Satisfaction guaranteed!
It perenially tops the chart of Columbo fans’ very favourite episode and now you can view Any Old Port in a Storm online in HD thanks to the Columbo YouTube channel.
Featuring Donald Pleasence as all-time great baddie Adrian Carsini, Any Old Port has some of the greatest lines of dialogue from any Columbo episode, and is an aural treat time and again.
All together now: “AN EXCITING MEAL HAS BEEN RUINED BY THIS… LIQUID FILTH!”
- See how I rate Any Old Port in my full review here.
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Carsini goes to the United States with his secretary. At an auction he bought a bottle of wine for $5,000. At the back of the room a lamp draws a hyperbole on the red wall. I would say that it is very hyperbolic to buy a bottle of wine at that price!
“My handwriting is so bad sometimes I think I should’ve been a doctor”. Columbo. 😀
I never quite understood the winery business in this one. Adrian runs the winery, but the land itself is owned by the brother. The brother got the land by inheritance, but Adrian got the money. It must have been clear after the will was read that Adrian was a better fit for owning the land. So why not arrange a buy out/swap? It is clear that the brother finds ready cash preferable to long term investments.
Then there’s the winery itself. Clearly it can produce good wine, so it isn’t totally clear why it would be losing money. We know that from the fact that the group gets to taste it. Even if he is more interested in luxury wine, he must be selling wine on a regular basis or he won’t have the cash flow to actually operate (wages, utilities, taxes). The brother mentions Adrian buying fine wines, but those would not be a loss to the business unless they devalue. Fine wine is frequently an appreciating asset, so the business spending on the wine is only a problem if Adrian himself is drinking it, thereby stealing company property.
Also, just because the land changes ownership doesn’t mean Adrian has to lose control. The agreement could easily include Adrian producing a luxury range for the new owner, who could still produce their standard product range.
It just feels like it jumped from a frustrated business discussion straight to murder.
I would humbly suggest that you look at these facts from the other direction. We want Adrian Carsini to be a sympathetic murderer. The Adrian-Columbo relationship works best in such a case. So his reason for killing his brother has to be something with which we can empathize. It can’t be pure greed or venality, but something less disagreeable. Self-preservation. Ric threatens to strip Adrian of everything he has worked his whole life to build, everything he holds dear, and the only thing that matters to him. How can Ric do this? Only if he has the legal right to sell the winery out from under Adrian. And only if his buyer is someone who will destroy what Adrian has built. And only if Ric’s reasons are predominantly selfish. The remaining details thus must be configured to maintain this overarching narrative.
I think this is the most upsetting of the Columbo murders… Just knocking someone out and leaving them to suffocate for two days?
I think the issue a lot of you are having is Columbo doesn’t have decisive evidence and a good lawyer could get the killer off scot free. That’s not the point Columbo rarely has decisive evidence. What Columbo does is psychologically pressure his opponents into incriminating themselves or confessing. It wasn’t just the comment about the heat but the comment about how the secretary convinced columbo that carsini was innocent. That’s what Columbo does he’s not Sherlock Holmes, he often needs a confession because the evidence wouldn’t be enough in court that’s why he has to mentally destroy the killers.
Hello can anybody tell me what columbo is whistling throughout this one? Thanks in advance
I think it’s ‘This Old Man.’
“This old man, he plays one, he plays knick knack…..”
I am lost…can someone please explain why he let the wine cellar overheat? Did it have to do with the body temperature,or did he just let his brother die of dehydration?
Great actors nice story, BUT Trish is right. A temperature rise of 10 degrees Celsius doubles biological processes. So the coroner would have supposed that the dead man would have been dead a longer time and that would “endanger” Adrien Carsini’s alibi. — I would repair the story like that: the coroner found out that he was dead a longer time than he actually was given the known circumstances. At that time this is a mystery to be solved. Columbo knows that the only solution is that he must have been in a heated room. Then, he learns a little bit about wines and is tricking the wine expert Adrien Carsini with the highly developed taste of his own tongue. —
Carsini didn’t expect a heat wave to occur at that time of year.
He turned the air off so that his brother would suffocate. What he didn’t plan on happening was the heat wave that occurred which, in turn, ruined the wine.
Donald Pleasence’s character rolling over on himself seems pretty absurd. If he can spend $18,000.00 on booze in NYC I think he could hire pretty decent attorney to defend himself. And, what does Columbo have on him??? That he let his wine cellar overheat? Is there any forensic evidence linking the half-brother to the cellar? Am I missing something? The episode would have been better if Columbo had discovered that Ric was going to sell the land to the Marino Brothers: that would have established motive at least. In short, “Any Old Port” disappointed me.
I agree about the rolling over. But if I’m not mistaken, (can’t remember who mentioned it to Columbo) someone in this episode did say that Ric wanted to sell the land.
