This episode aired January 30, 1978.
“Murder Under Glass” was directed by Jonathan Demme who would go on to win an Oscar for directing The Silence of the Lambs.
Robert Van Scoyk’s script for “Murder Under Glass” won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Television Episode.
Antony Alda, Mario the Italian waiter, was the half-brother of actor Alan Alda (MASH’S Hawkeye Pierce).
Shera Danese, aka Mrs. Falk, makes her second series appearance, playing Eve Plummer in this episode.
France Nuyen, who played Miss Choy, was once married to Columbo veteran Robert Culp.
My thoughts on this episode in chronological viewing order…
Fugu poisoning! Most fugu is farmed now so it’s a much less dangerous dish but the vestiges of toxin purportedly numben the tongue. I found the taste neutral. My wife, Akemi, thinks it’s delicious.
Why is the chef’s hat the only element of traditional kitchen garb this cook wears? Columbo will do the same thing later in the episode.
He has to cough up 25% for a good review. 25% of what?
Is this waiter related to someone? He seems pretty incompetent.
Fugu poisoning is a pretty horrible way to fo. Your body shuts down and goes into paralysis, including your lungs. But your mind remains fully aware throughout.
Open on Columbo dining at the crime scene! He’s like a mafia don, receiving the whispered words of his consigliere before waving Gerard to join him.
Of course our foodie Columbo is a big fan.
Did the tox screen already come back with results pointing to poison?
Mrs. Columbo is apparently NOT a good cook. Why am I not surprised?
“The two, trouble and murder, they seem to go together. At least that’s been my experience, sir.” Well said.
“I wish it was you dead in there,”says Albert the chef. But Gerard takes it surprisingly well.
Columbo’s Italian is pretty good here but I have to question his approach to this poor, frightened young man who just witnessed his uncle’s death and now must face Columbo’s angry accusations.
“Oh, there’s just one other thing.” The appointment book – meetings with other restauranteurs. Super important. Circles and exclamation marks!!!
“Sorry, Mr. Gerard, but I can’t let you get away with it.”
Off Gerard’s panicked: “What?”
“Your recipe. You didn’t think I’d remember, did you?”
Oh, he’s on to him already.
“Is that galatine of duck?” Columbo’s appreciation of food is great. One more thing we have in common.
Shouldn’t Columbo be washing his hands before helping to garnish that dish?
Stuffed mushrooms. For the man who has everything!
“I am beginning to regard you as an old acquaintance, lieutenant.”
“Well, thank you very much, sir. I’m beginning to know you pretty well too.”
Aha! It WAS the wine. But how?
The waiter was also a friend of the deceased and brings Columbo a platter of complimentary hors d’oeuvres. A less professional detective would find a way to drag out this investigation.
Uh oh. Gerard offering theories on how the poison could have ended up in the bottle. Big mistake.
“Is this ripe, sir? I don’t think it’s squishy enough.” Great.
Terrific scene where Columbo posits the theory Vittorio was trying to poison Gerard. But why would he try to do that? Columbo promises to work on finding an answer.
Louis Jordan makes for a delightfully devilish villain.
Gerard sends Eve off to Paris. Those were the days when women could actually travel there safely by themselves.
Does Columbo really have to open a fresh bottle of wine to demonstrate?
Does Columbo really have to fake a fall in front of young Mario who is still clearly suffering from PTSD?
Why would Vittorio have been slamming drawers? This line of investigation that leads to the discovery of the cheques is, in a word, “lame”.
When that music cue starts at the funeral, I initially thought it was Columbo’s cell phone going off.
Why the hell would any of them react so strongly to the cheque?
“As long as you’re on this case, you’ll never go hungry.”
Well, looks like this case is going to take longer than I thought!
Columbo grew up eating Chinese food. More egg rolls than cannelloni.
So why DID she rip up the cheque? This whole pay off angle is very confusing.
I would definitely not be eating fugu sashimi in L.A.
Eve opens the door to a faceful of cigar smoke.
“I never go to funerals. I prefer to remember my friends as I saw them last.”
“I believe Mr. Rossi was yelling at you when you saw him last.”
Lol
Columbo, never one to turn down food.
Would this Japanese man who speaks perfect English really assume Lt. Columbo is a member of the military?
After he’s asked if he’s got a suspect: “Well, I’ve got my eyes on one.” And swings a look to Gerard. Love it.
“Every year hundreds die trying to prepare fugu themselves.” I don’t believe that’s true…even at the time the episode was produced.
