Columbo Finds Commodore’s Murderer | Columbo

Columbo gets to the point. The watch was deliberately smashed by the Commodore’s killer to establish an alibi. The only person in the room who bothered to reveal their whereabouts at the time of the murder was Swanny...
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Season 5 Episode 6 ''Last Salute to the Commodore'': Charlie Clay runs the shipbuilding business of his father-in-law, Commodore Swanson, who turns up murdered; Lt. Columbo is on the case.
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#Columbo #PeterFalk

[@romulusnr]

Kinda love how he's doing the cliche "reveal to the room" detective bit. Usually he'd just confront the guilty party directly, or else put the guilty party in a revealing situation in front of others. But this was the classic Poirot-esque long-form reveal to everyone.

[@Milesco]

Yes, very Agatha Christie. :-) Some critics (myself included) say that his scene is too contrived, too much of a setup for dramatic effect. And I think I have to agree, even though I'm a generally a huge Columbo fan. But on the other hand, if you just relax and go with the flow, it's fun to... _"watch."_ 😉

[@westnblu]

@@Milesco yes i concur with your sentiments totally about the scene being too contrived. but u should have added the pardon the pun bit @ the end about being fun to watch ! haha

[@Milesco]

@@westnblu : Heh heh... funny you should say that, because when I wrote it, I *_did_* think about the potential pun, and I was considering writing "it's fun to (commodore's) watch!", but I thought it might mess up the flow of the sentence and/or confuse some readers. Maybe I'll go back and emphasize the word "watch" a bit and put a winky emoji on it. 😉

[@therealdeal9698]

My granny used to watch it and half way through she’d say I think it was him , no Granny they showed you what happened right at the start it was the guy with the paperweight in his study

[@striker8961]

@@Milescowhich is ironic because unlike poirot, Columbo as a police officer would actually have the authority to gather suspects together.

I swear time moves faster when I watch Columbo clips. This was not 7 minutes long.

[@shafqatmustafa9166]

You are absolutely right.

[@MillerMeteor74]

Wow, you're right.

[@reverbscherzo7850]

And I haven’t been doing this for hours.

[@jackhartford521]

7:22

[@christiankelly6321]

Eerily , you are correct....

[@mikebrowne477]

This is one of the weirdest Columbo episodes but even weird Columbo is still entertaining...

[@lukacunningham342]

What irony! I JUST finished this episode EDIT: This is probably the only episode we don’t see who did it. They wanted to make us think it was Clay. Well, till he turns up dead!

[@user-yi4gf5qf3t]

@@lukacunningham342 In Columbo Undercover it's also not seen who did it

[@antoniatorres9895]

My least favored episode.

[@werdna9006]

"Weird" because it was directed by Patrick McGoohan

[@donniehollingsworth1611]

Agree I to this day still don’t understand the ending… the killer reveals himself by saying tisnt. Like if you killed someone and know the watch can’t be authentic or working cause you broke it in the struggle or whatever why you gonna act like you know anything about it… just wasn’t a very satisfying episode

[@mirellalastar]

I like how columbo has zero notion of personal space.

[@Komotau4691]

You are right :D

[@benbergin538]

I love how Columbo lingered on Swanny after he asked him to identify the watch. He immediately knew it was him behind the crime

[@frankroper3274]

Best detective show of all time in my opinion. This started out as part of an array of of shows that would come on in Prime Time back in the 70's. Mc Cloud, Mc Millan and Wife and Columbo...then Columbo got so popular they only ran Columbo every Sunday. I think it started on CBS and later came back with it on ABC but to me the early were the best...Peter Falk was born to play that role!

[@jamesnasium4035]

That dude who play Swanny is a good actor. He's turning red at the end.

[@Sameoldfitup]

“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams

[@touchofdumb]

Falk was high as a kite this ep. Columbo is my favorite but Peter took a bit of a holiday on some days of this shoot.

[@Retro6502]

So glad you post these. Coming across one is a bright spot to the day!

