A cosmetics queen tries to save her flagging Beauty Mark empire by acquiring a revolutionary wrinkle-removing cream from a disloyal chemist working within her company, who is ready to sell the formula to one of her rivals. Realising his total reluctance to do a deal with her she kills him in a rage....
Not a particularly strong Season 3 opener, which has an interesting if somewhat far-fetched plot. Vera Miles's characterisation does not quite have the complexity and substance of other murderesses in the series (e.g. Susan Clark and Janet Leigh) and despite her best efforts, she cannot bring much out of her rather bland part.
The approach by the script-writer (the prolific Jackson Gillis) is rather subdued and subtle. Columbo scenes with the murderess don't really have much impact until the finale and the one main clue (which leads Columbo to deduce that the murderer was woman),where he finds a magazine at the murder scene with sums of money written on it in eyebrow pencil, is symptomatic of a rather unintelligent murderess and a struggle for the script-writer to point Columbo in the direction of that person.
Disappointingly, Vincent Price, only has two scenes and his character could have been developed much more, especially as Columbo curiously seems to get very little information from him. Ultimately, one can't help thinking about Vincent Price's calibre as a Columbo murderer - he would have really shone with the right script!
The contagious nature of poison ivy becomes an all-too-easy focal point of the episode also, since both Columbo and the murderess catch it from the same source.
Two other things: the coincidence that gives Columbo the case is not particularly believable and the second murder (of the murderesses's rival's blackmailing secretary) is not referred to in a slightly rushed ending, which is also guilty of no significant build-up.
Despite the somewhat negative comments, this is generally an average but distinctly watchable Season 3 story, which is well above the quality of the series's weak episodes like "Dead Weight", "Fade Into Murder", "Old-Fashioned Murder" and "Last Salute To The Commodore."
Not a particularly strong Season 3 opener, which has an interesting if somewhat far-fetched plot. Vera Miles's characterisation does not quite have the complexity and substance of other murderesses in the series (e.g. Susan Clark and Janet Leigh) and despite her best efforts, she cannot bring much out of her rather bland part.
The approach by the script-writer (the prolific Jackson Gillis) is rather subdued and subtle. Columbo scenes with the murderess don't really have much impact until the finale and the one main clue (which leads Columbo to deduce that the murderer was woman),where he finds a magazine at the murder scene with sums of money written on it in eyebrow pencil, is symptomatic of a rather unintelligent murderess and a struggle for the script-writer to point Columbo in the direction of that person.
Disappointingly, Vincent Price, only has two scenes and his character could have been developed much more, especially as Columbo curiously seems to get very little information from him. Ultimately, one can't help thinking about Vincent Price's calibre as a Columbo murderer - he would have really shone with the right script!
The contagious nature of poison ivy becomes an all-too-easy focal point of the episode also, since both Columbo and the murderess catch it from the same source.
Two other things: the coincidence that gives Columbo the case is not particularly believable and the second murder (of the murderesses's rival's blackmailing secretary) is not referred to in a slightly rushed ending, which is also guilty of no significant build-up.
Despite the somewhat negative comments, this is generally an average but distinctly watchable Season 3 story, which is well above the quality of the series's weak episodes like "Dead Weight", "Fade Into Murder", "Old-Fashioned Murder" and "Last Salute To The Commodore."