Dead Weight (1971)

Columbo (1968-2003)
Television Episode | Crime Drama | USA | English | 1h16m
Dir: Jack Smight | Scr: John T. Dugan | Ph: Russell L. Metty | Prod: Everett Chambers | Mus: Gil Mellé | Ed: Richard M. Sprague | AD: Arch Bacon | Snd: David H. Moriarty | Cast: Peter Falk, Eddie Albert, Kate Reid, Suzanne Pleshette, John Kerr, Val Avery, Timothy Carey

Whilst out sailing with her mother, a young divorcee comes to believe that she has witnessed a murder, when she sees, through the window of a waterside home, a man in a bathrobe apparently shoot another, be-uniformed man. However, in the absence of a body and murder weapon, and with the accused being an eminent general, the police proves slow to believe her. Never the less, Lt. Columbo, after some initial doubts, soon comes to think that she might be on to something – even after she changes her story after being wooed by the retired army man, in this unconvincing crime drama. Reid’s brief appearance as the mother proves amusing, whilst Pleshette, as the accuser, also does surprisingly well with a poorly written part. But performances aside, this is a disappointing episode, with much of the plotting proving more-than-a-little ridiculous.