[@ridgesail]

My new party game is asking people "Commodores watch", and seeing what they say back 😂

[@GizmoBeach]

Ducks, boats, hey I don’t even live here! 😩

[@scottypersia5715]

Swanny put George Hamilton in prison in the episode where he played the blind brother. I just checked he was in 6 different episodes.

[@koen8185]

6 ? Wow , I recognized him immediately as the blind man , but that's it . I'm gonna look it up , thank you 👌

[@koen8185]

Fred Draper was a roommate of John Cassavetes in NY , so he is part of this group of Peter Falk friends , no wonder .

[@scottypersia5715]

@@koen8185 No excuses for killing the commodore Koen.

[@lukacunningham342]

@@scottypersia5715 Which episode was that?

[@scottypersia5715]

@@lukacunningham342 .From Season 4 - 'A Deadly State of Mind' - He plays a psychiatrist, who specialises in hypnosis.

[@gregorywall2479]

Fred Draper (Swanny Swanson) also played David Morris, the blind witness in "A Deadly State of Mind".

[@iluvringo7]

Hilarious when Columbo nearly sits on Robert Vaughn’s lap as he answers the phone on the yacht, and puts an arm around him.🤣 Also when he’s outside screaming at that one guy asking him questions!🤣

[@freedomring4813]

I wonder how many times it took to do the scene without them laughing.

[@iluvringo7]

@@freedomring4813 I know right!

[@Milesco]

@@freedomring4813 : I'm laughing right now, just remembering that scene! :-D

[@TheWasif]

I’m sorry, but this is my favorite episode. I love so many and I know it works mainly when the killer is known early, but Falk seems to have so much fun with this one and it works as a great mystery, an ode to Agatha Christie. Perhaps McGoohan’s direction gave it its whimsy, but this is fun from start to finish.

[@samarcanda90]

It's funny, it's weird, it's confusing. It's marvelous. Another kind of marvel, but marvel as well.

[@AAAskeet]

I love the part "dust,dust,dust,dust,.....no dust"

[@laming2006]

One of our least favorite Columbo episodes. Peter seemed to be acting out of character for Columbo. Almost like a different character. Seeing as this was early in the series, perhaps Peter was experimenting to "find" his character. We both like the more fully developed Columbo character the best.

[@TheWasif]

@@laming2006 this was Season 5, fairly late in the 7 season first run of it. He was debating coming back and was having fun playing with Kirby, “Swanee,” McGoohan (the director). That’s why he was acting different- it was a long nod to the audience about what will come next. He even speaks of “quitting” to Kirby’s character. (Cigarettes, but he means the show.) In the end, he says, “Not yet. Not yet.” Maybe you will appreciate it more with that understanding, as it really is charming.

[@laming2006]

@@TheWasif I didn't have a clue all this was happening behind the scenes. That might make it more interesting next time we watch through our Columbo DVD sets.

[@keithjones6023]

Wilfred Hyde - White was a great comedy actor, he was wonderful acting as a dodgy vicar in the excellent film Two Way Stretch with Peter Sellers and the great Lionel Jeffries. Columbo worked with some great actors and actresses, they helped make it the wonderful series it was.

[@keithjones6023]

@Angie H. So many wonderful actors and actresses in the 50's and 60's, some of my favourites were Jack Hawkins, Alastair Sim, Herbert Lom, Kenneth More, Peter Sellers, Terry Thomas, an earlier actor still is Will Hay, just wonderful. And great actresses like Margaret Rutherford and Joan Sanderson. One thing that sticks out for me is that you can clearly hear what they are saying, these days the actors seem to mumble their lines and it's hard to understand what they are saying. Often even after rewinding and listening again, l still don't have a bloody clue what they are saying 😕

[@Milesco]

@@keithjones6023 : I _loved_ Terry-Thomas in _It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World!_ That guy was a hoot! Absolutely hilarious, as was the whole movie. Agree with you about the mumbling problem. In fact, when renting a DVD, I usually automatically turn the captions on right from the start.

