This episode first aired November 17, 1971
This episode features the quickest murder in the show’s run, occurring within one minute of the opening.
The exterior shot of the home in the show’s opening was also used as for the Drysdales’ house in The Beverly Hillbillies.
Dale Kingston’s apartment, established in the night establishers, was twice home to Marilyn Monroe, in 1953 and 1961.
Frank Simpson has the exact same desk at Investigator Brimmer from “Death Lends a Hand”.
The $2 that Kingston tips the valet would be equivalent to about $15 today.
Similarly, the $2000/year bequeathed to the Evans would be about $15000/year today.
Falk was apparently a notorious coffee drinker who, in this particular episode, forgot his coffee cup in a shot. It can be glimpsed in the scene where Columbo rummages around Kingston’s office.
Peter Falk ad-libbed the line: “I’m no art expert, but I know what I don’t like.” Director Hy Averback loved it and kept it in the cut.
The production borrowed real paintings from a Los Angeles art gallery for this episode.
Gene Barry, Patrick O’Neal, and Robert Wagner were initially considered for the part of Dale Kingston.
Ross Martin, who eventually won the role of Dale Kingston, had been Falk’s camp counselor and acting teacher when Falk was 12. He is best known for his portrayal of Artemis Gordon in the quirky western series The Wild, Wild West.
Rosanna Huffman, who plays Dale Kingston’s doomed girlfriend, Tracy O’Connor, was married to series co-creator Richard Levinson who also co-wrote this episode.
Falk and Kim Hunter got on famously on set. She ad-libbed a line calling Columbo “a funny little man”, but director Hy Averback chose not to use it.
Don Ameche, who played lawyer Frank Simpson, was a well-established film star who shifted his focus to television when the film offers dried up. His return to the big screen as Mortimer Duke in Trading Places revitalized his big screen career. He would later win an Oscar for his performance in Cocoon (1981).
Actor Barney Phillips appears as Captain Wyler in this episode. Those of you who joined our Twilight Zone rewatch may remember him as the Venusian in “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up”.
My thoughts on the episode in chronological viewing order…
Well, that’s one way to get him to stop playing.
Love Dale’s blue velour jacket. It really fits his personality.
My initial reaction when she ran upstairs with the electric blanket was “No, take it with you!” assuming she would be leaving a clue behind. But, surprisingly, it never came up in the investigation.
She cut her escape kinda close!
The sequence of Kingston telling his lame jokes and his hangers-on laughing away triggered flashbacks to many a meeting with industry executives.
Hey, is that up-and-coming artist Mel from the series Alice? Yes, it’s Vic Tayback!
The medical examiner placing time of death at “11:00, give or take a few minutes” is ridiculously precise.
The burglar alarm not going off is a big mistake on Kingston’s part. He, clearly, does not possess the brilliance of any of the previous murderers Columbo matched wits with – although he clearly believes he does.
Loved the scene of an uncomfortable Columbo trying to question artist Sam Franklin while trying to avoid eye (and other parts of the body) contact with the nude model.
The fact that Kingston establishes his alibi by clumsily asking everyone the time clearly shows he is not in the same league as a Ken Franklin, Inspector Brimmer, or even a General Hollister.
When Columbo informs Kingston that the lock couldn’t have been forced from the outside, Dale’s response is “So?”. So?!!! So he’s saying it was an inside job, you idiot!
Asking the valet to help him search for his missing cufflink to establish his clean trunk was also incredibly clumsy. In the past, I’ve bumped on Columbo being too instantly suspicious of people but, in this case, I buy it.
Columbo has a habit of letting himself into people’s homes.
Columbo uses, and attempts to make off with, the desktop lighter. This is, I believe, the fourth or fifth desktop lighter featured in an episode. I guess it IS a running gag.
Columbo’s excuse that he “had to give up the painting as evidence” made me laugh.
Loved Columbo’s scene with the Landlady, played by Mary Wickes, who turns the tables on the dogged detective, taking him on an extended trip through memory lane enroute to a dead end.
I find it downright bizarre that the police would honor a request to search Edna Matthews’ home just so that they can officially discount her as a suspect.
I wonder if Columbo suspects that other detective of being a Venusian?
Bad luck for Dale Kingston that he brought the stolen paintings home while Columbo was there.
LOVE this Gotcha! moment. Falk and Kingston are terrific in this final exchange.
Ah, the classic freeze frame OUT!
Despite the fact that Kingston was clearly not on the same level as previous clever killers, I really do love this episode for a host of reasons, chiefly the humor. Kingston holding court at the art show, the nude model questioning, Columbo “appreciating” modern art, the photo album sit-down with the landlady, Kim Hunter’s quirky performance and, of course, Ross Martin absolutely killing it (literally and figuratively) onscreen.
The closing moment is brilliant, especially when one considers this wasn’t the original ending. In the original, Kingston was tripped up by a forged signature but Falk found it somewhat lackluster and, according to legend, rang up writer Jackson Gillis at midnight after a day’s shooting and pressed him for a more dramatically satisfying conclusion. To his credit, Gillis delivered just that.
Going to have to let this episode sit for a bit but, at the moment, even though Kingston was a less formidable adversary and the murder less well thought-out, “Suitable for Framing” earns very high marks for its humor, performances, and closing moments. So, at the present, I would rank the episodes accordingly: #1. Death Lends a Hand, #2. Suitable for Framing, #3. Prescription: Murder, #4. Murder by the Book/Ransom for a Dead Man (tie), #6. Dead Weight. And you?
