing the villain, but McGoohan's performance (for which he won an Emmy) may rank as the most fascinating in the series. In addition to his unsettling mania for discipline, there seems to be a lost little boy hiding underneath his rigid exterior. Twice he hints at homosexuality. He has a lust in his eyes when he promises to punish his boodle boy for unshined shoes. Later he says "No" much too quickly when Columbo asks if he's ever had a rivalry over a woman.

Howard Berk's script is happily free of gimmicks. We already have to suspend our disbelief to accept that a single police lieutenant would encounter more than one of these tricky, high class murders in a lifetime; or that any one of these cases wouldn't bring him fame and an instant promotion. We don't need the added burden of miracle wrinkle creams ("Lovely but Lethal"), implausible murder swaps ("A Friend in Deed"), identical twin killers ("Double Shock") and subliminal advertising ("Double Exposure"). Here we have a plausible murder scheme that the killer has good reason to think he can get away with—provided no one looks into the matter too closely. But Columbo does; and once he realizes the "accident" was foul play, that's it. A less than brilliant detective could have taken it from there, but Columbo does a thorough job of it. He even takes up temporary residence in the barracks to pick up every possible clue.

Harvey Hart's direction is fine, despite a bad opening shot. I happen to have seen this episode several times and I'm always annoyed when I see the camera creep up on McGoohan. That implies that a *person* is creeping up on him, but it turns out it's only us, the "Columbo" fans.

Another fine Columbo episode, as the detective investigates a murder at a military academy. Patrick McGoohan plays Col. Rumford, the academy commander, in one of his best Columbo performances. He is always good at roles like this one, playing characters who are extremely controlled and keep their inner lives veiled. His use of psychology to lure his victim to his death and to set up an obnoxious cadet to take the fall is beautifully matched by Columbo's parallel study of psychology as he starts to unravel the plot. The conclusion of the mystery is particularly satisfying, as it depends not upon tricking an admission from the murderer, but from linking together his own statements and trapping him in his own words. McGoohan is great in the last scene, accepting his defeat without flinching.

A strong and decisively emotionless performance from Patrick McGoohan, a well-sustained taut atmosphere and an effectively economical script are the main assets of this gem of a Columbo story which has a military academy as its setting for the entire duration.

McGoohan deservedly won an Emmy for his performance in which he doesn't flinch at any conversation or event in the whole episode - he remains remarkably unflappable to the end. His character is a inflexible disciplinarian, something which ironically contributes to his downfall later on...

The resolution is incisive, unpredictable and totally satisfying. A vintage Columbo episode, in which the script, plot and acting are very effective and well-judged in equal amounts.

Columbo vs. Patrick McGoohan's character is a classic -- better than many films, keeps you on edge and wondering the whole way. Definitely worth watching if you can find it. Here you see two actors who really know how to fill out a character and make him come to life. Huge fun.