Eric Prince (Patrick McGoohan) is a failed British actor who became a successful funeral director in Hollywood.
Verity Chandler (Rue McClanahan) is a gossip columnist on the warpath against Prince as he ditched Chandler as his flame. He also provided gossip to her based on the deceased bodies of the rich and famous.
Chandler has some dirt on Prince about some stolen jewellery from a dead film star. She plans to expose Prince but he bumps her off and cremates her body.
Columbo gets involved first as a missing persons case. He is shocked that Chandler would leave her dog alone and starving. He then homes in on Prince, certain that he murdered her.
McGoohan stars and directs this episode. As always McGoohan is wonderful. Cunning, clever and resourceful. However Columbo steadily gets under his skin. McGoohan has appeared several times in Columbo and had a good rapport with Peter Falk. It shows in this episode.
There are several problems with this episode. Columbo goes looking for a house he saw in a photograph in Sunset Boulevard and he finds it. It is 22 miles long.
There is some mention of diamonds never burn. They do burn at temperatures of over 850 Celsius, about the same temperature that gas fueled incinerators can reach and even exceed.
I am not sure why Prince needs a helicopter to scatter ashes, he has big grounds in his funeral home and could just had scattered them there.
Steven Bochco a regular writer on Columbo gets a namecheck in this episode.
Verity Chandler (Rue McClanahan) is a gossip columnist on the warpath against Prince as he ditched Chandler as his flame. He also provided gossip to her based on the deceased bodies of the rich and famous.
Chandler has some dirt on Prince about some stolen jewellery from a dead film star. She plans to expose Prince but he bumps her off and cremates her body.
Columbo gets involved first as a missing persons case. He is shocked that Chandler would leave her dog alone and starving. He then homes in on Prince, certain that he murdered her.
McGoohan stars and directs this episode. As always McGoohan is wonderful. Cunning, clever and resourceful. However Columbo steadily gets under his skin. McGoohan has appeared several times in Columbo and had a good rapport with Peter Falk. It shows in this episode.
There are several problems with this episode. Columbo goes looking for a house he saw in a photograph in Sunset Boulevard and he finds it. It is 22 miles long.
There is some mention of diamonds never burn. They do burn at temperatures of over 850 Celsius, about the same temperature that gas fueled incinerators can reach and even exceed.
I am not sure why Prince needs a helicopter to scatter ashes, he has big grounds in his funeral home and could just had scattered them there.
Steven Bochco a regular writer on Columbo gets a namecheck in this episode.