Prescription: Murder (1968)

A well-to-do doctor (Gene Barry), with the help of his young girlfriend, kills his wife. Then they follow an overly complicated plan to make it look like a failed burglary. Thirty minutes later the disarming Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) is on the case.

Something of an anti-mystery, we see all details of the murder then watch Columbo puzzle it out. Based on a play, it was intended as a stand-alone TV movie. It was a huge hit but Falk wasn’t interested in television. It would be three years before another was made, followed by seven seasons of the regular TV series, then twenty four more TV movies.

For those too young to remember Columbo or Falk, he was the grandfather in The Princess Bride. For those unfamiliar with the Princess Bride, you are living your life wrong. Gene Barry played the lead in the good version of War of the Worlds.

There isn’t much to say about the story. Columbo is annoyingly persistent and Barry’s Dr. Flemming is confident he can outwit him. Guess how it turns out. Prescription: Murder is a fairly amusing if unspectacular watch. I watched a fair amount of Columbo as a kid so it was pretty nostalgic for me. I watched the next TV feature, but I don’t think I want to cover TV movies here. Suffice to say it hit all the same beats. As for this one, AMRU 3.