Columbo (TV Series) Old Fashioned Murder (1976) User Reviews

A good addition to the canon - spoilers ahead...

[enochsneed · 8/10 · 7 September 2007]

This may not be the greatest Columbo from the great days of the 1970's but it is still worth watching.

One of the features of any Columbo is seeing the great man wear down his suspect to a near nervous breakdown with his constant presence as he worries about 'loose ends' and always needs to ask 'one more thing'. In this episode the suspect is composed and seems completely nerveless under Columbo's probing, even stating quite openly that she knows he is trying to trick her into giving herself away. Only when Columbo reveals the vital evidence does she mop her brow and reveal she has been under strain - it's such a slight gesture but speaks volumes.

Joyce Van Patten's performance is deceptively understated. She is, in fact, one of the most calculating killers Columbo comes up against. Not only does she murder her brother and another man to protect her inheritance, she tries to frame her niece (who in different circumstances could have been her daughter) for the crime, and many years before murdered the fiancè who deserted her and married her sister. (Yes, Columbo says he lied to the niece about this but Peter Falk hesitates so long before replying I think it's clear he finds it hard to tell an untruth when he knows a crime has been committed.) Notice also how Aunt Ruth materialises at the edge of the frame when characters thought they were alone - this adds to the menace of the character.

Celeste Holm adds comedy relief as the neurotic sister extremely well. In less skilled hands this character would stick out like a sore thumb. As played she is completely credible.

Nicely old fashioned

[banbroview · 7/10 · 19 April 2017]

Those criticsising the pace are missing the point. Van Pattens character has spent all her life been similarly understated and it's a relief after the previous over-acting from William Shatner (see 'Fade into Murder')

Just borders on the right side of intrigue for me, mainly thanks to the great acting from all the female leads

Enjoyable - But a lot of Plot holes

[gene-07202 · 7/10 · 7 October 2019]

Suspension of disbelief. There is a lot here. Still enjoyable with Peter Falk and Joyce Van Patten... On her brother (Tim O'Conner) and the shots being fired? He would have NO powder residue on his hands. And it could be argued that he turned the lights out before he fell dead. The security guard would have residue because of the fake shot taken early to establish a fake time for the crime. A glaring inconsistency. Celeste Holm is over the top as "comic relief".

A bit weak.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 18 September 2019]

Joyce Van Patten stars as Ruth Lytton, an older single lady whose life revolves around her running the family museum. However, when she learns that her brother is planning on selling the place, she decides they'll keep it open....even if it means killing him and another person in order to make the brother's death look like a robbery gone bad.

This is a decent episode up until the ending. While there is some evidence that Ruth did the double murder, it's not clear....yet she confesses to it. Weak...very weak.

one of the best

[blanche-2 · 9 September 2004]

This is one of the best Columbos. You can't beat the cast, the storyline, or anything about it. I can't be as erudite as the other poster, so I'll just say I loved it.

The cast is top notch - Joyce van Patten, Jeannie Berlin, Tim O'Connor and Celeste Holm, who is a riot. "I am not without influence, Lieutenant Columbus!" And a line I use myself even today: "I have told you, I cannot leave a room without a man to escort me." That line gets a neat twist at the end of the movie.

Joyce Van Patten, Holm and O'Connor are all family members who own a museum.

It's Van Patten's whole life, but it's a money pit and O'Connor wants to get rid of it. There lies the conflict.

I highly recommend this particular Columbo.

Columbo is always a class act, but this episode lacks something

[By-TorX-1 · 6/10 · 8 June 2015]

Old Fashioned Murder is a solid 1970s investigation for our crumpled hero (although a trip to a hair stylist changes that for a while, which is an amusing touch), and Joyce Van Patten's Ruth Lytton is certainly a cold killer, but there is a curious lack of suspense as Columbo has clearly solved the crime within five minutes of attending the crime scene, and he knows that Ms Lytton is the killer. This, you might cry, is the standard structure of Columbo, but in this episode there is a sluggishness to the action. Even the critical evidence is, by Columbo's own admission, slender, again adding to a odd sense of going-through-the-motions and it therefore lacks that "gotcha!" moment. This is a shame as Ruth Lytton is actually (no pun intended) really ruthless in her actions and her treatment of her adoring niece. Still, worth a viewing on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

The Museum

[AaronCapenBanner · 6/10 · 27 February 2016]

Joyce Van Patten stars as Ruth Lytton, the never-married head of the family-owned museum that has been sadly losing money. Her caring but stern brother Edward(played by Tim O' Connor) has decided to convince their sister(played by Celeste Holm) to close the museum, which is something Ruth cannot allow, so she concocts a surprising(for her) plan to murder him, blaming it on a guard with a shady past, then killing him too. Lt. Columbo(Peter Falk) doesn't believe it was a botched robbery, but how to find proof against the spinsterish Miss Lytton? Oddly flat episode isn't that compelling, but is still innocuous enough to make it passable fare.

