Columbo’s final outing of 1973 was a real pre-Christmas treat for eager viewers. Airing on 16 December, Robert Culp was back in his third and final appearance as a Columbo killer. At that time, no one else had done it more than once.
So is Double Exposure a suitable send-off for one of Lieutenant Columbo’s most fearsome and enduring adversaries? Let’s slip on our yellowest jackets, prepare some subliminal cuts and find out!
Dramatis personae
Lieutenant Columbo: Peter Falk
Dr Bart Keppel: Robert Culp
Vic Norris: Robert Middleton
Mrs Norris: Louise Latham
Roger White: Chuck McCann
Written by: Stephen J. Cannell
Directed by: Richard Quine
Score by: Dick De Benedictis
Episode synopsis: Columbo Double Exposure
Dr Bart Keppel is a pioneer in the field of motivational research. His techniques deliver proven sales results and the good doctor’s services are in serious demand – except, it seems, from existing client Vic Norris, the man whose faith in Keppel has helped bankroll his success.
Norris, an irritable, sweaty little man, has had it with Keppel. Why? Because Keppel has stitched him up, photographing the married Norris with a young temptress who was hired by Keppel to ensure want-away clients stay on his books. Norris, reasonably enough, wants out! He tells Keppel that he’s history and hints that he’ll will report him to the District Attorney. Game over for Keppel? Not a bit of it…
The cerebral Doctor has cooked up a plan to rid himself of Norris – and it’s a beauty. First he inserts subliminal cuts of cool drinks into a motivational sales film that he’s due to premiere to Norris and co that evening. He rings Mrs Norris anonymously, telling her he has irrefutable proof of her husband’s philandering, and demands she meet him at some out-of-way location later on. He cranks the temperature up in the auditorium where Norris will watch the film. And finally he feeds Norris a gut-load of salty caviar knowing that it will cause a raging thirst.
Murder is BAD, but this murder scene is SO cool…
The genius doesn’t end there. Keppel says that he’ll narrate the script for the movie, live, from a curtained stage at the front of the auditorium. In actual fact he’ll let a tape recording of himself do the narrating while he’s out a-killing!
Soon enough, Norris is feeling decidedly uncomfortable. He’s got a sweat on and is looking more irritable than ever. The subliminal cuts have the desired effect and he eventually gallops out to the drink fountain in the lobby to quench that thirst. It’s the last thing he does. Emerging from a side door, Keppel guns down Norris and hastily makes his exit.
The murder weapon is an automatic .45 pistol from Keppel’s own office. He returns it to its case on the wall, but first removes a calibration converter and hides it in a lampshade. It’s devilishly clever, and Keppel is soon back in place in the auditorium, in plain view of the audience as the lights rise at the end of the screening.
“Where is Mr Norris?” Keppel innocently asks other attendees as they depart. They soon find out as they stumble upon Norris’s corpse in the lobby. In his final act of cover-up, Keppel switches on the tape recorder to erase his narration and capture the commotion. It’s been a good day’s work for the arch-villain.
“Emerging from a side door, Keppel guns down Norris and hastily beats a retreat.”
Or has it? Police are soon swarming around the crime scene, Lieutenant Columbo amongst them. He’s famished after missing dinner and after polishing off some canapes, he’s tempted by a fellow officer to try some of the leftover caviar. His ensuing thirst later gives the sharp detective a circumstantial clue.
Encountering Keppel for the first time, Columbo fails to endear himself to the aloof researcher, referring to him as ‘Mr Keppel’, rather than Dr. It’s a mistake he repeats several times, much to Keppel’s annoyance. All this meeting establishes is that the tape recorder in the lobby was left there by Keppel to record audience feedback to the film. This satisfies Columbo – for now.
The Lieutenant’s next stop is the projection room, where he meets Roger White – a big, lovable, open-shirted boob, who provides the now-thirsty detective with a splash of iced tea and some intel on the art of the projectionist. It doesn’t seem important now, but will offer food for thought later on.
Oh Roger, you big, lovable, open-shirted BOOB, you…
It’s then on to Keppel’s office, where he questions the Doctor about the tape recorder. Keppel claims he turned it on while still in the auditorium as part of his usual post-film routine. He also condescendingly suggests to Columbo that, statistically speaking, Mrs Norris is the most likely murderer – especially if she knew, as he does, that Norris has been having a fling with mystery woman ‘Tanya Baker’. Like in so many past episodes, Columbo’s usual subterfuge has Keppel convinced that he has nothing to worry about.
Someone who is worried is Mrs Norris. Her world has been turned upside down in a single day, first by the revelation that her husband is having an affair, and then by his slaying. Columbo pops in and she comes clean about the phone call she received the night before, and how, at the time of her husband’s death, she was alone at a far-flung location waiting for the caller who never arrived.
It means she has no plausible alibi, but Columbo assures her she’s not a suspect. “If my wife decided to murder me, she could come up with a better alibi than you got,” he says, taking a heap of pressure off the beleaguered widow’s shoulders in the process.
The stricken Mrs Norris finds reassurance in Columbo
Columbo starts looking into Keppel’s background and is impressed to find out his pedigree as a thought leader in motivational research. After checking out some of Keppel’s books from the library he catches up with the Doc at a supermarket, where he’s at his work monitoring the reactions of supermarket shoppers via CCTV.
Columbo relays that the guns from Keppel’s office have been cleared by ballistics of being the murder weapon. The calibre of the guns is too large. Norris was killed by a .22. Columbo also reveals that he found out from Norris’s secretary that a board meeting that day had been due to kick off with action item ‘Terminate Keppel.’ This might have left a lesser foe flapping, but not the cool and collected Keppel, who suggests that it must have meant ‘terminate our agreement with Keppel until we next need him‘. Whatever you say, Doc…
Columbo does rattle Keppel for the first time – albeit only slightly – when he grills him again about the tape recorder. Turns out the recording started in the lobby, right after Norris’s corpse was discovered. How could Keppel forget that he’d started it there, not in the auditorium as earlier claimed?
Keppel falls back on the classic Columbo adage: “Men do strange things at times of crisis.” This in itself is contradictory, as Keppel earlier told Columbo that he was cool and calm under pressure. And if there’s one thing the Lieutenant is good at it’s picking up inconsistencies in people’s characters. Safe to say, it’s another reason to suspect the dastardly Doctor.
He’s not alone in his suspicions. Indeed, big lug Roger has already beaten him to it and cracked the case! In a private interview with Keppel, Roger reveals that he has it all figured out. Roger heard the sound of the spliced subliminal cuts going through the projector. Before the cannisters of film were sent down to the vault, Roger checked them and saw the subliminal cuts with his own eyes.
“That big lug Roger has already beaten Columbo to it and cracked the case!”
Still, Roger’s a reasonable chap and if Keppel will fund his real estate dreams through a $50,000 donation, he’ll keep his mouth shut. Keppel icily agrees to deliver the cash to Roger later that evening, and snubs the offer of a handshake as the blackmailing boob guiltily heads on his way.
