Forgotten Film Friday: Ransom for a Dead Man

A retrospective by Brooks Rich

An ambitious and cold lawyer named Leslie Williams, played by Lee Grant, murders her boring husband and then stages his kidnapping, paying off the "ransom" and then uncovering the body to make it look like the kidnappers killed him anyway. Of course she also pockets the ransom money. It seems like a perfect crime. But her stepdaughter suddenly arrives without warning and is hassling her. More importantly a frumpy detective in a raincoat is also hounding her, setting off a game of cat and mouse.

After the success of Prescription Murder another TV movie with Peter Falk as the lovable Lieutenant Columbo was greenlit. Once again we see a murderer plan and carry out a crime and then watch as Columbo slowly figures it out and traps them. Ransom for a Dead Man has a different feel then Prescription Murder. It's more like a '70s Neo noir than a classy whodunit like Prescription Murder. The music is different too. This would become a highlight of the show. No episode every really felt like one before it. Sure they followed the same formula mostly but they had different tones, different music. Each episode has its own identity.

With Ransom for a Dead Man the series continues to use the inverted style of murder mystery, also known as a "howcatchem" where we watch as the detective in question closes in on a killer that's known to us. Unlike a whodunit in a howcatchem there's more of a relationship between the cop and killer. Their interactions have more weight and meaning and besides Falk himself this was the greatest strength of the series, that cat and mouse game between Columbo and his prey.

In Ransom for a Dead Man Falk plays Columbo more like he would for the rest of the series run than in Prescription Murder. We first meet him as Leslie opens her front door and finds him fumbling around in the dark, looking for a pen. She is immediately put at ease and doesn't see Columbo as a threat. Thus begins his relentless but slow and methodical breakdown of her defenses. Both Prescription Murder and this are great introductions to the series and Columbo as a character.

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