Just One More Thing: Old Fashioned Murder

Notes and screenshots for Old Fashioned Murder: Originally broadcast on November 28, 1976, starring Joyce van Patten as a museum curator who's had enough of that, Tim O'Connor as an imperious brother who's got it coming, Jeannie Berlin as a freaked-out niece, Celeste Holm as a perpetually fainting doyenne, Jon Miller as Columbo's patient partner and, of course, Peter Falk as Columbo.

"The curator of a family-run museum murders her brother when he threatens to dissolve the financially strapped institution and makes it look like the museum's guard, who she also kills, is the culprit. Lieutenant Columbo is on the case."

-IMDB Summary

"In “Old Fashioned Murder,” Joyce Van Patten plays Ruth Lytton, who has put her entire life on hold in service of the family museum. When her brother threatens to liquidate the collection and shut the joint down, she stages a robbery with an ex-con museum guard and murders both men. Columbo has to unravel the whole sordid case, dealing with eccentric wealthy people, annoyed hair stylists, uneven performances and story threads that just sort of peter out. It’s a bit of a mixed bag. Writer Jaime Fountaine (jaimefountaine.com) joins Jon and RJ to discuss."

-RJ's episode summary

Listen to the original podcast episode here:

Episode 39: I Do Wish Everyone Would Stop Asking Me That with our guest Jaime Fountaine.

Old Fashioned Murder

Season 6, Episode #2

Director: Robert Douglas

Writers: Lawrence Vail and Peter Feibleman

Overall, an all right but uneven episode, with more than a few hitches in its get-along (Morris Buchanan’s unnamed detective character isn’t much of a performance, and Jon Miller’s portrayal of the imaginatively named “Sgt.Miller” is stiff, at best. He’s obviously meant to be playing a by-the-rules, clean-cut opposition to Columbo’s disheveled detective, but he either doesn’t have the context or the capability to pull it off. I enjoyed his part in the crowded phone booth, above, as part of that ensemble’s contributions to the detective work, though).

“Oh, I do wish everyone would stop asking me that” is my favorite kill-line from a Columbo to date.

Genuinely enjoyable performances from most everyone in this episode, not the least of which is Tim O’Connor (enjoy his prop-wrecking death scene) and the many theatrical faints of Celeste Holm.

The second image, up above, is probably an unintentional setup – The piles of papers and books on O’Conner’s side of the desk are there to give him something to do while he and Van Patten trade quips, but the scene (however unintentionally) conveys the divide between brother and sister. O’Conner’s side of the desk is paper and documents, inventories and accounting docs, while Van Patten’s has the decorative elements – the paperweight, a sweetly wrapped parcel, objets d’art and museum pieces. They make for a visual counterpart to Ruth schooling Edward on Hugo and Wilde.

Some additional shots from Old Fashioned Murder, which I felt contained some really interesting framing and characters. The sequence depicted in images two and three above – between Joyce van Patten and Jeannie Berlin – is probably my second favorite scene in the episode; Ruth stages events so that her niece finds the body of her murdered uncle, and it’s only when Janie returns from the lobby – in a state of shock – that Ruth begins to understand the scope of the cruel act she’s committed. 

Van Patten absolutely smashes this performance, and she’s another lady murderer who would’ve been a welcome repeat guest, although she never got the opportunity.

Above, a foil-wrapped cheeseburger, a couple cartons of Cecil blended and Ajax chocolate bars - Best in flavor! 

I was disappointed - when he’s laying all of these out on the cot, he makes a point of dropping a dozen or more ketchup packets on the pile, but they weren’t there in the closeup. I just love prop packaging!

Next episode: The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case