Well, maybe not "Murder With Too Many Notes", although that was good in its own way. But, hot on the heels of watching "Etude In Black" and giving it a perfect ten, I am currently rewatching "Swan Song" just to see if it too deserves ten out of ten. The verdict? Hell yeah! Maybe it's because the world of music is so full of backstabbing prima donnas that it makes such a good setting for Columbo episodes. There's something innately intriguing in the contrast between uplifting musical performances onstage, and the secretive, dark dealings that go on behind the curtain, unknown to the adoring fans in the audience.
In "Swan Song" the musical connection goes even deeper than "Etude In Black", because whereas John Cassavetes merely waved his arms about a bit and asked members of his orchestra to "play some Chopin"; in "Swan Song" we have a real musician, bringing total credibility to the role of gospel singer Tommy Brown. Obviously John Cassavetes is a far more natural actor than Johnny Cash, but because Cash is playing a singer not unlike himself, what he lacks in technical expertise he makes up for in his own real-life experiences. The first few scenes after the brilliant musical introduction made me a bit tentative about how successful Johnny Cash would be in his acting venture. He doesn't really gel with Ida Lupino, who plays his wife, the business brains behind their musical career. Their acting seems rather stilted and artificial, but to give them the benefit of the doubt, they are playing a couple with a terminally damaged relationship (though she doesn't realise it just yet), so it's only natural I suppose that their conversation will be forced.
This is one of those Columbos where the murderer has already decided to murder his victim before the episode even starts (other Columbos involve either unplanned murders, or ones that only occur after an on screen dispute). As murders go, deliberately crashing a plane into a mountain and bailing out at the last minute in a home-made parachute is as good a way as they come! (I'm joking, before anyone gets any ideas...) The price of this stunt, a broken leg, is a small price to pay for Tommy Brown, when the alternative is to be held to ransom for the rest of his life by his domineering, unloving wife, who withholds money from Tommy and denies him the right to sleep with starstruck young groupies.
It takes a bit of time before Columbo finally catches up with Tommy Brown, and rather unusually for Columbo, he is strongly urged to go after the suspect from the beginning, by the victim's brother. It's normally Columbo's own intuition that leads him to the murderer, but this time he is initially rather hesitant and only questions Tommy at his brother-in-law's insistence.
It's at a rather tactlessly joyful party Tommy Brown is holding in the wake of his wife's death that the brown stuff first hits the fan. It was at this point, when Tommy violently loses his temper, that I started to warm to Johnny Cash's acting ability. The worse his character behaves, the better his acting becomes.
As soon as the episode settles into the traditional Columbo cat-and-mouse, Johnny Cash hits his stride and really starts to shine. The rapport between the two of them is tip-top Columbo. Johnny Cash brings to Tommy Brown real charisma, cockiness and the perfect mixture of respect, affection, condescension and irritation towards Columbo (for a non-actor, the ability to express all these emotions simultaneously really was a great achievement). Columbo continually claims he is just tying up a few loose ends to please his superiors, it's just routine etc etc.
It looks like Columbo has got Tommy Brown firmly in his sights, but just before Columbo can pounce, Tommy skips town, supposedly to do some dates hundreds of miles away. Columbo follows him to the airport, and there is a hilarious scene where Tommy spots him and yells out to him. I just love the way Tommy Brown laughs in Columbo's face. He knows Columbo knows he did it but has no proof.
In fact, the only piece of evidence to conclusively link Tommy to the murder is the parachute, stashed inside a tree on the mountainside. But Columbo has planted a seed of doubt in Tommy's mind that a massive group of people has been enlisted to comb every inch of the mountain the next morning. So Tommy flies away, then immediately flies back and drives up to the mountain that night in a desperate search for the parachute before daybreak.
Columbo has already twigged that this would happen, in fact it was his plan all along and Tommy has walked straight into it, incriminating himself whereas if he had not returned, he would probably still be free. Columbo calmly picks up the parachute and offers to drive Tommy to the police station. Being an expert in the psychology of murderers, Columbo figures Tommy is secretly glad he was caught, he is too spiritual a man to evade his punishment forever.