[@keithjones6023]

@@Milesco Yes, what a great movie that was, so many great actors in that one. I loved Terry Thomas too, he was in some great films, School for Scoundrels, I'm Alright Jack, The Green Man to name a few. Funny really, my late father loved a good comedy, but couldn't stand Terry 😕

[@Milesco]

@Angie H. : I find the captions on DVD's to be pretty good, but on KZbin it's very hit-or-miss. 😕

[@lukacunningham342]

Hyde-White also played the butler, Mr. Tanner in “Dagger Of The Mind” a couple seasons back

[@jburbridge7782]

Why does the old man look like he's had a beating at 1:13 😂

[@GizmoBeach]

Massive head wound, but clotted up nicely on its own 🩸

[@johnking5174]

British actor Wilfrid Hyde-White seen here, also appeared in the Columbo episode set in London, England "Dagger of the Mind". Wilfrid never filmed any of his scenes in England, all in California, as he had fled to Los Angeles as a tax exile, he owed a fortune in unpaid income tax to the British revenue.

[@A.B.-zs8ir]

Columbo is such a badass, that i had to buy the whole DVD set in blue ray, just so i can watch them whenever i want, btw it doesn't matter how many times i've seen them!! Bravo 👏

[@MWorsa]

It’s available on Blue*ray?

[@A.B.-zs8ir]

@@MWorsa yes it is, great value as well , try Amazon 👍 my wife bought them for me with a blue Ray player

[@A.B.-zs8ir]

@@MWorsa btw if u have Amazon prime they give you 7 seasons as well only with few commercials 👍

[@A.B.-zs8ir]

For free , my bad , enjoy 👍

[@freedomring4813]

Me too

[@Regularguy220]

This episode is surreal to me. I have a box set of the full show and watch 1 episode a day in the morning but this one i watched an hour if it very early in the morning half asleep and was lost half an hour in. The next day i finished the last half hour and was shocked to only realise at the end the husband was dead and the other guy was guilty. This would be the episode i would rewatch first for how disjointedly i watched it

[@Trepidity]

I just love how Columbo stays the longest with the watch with the murderer.

[@tomohawk52]

Also he asks him first. He must have strongly suspected Swanny even before pulling this stunt.

[@TheWasif]

It may be that he was friends with Draper, the actor. The guy was in multiple episodes, so he may have been playing with him.

[@stuartrees1415]

I'd like to hear Dennis Dugan's take on what happened behind the scenes on this episode. especially since Mr Dugan has since become a Director himself

[@thomaswood8167]

The ending plays out like a scene from the fictional Mrs Melville books

[@smithtimkris98]

Just brilliant writing

[@marokxy8837]

Good episode

[@davidalexander3320]

Only episode I've only watched once. Really never wanted to see it again

[@DoctorSargeMD]

Very strange episode but entertaining nonetheless. I noticed that the entire episode Columbo was being very touchy feely. The jokes at the beginning where he was pressed against Clay with his arm behind him, the moment he practically presses his face against the woman doing meditation to say goodbye, and here where he gots so close to each person as they listen to the clock.

[@Gigas0101]

There's something melodic about this.

[@brianfuller7691]

One of my favourite episodes.

[@paulronco9709]

Thank you again

[@officialbrucewayne]

I love this episode it was like clue as of finding out who did it in the fact that they each had a motive and it could have been any of them.

[@-Bile-]

The reveal isnt even clever.

[@MillerMeteor74]

The old guy with the accent- I know him from many other TV shows, but I don't remember his name. I always liked him.

[@bbenjoe]

0:00 - isn't that the blind guy from the other episode? What a twist.

[@allanritchie4243]

strange i can get this old thing good today but not much else

[@SECRETARIATguy224]

This episode is so silly, which is precisely why I enjoy it so much.