“Oh, one more thing. Gee, I almost forgot what I came here to ask you.”
“Fortunately you remembered.”
The back-and-forth between these two is great.
“As the Chinese say, there’s more than one fish in the sea.” Made me laugh.
Columbo exchanging looks with the geisha!
Columbo enjoying coffee cake… at the bank!
“She took out three thousand in cash.”
“In travelers cheques.”
“in travelers cheques!” Beat. “This is the best cake I’ve ever eaten!”
He’s got Eve dead-to-rights.
Mrs. Columbo had her night school final exam in accounting so she couldn’t make the dinner. Another missed opportunity.
This banquet montage is fantastic.
Why are they congratulating Mario for accepting the award on his dead uncle’s behalf?
Columbo promises to arrest the murder within 24 hours!
Why would Gerard plot to kill Columbo? It’s not as if all the evidence he’s gathered will die with him.
Columbo with the chef’s hat! Making dinner AND laying out how the murderer did it.
That wine sitting there, begging to be drunk.
The tox screen revealed fugu poisoning – something you can apparently buy in L.A.’s Little Tokyo. Which I don’t believe.
Love Columbo holding the wine glass. Will he or won’t he drink?
Aha! The murderer used a syringe to inject poison into the opener.
And he came back to switch the opener! I really like how Columbo figured this out. That’s some great sleuthing.
“Shall we drink to your successful solution of the case?”
“I couldnt’ have done it, sir, without your help.”
Columbo drinks the wine!
“Oh, I can’t prove any of this, sir.” However….
“You switched the openers again, but I switched the glasses. That’s the poison glass, sir. The glass I was supposed to drink.”
“I’ll just keep this for the boys down in the lab. That’s what they call proof.”
Brilliant.
“You must try this, sir. I’m really interested in your opinion.”
That scallopnini looks pretty dry.
“You’re a very able man, lieutenant. I respect that. But I really don’t care for you very much.”
“You know, sir I was thinking the same thing about you. I respect your talent. But I don’t like anything else about you.” And: “The dressing is perfect.”
I absolutely love the fact that this is one of those very rare occasions where Columbo explains why he was suspicious of the murderer so early in the case…and it makes perfect sense.
“Lieutenant, I wish you had been a chef.” Fitting final words.
Another wonderful episode. Louis Jordan makes for a charmingly devilish villain and another worthy adversary, delivering some great verbal sparring that sees Columbo give as good as he gets. The whole cheque angle with the restaurant association was unnecessarily confusing, but I forgave a lot because the script is otherwise pretty tight. The way in which Columbo puts together the pieces of the puzzle, from the initial tip-off to Gerard’s guilt (revealed late) to the cooking denouement, is clever and founded on proper detective work and solid conjecture instead of the wild leaps in logic that often typify his investigations. And, of course, the whole culinary theme backdrop was the cherry on the cake.
My revised episode rankings: 1. Forgotten Lady, 2. Try and Catch Me, 3. Now You See Him, 4. Fade in to Murder, 5. Negative Reaction, 6. Any Old Port in a Storm, 7. Murder Under Glass, 8. Double Exposure, 9. A Friend In Deed, 10. Double Shock, 12. A Stitch in Crime, 12. Death Lends a Hand, 13. Suitable for Framing, 14. Publish or Perish, 15. Dagger of the Mind, 16. Requiem for a Falling Star, 17. Prescription: Murder, 18. Murder by the Book/Ransom for a Dead Man (tie), 19. By Dawn’s Early Light, 20. Swan Song, 21. Troubled Waters, 22. Lady in Waiting, 23. An Exercise in Fatality, 24. Etude in Black, 25. Playback, 26. The Most Crucial Game, 27. Blueprint for Murder, 28. Lovely But Lethal, 29. The Bye Bye Sky-High IQ Murder Case, 30. A Deadly State of Mind, 31. The Most Dangerous Match, 32. The Greenhouse Jungle 33. Identity Crisis, 34. Dead Weight, 35. Short Fuse, 36. A Case of Immunity, 37. Candidate for Crime, 38. Mind Over Mayhem, 39. Old Fashioned Murder, 40. Last Salute to the Commodore.
And now it’s time to consider the evidence and decide whether Columbo has enough to put Paul Gerard away. Is GUILTY or ACQUITTAL? In this case, I don’t think there’s any doubt. As Columbo tells Gerard: “I’ll just keep this for the boys down in the lab. That’s what they call proof.” GUILTY!
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