Strange as it sounds, this development appears to have played in Keppel’s favour. Using a credit card to diddle the lock, he breaks into the Norris household and makes off with a .22 gun (How did he know where it was stashed? Don’t ask…). He uses this to gun down Roger, who’s moonlighting at the Magnolia Theater. Keppel then ambles back to his own HQ to go about his usual business.
Lieutenant Columbo, quelle surprise, is waiting for him. He’s been reading up on Keppel’s use of subliminal cuts and is getting a demonstration on how they actually work. He needs Keppel’s help with his enquiries, of course. Notably whether it would be possible to use subliminal cuts to drive a thirsty person out of a cinema screening to seek water. Keppel has to admit that it’s possible. However, the only version of the film Columbo can lay his hands on has no subliminal cuts. If there ever was a second print of it, it must be long gone by now.
Although seemingly painted into a corner, Columbo doesn’t have to wait long for his next chance to test the Doctor. The Lieutenant receives notification that Roger White has been killed. He invites Keppel along, telling him that he’d ‘make a great detective’. A laughing Keppel accepts Columbo’s challenge. “All right Lieutenant,” he says. “I’ll play.”
At the Magnolia Theater, a fellow officer informs Columbo that the murder weapon was left at the scene. The gun is registered to none other than Vic Norris! It’s music to Keppel’s ears, as he’s able to suggest it shows that Roger and Mrs Norris were in on the act together from the start.
Even better? Based on when the reel of film ran out, police project that Roger was killed between 7.30pm-7.55pm. And during that time, Keppel and Columbo were together. The detective is personally providing Keppel’s alibi. “That’s a tough nut to crack,” concedes Columbo. “That’s not tough,” replies the smug Doctor. “That’s impossible.”
It doesn’t look as if there’ll be much reason for the two to meet again, but Columbo remains undeterred. Gatecrashing Keppel’s round of golf, the Lieutenant goes on the assault and continually puts Keppel off his game through the latest case developments. Columbo even outright accuses Keppel of committing double homicide, not that the Doctor is overly concerned. “As far as I know, a court of law in this country still requires some kind of evidence,” he chides.
“Columbo outright accuses Keppel of committing double homicide, not that the Doctor is overly concerned.”
What Columbo has is circumstancial. But he finally has a brainwave. He grabs a police photographer and heads back to Keppel’s office where he has a range of photos of himself taken in various places, appearing to be earnestly searching for something. What’s his plan? We soon find out.
Dr Keppel is back in business mode, showing the motivational film he made for Norris to a new suitor. Partway through, though, Keppel is starting to get twitchy. He departs the screening in a hurry and races back to his office. He makes a beeline for the lamp and removes the calibration converter – and is promptly disturbed by the flash of a camera bulb!
Columbo and the photographer emerge from their hiding place. The Lieutenant takes the converter from Keppel and fits it into the automatic pistol on the wall. ‘That’s a lovely touch. A converter. I never figured on a converter. And one hidden in a lamp!” he enthuses. “Doc, I woulda sworn you had a gun hidden in here and I was trying to smoke you out – but I never figured on this.”
Realisation hits Keppel like a tidal wave. “A subliminal cut! You used a subliminal cut!” And indeed Columbo did. Several photos of himself snooping around Keppel’s office were spliced into the film that the Doctor has just been viewing. One of Columbo examining the lamp must have been the subconscious cue Keppel needed to betray himself.
Doctor Keppel was certified insane 10 minutes later…
Columbo couldn’t have solved the case without heavily relying on Keppel’s own technique to draw him out. “If there was a reward, I’d support your claim to it,” the detective tells his outmanoeuvred foe. The irony isn’t lost on Keppel, who is left laughing like a loon as credits roll…
Double Exposure‘s best moment: par for the course?
There’s a lot of competition in this episode, but my personal highlight plays out on the fairways of the golf club, where Columbo repeatedly puts Keppel off his game with a series of revelations.
Columbo doesn’t just annoy Keppel – he properly rattles him for the first time when he tells him that, despite police statements to the contrary, none of Norris’s entourage can positively confirm that Keppel was plainly visible at the front of the auditorium when Norris was slain.
“Anyone who plays golf will know that those who break the moral code of the game absolutely cannot be trusted.”
As he chops the ball all over the course, Keppel shows his true colours by openly cheating, flinging his ball out from beside a tree to play it more easily. Anyone who plays golf will know that those who break the game’s moral code absolutely cannot be trusted. For all his sense of superiority, Keppel really is amongst the lowest of the low.
Recovering from his shock, Keppel finally hits a good one up to the green. “For a while there I thought I was going to spoil your game,” says Columbo. “Not a chance Lieutenant,” the now-chipper Keppel clucks as he turns his heel on the detective.
It’s been a high-stakes game between Columbo and Keppel all the way and despite a wobble here it looks like Keppel firmly has the upper hand once again. His downfall, when it comes, will be extra sweet because of it.
My opinion on Columbo Double Exposure
Ah, Robert Culp. He left such an indelible mark on the series it’s hard to accept that here, in only the Lieutenant’s 21st adventure, it’s his curtain call as a Columbo killer.
Sure,we’ll welcome him back 17 years later as the angry father to upstart Justin in Columbo Goes to College, but it’s a looooong hiatus for someone who was absolutely at the top of their game here, and someone who brought so much to the show.
No one does simmering menace better than Robert Culp
I personally prefer Jack Cassidy and consider him the ultimate Columbo killer. But Culp is hot on his heels, and for many fans holds the number one spot. His sense of explosive temper allied with a cold intellect makes him a truly dangerous adversary.
Although he’s much more in control of his rage here than we see in Death Lends a Hand and The Most Crucial Game, Culp is arguably at his most menacing in Double Exposure. It’s a magnificent performance and a perfect role for Culp.
“If ever an episode can be said to be playing cat-and-mouse games, it’s this one.”
Indeed, episode writer Stephen J. Cannell, who wrote the script on spec during the writers’ strike of 1973, envisaged Culp in the role as he wrote it. His dreams quite literally came true. The writers’ strike gave Columbo producers an almighty headache, but the quality of Cannell’s story was just the tonic. And although he wouldn’t contribute another Columbo script, Cannell made a big impact as the creator or co-creator of such legendary shows as The Rockford Files, The A-Team and 21 Jump Street.
Columbo fans have every reason to be grateful to Cannell, as his script delivers some sensational interplay between the two leads. If ever an episode can be said to be playing cat-and-mouse games it’s this one. Although Keppel initially underestimates the bumbling detective (who doesn’t?), he later realises he has to be on the top of his mental game to stay ahead – a challenge he clearly relishes. It’s the best example of the ‘we both know I did it but you’ll never prove it’ interplay since Prescription: Murder.
Columbo vs Keppel is an encounter for the ages
Columbo is struggling to establish the upper hand throughout. Each time he appears to have done so, Keppel outdoes him again. The golf course scenes are a prime example. Perhaps even more telling are the interactions following Roger White’s death. Columbo invites Keppel along to seek his ‘help’. We know and Keppel knows that Columbo is trying to catch him out. “I’ll play,” he says with a smirk a mile wide.