[@miketype1each]

One of the strangest, oddly played out Columbo episodes there is. Hadn't noticed before but Peter Falk seemed to be doing a Humphrey Bogart impression in this scene.

[@tullmonkey]

I like this episode.....it's silly, funny and different.

[@georgeh5075]

That ending would never hold up 😂

[@tracyzhao1882]

Inspector Clouseau excels in these settings.

[@markofcain2324]

Love Columbo, but he was acting like a total weirdo in this episode.

[@goback3spaces]

This episode was directed by Patrick McGoohan, who played the murderer in a couple of other Columbo episodes, as well as the warden in ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ. In this one he murders the episode. He couldn't direct to save his life. The "Commodore's watch" shtick is the only good thing in it.

[@hungrymikepencetd5686]

I found that episode relaxing, long, dark and mysterious. But the end disappointed me. It could have been much better. Maybe McGoohan tried to tell the audience that a "real" Columbo needs the audience to know who the murderer is instead silly childish "who did it" games.

[@chalcedonv6997]

@Angie H. totally agree. Still the "attempted meditation" scene on the boat is one of my all time favourite in all Columbo's series

[@ericssmith2014]

Feels a bit like Falk is doing a McGoohan impression.

[@jonathancampbell5231]

@timemachine_194 What is the worst rated?

[@christopherkraft1327]

What about when The Lieutenant rows off into the sunset at the end?? Very symbolic!! 😳

[@parcivale]

There was a very real chance that this could have been the last Columbo episode. Peter Falk didn't sign a contract for a next two shorter seasons until after this was filmed. He was busy making films (The In-Laws, Murder By Death, etc.) If this was going to be the last 'Columbo' they wanted to give the character a send-off.

[@gonova8412]

Still a good episode.

[@aaronmehaffey6251]

I kept thinking I knew Mr. Taylor (Joshua Bryant) from somewhere, and then it hit me. Sam Drake from "Uncharted 4". I think they modeled the character after this actor, and I REALLY think Troy Baker is doing a spot on impression of him, too.

[@jermed2001]

Chill bumps!

[@24magiccarrot]

This is the only real whodunnit episode in the Columbo series.

[@mediasawdust2458]

Just noticed that's Diane Baker, probably best known for playing the Senator in Silence of the Lambs.

[@alphayell4598]

“Last Salute to the Commodore” may just be the best Columbo episode ever made.

[@birdman7135]

(0:20) That's beyond invading one's personal space.

[@vibovitold]

it's one of those "I appreciate the idea, but good luck in the courtroom" finales ;)

[@TheLightFish]

It's Colonel Pickering!

[@ricogoldstar]

Question: Was Wilfrid Hyde-White EVER young? Any movie or TV show I've ever seen him in, he's always an old dude.

[@mamounalnasr2469]

RIP Columbo

[@johnfinnegan8474]

I haven't seen this episode in full in years but like in the later episode "Columbo Undercover" which I saw recently, it strays from the usual Columbo formula of the murderer visibly committing the crime near the beginning of each episode. There were two murders committed here, the Commodore and Charles Clay, did Swanson do both of them or was Clay's murder left unsolved?

[@diosoth]

He did both. Clay was killed because he was a risk.

[@wayneyadams]

Very good reasoning, but doubtful it will hold up in court.

[@marcelavaculova7682]

Fascination

[@thomaswood8167]

This is probably my favorite episode of the series, only because of the who dunnit aspect.

[@pendragonshall]

This was a badly written ending but Falk still carried it out to be entertaining.

[@allanritchie4243]

can only get columbo sometimes

[@mtsflorida]

There is no way he would have smashed the Commodore's watch. Refine gentleman would have thought of another way like pulling the stem or advancing it while letting it run down, but never damaging a valuable item such as that.

[@blacktoothfox677]

Tosh and piddlesticks. We gentleman nip brandy, and go out to abuse the colonies. No Thomas Tompian would assuage our love of destroying the property of others! Indeed, Bomber Harris was a true gent. As were my forefathers that raped India. piff! watch be damned!