Finally, as with previous episodes, we must consider the evidence Columbo has gathered and ask whether, on the basis of said evidence, our killer would be found GUILTY or ACQUITTED. To be honest, this is a tough one. Kingston’s fingerprints clearly tie him to the stolen paintings, and yet does that necessarily tie him to the murder? I think it would be touch and go but if the prosecution is smart they have Dale Kingston take the stand in his own defense, and given his pompous personality, I have no doubt he would sink his own case. GUILTY!
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I’ll get back to you on the details, but this is one of my absolute favorites! I would rank them this way:
#1. Suitable for Framing, #2. Prescription: Murder, #3. Murder by the Book, #4. Death Lends a Hand, #5. Ransom for a Dead Man, and #6. Dead Weight.
Just one thought (if I recall correctly): The “cutting it close” with the clicky-cloppy lady heels escape and the gunshot/precise time of death all were designed to support Kingston’s alibi, providing an ‘ear witness’ (the security guard) to both the time of death (the gunshot) and the killer supposedly being a woman (clicky-cloppy), all in order to frame a suitable scape goat, Aunt Edna.
I think disarming the burglar alarm was also intended to point a finger at Aunt Edna, but I can’t remember if that played into Kingston’s deflections, or not.
das
Ah, that makes sense. You’re quite the detective yourself.
Do I have the mind of a detective, or a criminal…that is the question. 😉
das
Thanks! I wondered about the heels. An ear witness makes sense.
I find it hard to swallow that such a clumsy murderer would be able to come up with such an elaborate plan to frame his aunt. While I was watching it felt to me that the framing was an afterthought when Kingston feared Columbo was getting too close to the truth. Especially with his unbelievable insistence that his aunt’s house be search to “prove her innocence” and then the frantic attempts to plant the paintings at the last minute. And it all seemed to hinge on his aunt going shopping and buying something that came in a box large enough to hide the paintings! What if she only bought a pair of gloves?
But thinking back on it I guess it was his plan all along. It was a bad plan that could have unraveled at any moment. I’m surprised it got as far as it did.
I liked the idea of the electric blanket to keep the body warm. I was worried that there would be blood on it. I doubt that body temperature was the only method of determining time of death. I’m sure there’s other bodily processes that stop that can be measured. But having the security guard hear the shot is a good way to plant the false knowledge of the time of death.
Why would Kingston bring the paintings back to his house immediately after he’d given Columbo permission to search it? At least wait until you’ve got your key back!!!!!
I found Kingston quite insufferable and was looking forward to his comeuppance during the whole episode. That made the final twist so delicious! It’s definitely my favourite ending of an episode so far. Do you think Columbo knew what he was doing when he reached into the folder and touched the paintings? Or was it a luck?
I scoffed at the forensics guy dusting the painting for prints, though. At one point he blew on it to send up a cloud of dust. I’m pretty sure that’s not how it’s done.
Solid episode but not up near the top for me except for the ending. There’s no way Kingston is getting out of this one. Although evidence is lacking for his murder of Tracy. I hope they found something to implicate him on that as well. CONVICTED!
These are all great points. Yes, Kingston’s seemed somewhat inept in his planning which was a negative for me, but those humorous scenes and that final reveal is so good that I forgave a lot. Not enough to put it in the #1 spot however.
So much goodness already touched on! I do love this episode – it has a villain you love to hate, and a quirky aunt, and the hilarious landlady with the photo album scene, and a terrific gotcha moment. However, I must admit to having trouble seeing Vic Tayback as an artsy artist. Car mechanic, yes…SoHo artisty type? Nope. But that doesn’t detract from the episode.
There are a lot of great extras in this episode, too: character actors who appeared in many movies and television shows, and who will appear in several Columbo episodes, too. Most of their real names are unknown to me, but the faces are so very familiar. Of course, the landlady (Mary Wickes), the lady at the art exhibit (Sandra Gould), and the art exhibit’s hostess (Joan Shawlee of Some Like It Hot fame, amongst other films) are familiar faces and voices we’ve seen and heard on the screen down through the years. But several of the background characters are just faces in the crowd that we hardly ever notice despite their appearances in so many shows over the years. It’s fun trying to pick them all out!
This will not be the first episode in which someone scolds Columbo for lighting up. It is also a classic example of how Columbo knows a little about a lot. Sometimes he reads up on a subject as he’s investigating, but sometimes I’m under the impression that he already knows a lot, but plays dumb to make the suspect think he’s not as sharp as he really is. Either way, I’m sure his IQ is higher than all of ours put together.
Ah, so much I could say about this one. The handy dandy rock to bash Tracy’s head in was conveniently placed, and I swear there’s one scene where Columbo is in the murder house talking about the paintings, and what appears to be brown hair dye is running down the right side of his face by his ear (a la Rudy Giuliani), but maybe it’s just a shadow. And why didn’t the security guard run after the fleeing possible murderess? Was he afraid of the dark? And why does everyone keep referring to the pastels as ‘paintings’?
But these are all such minor things compared to the superb acting, the humor, and that brilliant gotcha moment! I also think with this episode we are really seeing the true birth of Columbo, the icon. The elements were there before, but not so well defined, and so very entertaining. Yes, that’s why right now, it’s my #1 episode. But that will change…
das
Yes, love seeing the Columbo character crystalize over the course of these early episodes.
As for the security guard, I’m sure he would argue he’s not paid enough to chase after murderers.