Columbo How To Dial A Murder

Adept doggies! Nice doggies!

Episode: Season 7, Episode iv
Title:"How to Punch a Murder"
Directed by: James Frawley
Written by: Anthony Lawrence (story), Tom Lazarus (teleplay)
Air Date: April 15, 1978
Previous: Make Me a Perfect Murder
Adjacent: The Conspirators
Guest Starring: Nicol Williamson, Kim Cattrall

"How to Dial a Murder" is the fourth episode of the seventh season of Columbo.

Dr. Eric Stonemason (Nicol Williamson, faking an American emphasis) is a wealthy self-help guru whose classes seem to largely involve being hateful to the people who sign up. While he teaches cocky-control, Dr. Stonemason'southward personal life isn't very controlled. His wife, who died under mysterious circumstances six months before, was cheating on him. And she was adulterous on him with his friend and colleague, Dr. Charlie Hunter.

Mason comes up with an elaborate murder plot involving his two pet Dobermans, Laurel and Hardy—Mason's a moving picture buff. He trains the dogs to attack when they are given the exact command "Rosebud"—Bricklayer's a large movie buff. Mason arranges for Hunter to be at Mason's house, then places a phone telephone call. When Charlie answers Mason coaxes him into saying "Rosebud". The dogs kill Charlie, the only witness being Stonemason'due south alive-in assistant, Joanne Nichols (21-year-former Kim Cattrall) who is too late to relieve him. Unfortunately for Bricklayer the investigating officer is Lt. Columbo, who immediately starts noticing odd details, like how the other business firm phone was unplugged (the dogs could only access the kitchen), or how the dogs seem awfully nice and friendly for two wild animals that just killed a human...

Tropes:

Animal Assassin: Bricklayer uses his two pet dogs to impale Charlie while Stonemason is at his doctor'southward part.
Complexity Addiction: Aside from the fact that he fails to properly embrace his tracks later on the fact (e.g. he doesn't re-hook the get-go phone, he leaves evidence in his house and at the studio lot where he trained the dogs, and since his heart charge per unit was being recorded at the fourth dimension it was noted as shooting up at the exact time the murders took place), and that he is caught out lying to Columbo, the fact that the dogs were otherwise friendly and that Charlie left the phone dangling after existence attacked (meaning whoever he was talking to must accept heard what was happening and never reported information technology) makes it highly likely that the dogs were trained to kill—and if that was truthful, then Mason was the obvious and simply suspect, because only he had the means, knowledge and opportunity to pull it off, and a simpler scheme would have been much more successful. Columbo even gives him a "The Reason You Suck" Speech for making then many stupid mistakes and says he was disappointed that he made it and so easy.
Dramatic Irony: After the doctor asks him how he's feeling, Mason smugly says "I never felt amend in my life." This is immediately afterwards he's murdered Charlie by phone call.
Evil Cannot Encompass Proficient: When Bricklayer is cowing Joanne with how he won't be as kindly or generous a guardian every bit Charlie, he sums up that peradventure Charlie only permit her stay because of a transaction that benefited him. To this, Joanne remarks he couldn't be further from the truth, equally he doesn't understand that some people are prompted by things other than power or control.
Girls Honey Stuffed Animals: Joanne's nervous, artless manner is emphasized by how she is often constitute clutching her teddy bear, Sigmund.
The Loins Sleep Tonight: Subtly implied. Joanne wants to exist Mason's mistress and seems to expect it, only Mason tells her information technology volition never happen, saying "I control my own space." It's either this or it'south Asexuality.
Pet'southward Homage Proper noun: Stonemason the film buff named his two Dobermans "Laurel and Hardy".
Puddle Scene: If it's 1978 and you have Kim Cattrall in your show, you might every bit well innovate her character by having her swim effectually the pool.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Columbo is unusually smug at the end of the movie, talking about how he was "disappointed" Bricklayer made it so easy for him, how he told and so many "obvious lies" and left clues everywhere. While he's right, he has an ulterior motive here, namely to goad Mason into using the attack phrase to sic the dogs on him (they've been retrained so the phrase no longer works).
"You left enough clues to sink a ship!"
Right-Hand Set on Canis familiaris: Mason's dogs are unremarkably tame and friendly, simply they're trained to kill when they hear the word "Rosebud".
Satellite Character: Joanne has picayune to do with the story. She doesn't witness anything incriminating, and she never tells anybody that Mason'due south wife and Charlie were having an affair.
Shout-Out
- Mason has a lot of movie memorabilia. He has the fe gate seen at the beginning of Citizen Kane, as well as the "Rosebud" sled—and invokedInformation technology Was His Sled, namely the actual i that Orson Welles uses in Citizen Kane. And the whole opening sequence of the episode is shot to mimic the famous opening to Citizen Kane, with the camera slowly approaching the silent mansion, fifty-fifty ending on a snow globe.
- As noted above, the dogs are named Laurel and Hardy.
- A framed photo of W. C. Fields is prominently featured.
- There are many other posters for classic movies on the walls in Mason'southward house.
Sore Loser: A rare instance in the Columbo catechism of the bad guy trying to kill Columbo. After Columbo lays out all the evidence Bricklayer uses the "Rosebud" command to sic the dogs on him. What Stonemason doesn't know is that Columbo has had the dogs retrained and so they kiss instead of kill on the command.
This Acquit Was Framed: Mason trains his dogs to impale and stages the scene to make information technology look like they but went wild and attacked.
Time Passes Montage: The sun setting and Columbo snoozing in his car, on Columbo's second visit to the dog training school. Nosotros find out at the end that Columbo was having the dogs retrained so they would no longer kill on the kill command.
Besides Clever past One-half: As Columbo notes in his closing "The Reason You Suck" Speech, Mason left way too many clues in executing an overly complex murder scheme, like the harbinger on the floor (from the assail dummy), the unplugged phone, the phone hanging off the hook, the scrap of Charlie's jacket at the Western movie ranch, and more.
Trigger Phrase: The ringing of the phone puts the dogs on alert, and the uttering of the word "Rosebud" later the dogs are on alert causes them to kill.
Word Association Test: Done by Mason to Columbo as part of their mental duel. Columbo keeps throwing out words like "murder", "kill", and "phonation". Mason doesn't know it but Columbo has a record recorder in his pocket and he's hoping to elicit the impale control from Mason, to test on the dogs.
You Accept Outlived Your Usefulness: The dogs have, which is why Mason tries to poison them. Columbo interrupts him but in fourth dimension.