[@ronmackinnon9374]

Or maybe he wasn't such a refined gentleman after all.

[@tvpmark]

A "whodunnit" Columbo episode? Nice.

[@johnchoice1371]

Columbo: "Commodore's watch..." Swanny: "Don't stand so close to me! Stop breathing down my neck!"

[@bishopaz]

I like this episode though allot of folks don't.

[@sipjam]

im gonna grab a tortilla

[@RADIUMGLASS]

Sam Bankman Fried is going to look like Columbo in 20 years. I just noticed that only because a Columbo video was right below a video about fried.

[@newyorknight]

I guess Swany's time was up. Good job LT.

[@asteverino8569]

Shades of Agatha Christie. 😂

[@coreyform563]

Never would hold up in court. They wouldn't even bring a case based on that

[@derekholland3328]

i thought this clip was longer than 7 min.

[@larrysmith6797]

Falk is channeling Humphrey Bogart in The Caine Mutiny.

[@patrickjohnson5658]

This episode was all at sea. The best part of it was this scene about the commodore's watch.

[@reubenmossley2787]

The guy with the yellow jersey, curly hair. He played 4 episodes on M*A*S*H, as margerets boyfriend. His character name was Scully.

[@ronmackinnon9374]

Yup. Joshua Bryant.

[@gonzalosilva8568]

Hola, por favor sube la serie en español latino ... hace mucho que quiero verla y no la encuentro, abrazo desde Argentina 🇦🇷.

[@silkychan6099]

One of the weakest gotcha in the entire columbo library.

[@keyboardwarrior327]

I wonder what Columbo would have done if Swanny hadn't said that. Did he have a plan b?

[@silkychan6099]

@@keyboardwarrior327 probably not. The case would probably be unsolved.

[@partybusexperiance3289]

True. But a weak gotcha from Colombo is like watching Jordan win a game and only score 23 points

[@silkychan6099]

@@partybusexperiance3289 but in this particular episode, I think a better reference would be that Jordan score just 23 points,way down from his season average n still lost the game. This episode is quite bad if compared to the other episodes from the 70s columbo.

[@michaeloneill8452]

It was well weak and way slow. Bit weird the way he was manouevering round furniture as well.. for shame!!!

[@MeBallerman]

Nice and all - but it won't hold in a courtroom.

[@ptitelumiere358]

Celui qui dit que ce n'est pas la montre du Commodore est le coupable.‼️⏱

[@modularmuse]

Moral: don't talk to the police.

[@donclark4486]

1:12 Kennedy exit wound.....

[@johnchoice1371]

Columbo: "Commodore's watch...." Swanny: "Tisn't!" Columbo: "No, it is not...because you were the only one who knew the Commodore's watch was smashed, because you smashed it at the scene of the crime..." Swanny: "Didn't!"

[@peterborcsok8657]

"Tisn't" ? In the hungaryan version he sais " It is ticking?" makes much more sense.

[@johnchoice1371]

@@peterborcsok8657 I get it. Then Columbo would have said: "Why would you be surprised it was ticking?" In actual fact, Swanny would have been stupid to make such a comment anyway, because it was to his detriment.

[@realenglishman580]

This is a fantastic episode. Probably the second best Columbo episode!

[@realenglishman580]

@timemachine_194 Lies!

[@realenglishman580]

@timemachine_194 You are absolutely wrong. The weakest original episodes are Forgotten Lady and Double Shock. This episode is fantastic and you either haven't even watched this episode or you just didn't understood anything!

[@realenglishman580]

@timemachine_194 That's a lie!! Did you even watch this episode?!

[@RalphieMaysGhost]

I love Columbo but is the clock reaction proof he did it?🤔

[@ninetyZeven]

The butler did it !

[@user-pl7ug7un6z]

Коломбо лучший детектив!

[@huskyfaninmass1042]

Лучше, чем Порфирий Петрович?!