More fun follows. Columbo doesn’t tell Keppel where the murder took place. So when the Doctor agrees to drive them both to the crime scene, he sits waiting at the foot of the car park ramp. “Right or left? You didn’t tell me where the murder was committed, Lieutenant, so I couldn’t possibly know how to get there, could I?”
When Columbo indicates right, Keppel says: “Nice try, though,” to which a wry Columbo responds: “Can’t win ’em all.” This is a battle of wits that both are taking pleasure from. It’s so enjoyable to watch.
“The central battle is so much the focus of the episode that there’s almost no room for anyone else. But when Columbo vs Keppel is so engaging it doesn’t much matter.”
This central battle is so much the focus of the episode that there’s almost no room for anyone else. Arlene Martel was cast as Tanya Baker, but her part was cut completely (although her name remains in the credits). We see enough of Vic Norris to dislike him, but it’s a small role for Robert Middleton. Likewise the talented Louise Latham as Mrs Norris. She’s relegated to a bit-part when her role could have been easily have been expanded. But when Columbo vs Keppel is so engaging it doesn’t much matter.
Would you blackmail a face like this?
Only Chuck McCann as Roger White gets a reasonably meaty secondary role. And he’s good in this. His affable nature shines through, likewise the inner turmoil he’s going through when blackmailing Keppel. One senses that this is the most courageous thing Roger has ever done. One of the most foolish, too.
It suits the plot, of course, for Roger to meet the ick. And it’s no surprise that Keppel would double-cross him. Lesson to would-be blackmailers of murderous motivational researchers: let them know that if anything happens to you, their crime will be exposed regardless. Silly, guileless Roger…
So, we’ve established that the acting is all good. Another element that really satisfies is this episode’s sense of style. Culp is cool as in this. From his killer pinstripe suit, to his contemporary golf course gear that would still look fresh today, Doctor Keppel has a winning look for every occasion.
Special praise must be lavished on the legendary YELLOW JACKET Keppel sports in the supermarket scenes. This guy cannot put a fashion foot wrong! I have serious jacket envy every time that sequence comes on.
Sit sexily amongst pumpkins much, Dr Keppel?
That sense of style is matched by the direction. The murder scene itself is delightfully done with a breathless pace and Culp looking movie-star cool when pulling the trigger. It’s excellent work from Director Richard Quine, who’s at the helm of his third Columbo episode after previously heading up Requiem for a Falling Star and Dagger of the Mind. This is his finest Columbo hour by a distance.
It helps that this is a 75-minute episode. The pacing issues that blighted the longer Candidate for Crime and, to a lesser extent, Any Old Port in a Storm are absent. Double Exposure packs plenty in and never drags its heels. This is the way to tell a Columbo story.
Finally, what of the plot? Well, it does have some detractors who bemoan the implausibility of the subliminal cut method, and how it works so perfectly to place Vic Norris in Keppel’s gunsights as if this sort of skulduggery is an everyday occurrence.
It’s certainly far-fetched. However, it’s played so straight, and Keppel’s global expertise in the technique so clearly established, that I find it’s easy to accept it for what it is and just go with it. If you can do that, you’ll likely have no problems at all with this episode.
It’s not entirely free of faults, mind you. Personally I’d have preferred a clearer motive for Keppel. If the guy’s as hot a shot as he’s made out to be it makes no sense to be putting his best client in a compromising situation and then trying to blackmail him.
“Personally I’d have preferred a clearer motive for Keppel. It makes no sense to be putting his best client in a compromising situation.”
Is Keppel so desperate for Norris’s money that he’d stoop so low? Seems unlikely. Is he trying out a revolutionary, new high-stakes piece of research on Norris, loosely dubbed ‘the treat ’em mean keep ’em keen’ gambit? Maybe. There’s more going on than we know, and it’s frustrating not to have more insight on Keppel’s motivations here. C’est la vie.
I’ve taken some heat before for not including the ‘gotcha’ moment in Double Exposure in my top 10 Columbo gotchas (read ’em all here). So I thought I’d clarify my stance here. How Columbo outsmarts his man is brilliant. Keppel’s realisation that he’s been done in by use of subliminal cuts is masterful. But the actual moment when Columbo catches him out lets it down. ‘Why?‘ I hear you scream, desperate for justification. Well, it’s because Columbo and the photographer are so badly hidden.
Their ‘cover’ is a spindly pot plant that they appear to be beside, not behind. It grants them no cover at all! There’s no way an alert Keppel wouldn’t have noticed them as soon as he entered the room. It bugs me because it would have been very easy to have them more effectively hidden. Bah humbug!
“A potted plant! You hid beside a potted plant!”
Still, as I hope you can tell, it doesn’t sufficiently upset me to mark the overall episode down. This is a magnificent addition to the Columbo canon, full of class, confidence and fun. It’s the highlight of Season 3 so far, and easily one of the most enjoyable Columbo episodes of all.
Did you know?
Hayward keeps turning up like a bad penny!
Double Exposure marks the first time that Columbo refers to a previous case. When he arrives at the crime scene, the Lieutenant is desperately seeking sustenance having missed dinner because he was ‘working late on the Hayward case’ – a referral to the previous episode, Candidate for Crime.
The Hayward case clearly means a lot to Columbo as he references it again in the very next episode, Publish or Perish.
How I rate ’em
Double Exposure is a hugely enjoyable romp that rises above the far-fetched nature of the killing due to the riveting confrontation between Columbo and Keppel. It’s right up there with the best of ’em. Read any of my past episode reviews via the links below!
- Suitable for Framing
- Double Shock
- Murder by the Book
- Death Lends a Hand
- A Stitch in Crime
- Double Exposure
- Lady in Waiting
- Any Old Port in a Storm
- Prescription: Murder
- The Most Crucial Game
- Etude in Black
- Candidate for Crime
- Greenhouse Jungle
- Requiem for a Falling Star
- Blueprint for Murder
- Ransom for a Dead Man
- Dead Weight
- The Most Dangerous Match
- Lovely but Lethal
- Short Fuse
- Dagger of the Mind
As always, your thoughts on this review and this episode as a whole will be most welcome. Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to sharing my thoughts on our next instalment, Publish or Perish, in the coming weeks. And you know what that means, don’t you? YES! Big Jack Cassidy is back. And if anyone can help us overcome the bitter pill of Robert Culp’s 17-year Columbo hiatus, it’s Jack!
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I’ll tell you what, sir, if you give me the jacket I’ll let you go free…
I love this episode. It certainly appears on my Top 10 list. But some things bother me. 1: If he offered caviar to his guests, why did only Vic Norris go to the bathroom? How could Keppler predict that he would not be accompanied? 2: Why didn’t the killer get rid of the caliber converter? Could he have disposed of it at sea, buried it, but hidden it right inside his office? Other than that, a gala performance by Falk and Culp and one of the best pranks.
Sorry, I don’t speak English natively, and I use a translator. He mistranslated the last word. Instead of pranks, read gotchas.
Breno, “Double Exposure” was written by Stephen J. Cannell, who one of the best writers in the TV business, so you can be reasonably assured that he gave consideration to possible loose ends in his story.
