How to Dial a Murder

British actor, Nicol Williamson, as the guest murderer, earns his transatlantic paycheck in this fine story. As always with Columbo, the culprit is rich, resourceful and highly intelligent, and Williamson's take on the character, a motivational psychologist, is detailed and meticulous. It may not be his finest screen performance (check out The Bofors Gun and Inadmissible Evidence), but he makes a worthy foil to Falk.

The story has some interesting cultural asides, such as L.A.'s burgeoning self-help craze of the 70's, and the cult of the movies, particularly Citizen Kane; something which proves to be both the killer's murder weapon and his eventual undoing.

The only let-down is the somewhat low-key ending. I would have preferred more of a flourish from both actors, but it wasn't really in the script for them.

Over all, it's an intelligent and interesting movie. Patrick Williams' ethereal/ominous music (woodwinds and low strings) is rather good, and which, once or twice, quotes a fragment of Bernie Herrmann's Psycho score; why? For the hell of it. And why not?

My only complaints of this otherwise brilliant episode are the ending, which felt rather rushed for my liking though I loved the twist involving the dogs, and while she plays her part very well Kim Catrall's character does drag the episode down a tad.

However, How to Dial a Murder is evident proof of why I love Columbo so much. It has an ingenious premise that is done justice by a story that is clever and compelling. It has strong writing, with great interaction between Columbo and Mason and I cannot think of rosebud the same way now now that I have seen this episode. It is well shot, with striking locations and lovely photography. It also has one of the most haunting and most effective music scores I have heard in a Columbo episode.

The acting is great, and the direction is solid. Kim Catrall is good, but it is Columbo and Mason that make the episode work along with the premise. Peter Falk is exceptional once again, while Nicol Williamson does a wonderful job playing one of the most ruthless and most strongly written murderers in the Columbo line.

All in all, if you love Columbo, you'll love this. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Nicol Williamson stars as a behavioral psychologist named Eric Mason whose wife recently died in a car crash, and whom he believes was having an affair with his best friend Dr. Charles Hunter, so Mason decides to murder him by cruelly using his specially trained Dobermans to attack him when the phone rings and a certain control word is spoken aloud. The crime is discovered by his young live-in girlfriend(played by Kim Cattrall) whose call for help brings in Lt. Columbo(Peter Falk) who admirers Eric's taste in Cinema, but is appalled by his murder method, so making this arrest will be especially satisfying... Unusually violent episode with Williamson a particularly odious villain who gets his much deserved comeuppance.

This Columbo episode is about dogs who kill on command. British actor Nicol Williamson plays a doctor is better known for his role as Hamlet in 1968 production. Another British born actress and better known for her role as Samantha on Sex and the City, the actress Kim Cattrall in an early performance at a very young age is also in a supporting role. Anyway, St. Elsewhere's Ed Begley Jr. has a small role as a police officer. Anyway, the episode is a Columbo favorite because it has film references around. Of course, Peter Falk's Columbo has become like an old family friend with great stories and interest in anything whether psychiatry, dogs, or movies. The ending is also brilliant with a twist and of course, Columbo catches his man in this case.

Psychiatrist Dr. Eric Mason (Nicol Williamson) is a successful guru in "Life Control". He trained his two Dobermanns to attack upon hearing the command Rosebud. He tricks Dr. Charlie Hunter to utter the word which triggers his dogs to kill the doctor. His houseguest Joanne Nicholls (Kim Cattrall) discovers the body. Columbo (Peter Falk) controls the docile dogs which just earlier killed a man.

This is a young newcomer Kim Cattrall. There is no way he wouldn't sleep with a young hottie like Kim Cattrall. Second, I have a much better final Columbo trick. He could get two lookalike dogs which don't respond to the command word. In addition, there is a missed opportunity to raise the tension. Columbo could fight off attempts to kill the two dogs, both for the investigation but more importantly, he's a dog lover. Ed Begley Jr. Could be the evil dog-catcher and a fanatic dog-killer. That could be a fun side story.