An Excellent Columbo!

[Sylviastel · 10/10 · 17 July 2005]

The Lyttons are not a normal Southern California family. They are of the old money and had a place in society. Peter Falk's Columbo could not be more out of place than with eccentric bunch. Joyce Van Patten is a brilliant, under-rated actress who deserves awards and nominations for always leaving her mark in any role. After watching her in this role as Ruth Lytton, you want to see more of her. Celeste Holm does an exceptional job of playing her sister who won her sister's fiancé, married, and produced Janie, the heir to the Lytton fortune. Ruth and her brother Edward are caught in a conflict over the family's legacy which includes a museum that is constantly losing money. Ruth is determined to keep the museum alive because it is her life. Edward wants the best for his family and thinks by selling it that they would all benefit from it. Well, the only weak casting is the role of Janie, the niece. I liked her performance but I can't get that one awful vision of her reaction to finding her uncle's body in the museum. It is the most awkward reaction regarding murder. I won't say anymore but I think the writing was excellent. I think Joyce's Ruth and Peter Falk's Columbo was a good pair. I can sympathize with Ruth's loss of love and her devotion and loyalty to her family.

Average, yes, but fun with it

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 9 June 2015]

OLD FASHIONED MURDER is a solid TV movie from the COLUMBO stable. It was put on TV in 1976, during season six of the show, so by now the format was familiar and it's left to the scriptwriters to throw spins on it. What follows is a story that's engaging while being entirely middle of the road and rather predictable.

The story involves a family-run museum which is struggling to make ends meet in the modern world. In this show, dodgy finances equal murder, thanks to an elaborate plan involving an alcoholic security guard who's asked to stage a robbery and his own disappearance, only to find himself murdered by his own employer. When another character intervenes, it's up to Columbo to solve a double murder.

Peter Falk is by far the best thing about this show, and that's particularly noticeable when the rest of the cast isn't up to much (Joyce Van Patten is one of the more lacklustre guest stars, steadfastly refusing to get annoyed - even irritated - with the shabby sleuth). What keeps this moving is the solving of individual clues, Falk's natural humour, and some broad comedy thrown into the mid (like the fainting sister). The scene where Columbo goes to get his hair cut is probably the highlight here.

An under-appreciated episode in the mystery series

[garrard · 9/10 · 2 April 2006]

This is one of the "Columbo" installments that is rarely seen but is one of the most entertainingly satisfying of all for a character that has been around for over three decades. Joyce Van Patten, sister to Dick ("Eight is Enough"), is magnificent as the spinster sister of a museum owner (well-played by Tim O'Conner) who decides that the family business needs to be sold. Van Patten decides to take matters into her own hands and makes arrangements with a hired gun. The actress's delivery of the line, "I wish everyone would stop asking me that" is a hoot, in a macabre way.

Additional acting honors go to Oscar-winner Celeste Holm as the older sister of both O'Conner and Van Patten. Her character "swoons" at the drop of a hat and in this film, there are many "dropped" hats.

All in all, this installment fulfills from the opening credits to the end.

"Old Fashioned Murder" (1976), aka the museum curator installment

[Wuchakk · 6/10 · 30 October 2019]

PLOT: An "old maid" museum curator (Joyce Van Patten) murders the trustee (Tim O'Connor) after he threatens to dissolve the money-losing institute. Celeste Holm is on hand as her faint-disposed sister.

COMMENTARY: This is one of the less notable segments because people find the subdued spinster dull. It plays better on repeat viewings for more mature viewers. In other words, the antagonist is better understood by seasoned people, not to mention more interesting.

Jeannie Berlin as the naïve niece Janie is a highlight. She may be the proverbial "girl next door," but I suspected a veiled hottie underneath her genuine modesty. Sure enough, there's a brief scene in her bedroom talking to her aunt that reveals the truth in an understated way.

FYI: The writer of the teleplay plays the morally-challenged security guard (Peter S. Feibleman). Meanwhile O'Connor went on to play Dr. Elias Huer in the 1st season of "Buck Rogers" (1979-1980).