Caviar: Keppler was far too intelligent s planner to just leave the caviar out for all of his guests for precisely the reason that concerned you. Consequently, you can see that Keppler’s waiter doesn’t come out with the caviar until the guests are just about to be told to proceed to the auditorium to watch the sales film. Keppler is also in a different room from the other guests specifically so that he can have a private meeting with Norris. It is only then that the waiter brings the caviar to Norris and to nobody else (clearly on Keppler’s instructions). Also, recognize that Norris was the “top person” among the guests, so when Keppler told the other guests to proceed to the auditorium, he knew that they wouldn’t stop to take the caviar while Norris was enjoying it. And, as an additional precaution, Keppler was with Norris during his meeting with him to ensure that no other guests would sample the caviar.
Caliber Converter: Keppler’s scheme was to make it look like he was giving his voice over live while the film was running so that he could get the gun with the converter to take out Norris while he was getting water. His manufactured “alibi” was “supported” by the fact that he never left the building and no “likely” weapon with the proper calibur was on sight or could be found no matter how thorough the police search and inspection. Keppler was also forced to leave the converter in the gun barrel. If he had taken it out and separately disposed of it, that would leave the gun with the same calibur as used when the crime was committed, incriminating Keppel.
Your explanation regarding the ‘royal Iranian beluga’ is correct but you couldn’t be more wrong about the ‘calibration converter.’ Kepple hides the converter in a lamp. If he had left it in the barrel of the gun as you ludicrously suggest, the police would’ve found it. So instead he hid it. He certainly should’ve disposed of it the following day – Breno Brito is right to point this out – but perhaps he assumed that Columbo had no grounds for searching his office (which he didn’t) and anyways Columbo would be looking for a gun not a converter. Let’s just call it a necessary mistake to preserve the delicious ‘gotcha’.
I was wondering who would catch my error about the converter. Congratulations. However, I disagree that I “couldn’t be more wrong.” It’s always possible to be more wrong about something. But, yes, if OJ Simpson knew enough to get rid of his bloody knife, then Keppel, who was a genius by comparison, surely should have included the permanent disposal of the converter in his plan. But Columbo always has to catch the killer one way or another. That said, the gun and converter business was flawed in another way. Just because a converter was used when firing the gun doesn’t mean that forensics could not detect that the gun had been fired even when the converter was removed. There would still be discharge residue remaining within the barrel even after the converter was removed.
I’m almost ashamed to admit it but one of my favorite scenes in this episode involves Jimmy the black servant. Robert Culp’s patronizing smile as he hands him a nickel tip is just so perfect. It’s somewhat remarkable that Jimmy made the final cut but Miss Baker didn’t. I want to see her cut scenes almost as much as I want to read ‘The Mind String And How To Pull It.’
It might be a small thing, but when Keppel phones Mrs. Norris as Tanya’s fictional boyfriend, it’s clever of him to make the character a little complicated. He starts out giving him a really out-there “tough guy” voice, and by the end of the call he sounds choked up over the things he’s telling her.
That’s a very good observation and Keppel’s created character is completely “in character,” as written by Stephen J. Cannell and superbly performed by Robert Culp.
Although Dr. Keppel is an expert in marketing and consumer behavior, he is also an expert in psychology as applied to business. His character has probably conducted countless focus group sessions, learning about people and “what makes them tick,” and getting “inside their heads.” I’d also consider him to be one of the smartest murderers in the entire Columbo series and one of best at keeping his emotions in check. (In several ways, I’d consider him smarter than other exceptionally educated characters, such as Dr. Flemming and Dr. Mayfield–a subject which would make for an interesting reader poll and future article in itself.)
All of these attributes make it far less of a stretch for Dr. Keppel to also possess considerable skills at acting when necessary. We see an early example of Keppel’s acting ability when he engages with Vic Norris where he gives Norris a last shot at going along with Keppel’s wishes before executing his plan. And his skill at adding character dimension and complexity to his role as Tanya’s fictional boyfriend is credible in this context.
I know Columbo is accepted as a general slob. But there’s times that goes beyond being a lovable slob. While he first disgusted about the same time he angered Miss Peck, as he flicked his cigar ashes on the floor of the exercise room floor in “Double Shock”, he causes me to lose it as he quadruple dips into the caviar jar, the leaves his germ infested spoon in the caviar when he finished. There’s plenty more similar inconsideracies in episodes to come. But at this pint of the series, this to me was his worst. I give Columbo a lot of slack. But I wonder if I’m alone with these reactions.
Here is my problem with theses reels. The projectionist was at a public theater, so it should be possible to determine with reasonable precision when the second reel was started. The whole penny business doesn’t make a difference. If the second reel did start at 7:30, Keppel would not have the time to start the film at 7:30 or a little earlier, and then go to his office to be with Columbo. Am I missing something here?
Quite true. If, as Columbo says, he and Kepple were together “from seven-thirty on,” then how could Kepple have made the 7:30PM reel change in the projection booth? I don’t see how the missing nickel adds anything significant.
Viewed another way, what’s the real difference for alibi purposes between Roger making the 7:30 change and being shot at 7:31, and Roger being shot at 7:29 and Kepple making the 7:30 change? Either way, Kepple couldn’t be with Columbo at 7:30 and wouldn’t have an alibi for the shooting.
Kepple’s alibi using the LAPD’s original estimate of the “time of death,” incorrectly assumed to have been between 7:30 pm and 7:55 pm, was never a strong one. And Kepple knew that Columbo wouldn’t be fooled by it, especially since it was obvious to all that Kepple was familiar with 35mm projectors and could have easily changed the film reels himself.
Rather, Kepple’s plan to absolve himself of Roger’s murder primarily relied on the fact that the gun used was registered to Victor Norris.
Of course, Kepple was also “shielded” in this case by one of my “unwritten laws” about Columbo stories. This unwritten law states that whenever the murderer commits a second murder, Columbo is shown to solve only the first murder in the show, never the second one.
“Never”? I’d say “rarely.” There are exceptions. “A Bird in the Hand …” is the most notable one. Also “Strange Bedfellows.” Columbo never solves the first murder in either episode. And Columbo effectively solves both murders in “Requiem for a Falling Star” and “Negative Reaction.” Nora confesses to killing both Al Cumberland and Jean Davis. And Galesko identifying the camera proves his complicity in the kidnapping scheme, which simultaneously obliterates his justification for shooting Deschler.
Not to quibble, my unwritten law refers to what we, the viewers, are actually shown–not any actual or potential behind-the-scenes things. Inferences can always be drawn about how the second murder relates to the primary murder (or attempted first murder, as in “A Stitch in Crime”), but we don’t see Columbo prove that second murder as a rule. And, as an attorney, you know that there are going to be exceptions to laws and rules.
Unfortunately, what viewers are actually shown, with no inferences attached, can often prove very little. Did the gotcha in “A Friend in Deed,” in and of itself, prove that either Caldwell or Halperin killed his wife? What does Galesko’s identification of the camera prove without inferences? Or the trash compactor gambit in “The Most Dangerous Match” (a case with an attempted murder followed by a murder of the same person)? Leeway has to be given for inferences.