Ric’s fiancee tells Columbo that Ric wanted to sell the business (although she doesn’t mention the Marino Brothers). This happens at the lakeside club right after he informs her of Ric’s death. I don’t recall Columbo ever grilling Carsini about this, though.
I agree. I’m still not seeing Columbo’s “case.” How does Adrian’s wine overheating prove that Enrique was left in the cellar? What’s the connection?
Adrian turned the air off in the cellar so that Ric would suffocate…during that time there was a heat wave which increased the temperature in the cellar and ruined the wine. Columbo learned this, took the rarest bottle and planted it in the restaurant so that he could order it…Adrian confirmed it was bad then realized it was from his own cellar.
Well sir, Karen was trying to grab him by the balls. He didn’t want that. With her wishes and desires unfulfilled, she would have done, what every ‘Karen’ does – call the police. He did call her ‘…an employee and nothing more..’, Of course a good attorney might have got him off. But, you see sir, Carsini was a man of honour. He wasn’t a criminal or a scoundrel, used to dodging criminal charges. It would have weighed on him tremendously.
But that’s not what columbo is about, you have to have the gotcha moment at the end, and if he went the way of solving it through the sale then it’s not an exciting story.
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After watching this fantastic episode, I want a glass of wine.
Can anyone tell me what the weather was last Tuesday?
I kept saying this over and over
Adrian’s mucsle bound hedonist of a neopolitan brother, Rick, had to be disposd of.
this yet another episode where Columbo steals evidence. Man, L.A. cops are dirty.
This is one of my top 5 favorite episodes, I’m so glad it’s streaming now.
Here’s an interesting/amusing rundown on something I’ve sometimes contemplated about the Columbo episodes.
What happens to the businesses that were owned, franchised, or managed by the killers after Columbo catches them? What happens to Brimmer’s otherwise top-tier private investigation firm? What happens to Milo Janis’s sleazy gym operations? And what happens to the first-rate Carsini’s Winery that Adrian ran?
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Columbo: 5 Unfortunate Aftermaths of “Any Old Port in a Storm”
JUNE 5, 2016 |
An exciting meal wasn’t the only thing ruined when Columbo solves the murder in “Any Old Port in a Storm”. Businesses will be closed, careers ended, and the line at the unemployment line grows longer. Here are 5 unfortunate aftermaths of “Any Old Port in a Storm.”
#1: Adrian’s favorite restaurant will lose a star
The unnamed French restaurant seen in the final act will be forever known as the place Adrian Carsini’s last supper before going to prison. His public rant will spread rumors the restaurant serves iodine and liquid filth. A place that doesn’t put prices on their menus can’t be known as a place the rich go to jail. The place should be thankful Yelp wasn’t invented yet.
#2: The “Society” will have to find another Man of the Year
The enigmatic wine organization, simply known as the “Society”, will be drowned in embarrassment and shame once everyone realizes they nominated a killer. Trying to recoup their credibility in the wine and cheese crowd, they’ll quickly rush to find another recipient of the will-be meaningless award.
#3: Carsini Wineries will be making the Marino Brothers carbonated rosé
Without the Carsini brothers, the winery is without ownership and management. It will quickly be shut down and all staff unemployed. Unfortunately, the courts will allow the Marino Brothers to purchase the business and their newest carbonated wines can go into production. Many of the original staff, including the quality control team, will not be asked to return.
#4: The priceless, $5,000 bottle of wine will be lost to history
The only bottle of wine in Adrian’s collection that did not turn into vinegar was perhaps his $5,000 bottle of wine corked in the year 1850. With all the confusion between his confession, arraignment, and the judicial system, the wine will disappear into obscurity. Remember, Adrian had no use of it and said he didn’t want anyone else to have it. Adrian will win this one.
#5: Karen will be waiting for Adrian, forever!
Stalker alert! Karen, the unindicted co-conspirator, has nothing else. This includes her position when they quickly close the winery. But she will wait for Adrian, including writing letters he’ll never open. Adrian will feel safest inside the prison where the closest thing to wine he will ever have is that’s made from juice, garbage bags, and dirty socks.
http://radioactive-studios.com/biohazard-films/?p=5121
Oh goodie, I’ve always wanted easy and fast access to this episode. I do own it on dvd, but with the internet it’s just all the more convenient. Maybe I’ll enjoy it with some cabernet later.
That I bought from the Marino brothers.
The sixty-nine cents a gallon Marino brothers.
Who don’t make wine.
They don’t even make good mouthwash.
No amount of liquid filth can ruin this exciting episode however, despite its appearance in the episode.
You might try the Marino Brothers’ Carbonated Rosé. It puts the old Boones Farm and Bartles & Jaymes to shame.
Maybe I should. I bet it’s label-lickin’ good!
I’m unscrewing my $5.00 bottle of cab as we speak.
Classy!
I hate to disappoint you, but it sounds like your bottle of cabernet may be “liquid filth.” 🙂