An Exercise in Fatality
- Episode aired Sep 15, 1974
- TV-PG
- 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
2.7K
YOUR RATING
A health club owner murders one of his franchisees. Lt. Columbo is on the case.A health club owner murders one of his franchisees. Lt. Columbo is on the case.A health club owner murders one of his franchisees. Lt. Columbo is on the case.
Pat Harrington Jr.
- Buddy Castle
- (as Pat Harrington)
Collin Wilcox Paxton
- Ruth Stafford
- (as Collin Wilcox)
Ernesto Macias
- Fred
- (as Eric Mason)
J.R. Clark
- Harry Lassiter
- (as J. R. Clark)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaColumbo meets Milo at the same beach where Jim Rockford lives in The Rockford Files (1974). He walks down to meet him past the restaurant outside Rockford's trailer. Also, Gretchen Corbett, who plays Milo Janus' secretary, played Jim Rockford's lawyer (and sometimes girlfriend).
- Goofs(at around 18 mins) Just after Columbo arrives at the crime scene, on his way to to Stanford's office, he walks down a corridor. In the end room, a chair is visible in the distance. Somebody is hiding behind it and ducks down as Columbo approaches.
- Crazy creditsDuring the end credits, the usual theme music is not heard. In its place is a jingle for the fictional Milo Janus fitness club.
Featured review
A health club owner plots the perfect murder in this enjoyable entry, with a fine supporting cast—and one bad scene
Milo Janus (Robert Conrad) owns a chain of health clubs, but one of his franchisees (Philip Bruns) discovers the man is cheating him—and he can prove it to the authorities. Janus responds with a carefully planned murder. He finds his snooping business partner alone in the club and—after an unexpected struggle—crushes the man's windpipe. He puts the corpse in gym clothes, sets it on a bench, places a 180-pound barbell over its neck—and there you go. It looks as if the guy killed himself trying to lift a barbell that was too heavy for him. Janus creates a would-be perfect alibi for himself involving a tape recording of his victim's voice, a phone that doesn't light up, a sexy secretary (Gretchen Corbett), a party for friends at his house and a pornographic horror movie. But no alibi is perfect when our rumpled Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) is on the case.
This is a good episode with only one bad scene: the one where Columbo waits for a snippy secretary—or rather the supercomputer she operates—to provide him with a simple bit of information. His endless wait is the point of the gag, but it's not funny and seems to exist only to pad the running time. Otherwise we have a good villain in Conrad, a man in his late 30s playing a man in his early 50s who looks like a man in his late 30s. The supporting cast is typically good. I especially liked Corbett as the sexy secretary (not the snippy one) who is amused then bemused by our crafty lieutenant; and Collin Wilcox as the inebriated wife of the victim. Both give performances that are rich and varied beyond the call of duty.
The best moment: Columbo drops the pretense and loses his temper with his suspect. Before this point in the series, he had done this only in "Prescription: Murder" and "A Stitch in Crime." Its rarity makes it all the more delicious.
I don't know if I really buy Columbo's damning bit of evidence at the end; but it's so amusing that I can't criticize it. I especially like how a brief moment between a mother and her small child inspires him to look for it. In any case, few "Columbo" fans will find this entry wanting.
This is a good episode with only one bad scene: the one where Columbo waits for a snippy secretary—or rather the supercomputer she operates—to provide him with a simple bit of information. His endless wait is the point of the gag, but it's not funny and seems to exist only to pad the running time. Otherwise we have a good villain in Conrad, a man in his late 30s playing a man in his early 50s who looks like a man in his late 30s. The supporting cast is typically good. I especially liked Corbett as the sexy secretary (not the snippy one) who is amused then bemused by our crafty lieutenant; and Collin Wilcox as the inebriated wife of the victim. Both give performances that are rich and varied beyond the call of duty.
The best moment: Columbo drops the pretense and loses his temper with his suspect. Before this point in the series, he had done this only in "Prescription: Murder" and "A Stitch in Crime." Its rarity makes it all the more delicious.
I don't know if I really buy Columbo's damning bit of evidence at the end; but it's so amusing that I can't criticize it. I especially like how a brief moment between a mother and her small child inspires him to look for it. In any case, few "Columbo" fans will find this entry wanting.
helpful•216
- J. Spurlin
- Jan 21, 2007
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Geld, Macht und Muskeln
- Filming locations
- Paradise Cove - 28128 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California, USA(Columbo running w/ Milo on the beach)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
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