But probably sentenced for both ! 🙂
Aspiring writers will enjoy and appreciate the advice of Stephen J. Cannell–who wrote this terrific episode:
Thank you, James, for posting this wonderful youtube clip of Cannell’s advice. He’s really humble about his work. His suggestions for writers are excellent. Kudos to him for writing such an entertaining episode.
In the episode, there is a sign on the building outside with the name “Kepple Industries”, but you have the spelling as “Keppel”.
I didn’t notice that until after I wrote the review. I’ll eventually get round to updating the Kepple spelling on the blog I’m sure.
What an amazing episode! I just watched it for the umpteenth time and was almost overwhelmed by the quality acting between Culp and Falk.
This is probably the most intense battle of wits and minds ever seen on Columbo …
I love how every Columbo fan hates Dagger of the Mind😂
For me personally this is one of the greatest mainstream TV episodes ever made, let alone my favourite Columbo. The reason for this is that it ever so slightly steps into a particular kind of Science Fiction, and a kind that I absolutely love that deals with psychological/technical manipulation. I first watched it in the early 80’s and I remember then thinking that if Phillip K Dick had written a treatment for Columbo( he wrote one for Mission Impossible as it happens) it would be something like this. It also has slight echoes of some of the preoccupations of ‘The Prisoner”(especially “The General” episode) ; turning the technology of the oppressor (murderer) into a tool of liberation for the oppressed.You get a sense of why Peter Falk and Pat McGoohan clicked so well; at their best both of them had the ability to place highly original and sometimes even subversive ideas smack in the middle of Primetime TV. There can be no greater praise for any artist in any medium in my view.
What makes “Double Exposure” so great in my book, is that the ingenious murder method (using subliminal cuts) might not even be imaginary Science Fiction, since subliminal messages do work in reality.
“At the University of Utrecht in 2006, a team of experimental social psychologists, Johan Karremans, Jasper Claus and Wolfgang Stroebe, did manage to make subliminal advertising itself work – in strict laboratory conditions, provided a series of limiting factors are in place.”
(BBC)
Regardless of the factual science, in my estimation a key aspect of this plot point is that the writers didn’t push the concept too far. The subliminal messaging tactic was not used to puppeteer someone to kill themselves (cough, Deadly State, cough) or to assassinate a third party. It simply convinced the target he was a little thirsty. Throw in the explicitly salty caviar, and you have an entirely believable set-up.
It’s more questionable to me that Keppel’s plan “might” rely on his perfect execution of a single shot with a handgun from a distance, but on that front I just tell myself that he must have been closer to Norris than the camera angle makes it appear. Problem solved.
The gotcha still bugs me, with Keppel having had ample opportunity to dispose of the silencer well before Columbo figured the case.
I agree that the set-up was entirely believable. But can you say the same for the use of subliminal messaging at the end? As portrayed, those final subliminal cuts didn’t simply cause Kepple to wonder whether Columbo had found the caliber converter. They transformed Kepple into a semi-robotic state, oblivious to everything and everyone else, including the presence of Columbo and his photographer. Kepple’s final expression was professional vindication on steroids. At least, Grace Wheeler’s similar, final wide-eyed stare had a clinical explanation.
A fair point and one I can’t argue with. Double Exposure is a solid ep, but the ending whiffs on several levels, including on the subliminal front. Obviously the writer was aiming for peak irony and probably figured the deliciousness of Columbo’s switcheroo would distract from the sudden leap in scientific credibility.
Though I lay the potted plant “hiding” spot at the feet of the director. 🙂
David Koenig (“Shooting Columbo”) recounts the drastic cuts made to reduce the episode from two hours to 90 minutes. He doesn’t say that, aside from cutting existing footage, any new, shorter scenes were written and filmed to replace longer ones — but perhaps this happened, too. Because some of the exaggerated behavior at the end could be explained by the need for a revised and much more compressed final scene. The ending could have achieved the same irony with a little more credibility if there had been time to play the final sequence at a less manic pace.
True. It may be impossible to execute seamlessly — Columbo would have to keep finding excuses for Keppel to watch video or listen to music — but it would have been pretty cool if the Lt. had quietly figured out the howcatchem early on and then spent the glut of the episode feeding Keppel subliminal messages during all of their juicy exchanges. Keppel eventually is driven to expose himself, at which point Columbo reveals his genius slow-play strategy to both Keppel and the viewer.
Oh for sure! I’m taking the broadest view of science fiction that could stretch to 1984 or The Manchurian Candidate, both of which ]could be said to be about the potentially dangerous uses of existing technology and insidious psychological manipulation. “Columbo Goes to The Guillotine” strays into similar territory with its references to military research into the paranormal but alas far less successfully.
The real-world military really did try research into psychic powers, and (as far as we know) they never arrived at a definite answer, all of which is just as shown in “Guillotine.” Elliott Blake is a little like Ingo Swann or Ed Dames from the real Project Stargate (just as Max Dyson is similar to the Amazing Randi).
And apparently as of “Grand Deceptions” the “Columbo”-universe military was still interested in the potential of exotic phenomena! Maybe after her Zener card experiment failed, Dr. Paul Hall could turn her attention to communicating with plants and casting the I Ching. 🙂
The USSR did a ton of research into telepathy and remote reviewing and strangely for such a secretive society there was discussion of it in the public realm from the 60’s onwards. A well-known book of the time by two US authors about this was “Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain” in 1971. I’ve just discovered that the book has been updated and claims that official research into parapsychology has continued in modern Russia. I’ve no idea whether any of it has any merit, but it’s still fascinating stuff.
Neat! 🙂
There is at least one Stephen J Cannell hallmark which appear in his later series; the name Tanya Baker. He uses the same or similar name in the Rockford Files season 1 episode the Kirkoff Case and again in the second season of the A Team; Tawnia Baker, the female journalist support for the team that year (replacing Triple A Amy).
I’ve noticed that! He also used the name in an episode of /Adam-12/ that he wrote. And I finally solved the mystery just recently. In his Wikipedia bio it says that Baker was his mother’s maiden name and he has a daughter named Tanya.
When Columbo feasts on the caviar at the 1st murder scene, he ENJOYS it immensely; but near the denouement he says it was too SALTY to enjoy. Am I remembering incorrectly, or is this a genuine “continuity” error?
This is a good point but I think it is OK as he explains that it is only later on when he realises how thirsty he is from eating the caviar. That then explains why he told Kepple that he didn’t enjoy it (i.e. in hindsight) as it was too salty that it made him thirsty afterwards.
I adore this episode, I think it’s the greatest of all of them. Columbo is about the ‘cat and mouse’ game and this is a superb example of it, played beautifully by Falk and Culp.
Holy shit I just realized they filmed part of this episode in my house in Toluca Lake! I’m speechless.
Crikey, what house do you live in?
Unfortunately my wife brought me back to earth. We live in a house in Toluca Lake that looks just like the one where Columbo interviews the widow. It was subdivided into two lots in the 2000s and we got the one with the white colonial house. It’s the biggest coincidence I’ve ever seen, as we even have the black and white floor, but we don’t have a step down to the living room or a door halfway up the stairs, etc. And we don’t have a bay window in the front. But jeez, I leapt out of my chair while watching until my wife set me straight. Haha!