In conclusion, this gets ten out of ten because it's so unique and gripping. Johnny Cash was a real gamble, but he pulled it off with style. The story might not be the most believable or watertight, but there's nothing particularly jarring about any of the details. The music is sensational as well, especially if you like Johnny Cash's music (who doesn't?!).
One of my Top 5 episodes, if not Top 3.
In "Swan Song" the musical connection goes even deeper than "Etude In Black", because whereas John Cassavetes merely waved his arms about a bit and asked members of his orchestra to "play some Chopin"; in "Swan Song" we have a real musician, bringing total credibility to the role of gospel singer Tommy Brown. Obviously John Cassavetes is a far more natural actor than Johnny Cash, but because Cash is playing a singer not unlike himself, what he lacks in technical expertise he makes up for in his own real-life experiences. The first few scenes after the brilliant musical introduction made me a bit tentative about how successful Johnny Cash would be in his acting venture. He doesn't really gel with Ida Lupino, who plays his wife, the business brains behind their musical career. Their acting seems rather stilted and artificial, but to give them the benefit of the doubt, they are playing a couple with a terminally damaged relationship (though she doesn't realise it just yet), so it's only natural I suppose that their conversation will be forced.
This is one of those Columbos where the murderer has already decided to murder his victim before the episode even starts (other Columbos involve either unplanned murders, or ones that only occur after an on screen dispute). As murders go, deliberately crashing a plane into a mountain and bailing out at the last minute in a home-made parachute is as good a way as they come! (I'm joking, before anyone gets any ideas...) The price of this stunt, a broken leg, is a small price to pay for Tommy Brown, when the alternative is to be held to ransom for the rest of his life by his domineering, unloving wife, who withholds money from Tommy and denies him the right to sleep with starstruck young groupies.
It takes a bit of time before Columbo finally catches up with Tommy Brown, and rather unusually for Columbo, he is strongly urged to go after the suspect from the beginning, by the victim's brother. It's normally Columbo's own intuition that leads him to the murderer, but this time he is initially rather hesitant and only questions Tommy at his brother-in-law's insistence.
It's at a rather tactlessly joyful party Tommy Brown is holding in the wake of his wife's death that the brown stuff first hits the fan. It was at this point, when Tommy violently loses his temper, that I started to warm to Johnny Cash's acting ability. The worse his character behaves, the better his acting becomes.
As soon as the episode settles into the traditional Columbo cat-and-mouse, Johnny Cash hits his stride and really starts to shine. The rapport between the two of them is tip-top Columbo. Johnny Cash brings to Tommy Brown real charisma, cockiness and the perfect mixture of respect, affection, condescension and irritation towards Columbo (for a non-actor, the ability to express all these emotions simultaneously really was a great achievement). Columbo continually claims he is just tying up a few loose ends to please his superiors, it's just routine etc etc.
It looks like Columbo has got Tommy Brown firmly in his sights, but just before Columbo can pounce, Tommy skips town, supposedly to do some dates hundreds of miles away. Columbo follows him to the airport, and there is a hilarious scene where Tommy spots him and yells out to him. I just love the way Tommy Brown laughs in Columbo's face. He knows Columbo knows he did it but has no proof.
In fact, the only piece of evidence to conclusively link Tommy to the murder is the parachute, stashed inside a tree on the mountainside. But Columbo has planted a seed of doubt in Tommy's mind that a massive group of people has been enlisted to comb every inch of the mountain the next morning. So Tommy flies away, then immediately flies back and drives up to the mountain that night in a desperate search for the parachute before daybreak.
Columbo has already twigged that this would happen, in fact it was his plan all along and Tommy has walked straight into it, incriminating himself whereas if he had not returned, he would probably still be free. Columbo calmly picks up the parachute and offers to drive Tommy to the police station. Being an expert in the psychology of murderers, Columbo figures Tommy is secretly glad he was caught, he is too spiritual a man to evade his punishment forever.
In conclusion, this gets ten out of ten because it's so unique and gripping. Johnny Cash was a real gamble, but he pulled it off with style. The story might not be the most believable or watertight, but there's nothing particularly jarring about any of the details. The music is sensational as well, especially if you like Johnny Cash's music (who doesn't?!).
One of my Top 5 episodes, if not Top 3.