When he returns home, however, with artworks in tow, he finds Columbo slumbering in an armchair. “Assuring her of his love and affection with a vile kiss, Dale then promptly brains Tracy with a rock.” Assuring her of his love and affection with a vile kiss, he then promptly brains her with a rock and flees the scene: his only link to the crime now safely erased. The plot thickens…ĭriving out to the LA hills, Kingston meets Tracy to pick-up the Degas from her. Kingston, meanwhile, alerts Columbo to the fact that his dotty Aunt Edna – who divorced his uncle years before – could be a suspect as she lives in a house at the bottom of the hill under the mansion. Columbo, however, hangs around and engineers access to Kingston’s home so he can ‘borrow some books’ on art. He’s on the phone to twitchy Tracy, and gets her swiftly off the line. And of course he’ll be needing a lot of help on this case…Īfter checking out Kingston’s art show alibi (including a rib-tickling scene featuring a surly hungover artist and a nude model giving Columbo the eye), the Lieutenant collars Dale at a TV studio. But he does arrange to tap his phone in case the artworks will be ransomed. He even knows that one was a woman after the security guard confirms that he heard high heels clip-clopping down the garden stairs. Columbo also knows there were two people in on the act to ensure they could by-pass the alarm system. Why did the killer bother unframing cheaper paintings, ignoring others, before stumbling across the Degas works – the only things he bothered to take? Why did he break in through the patio doors? Pros always use windows. I could’ve watched a whole hour of Dale at the art show quite happily… Of course he’s alerted to his uncle’s death and dashes to the mansion to find the place packed with policeman, and with one Lieutenant Columbo immediately asking shrewd questions and pointing out the inconsistencies in the crime. “Dale is wowing the crowds at the art show, laughing fiendishly at his own jokes.”ĭale, meanwhile, is wowing the crowds at the art show, laughing fiendishly at his own jokes while making darn sure that everyone knows exactly what time he arrived. Waiting until the security guard’s 11pm drive-by, Tracy packs away the electric blanket, fires the murder weapon out of a window and trots confidently down the back steps of the garden to safety as the security man dithers uncertainly at the patio door. She takes guardianship of the real treasures Kingston wanted: two Degas pastels valued in excess of $500,000. Has Dale been busted so soon? No, good reader, it’s his accomplice Tracy, who, despite her initial revulsion at the sight of the cadaver, is soon passionately embracing Kingston as he departs to create an alibi at an art show. Kingston tucks the corpse beneath an electric blanket ( that old chestnut…) and tampers with the patio door locks before going on what may be history’s gentlest rampage around the art-filled house toppling chairs, worrying bookcases, tilting picture frames, kicking maps to pieces, that sort of thing.Īs he’s removing some fine works of art from their frames there’s a ring at the doorbell. Note to Uncle Rudy: NEVER trust a man in a crushed velvet tuxedo and bow tie the size of Alaska… Yes folks, Suitable for Framing is off to an explosive start! The two men exchange pleasant nods, but within seconds Mr Tuxedo, AKA art critic extraordinaire Dale Kingston, has pulled out a gun and slain the lovable old boy – his own uncle Rudy – in cold blood. A solid, younger man in a crushed velvet tuxedo walks in to the room. Score by: Billy Goldenberg Episode synopsis – Columbo Suitable for FramingĪ friendly looking elderly man in a stunning mansion plays Chopin’s Tristesse on a grand piano. Is Suitable for Framing a Degas or merely a De Groat? Read on and find out… Let’s don our velvet tuxedos, crank up the electric blankets and prepare to slay our most lovable uncles as we stride out with Dale Kingston and co to give eloquent critique to this most artful of episodes. After the comparative disappointment of our last outing, Dead Weight, Season 1 of Columbo came roaring back into life on 17 November 1971 with the art-tastic Suitable for Framing.
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