Maybe it’s your home’s exterior and the interior was shot on a set?
I’d love to believe that, but we have some pictures of the house that I believe pre-date the episode and the exterior of the door area looks the same as it does today. Ugh. So close, I really wanted to believe it!
At least you can console yourself that you live in an utterly delightful home.
Very kind of you to say. Thank you, we do love it.
CP, as for a motive, my assumption always was that Norris, for whatever reason, decided he no longer needed Keppel’s services, thus “Terminate Keppel,” and that Keppel set up Norris with Tanya Baker as a ploy to keep Norris having to pay for his services indefinitely.
I felt like he expected Norris would cave, and the writing was on the wall when he didn’t. I wouldn’t be surprised if Keppel set up the murder as a just-in-case scenario. When Norris says in their little chat before the film screening that he’s adamant that he’s going to expose Keppel’s antics to the district attorney, that seals his fate and Keppel proceeds with the murder as planned, for fear of losing his lucrative business and reputation.
I mean, Keppel’s murder plan is far from being set in stone. Let’s say in that scene before the screening, Norris caved, and said he wouldn’t report him and would keep him on the books to keep his wife from finding out about the Baker situation. Then all Keppel has to do is stay in the screening room, narrate the film as he’s presented to be doing, and simply delete the pre-recorded narration in the lobby. Yes, Norris still would have been driven to be thirsty, and still would have been spurred into the lobby for a drink from the fountain, but that would have been it. Keppel wouldn’t have snuck out to kill him, and he would have just returned to the screening never knowing that Keppel would have shot him at that moment if he hadn’t caved.
The call he makes to Mrs. Norris is problematic, but Keppel never mentions Tanya’s name when he’s posing as the wronged boyfriend, and Mrs. Norris might be convinced by Vic that it was a crank call, as she went to the location the caller told her to go to and they never showed up.
Roger would have certainly been curious as to why Keppel was messing with the monitors prior to the screening, and why the print of the film had subliminal cuts in it, but again, with no murder taking place, all he’d have is curiosity, and Keppel, if asked, could say, he was just testing out to see if his subliminal cut theory would apply to a random audience member during the screening, then smile broadly and say his test was a resounding success, and kudos to you, Roger, for being able to hear those subliminal cuts. You’re quite the projectionist. Now get out of here. I have work to do.
I had another thought about this episode. CP discusses the plausibility of “the subliminal cut method, and how it works so perfectly to place Vic Norris in Keppel’s gunsights.” But has anyone discussed the further plausibility of Kepple’s subliminal cut method placing ONLY Vic Norris in his gunsights?
Three things made Norris step out of the auditorium and head for the water fountain: salty caviar, Kepple turning the heat up in the auditorium, and Kepple’s subliminal cuts. But the heat was up for everyone in the auditorium, and everyone saw the same subliminal cuts. Could you imagine if Kepple’s plan had been foiled because, when he stepped into the hall, he encountered a half-dozen people lined up at the water fountain?
True, only Norris ate the caviar. Kepple may have counted on that, serving it to Norris in another room, and emptying the anteroom shortly after Norris ate. And perhaps Norris’ weight factored into his thirst. But how did Kepple know for certain that his subliminal cuts would work on Norris but not the others?
Richard, Kepple counters Columbo’s own curiosity by implying that the other attendees would be too fearful to leave the auditorium as Norris was a demanding boss.
You’re quite right. But is this really true? Or is Kepple only telling this to Columbo to cover the slip he made, telling Columbo that only Norris left the screening room? Only someone in the hall would know if anyone else was there.
He readjusts admirably to Columbo’s inquiry with his “You might be right. I just assumed…” approach. Kepple does quickly turn back to check his surroundings before shooting Norris, which makes me wonder if he would have also shot Random Employee or Screening Attendee if one was also present in the lobby. He could justify the logic of it by reasoning that Mrs. Norris would have done likewise when shooting Vic. With all the effort put into the scheme it’s difficult to imagine that Kepple had a Plan B ready to go if his subliminal-cuts plan backfired.
Overall, it’s probably the salty caviar that drew Norris out for a drink rather than everyone else. I’m sure the rest of the audience members were uncomfortable in the heat, but not dying for a drink as much as someone who ate a large portion of heavily salted food.
But if someone else had snuck out along with Norris, I’m sure Keppel would have iced them both.
Both Vic Norris and Roger White were killed with a single shot. That’s quite unusual, and points to a exceptional marksman as the murderer. And Kepple has a pistol display case in his office, showing his close relationship to firearms. I’m surprised this clue never factored into Columbo’s investigation, particularly as Kepple was trying to pin the murder on Norris’ wife, someone with no known familiarity with guns.
Your insight made me review the gunshot murders from the classic era. Was Harry Stone the only multi-shot victim? I’m recalling that Beth Chadwick fired multiple shots at Bryce, but am uncertain about Ruth Lytton. Did she take out her brother and Milton with one shot each in the darkness? For all the other one-shot murderers, only two brought shooting skill into the equation: General Hollister and Ward Fowler.
I beg to differ.
Leslie Williams
must have been one deadly accurate
shooter, to have nailed her husband
with one shot from a .22. A calibre of
shell that would not normally pass
through a human.
Oh, we can speculate about every one of the single-shot killers. My point was only two had shooting acumen mentioned within the script.
I love the costume choices for Culp. The grocery store palette is Wes Anderson like in the bright colors mixed with dark themes. I love the blue jeans, yellow jacket and just a sliver of pink belt that really brings out the pink hues and bright colors of the grocery items. Plus such a contrast from his double breasted suit from the earlier scene.
Interesting the mention of Iranian caviar. At the time of filming Iran was still under the rule of Shah Pahlavi. Iranian caviar I believe has only recently been released of an import ban.
Also, the completely inappropriate use of the caviar spoon!! Classic Columbo.
is this the first episode where someone references peter falk’s height? i was just thinking before watching it that nobody ever mentions that columbo is usually about a head smaller than everyone else, but he does get described here as “the little fella in the raincoat”
(i find manlet columbo delightful, bc it’s wild that nobody tries to kill him given that he is usually the only one who suspects the real murderer, has all the evidence just in his head or in a notebook, and he’s a tiny little dude you could just pop under a cup like a spider)
In “Prescription Murder”, the original TV-movie from 1968, Dr. Fleming describes him as a “little elf.” I think the last time was in “Fade in to Murder” when Tony the deli owner describes Fowler as being “below-average height” like Columbo.
Seems to me that this is the underlying, constantly-recurring theme of Columbo:
There’s a certain subset of the population that, despite having zero history of violence or psychosis, and despite having practically no reasonable motive, will, without hesitation, suddenly, willfully, and even gleefully—enveloped in smugness—resolve to risk losing all of their comforts, and will forsake their families and educations and careers and the companies that they built and run, to undertake evil, all for financial gain or petty revenge.
This subset of the population is called Rich White People. Usually men.
And usually older, married to or having affairs with sweet-young-things.
Indeed. Viveca Scott’s appetites were a hurdle for those encumbered by “ancient masculinity.” No doubt bedded more men than Vincent Price!