GRADE: B-

Columbo goes to the museum...

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 10 April 2012]

Old-Fashioned Murder is not one of my favourite Columbos of all time, but I do consider it one of the sadly under-appreciated episodes. It is filmed beautifully, and the music adds much to the period and the mood. Old-Fashioned Murder is well-written with some amusing dialogue, with the scene with the hairdresser one of the funniest moments of the entire series, and the story while not as efficiently paced as other entries is still diverting. Peter Falk is excellent as always, Joyce Van Patten is wonderfully dry and calculating and of the support cast Celeste Holm is a riot.

All in all, a very good episode if missing out just on the truly great standard. It's a shame it's so under-appreciated, when (although I love Columbo) I can think of at least 6 other Columbos that fare much weaker. 8.5/10 Bethany Cox

An Expensive Hobby for the Lyttons

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 24 June 2012]

Celeste Holm, Joyce Van Patten, and Tim O'Connor are two sisters and a brother named Lytton who are old money society people, but the money is drying up. They maintain a private museum that is a hobby that O'Connor thinks they can't afford. Holm is in our own little world, but Van Patten is a Margaret Thatcher like Iron Lady who is quite used to making sure she gets her own way. That museum is her life and she'll do whatever it takes to maintain it.

She works out a complicated scheme involving a less than trustworthy security guard to fake a robbery and fake his own death and then meet a real death when he goes to meet Van Patten at the museum. The guard was not the sharpest knife in the drawer. O'Connor hears the shot and Van Patten shoots him and makes it look like they killed each other.

Yet another well laid plan goes awry. Peter Falk was positively Monk like in his attention to the small details that unravel the whole plan. Van Patten has one weakness which Falk also plays on, Holm's daughter Jeannie Berlin is the daughter that should have been her's because Holm stole Van Patten's fiancé. It's a weakness Falk exploits to the fullest.

A pretty good episode for the Monk like detective with the raincoat.

Curious Offbeat Columbo Story With Great Spooky Performance By Joyce Van Patten

[ShootingShark · 5/10 · 22 October 2007]

Ruth Lytton manages a small family museum which operates at a loss. When her brother threatens to sell it, she hires the security guard to stage a break-in when the brother is there and then shoots them both. Columbo however smells something fishy ...

This is an enjoyable but undistinguished Columbo thriller, the most interesting aspect of which is the intriguing, haunted performance by Van Patten as the killer. Atypically, she plays her as a woman haunted by a past; intelligent and witty but also lifeless, enigmatic and permanently scarred by memories. There are some fine female leads in Columbo (my favourite is Janet Leigh in Forgotten Lady) but Van Patten is truly original here, and well supported by comic-relief Holm as an ageing prima donna who faints in every other scene. The plot is fine, albeit with some stodgy back-story to wade through - I like the way it leaves some key questions unanswered, and Falk and Van Patten subtly underplay it, as if they are sometimes in a movie all of their own to which the other characters aren't privy. As ever, a good quality television thriller. Unusually, screenwriter Feibleman has an interesting supporting role as Shaeffer, the unfortunate patsy of a guard.

Enjoyable enough for fans but nothing in particular to make it stand out from the formula

[bob the moo · 17 July 2005]

Lytton Museum is run by Ruth and Edward Lytton. Ruth lives for the old fashioned ways of the museum but Edward wants to get shot of this stiff, unprofitable albatross of a place. Stuck with this as a partner, a drunken security guard and no support from her family, Ruth decides to take action to put her in a stronger position. She forces security guard Shaeffer to pretend to rob the museum so that she can claim the insurance, while making it look like he had been murdered by leaving a message on his brother's answer phone. However really Ruth murders both Shaeffer and Edward in the museum and sets up her alibi. However the wrong date on his own watch and an artifact in Shaeffer's pocket stick in Columbo mind and make this far from being an open and shut case.

As with many TV film series (such as Perry Mason), if you like one or two of them then you'll pretty much like them all. This entry in the Columbo series pretty much follows the usual formula – we know the killer and the "perfect" plan but then watch Columbo follow his hunch and gradually starts to pick holes in the story he is told before eventually finding enough to prove his suspicions. Saying this is not a spoiler – it is simply what happens in all the films. With this strict adherence to formula it is usually down to several factors whether or not the Columbo film stands out or if it is just average. With this film we stick pretty much to formula with very little in the way of addition or flair to make it stand out. The mystery is enjoyable and it is fun to watch Columbo pick up on the little things along the way, but it rarely engaged me in the way that some of the other entries have done. The film does throw in some nice comedy, such as the haircut and the men huddled over the body in the doorway, but this is minor stuff and mostly the script just does the minimum to make it all work.

