Publish or Perish

Of course basically all of the Columbo movies are more or less the same and they mostly can distinct itself mainly through its directing. This is one of the better directed Columbo movies and its made with lots of pace and style.

It's a Columbo movie that got made with a lot of class. It features cinematic tricks such as split-screens and also the cinematography is not just only static.

But director Robert Butler also knows how to handle its actors. Peter Falk is in good form in his Columbo role, who acts more in a police role this time than perhaps is the case in any other Columbo movie. Jack Cassidy also plays a good role as the movie its main suspect. Columbo movies almost always featured famous actors in the role of the key suspect. Jack Cassidy is not the best known actors of this bunch but he has played some good roles throughout his career, including a role in the previous Columbo movie "Columbo: Murder by the Book", directed by Steven Spielberg.

The main suspect in this movie uses a very original tactic. He tries to make himself look as suspicious as possible at first, by leaving clues and leaving suspicious statements, even though he himself did not commit the murder but hired someone for it to do it.

The approach and its actual story and the way it progresses also makes this a good and special Columbo movie to watch, that provides plenty of entertainment value. It also has plenty of twists and turns in it, although it of course also all remains rather predictable for most part till some extend.

One that's among the better ones of the Columbo movies.

8/10

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Jack Cassidy gives an unquestionably energetic and gritty performance in his second Columbo adventure as a murderer, which oddly mirrors the theme of fictional writing that marked his previous appearance in "Murder By the Book."

Cassidy plays Riley Greenleaf, a revengeful publisher who sees his best writer (ironically played by real-life author Mickey Spillane) poached from under his nose. So he hires an unstable bomb specialist, Eddie Kane, to murder him and leave evidence at the scene to give the impression that somebody is trying to frame Greenleaf, whilst the latter goes on a drinking spree to give himself a cast-iron alibi when the murder is committed. Greenleaf then tries to pin the murder on Edddie Kane...

A really clever, expertly written and holding mystery, which slips in some very key evidence (literally) at the end. The script is tightly structured and put together in a very professional fashion, typified by the strength of Greenleaf's alibi which makes things very difficult for Columbo all the way through, coupled with the undoubted composure of Cassidy's character, who is continually plotting in a distinctly unruffled fashion, long after the first murder has been committed.

To my mind, a very high calibre Columbo story; stylish, well-handled and not telegraphed with the predictability that has weakened some potentially top-notch Columbo adventures.

Columbo is one of my all-time favourites, and Publish and Perish epitomises everything about why I love the series so much in the first place. It is slickly filmed and very well made, and the electronic score adds much to the atmosphere. The script is tightly written with enough to tense and humorous moments to delight even the fussiest of all Columbo fans, and never lets go even at the conclusion, which is wholly satisfying and tense, and the story is clever and compelling. Peter Falk is the embodiment of the iconic detective, and Jack Cassidy in a suitably gritty proves to be one of the series' most memorable guest stars. John Chandler is also great as Kane, and Mickey Spillane's appearance is interesting(if not necessarily for the quality of his acting) Overall, Pulish and Perish is wonderful, a Columbo great. 10/10 Bethany Cox

There are Columbo episodes, and there are Columbo episodes. For the most part, Peter Falk is consistent as the consummate Lt. Columbo, so what makes certain episodes shine are those who play in the role of his adversary. Robert Culp and Patrick McGoohan readily come to mind, as does Jack Cassidy, in his several (I believe three) appearances in various episodes, including this one. Cassidy never disappoints. He is cool and sly, often paying "left-handed" compliments to the good Lieutenant as the cat and mouse game ensues. Add to Cassidy's performance this great story and script, and you've got one of the classic episodes.

Jack Cassidy returns as another killer, this time a publisher called Riley Greenleaf who is about to lose one of his top authors to a rival firm, so concocts an elaborate scheme to give himself a drunken alibi, ending in jail after a forced auto accident, that brings in Lt. Columbo(Peter Falk) who first believes it to be a frame-up, but the later murder of the actual, bomb-making assassin(and would-be author) puts the case in a whole new direction. Mariette Hartley guest stars. Exciting episode with Cassidy playing a character not unlike the one he played before('Murder By The Book') A shame some plot connection couldn't have been made from that...