And yet… ego and insecurity brought down a rich, successful woman in the show’s pilot. Later in the first season another wealthy woman threw her life away, albeit to escape the clutches of her rich, white brother. Add Anne Baxter, Ida Lupino, Vera Miles and Trish Vandeveer to the mix of wealthy, successful white woman who succumbed to ego and insecurity. Summation: pigment, not genitalia, is the culprit!
I clearly wrote “Usually men”. On Columbo it’s actually much more often than usually. Well over 90%?
Also, it’s not actual fact that the light pigment is the culprit, of course! That’s merely what, for some reason, the script writers are pushing in their Hollywood Fiction Land.
I did my graduate work at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School and was later a professor there in the TV/Radio/Film department. I also taught at the University of Oregon and at New Paltz, part the State U of New York system. I’m now retired.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, that Peter Falk was an SU alum. He did his masters in public administration at SU. His daughter Catherine is also an SU alum. Her name made headlines in the early 90s over a dispute about tuition funding from him. She now runs an organization that advocates for “Peter Falk’s Laws,” which have been passed in NY, California and several other states, laws which establish visitation rights for the relatives of people who become incapacitated as Falk did in the later years of his life.
What are your areas of expertise?
I love Peter Falk and old tv (and old cars, old fashion, old decorating, etc.) but I find myself frustrated with many Columbos, because most of the supposed-genius killers have absurdly weak motives, and they’re so stupid.
I am absolutely *NOT* a fan of the perversion that permeates (intentionally) 21st Century and late-20th Century television, but one show truly stands out, and the writing is vastly superior to Columbo: Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Are you familiar with it…?
I’m afraid that compared to classic (early seventies) Columbo, Law and Order is the work of an untalented team of hacks, compounded by cringe-inducing acting. If you want something superior, suggest you check out the French series, Spiral (2007-2021), which is critically recognised as the finest crime drama series of all time.
There are several Law & Order’s, and they all suck except Criminal Intent. The complex writing usually makes the Columbo writers seem like grade-schoolers. And it’s rarely perverted or clearly written and produced by degenerates who are intentionally inflicting psychological harm on society (e.g., SVU, Criminal Minds, 24, many others).
Thanks for the recommendation.
As a decades-long fan of “Columbo” and “Law & Order” it’s the former that has the cringe-inducing acting, right down to Peter Falk at times, but that’s part of the charm. A lot of scenery was chewed…and chewed. (And I’m not even counting the 1989-2003 era.)
Okay, a lot of the Columbo acting was theatrical, and Peter Falk was often at fault by over-stylising as the various series went on – but every so often this sparked into great popular art with superb dialogue. With the likes of Law and Order, CSI, CSNY, etc, you are basically being manipulated left and right by implausible and irritating characters (eg female cops in high heels and full make up !)
I’ve never seen “CSI”, but what cops are wearing high heels and lipstick on “Law & Order”? Now, on “Columbo” there ARE female cops in high heels and lipstick. Ask Dale Kingston. “Columbo” is rooted in an alternate universe, and that’s quite OK. It’s a fun creation that is head and shoulders above its ilk of the time: Cannon, Barnaby Jones, McMillan and Wife, etc.
My specialty was audio. I taught music recording and sound for video. I also taught writing and video production, as well as history of media and a course in film noir.
I always taught that American TV is primarily a business to which artistic merit takes second place. TV shows exist to attract audiences for advertisers. Episodic TV, like Columbo, is done with a relatively low budget and that means a far shorter production schedule than for a feature film.
Some of the flaws in Columbo, as with any show, often arise because they just ran out of money and time to fix problems because they had to deliver the show to NBC on X date. The format is also an immense challenge because they have to structure the acts to fit between scheduled commercial breaks and had to fill a time slot of either 90 minutes with commercials or two hours with commercials. That they were able to do it so well so often despite all the limitations is a credit to the production people—producers, writers, directors, and others.
The ABC era was done with less money on the production end (likely because of Peter Falk’s salary) so they wouldn’t have been able to hire the best writers or the best guest stars. They might have done a much better job had it been brought back as a one-hour series, but Columbo had always been a long-format show and that’s what the producers and ABC believed was what audiences expected.
You’re no doubt correct about the budget for guest stars, but I’ll disagree with you about the writers. I’m sure Classic Columbo had to pay decent money for Ray Milland, Janet Leigh, Gene Barry, Anne Baxter, Vera Miles, Jose Ferrer, Oskar Werner, et al. I’m also pretty sure that their budget was not significantly dented by commissioning scripts from Stephen Bochco, Jackson Gillis, or Peter Fischer. As CP notes in his review, “Double Exposure” was written on spec by Stephen J Cannel, not well-known at the time. I’d presume there’s a market for good hungry writers looking to prove themselves, and what better place than Columbo – even in the 90s – to do that. And, as insider David Koenig notes in the “Murder Can Be Hazardous” thread, Falk welcomed finding good scripts from unknown writers.
On the other hand, William Read Woodfield was a veeeerrry established and “name” Hollywood writer, (one of the giants of writing Mission: Impossible). I’ll bet his fee reflected that. But he did not have a gift for writing Columbo, and his three 90s scripts were no prizes.
Nineties Columbo’s budget was indeed a bit on the cheap, but that’s no excuse for the generally lousy writing that dominated the revival.
In the classic Columbo era, you had iconic names from the fifties and early sixties – such as Ray Milland – who were no longer fashionable, but obviously still needed work. They probably couldn’t believe their luck in finding such high quality roles on tv. There would also have been quite a lot of crime writing talent in Hollywood, including people who went back to the Chandler/Faulkner/Woolrich era – such as Steve Fisher and Leigh Brackett for example.
Hey Doc, this is well off topic, but you got me curious. What are a few noirs that you are especially high on, outside of the most obvious (e.g., Falcon, Sleep, Out of Past, Detour, Gilda, Shanghai)?
I am in no way an expert but have watched my fair share the last few years (Noir Alley on TCM helps) and would love to gain an academic’s perspective … without going back to college of course. 😉
And don’t feel like you have to limit your recommendations to examples of standout technical merit, any you dig for any reason will do. Neo-noirs also acceptable. Thanks!
There’s a line, A.D., that I know is in the stage script of “Prescription: Murder,” and in the televised episode as well. It’s in reference to your comment that many of the murderers do stupid things.
“You’re probably right. He sounds just too clever for us. What I mean is, you know, cops, we’re not the brightest guys in the world. Of course, we got one thing going for us: we’re professionals. I mean, you take our friend here, the murderer. He’s very smart, but he’s an amateur. I mean, he’s got just one time to learn. Just one. And with us, well, with us, it’s – it’s a business. You see, we do this a hundred times a year. I’ll tell ya, Doc. That’s a lot of practice.”
I agree there have been a handful of cases he’s investigated where the killer has bungled it so badly there was no way they weren’t getting caught. Maybe that line offers a reason. Sometimes their best laid plans are total failures, because they don’t plan far enough ahead.
In Flemming’s own case, the whole, wife attacked in the apartment scenario seems brilliant. But Columbo brings up something I never thought of. How DID a random killer get up there?