Falk is good as Columbo, but then I am hard pushed to think of a Columbo film where he didn't do the business. Van Patten is pretty good but she doesn't have a spark with Falk and the cat/mouse stuff doesn't come off that well as a result. It is interesting enough but again the two do rather seem to be doing the minimum rather than really going for it. Support from Berlin is a bit on the hammy and hysterical side but this is more to do with the material than her own decisions. O'Connor, Holm, Miller and a few others are all fine but I would rather have seen more focus and effort put onto the lead two.

Overall, fans of the series will enjoy this but it doesn't do anything more than the basic formula – not a major problem of course with such a generally reliable series but it doesn't make for a memorable film. Worth seeing but expect nothing more than the standard Columbo fare.

This Belongs Under Goofs

[gene-07202 · 7/10 · 24 April 2019]

I like Joyce Can Patton. She was fantastic and hilarious as a Nun in another Colombo episode. However. Two people shoot each other in a museum, and neither one will have gun powder residue on their hands? There are other clues and I will not spoil the plot. However? Joyce could have been given a better script as a Columbo Villain. She does a wonderful job with what she has to work with.

Not an Old Fashioned Episode!

[BaronBl00d · 6/10 · 13 July 2020]

For a Columbo episode, this one quite frankly just does not make the cut. It seems first of all incredibly short. The story has lots of holes, the acting not the most exuberant, and there just seems to be a blah feeling here and there. Now, that being said - Peter Falk is still here as the great police detective Columbo. Joyce Van Patten plays our killer and she is dowdy, wealthy yet poor(however that works), and overshadowed in her life by either her older sister(Celeste Holm) or brother(Tim O'Connor). She does, for the most part, a pretty credible job. All the actors do, so my real problem with this episode must be the script. It is certainly no tight mystery. I could have figured this one out myself. Van Patten knows her brother is planning on closing their family museum - something she loves more than anything in life - and she coldly comes up with a plan to kill her brother so as to keep it. There are some reasons briefly given about her past life but really not explored at all. Celeste Holm spends her time being very humorous fainting, but she has virtually nothing else to do. I did not hate it...liked it a bit. It just is not an old fashioned Columbo episode.

Second-rate "Columbo"

[jrhpax · 8/10 · 26 June 2012]

I generally love "Columbo," but this is nowhere near the best. Joyce Van Patton is a prim and proper and old-fashioned villain, but she lacks excitement, and so does the show. No one wants to watch a boring villain. (I think of something Alfred Hitchcock once said: The better the villain, the better the movie.) There's an overall aura of blandness to the show. Celeste Holm and Jeannie Berlin add a bit of juice, but not much.

Also: I don't have a clue why the killer tries to pin the job on the particular person she does. And I could rattle off some plot holes that would qualify as "spoilers," so I won't.

"Columbo" fans will want to see it, but they'll likely be disappointed.

Very old-fashioned

[lucyrfisher · 7/10 · 2 April 2024]

In fact the plot is borrowed from an old Bette Davies/Miriam Hopkins movie. Surely the subtext about birth certificates shows that Janey IS Ruth's daughter? Her sister nicks her boyfriend and surely she can't carry on as a single mother? What would the neighbours say? The suggestion is that she then murders the boyfriend with something in the camomile tea.

The still beautiful Celeste Holm is good at the "I never left a room without a man's arm to lean on" stuff, but nobody could rise above the silly fainting. There is also a cringey "funny" scene where Columbo gets a haircut. Fortunately his hair soon springs back to life.

The very best

[fybamgd · 10/10 · 20 February 2022]

Columbo gives his best when he's pretending to be comical- I love the part of this episode where Colombo accidentally rips a gown of a woman he is questioning. Lol.

My favorite episode so far

[IWasKnownAsThe1SentenceReviewer · 9/10 · 24 July 2022]

My favorite episode so far with a sweet Sergeant Miller, a neat manicured Columbo with a garish haircut and an extended knowledge of ancient artefacts.

An attempt at depth.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 1 August 2009]

This is the one with Joyce van Patten as the spinster curator of a museum. The museum is losing money and her brother, Tim O'Connor, wants to sell its inventory and shut it down, the fact that Van Patten has devoted her entire life to the organization notwithstanding. How can she prevent this catastrophe? Well, her niece, Jeannie Berlin, is going with a guy who has a miscreant brother. The brother, recently out of the Crowbar Hotel, has been hired as a security guard at the museum but he's sloppy and careless.

