A Deadly State of Mind

Dr Mark Collier is psychiatrist and Nadia Donner is one of his patients. As well as this she is also the subject for his upcoming book and his lover, despite being married. When Collier goes to visit Nadia he is confronted by her husband who threatens to ruin him by exposing the affair with a patient as well as Collier's drug use. A struggle ensues and Collier kills the husband with one swift blow from a poker. Realising what they have done Collier and Nadia come up with a story about two burglars breaking in, after which Collier slips away. Columbo gets the call and, although her story has some merit, he cannot help but see some holes in Nadia's description of events.

Having seen so many of the Columbo films it is always a nice surprise for me to stumble onto one I've not seen before. So it was with this one which I vaguely recall from childhood but mustn't have seen in decades. I must admit a certain bias to the Columbo formula (as well as Perry Mason) because when I was a kid my father worked from home and took breaks to watch these series on afternoon TV – so, although I think they are great TV treats I do have reasons other than the films themselves. Here everything is pretty much to formula. The murder is one of instinct rather than careful planning but other than that the usual block are all in place. Those crying "entrapment" and picking holes will find plenty to criticise here but personally I found the plot really well built if you go along with it. Although there is less time available for Columbo's investigation than normal, it is still engaging and fun to watch him pick away, right down to the usual trap at the end.

The cast have fun and, as is often the case, the film is made by the lead pair. Falk wears Columbo like a second skin and is as good as always, making it look so easy to be unimpressive on the outside and sharp as a knife on the inside. Hamilton is a strong opponent for Falk and has the arrogance that many of the best guests have. They work well off one another and they bring the best out of the material. Support is good from Warren and a slightly larger than normal turn from Kirby.

Overall an enjoyable Columbo that does everything you would expect from the series. The formula is all in place with good material and both Falk and Hamilton step up into it – working well individually and together. Fans will like it and others might be won over by it.

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.

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.

A brilliant psychotherapist kills his lover's husband at her home and tries to make it look like a robbery, but when she fails to convince the police with their story he uses hypnotic suggestion to murder her too. However, he has not reckoned with Lieutenant Columbo's tenacity in exposing the conspiracy and getting his man.

One of the best of ABC's classic Columbo mysteries, expertly written by Peter S. Fischer, and beautifully played by the cast. Hamilton is ideal as the suave, amoral research psychologist, seducing his patient purely for her literary worth to him. A very young Warren is fabulous as the flaky, child-like rich man's wife, unable to make the cover story stick despite her best efforts. And Falk is simply unforgettable as Columbo - affable, idiosyncratic, painstaking and brilliant. As with the best of these mysteries, it is the details of the investigation that make viewing so pleasurable - the broken flint, the thin tyre track, the jewellry in the stocking and the final masterstroke with the blind man. A fine example of some of the best TV crime drama ever made.

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.