Same with “Candidate for Crime,” I was thinking how clever Hayward was to use the gun for a “missed” assassination attempt, but again, how did the killer get up there, and get gone. It’s a trivial thing I never thought of until Columbo/Vernon point it out.
I agree though in same cases, such as Dr. Marshall Cahill, Dr. Eric Mason, and Joe Devlin. It wasn’t just stupidity in Cahill and Devlin’s cases, they did things at the crime scenes that made it appear they actively WANTED to get caught.
I’ve worked in a few movie theaters and the door to the projectionist booth is always inside the theater. How did Robert culp get to the projectionist booth without being seen? He either had a key to open the back door of the theater, which is unlikely, or he walked through the lobby. Did he buy a ticket?
Great questions! Bonus question for 70 points: What movie was playing?
I always wanted to see what Mr Keppel’s video sounded like, so I kind of made one.
https://app.box.com/s/sycbom87y3lglrrv3anesu58ppjz1fre
Thank God they left us the whole glorious ending.
This is one of my favourites. I haven’t read through all of the comments so I don’t know if anyone else has pointed out the terrible crime committed by Columbo in this episode, namely the triple-dipping of the caviar.
Sorry, Charles, but Columbo doesn’t dip that way. You dip the way you wanna dip, and he’ll dip the … [gimme that chip!] … 😜
That was worse than murdering Vic. (Not kidding).
I think the biggest crime of this episode wasn’t committed by Keppel or any other character. It was editing out Arlene Martel.
It has some great MALE character actors in smaller roles, like Richard Stahl and Danny Goldman, but I don’t know how anyone could decide to edit out Arlene Martel.
Biggest issue with this episode is that there is no way that Keppel would have left the converter for however many days (or weeks?) it was there. He was in an out of the office many times and he was certainly wasn’t being searched. Why would he leave this totally incriminating thing there? Certainly the right thing to do right after the murder, but then remove it and throw it into the trash at McDonalds.
And wouldn’t the shadow of it have shown up when the lamp was on?
Absolutely. Talk about an easy thing to discard! Moreover Columbo just assumed evidence would have been left in the office (based on the subliminal cuts he provided) and not in, say, the elevator shaft, boiler room, janitorial closet etc. But as we see frequently, Columbo is REALLY lucky.
I enjoyed watching Columbo back in the 1970s, and my wife and I have recently started watching the entire series again. We really are enjoying them.
Last night we watched Double Exposure. We enjoyed the cat-and-mouse between Keppel and Columbo, but my problem with the episode is the murder of the projectionist. I worked as a projectionist for a few years right at the time this episode was made. I ran projectors just like the ones in the episode.
There’s no such thing as putting a nickle in the reel of film. It would not fall onto the floor. There is a door over the reel, and the nickle would fall to the bottom slot where the film is feeding out. It would probably get caught and scratch the film or stop the film and cause the sprocket holes to rip out.
And there’s no need for it. The projector itself has a wheel which rides on the film. When there is about one minute of film left, the wheel drops causing a bell to go off. This tells the projectionist to turn on the lamp and get ready to turn on the film and switch the light to the next projector based on cues on the screen.
The projectors do not start themselves. The projectionist has to start them manually based on cues on the screen. If Roger had been killed during the first reel, the first reel would have run out at 7:30 and his body discovered at that time. If it was the second reel that ran out, then the murder would have occurred during the second reel, between 7:30 and 7:55 (although a full reel is only twenty minutes long). There is no way he could have been killed during the first reel and nothing went wrong until the end of the second reel.
This is a great website. Thanks.
Columbo says to Keppel “you changed the reel, then went back to your office”
This raises an issue that can arise in many a Columbo episode: i.e., would a device depicted, such as inserting a nickel into the film reel, actually be used in the reel world (pun intended) to assist with the timing of changing reels.
The short response to this part of your comment is that there was, indeed, such a thing as putting a nickle in the reel of film about 100 feet before the end, exactly as depicted in “Double Exposure.” Although more modern 35mm projectors had the bell feature you referred to, there was a time when older style theater projectors from the 1960s didn’t have that feature.
After re-watching many of these episodes over and over, I’ve noticed a trend in episodes where a second murder is committed later in the episode:
Lt. Columbo still heavily focuses his energy on the first murder.
This episode is another example. The projectionist’s death is covered rather quickly, but the “gotcha” is about the initial fatality.
I guess an exception might be “A Case of Immunity.”
Also, as my screen-name suggests, I prefer chili to cavear, even though the latter was gobbled up by Falk in this episode.
(I’ve also just realized that I may or may not have been spelling cavear (caviar) wrong this whole time?!) As I said, I’m more of a chili with crackers guy.
(I guess it can be spelled both ways, according to the internet!) Too late to change my screen name!
Anyway, never tasted it before, but I’m not sure I’d like it.
If it’s offered to me for free, I’d try it!
Keppel dislikes Columbo from the beginning in this one, making Falk’s character seem like more of a pest than usual. But I agree, the cat and mouse game was excellent.
At the very beginning, right after Norris is killed, that first conversation is definitely chilly.
But at the supermarket, Keppel is much more relaxed, and I have to give an award to Culp for that scene, we can literally see the light bulb go off over Keppel’s head as Columbo further presses him for details as he realizes not only is Columbo an immensely dangerous adversary, but that he’s also Columbo’s number one suspect. I think he even alludes to it in that scene.
“Sounds like you feel a little empty-headed at the moment, but I don’t think you’re empty-headed at all.”
Still though, from that moment on, I honestly didn’t feel like Keppel found Columbo to be a big pest. I think he recognized Columbo was dangerous, but felt that the most damning evidence wouldn’t be traced back to him. I think Columbo was the first person who provided a real intellectual challenge for him in quite some time, but he still felt he was superior.
He does express slight frustration right after Columbo informs him Roger White is dead, but when Columbo asks him to visit White’s crime scene, the enjoyment and opportunity to once again be superior to Columbo in the battle of wits is just too delicious to pass up. He’s unable to hide a smile when he says, “Alright, Lt. I’ll play.” And you feel like he wants to break into a Cheshire cat grin at “Right or left? You didn’t tell me where the murder was committed, Lt., so I couldn’t POSSIBLY know how to get there, could I?”
It’s just so delicious. I think it might be a skosh better than “Prescription: Murder,” just because Flemming isn’t having as much fun as Keppel is in this cat and mouse battle of wits. Flemming goes so far as to seek to get Columbo taken off the case. Keppel finally loses his temper completely at the golf course, but he collects himself and thinks he’s back in the clear.
This is definitely Culp’s finest outing, though Culp nailed Hanlon and Brimmer too.
I watched this episode several times trying to take a glimpse of this mysterious Tanya Baker. As she’s mentioned in credits, I always thought I missed something out)) Falk vs. Culp is an entertainment to watch, and the gotcha moment is witty, but I agree that it’s not one of the best. It’s just too made-up, like the crime itself.
I was wondering the same thing especially because the role is credited to the marvelous Arlene Martel. Must have been in a cut scene.
I wonder if JK Rowling took the inspiration for Filch’s cat from Mrs Norris?