Van Patten arranges a burglary by the willing guard late one night, but she herself shows up on the scene and shoots him dead. Her brother, taking inventory, investigates the noise and she shoots him too. Then she arranges the scene in such a way as to suggest that the brother interrupted the ongoing burglary and the two men shot each other simultaneously.

Columbo shows up and unravels the crime with his usual unerring intuition.

There's one very funny scene involving a hair dresser, but other than that it seems as if the writers went for something a little different from the usual formula. Family relationships are explored in some depth and instigate the viewer's sympathy for Van Patten who is about to be deprived of everything she loves. The usual motives -- greed, jealousy, blackmail -- don't apply.

Van Patten is as dry as always but this time it suits the part. She gets able support from the slow, thoughtful performance of Jeannie Berlin, daughter of Elaine May. Berlin has large and generous features but remains beautiful. Van Patten and Berlin get along very well and it's easy to see why. Van Patten is sterile and rational. Berlin is soft and emotional. They complement one another. It's rather touching when Berlin kisses Van Patten's forehead and says, "I wish you were my mother." Berlin's real mother is the hysterical Celeste Holm. Holm is a fine actress but this part defeats her, as it would anyone else. The attempts to make her character humorous only make one wince. Many of the smiles are given over to the sergeant, Jon Miller, who has a queer voice and makes puzzled queries without cracking a smile.

All in all, a rather standard entry. It reaches for some depth but in doing so emits a creaking sound, as of joints long unused. Not a failure, but not one of the best.

Intriguing and revealing

[js_watkins · 10/10 · 5 September 2021]

This is a fantastic Columbo as there is so much going on.

At first the crime seems to be about the murderer wanting to keep her role as a curator for a loss making museum despite her brother, the museum trustee, wanting to close the museum down.

However what unravels next is that Ruth Lytton (played by the brilliant Joyce van Patten) is quietly seething with rage with her whole family - especially revealed in an intriguing scene between Columbo (played by the legendary Peter Falk) and Janie (played by Jeanie Berlin) within the confines of a police cell!

In fact, Jeanie Berlin plays her part to perfection - the suppressed young woman who is more than a little conflicted in her relationship with her mother (played with panache by Celeste Holm).

Some of the criticisms of this movie on this site seems to miss the whole family psycho drama plotline which - without giving anything away - is brilliantly encapsulated in the final scene.

Those who say the pacing is too slow are missing how Columbo has to unpeel the deaths of two men to reveal a decades long story regarding a long lost lover!

I won't say anymore as it will spoil the surprise!

Needless to say this Columbo is one to watch!

Columbo goes to museum

[Petey-10 · 24 September 2009]

The Lytton siblings run the Lytton museum.Brother Edward decides to sell the museum.Ruth is against this, and decides to kill him.She's helped by the guard and a petty thief called Milton Schaeffer.Both the guard and Edward end up dead.Ruth frames her beloved niece Janie for the murder.Robert Douglas' Columbo episode "Old Fashioned Murder" is from 1976.It's the second episode of the 6th season.This is a fine Columbo episode, although not quite as good as the 1st episode of the season.Peter Falk does an excellent job as always as the cooky detective.Joyce Van Patten (Dick's sister) plays Ruth Lytton, and she does an excellent job.Tim O'Connor is great as the brother Edward she murders.Celeste Holm is marvelous as the older sister, Mrs. Brandt, who keeps fainting in Columbo's presence.Jeannie Berlin (Elaine May's daughter) is magnificent as Janie Brandt.Peter S. Feibleman, who did teleplays for this and the previous episode, does a great job portraying Milton Schaeffer.And so does Jess Osuna as his brother, Dr. Tim Schaeffer.This Columbo has some fine moments.It's a fun moment when Columbo goes get a manicure and a haircut.For a moment he doesn't look like Columbo at all.And it's always fun to watch how his mind works.And this time he's in a museum environment, which makes it all a bit more interesting.He gets the killer before the closing time.

Hair by Daryl

[wackydsquaredv · 10/10 · 15 July 2020]

Absolute gold when Lt Columbo gets his haircut and then checks himself out in the mirror. Not a bad episode on its own but this addition makes it one of the best. This episode also features some of the best shots of Peter Falks eye you'll get. What a show, what an actor and what a character. Columbo will always be my favourite TV detective.