Day 213: Columbo, Dagger of the Mind

Show: Columbo

Episode Particulars: S2EP4, “Dagger of the Mind”, original airdate November 26^th, 1972.

 Summary: In London, England, actors Nicholas Frame (Richard Basehart) and Lilan Stanhope (Honor Blackman) have been buttering up theater producer Sir Roger Haversham (John Williams) so he’ll finance a production of Macbeth. When Haversham realizes this, he gets into an argument with them, and over the course of the fight, Stanhope accidentally kills him when she throws a pot of cold cream at his head. Thinking quickly, they bring the body to Haversham’s house and make it look like he fell down the stairs. Scotland Yard might have been fooled, but it seems the bobbies invited Columbo over to the U.K. to learn British police techniques, and that means he’s on hand to notice the odd little details and discrepancies…

Standalone Thoughts: On the one hand, I do like the fact that the show decided to shake things up by bringing Columbo to a different continent/country. However, while the episode is enjoyable, the writer in me feels like there were some missteps, or at least missed opportunities. According to dialogue, the reason Columbo is here in Britain as a VIP is to observe and learn some of Scotland Yard’s techniques and bring what he learned back to L.A. Immediately, there’s potential for culture clash, or Columbo showing how their techniques aren’t as good as his, or the implication that he’s teaching them more than they’re teaching him. But the most we get out of this is a few scenes of Columbo playing tourist (which doesn’t necessarily speak highly of him) and one scene where Inspector Durk (Bernard Fox) takes credit for something Columbo put him on to, which would probably have fit the bill if it wasn’t Columbo himself pointing it out and apparently making no comment about it (unless we’re supposed to read his line as kind of sarcastic). I think that would have been a good way to use the time instead of some of the longer scenes (like one scene in a pub), which takes us away from Columbo and his antics with Scotland Yard. They’re not necessarily bad scenes, but they do feel a little unnecessarily long after the fact, especially when a neat concept is staring you right in the face.

I also think they handled the reason why Columbo got involved in this case all wrong. It’s not that the body is found while they’re in Scotland Yard and Durk decides to use this case as a way to show Columbo an example of British police work, it’s that Durk’s wife is distantly related to Haversham and he’s dropping by to pay his respects. The first one grows organically out of the situation, while the second just feels like a massive coincidence. It’s not the worst explanation ever, but I feel like they could have done so much more with this.

Leaving that aside, though, there’s still a lot that’s entertaining here. There’s enough culture clash scattered throughout to make for some amusing moments (most notably the early scene at the airport), and I do like the scene that kind of subverts the trope that policemen have strong stomachs when it comes to looking at gory material. Columbo is also in fine form when it comes to saying something in an offhand way that’s guaranteed to unsettle the suspects, so those who like subtle wit will have something to enjoy. On the whole, while it may show some of its flaws after the fact, it’s pretty enjoyable as you’re watching it, which is never a bad thing.

Number of “Columbo-isms”: Given that it would be very difficult to bring Columbo’s car into this episode, and he probably wouldn’t be bringing his dog either, we’re left with 3/6 (fumbling, mentions of his wife, and imperfect variations of “Just one more thing”). Not bad considering the change of location, though.

Other: *There’s a scene around the midway point of the episode that uses an interesting editing technique that you’ll often see in movies. Columbo questions both Frame and Stanhope, and the story jumps between those two questionings, each jump suggesting the passage of time (Frame and Stanhope are gradually changing out of their costumes and into street clothes). Furthermore, each cut happens around the time as, for example, Frame answers a question Columbo asked Stanhope. It’s a different approach for Columbo and one that works relatively well, although if I’m honest, I’m not sure it works with this show. This is a technique that works if you’re having someone question several witnesses, or if two people are undergoing questioning at the same time. Having one person doing both questionings that clearly could not be taking place concurrently makes it feel less like a clever technique and way of progressing the plot than it does just showing off for no reason. But at least it’s not as bad as “Ransom for a Dead Man”…

*In another instance of “things that could have been handled slightly better”, Columbo is convinced that Frame and Stanhope are behind Haversham’s murder, and furthermore, he saw a car that he must be near positive is theirs driving away from Haversham’s house earlier that evening. But instead of coming right out and asking Tanner (Wilfrid Hyde-White, aka one of the most British names ever), Haversham’s butler, if Frame and Stanhope visited, Columbo just makes a few vague comments that Tanner glosses over. Later, it turns out that Tanner wants to blackmail the actors, which explains his behavior, but given that Columbo’s theory is rapidly falling apart at that moment, I feel like he needed to be more direct for once. The story would have gone about the same way if he had, so why not do it like that? You do have to know when to let go of the conceit every once in a while.

Would This Hold Up in Court?: Unfortunately not. Confession or no confession, the way Columbo caught them out is planting of evidence, and there’s not much other evidence to back things up. I like Columbo a lot, but there are times like today when he does prove to participate in…questionable police work.