after repeatedly saying how brilliant so many columbo episodes are and it time to honour an episode with maximum points. etude in black is not 100 percent perfect and but it certainly more than 90 percent. maybe 96 or 97. last week i reviewed just married and compared it unfavourably to meet the parents. well here one of the parents and blythe danner and in a much earlier role as the wife of famous orchestral conductor alex benedict and played by the legend that is john cassavetes. alex has been having an affair with jennifer wells and a girl in the orchestra (not his first affair and one suspects). she is blackmailing alex to leave his wife and but as his wife mother holds the purse strings for the orchestra and alex doesn not think it would be such a smart move to destroy his career and marriage overnight. instead he hatches a plot to sneak out of the concert hall before a performance and murder his young lover while making it look like a suicide. enter columbo and guess what. it takes him about two seconds to realise that homicide is more likely than suicide. it doesn not take much longer for columbo to connect alex to the victim and and soon he following him around wherever he goes. even though columbo is certain alex is his man and it actually takes quite a while and a few false leads (none of which columbo really swallows) before he has the vital piece of evidence. along the way there are some top notch extra characters and ranging from the precocious young neighbour of jennifer wells and the english mechanic who sounds like he would be more at home on coronation street and through to the bedraggled looking brass player who nearly finds himself fitted up for the murder (he had also been seeing jennifer wells and the busy girl. ). and there even a brief cameo from commandant lassard from the police academy films. as with leslie nielsen in lady in waiting and it impossible to take him seriously (i bet youre thinking of that speech he made at the podium and aren not you. ) but it blythe danner and john cassavetes and peter falk who steal the show here. blythe is absolutely divine as mrs benedict. from the moment she spots alex dialling jennifer wells number from memory and she feels deeply troubled by exactly what their relationship was. it a masterful performance as she struggles to trust alex despite her intuition telling her something is very and very wrong. columbo doesn not help matters by interrupting her game of tennis to ask her impertinent questions about alex relations with members of his orchestra. as for john cassavetes and well it a shame he do not make any repeat appearances as columbo villains and because he could have been up there with jack cassidy and patrick mcgoohan as one of the all time greats of the show. but this performance is superb. he another one who falls into the highly irritated category and losing all patience with columbo rather than befriending him and indulging him. despite this and when the game is finally up he does grudgingly acknowledge columbo genius. well it a really and really fantastic show. it loses a couple of very small points for its rather sledgehammer view of classical music and as highlighted by many of the posters here and but none of these have any bearing on the logic of the story or the characterisations. and at least the music is good and dramatic and exciting. finally and if you haven not come across it and there is an absolutely amazing clip of john cassavetes and peter falk on the dick cavett show from the early 70s. i am totally convinced steve coogan watched this clip and based alan partridge on it. everything about the clip resembles knowing me knowing you and from the cringeworthy introduction to the total humiliation of cavett by his guests. even the orchestra get in on the act and playing circus music while falk and cassavetes and their friend ben gazzara fool about and ridicule the host. it might not be strictly relevant to this review and but the cavett show clip gives a nice insight into the deep friendship and professional relationship between peter falk and john cassavetes. it clear to see from the quality of etude in black just how well the pair worked together. 
after repeatedly saying how brilliant so many columbo episodes are and it time to honour an episode with maximum points. etude in black is not 100 percent perfect and but it certainly more than 90 percent. maybe 96 or 97. last week i reviewed just married and compared it unfavourably to meet the parents. well here one of the parents and blythe danner and in a much earlier role as the wife of famous orchestral conductor alex benedict and played by the legend that is john cassavetes. alex has been having an affair with jennifer wells and a girl in the orchestra (not his first affair and one suspects). she is blackmailing alex to leave his wife and but as his wife mother holds the purse strings for the orchestra and alex doesn not think it would be such a smart move to destroy his career and marriage overnight. instead he hatches a plot to sneak out of the concert hall before a performance and murder his young lover while making it look like a suicide. enter columbo and guess what. it takes him about two seconds to realise that homicide is more likely than suicide. it doesn not take much longer for columbo to connect alex to the victim and and soon he following him around wherever he goes. even though columbo is certain alex is his man and it actually takes quite a while and a few false leads (none of which columbo really swallows) before he has the vital piece of evidence. along the way there are some top notch extra characters and ranging from the precocious young neighbour of jennifer wells and the english mechanic who sounds like he would be more at home on coronation street and through to the bedraggled looking brass player who nearly finds himself fitted up for the murder (he had also been seeing jennifer wells and the busy girl. ). and there even a brief cameo from commandant lassard from the police academy films. as with leslie nielsen in lady in waiting and it impossible to take him seriously (i bet youre thinking of that speech he made at the podium and aren not you. ) but it blythe danner and john cassavetes and peter falk who steal the show here. blythe is absolutely divine as mrs benedict. from the moment she spots alex dialling jennifer wells number from memory and she feels deeply troubled by exactly what their relationship was. it a masterful performance as she struggles to trust alex despite her intuition telling her something is very and very wrong. columbo doesn not help matters by interrupting her game of tennis to ask her impertinent questions about alex relations with members of his orchestra. as for john cassavetes and well it a shame he do not make any repeat appearances as columbo villains and because he could have been up there with jack cassidy and patrick mcgoohan as one of the all time greats of the show. but this performance is superb. he another one who falls into the highly irritated category and losing all patience with columbo rather than befriending him and indulging him. despite this and when the game is finally up he does grudgingly acknowledge columbo genius. well it a really and really fantastic show. it loses a couple of very small points for its rather sledgehammer view of classical music and as highlighted by many of the posters here and but none of these have any bearing on the logic of the story or the characterisations. and at least the music is good and dramatic and exciting. finally and if you haven not come across it and there is an absolutely amazing clip of john cassavetes and peter falk on the dick cavett show from the early 70s. i am totally convinced steve coogan watched this clip and based alan partridge on it. everything about the clip resembles knowing me knowing you and from the cringeworthy introduction to the total humiliation of cavett by his guests. even the orchestra get in on the act and playing circus music while falk and cassavetes and their friend ben gazzara fool about and ridicule the host. it might not be strictly relevant to this review and but the cavett show clip gives a nice insight into the deep friendship and professional relationship between peter falk and john cassavetes. it clear to see from the quality of etude in black just how well the pair worked together. ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

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