[@kingice777]

I don't understand at all what happened in this episode

[@dougfranckwolf]

I have seen this episode many times over the years, and the ending still makes no sense. Why would the killer give away the fact he knew the watch wasn't the Commodore's because it didn't work? How does that help him or his alibi? So strange.

[@paulcoy9060]

I would say it was Joanna, because she said it was Daddy's watch. But they had exchanged the innards, so wouldn't that throw off the mechanics of the springs, making it sound differently? I've never had a pocket watch, so don't know exactly.

[@vgaymer]

@@paulcoy9060 but WHY would Swany say it's NOT the watch. Why wouldn't he just lie or say nothing

[@jonathancampbell5231]

The killer was dumb, simple as that, and Colombo counted on it. The killer knew that the watch was broke but had forgotten HOW he knew that. It's like that bit in "The Great Escape" where the Germans tricks the British escapee into speaking English- it's just an automatic thing. Swany was so focused on not admitting to the murder that he forgot to lie about something seemingly trivial and unimportant.

[@christopherbonanno1120]

Smugness. Saying I know what you do not know

[@YoussefRahoui]

Who is the actress?

[@ProudPapaJD]

I’m sure that works hold up in court. Better call Bruce Rivers and stay silent!

[@chromeCommodore]

wait a minute...

[@aawagga6841]

these dudes think they’re pretty clever but if they really were they’d just let their lawyers do the arguing for them

[@1225KPH]

Falk is doing Bogart 1:20

[@kali3665]

This was the only Columbo mystery I simply didn't buy the conclusion. I don't think the episode did a good job linking the murder to Swanny. All Columbo has is the watch - A good lawyer will get Swanny off without much effort. Last Salute was clearly an attempt to do something different with the Columbo formula, but it doesn't pan out very well, in my opinion.

[@bronzeshield6382]

'T-ISN'T!

[@jebprendergast101]

‘T’isn’t.

[@amitraam1270]

The name is Marple Columbo..

[@paulvanallen-lononca]

I thinking he had a lot of arrest now but very little conviction... "Tis ezent" is not grounds for anything but further questioning" 6 amendment"

[@patrickjohnson5658]

Columbo is not a legal drama and it doesn't go to court so whether or not some fiction writers court would convict him is irrelevant. We the viewers know Columbo got the right murderer and that is all that counts in the end.

[@paulvanallen-lononca]

Columbo is a "legal drama" criminal justice system is two parts, the police that investigation crimes and the district attorney who prosecute the afender! Bon bon....

[@patrickjohnson5658]

@@paulvanallen-lononca In the real world world yes. Columbo is just fiction which ends when he catches the murderers, so it is just about entertaining the viewer. If he had to go to court obviously the writers would tweak the storyline to make sure his case was airtight and there were no legal loopholes in it.

[@paulvanallen-lononca]

@@patrickjohnson5658 thanks for filling me in!

[@patrickjohnson5658]

@@paulvanallen-lononca Glad to be of assistance! If any Columbo murderer ever gets a lawyer to defend him in court he better make sure nobody on the jury has ever seen the relevant episode, as they will have seen the murderer with their own eyes committing the murder..

[@jamespriest6755]

Well that was lucky he said ‘Tisn’t’

[@Milesco]

Yes -- and very foolish! He _really_ should've known better.

[@clairelouise335]

I'm watching this episode right now. It seems a bit different to the norm. Almost like it's tongue in cheek. Columbo keeps squeezing up beside Robert Vaughn and putting his arm round him. It's uncharacteristic.

[@Felix-Sited]

Very tenuous link there Columbo. I love you, but this will not stand up in court my blue!!!!

[@KilliK69]

most of his cases wouldn't stand in court

[@Felix-Sited]

@@KilliK69 Well, yeah. "Did you witness what he just did?"

[@lewisc215]

great Sherlock Holmes ending.

[@siddharthsen7035]

Mcgoohan directed this. A failed experiment, unfortunately. Didn't fit in with the style of columbo episodes