Movielogr
Columbo: Swan Song (1974)
Directed by Nicholas Colasanto
Twitter Facebook Google+Overview
A gospel singer kills his evangelist wife when she denies him more money and threatens blackmail.
Rated NR | Length 99 minutes
Actors
Peter Falk | Bill McKinney | John Randolph | Sorrell Booke | Ida Lupino | Vito Scotti | John Dehner | Johnny Cash | Janit Baldwin | Lucille Meredith
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/16/2019 | TV | DVD | Library | 7 stars |
| (Average) 7 stars |
Viewing Notes
Found another Columbo episode that was added to TMDb as it’s own title. I’m guessing this was added b/c it guest stars Johnny Cash and Ida Lupino. Cash isn’t a great actor but it does appear to be exorcising some demons in this role. Curious how he decided to take this on and position himself as the criminal. At the end Columbo says something like, “anyone that sings like that must have some good in him.”
Found it amusing that Cash is supposed to have a broken ankle (his foot is in a cast *over* his black cowboy boot!) yet he just walks around on it like normal. Note: having experienced a broken ankle he would not be able to do that w/o walking awkwardly and in pain. Weird thing to notice now.
I’ve only recently started watching these old Columbo episodes (cold weather seems perfect for murder mysteries) having not seen any since probably the 80s. I had forgot that the crime/murder always takes place at the beginning showing the killer and exactly how it happened. Then Columbo appears and solves it. It’s odd b/c the viewer knows the murderer from the start so the mystery is really in how Columbo unravels the clues. This was off-putting at first but I guess the charm in the show is Columbo figuring it all out while we watch the killer squirm.
I prefer a murder mystery where I’m trying to solve the mystery along w/the detective. But I’ve been watching these anyways mostly for the guest stars and nostalgia (love seeing the 1970s everything). Columbo and Quincy were big shows for me when I was a kid and I think my dad enjoyed them too which is probably how I started watching them.
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