Last Salute to the Commodore
- Episode aired May 2, 1976
- TV-PG
- 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
2.7K
YOUR RATING
Charlie Clay runs the ship building business of his father-in-law, Commodore Swanson, who turns up murdered; Lt. Columbo is on the case.Charlie Clay runs the ship building business of his father-in-law, Commodore Swanson, who turns up murdered; Lt. Columbo is on the case.Charlie Clay runs the ship building business of his father-in-law, Commodore Swanson, who turns up murdered; Lt. Columbo is on the case.
Photos
John Finnegan
- Guard
- (as J. P. Finnegan)
Hanna Landy
- Woman
- (as Hanna Hertelendy)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe dialogue between Sgt. Kramer and Lt. Columbo over smoking (Kramer: "Thought you were gonna quit;" Columbo: "Not yet. No, not yet, Sergeant. Not yet") as Columbo figuratively rides off into the sunset (actually, rowing himself away toward a yacht club), is almost certainly a clever response directly aimed toward intense fan curiosity at the end of season five over Peter Falk returning to play Columbo in subsequent years.
- GoofsWhen Charles Clay drives away from Otis Swanson's house, his car has wire wheels, but when he pulls up to the guard shack, it has hub caps.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Big Daddy (1999)
- SoundtracksThis Old Man
(uncredited)
Traditional English children's song/nursery rhyme.
On soundtrack in several variations at end as Columbo rows away
Featured review
You win some and you lose some
I'm a big fan of Peter Falk and his Columbo series - any showing is a must-see for me even where I have already viewed them a dozen times before since they aren't who-dunnits and Falk always gives a performance worth watching. Sad to say I think this is one of the two or three very disappointing episodes. Falk plays Columbo at half-speed, his two side-kicks are one (most would say two) too many, Vaughan has nothing to do and so ends up doing nothing, but most of all the pace of the first hour of the movie is far too slow.
So what went wrong. I suspect here we have a director trying for a twist on the Columbo formula - which is OK, it made sense to throw an off-speed delivery occasionally - and also experimenting with 'improvisation' by the actors. As we all know that sometimes comes off and sometimes crashes and burns horribly. In this case sadly the latter. The little quirky scenes in Columbo movies are a delight - but here almost the whole movie is made up of such scenes and so the plot gets horribly lost.
It should come as no surprise to fans of the Columbo genre that the director was Patrick McGoohan. A brave experimental director and actor - and here in 1976 given the opportunity to try something out. Sadly it doesn't work. However, given his fine performances in 4 other Columbo movies - and his fine direction in four other than this -I'm still a fan!
So what went wrong. I suspect here we have a director trying for a twist on the Columbo formula - which is OK, it made sense to throw an off-speed delivery occasionally - and also experimenting with 'improvisation' by the actors. As we all know that sometimes comes off and sometimes crashes and burns horribly. In this case sadly the latter. The little quirky scenes in Columbo movies are a delight - but here almost the whole movie is made up of such scenes and so the plot gets horribly lost.
It should come as no surprise to fans of the Columbo genre that the director was Patrick McGoohan. A brave experimental director and actor - and here in 1976 given the opportunity to try something out. Sadly it doesn't work. However, given his fine performances in 4 other Columbo movies - and his fine direction in four other than this -I'm still a fan!
helpful•6713
- Crimpo2
- Feb 12, 2006
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Der alte Mann und der Tod
- Filming locations
- 33148 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California, USA(The Clays' residence)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
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