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
Energetically done, if slightly overlong Columbo story
Robert Conrad gives a coldly effective performance as Milo Janus, an owner of a chain of health spas who is conning the franchisees by getting them to purchase over-priced items from companies he actually owns. When one franchisee latches onto Janus's scheme and threatens to expose him, Janus murders him...
The script gets a little immersed in various secondary characters around the half-way mark and the episode could easily have been condensed. Nevertheless, the murder/made-to-look-like an accident scenario is excellent, the increasingly bitter relationship between Columbo and Janus (the hospital scene where Columbo chastises Janus is unique) is well-portrayed and there is some really good conversational waffle from Columbo.
The ending has provoked much debate for years; for me the actual reasoning is fine, but the script-writer stretches credibility in the way it is triggered in Columbo's mind.
The script gets a little immersed in various secondary characters around the half-way mark and the episode could easily have been condensed. Nevertheless, the murder/made-to-look-like an accident scenario is excellent, the increasingly bitter relationship between Columbo and Janus (the hospital scene where Columbo chastises Janus is unique) is well-portrayed and there is some really good conversational waffle from Columbo.
The ending has provoked much debate for years; for me the actual reasoning is fine, but the script-writer stretches credibility in the way it is triggered in Columbo's mind.
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- The Welsh Raging Bull
- Sep 11, 2005
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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