Lovely But Lethal

Viveca Scott (Vera Miles) is the leader of a failing cosmetics giant. To keep her company afloat, she is willing to do pretty much anything...including murder! After bashing a chemist over the head with a microscope, she's not finished with her villainy....and it's up to Columbo to stop her.

The show had some interesting actors, such as Vincent Price and Martin Sheen. And, I like the way that the cosmetics industry is portrayed....cut-throat and vicious. But what I did NOT like was the show's finale, as Columbo clearly did NOT have enough evidence to arrest, let alone convict, the killer. It really left the viewer annoyed...which is a shame as it was an otherwise good installment.

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."

"Columbo" had successfully completed two years in the NBC lineup by the time this episode aired. Peter Falk was more than accustomed to the role and he knew every amusing quirk about the beloved character. This particular installment deals with the cutthroat world of cosmetics, a world where loyalty is bought and sold with the ease of putting on some mascara or cologne. Vera Miles, an actress that always seemed destined for greater stardom (she had been selected by Hitchcock to star in "Vertigo"), is outstanding as a cosmetics queen that contends with the treachery of an employer, a very young Martin Sheen. Sian Barbara Allen, another performer that eluded stardom's golden ring, plays a lackey of Miles's competition and is good in her supporting role.

And the legendary Vincent Price plays "David Lang," Miles's chief rival. Though his part is mostly a cameo, he brings about an air of distinction to the show, something that he always displayed in over one hundred films.

The ninety-minute airing time of the episode makes it move swiftly and enjoyably to its nifty conclusion.

A fine way to pass the time, Columbo and ice queen Miles, and a seedy smoking female wannabe executive, and a frustrated lab assistant toy boy, and Vincent Price all too briefly, and a washed up heartbroken scientific genius.

Peter Falk is "Columbo" in this episode "Lovely but Lethal," which stars Vera Miles, Vincent Price, Martin Sheen, and Sian Barbara Allen.

Vivika Scott (Miles) runs Beauty Mark, a once highly successful but now failing cosmetics company. She has her hopes pinned on a miracle cream that makes wrinkles disappear, but the formula disappears when her chief chemist (Sheen) steals it and wants to sell it to her competitor (Price).

Vivika attempts to seduce her chemist, thinking that's what he wants, but it turns out he's just after revenge. In a rage, she kills him by banging him over the head with a microscope. Price's secretary (Allen) attempts to blackmail Vivika, but that's the least of her worries - Columbo is investigating.

Entertaining episode with wonderful performances, with a good scene at a fat farm Vivika runs while Columbo follows her around talking to her. We could have used more of Price and a little more script development, but this episode is still good.