A Deadly State of Mind

George Hamilton stars as Dr. Mark Collier, who is writing a book on hypnosis, which is his specialty. He is also romantically involved with one of his patients, a Nadia Donner,(played by Lesley Anne Warren) who has a troubled mind, and a jealous, hot-tempered husband that Collier must kill in order to protect himself and Nadia in their beach house after his attack. Unfortunately, he doesn't claim self-defense, but instead instructs her to repeat a story of masked intruders being responsible. Lt. Columbo(Peter Falk) doesn't buy it, forcing Collier to drastic action that may be his undoing... Clever episode with effective performances and a nice twist ending.

A DEADLY STATE OF MIND is one of the best Columbo episodes I've watched. It's a story that never puts a foot wrong, packed with engaging and enjoyable performances and a wonderfully twisty plot with some great surprises hidden along the way. George Hamilton plays a delightfully suave hypnotist who accidentally murders a love rival in the opening scenes and decides to cover up the crime as best he can.

Unfortunately for him, Columbo is soon on the case and sniffing out some of those delightfully insignificant clues that become important later on in the game. What follows is a cat and mouse story in which the stakes are gradually raised to breaking point. There's a wonderful swimming pool set piece and great acting from supporting starlet Lesley Ann Warren, who makes the most of her conflicted and fragile character. Hamilton gives a performance that reminded me of Roger Moore, all bluff and bluster and raised eyebrows; he's great fun. And of course, Peter Falk excels as Columbo in one of his most likable appearances as the detective. Plus, A DEADLY STATE OF MIND incorporates one of the best twist endings I've seen in any Columbo film.

In a lot of Columbo episodes you can feel sorry for the perpetrator, sometimes they're driven to kill and the one who died probably should have. Other episodes show a carefully planned scheme gone awry because of the way Peter Falk digs for clues. But this one was spontaneous as it gets. Husband Stephen Elliott catches his psychiatrist colleague George Hamilton with his wife Lesley Ann Warren and Hamilton kills him in the struggle.

Hamilton was one of the most hateful perpetrators ever in the Columbo series. Being a psychiatrist and knowing how the human mind works, he prepares a careful scenario about a home invasion and it looks pretty good. But an extremely tiny piece of evidence convinces Falk otherwise and also Warren begins to fall apart.

However what Hamilton does to cover up after this is where his true worthlessness of a human being is shown. You will stand up and cheer when Falk nails him and how he nails him.

Got to love that Lieutenant Columbo.

Dr. Mark Collier (George Hamilton) is a psychiatrist whose moral compass is a bit bent to say the least! For example, he's having a sexual relationship with a patient he's currently treating! Then, when they arrange to meet for another round of hide the sausage, the angry husband shows up and confronts them. A fight ensues and Collier bashes the man over the head to get him off his scared wife. Not surprisingly, the husband is dead. And, instead of telling the police what happened, the doc insists his lover create a story about two masked men entering the house and killing the husband. The problem is that the wife (Lesley Ann Warren) is rather unstable and eventually the psychiatrist comes up with a hard to believe way to silence her using hypnosis.

The story is enjoyable and interesting. Unfortunately, the writer assumed hypnosis is MUCH more powerful than it really is, as you couldn't use it to kill anyone. I have training in hypnotherapy....and if I COULD use it for evil, I might! But such stuff is more the creation of TV and movie screenwriters than fact. Still, it IS enjoyable and Hamilton is very good as a suave killer.

It isn't the best of the lot, but A Deadly State of Mind is a very strong episode. It is efficiently directed and constructed story-wise, with some nice writing, striking filming, excellent music and the pacing I had no problem with at all. The acting is great, Peter Falk is outstanding as always and George Hamilton out of the two episodes he starred in gives the better one of his performances here, his murderer is arrogant, yet likable and is a strong opponent for Columbo and they are well served with some juicy scenes with them together. Lesley Ann Warren was also lovely beyond words as Nadia. Overall, a strong episode benefited by some great acting and efficient directing and plot. 9/10 Bethany Cox