Swan Song (1974) review | The Columbo Episode Guide (S3, E7)

The one where I turn a heinous crime into a running gag.
I own nothing.
#Columbo #SwanSong #PeterFalk #JohnnyCash #IdaLupino #NicholasColasanto #EpisodeGuide #Review

[@nicholasschroeder3678]

Cash is--amazingly--as good as any of the other professional actors in the series. He is essentially playing himself, but still very fun and very convincing. And--to my mind--it's not the statutory rape that's so evil--it's more sleazy--it's that he pre-meditatedly killed the girl. That IS evil.

[@richardclegg5853]

"I don't even like being this tall" how many Hollywood legends can be as humble and self depricating as the great Peter Falk

[@christinecrites835]

Also remember when he said I don't even like a deep tub. I don't recall the episode though.

[@Ariel-T-Friesner]

@@christinecrites835 "An Exercise in Fatality," Columbo, 1974. He can't swim!

[@jayonnaj18]

I just adored Johnny Cash and his singing, and his acting was fantastic! This is my favorite Columbo episode!!!

[@DeltaStar777]

I miss your Colombo reviews, please make some more. Nobody absolutely nobody makes them as good as yours. ❤

[@erickleefeld4883]

Edna was a completely unsympathetic victim. But poor young Maryann was a tragic case: Abused by Tommy, manipulated by Edna for personal gain, and then finally murdered by Tommy in order to silence her. Also, it’s been a while since I watched this episode, but did Columbo ever figure out this element of the crime? It sure would’ve altered his perception of Tommy! (Especially since Tommy was already grooming his next sweet young thing.)

[@WatchitforDays]

Very good review!! Loved it. Great references and jokes... 9:50 you had me burst out laughing at that one! And that sped up part with the seamstress lady always confused me, too. And then you confused me near the end when you played the video backwards. Maybe i need to watch again to understand, haha. Seriously great work. I always enjoyed this Columbo episode.

[@insouciantFox]

Praise the Lord I saw the light I saw the light No more darkness No more night ... On and on it goes

[@master-kq3nw]

i saw the light great lyrics and song

[@mark-matthijskattenberg7122]

Great video. Really enjoyed it. One comment though: Luke is played by Bill McKinney. Not a bad actor at all. I like him very much in Deliverance and The outlaw Josey wales

[@GillAgainsIsland12]

Yes, he was terrifying in Deliverance. A very convincing sodomizer.

[@lewisner]

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot too as the crazy guy with the rabbits in his trunk.

[@ianfeuerhake1859]

My favorite episode. Gotta love Johnny Cash, plus he wrote about it in his book. I was born while this was being made.

[@merfigNOW]

Thanks, this was really well done and very, very funny--the needle scratches! 🤣 I have a lot of affection for this episode. Cash is solid as the hobbled, short-eyed (kids Goggle) country western star. He conveys a gentle nature, even though--as you pointed out--he ain't such a nice guy, soulful expressions aside. A lot going on in here--the dude from Deliverance; Ida Lupino (great director btw); and Boss Hogg, who continues the grand tradition of sunglasses that walk away with Columbo episodes! Take that Étude in Black! Falk is a lil' too sentimental, but hey. And, yes...will have I saw the Light in my ear all weekend. Cheers! 😜

[@johnmanier7968]

The only two Columbo episodes in which Stanley Ralph Ross was credited were this episode (story) and Any Old Port in a Storm (teleplay), so that could explain the similarities. Ross wrote some of the funnier Batman episodes, including those featuring Catwoman and King Tut-as well as a criminal alchemist named Dr. Cassandra, played by none other than Ida Lupino. Ross later developed the Wonder Woman series which starred Lynda Carter.

[@thegiftedone]

Holy smokes! You know your stuff!🫡🇺🇸

[@nothankyouYouTube420]

Had to stop and say That edit from "everyone loves him" to " statutory rape" was slick 👌 good on ye

[@puryakiani1145]

these reviews just keep getting better 👏 increasingly humorous too

[@GenetrySolar]

The big suction part was so unexpected and had me rolling for an hour.

[@kevinobrien9626]

Columbo has ruined every notable person his wife likes. She sure can pick 'em.

[@operasinger2126]

lol

[@bebopreview3187]

If there was ever a Columbo episode where you actually have sympathy for the Killer this is it.

[@bestiefswlady5251]

I’d have more sympathy if the young woman had not been murdered as collateral damage…. But of course, I love this episode. Anyway, since it has Johnny Cash!

[@digger8754]

Better than brilliant episode. Great review also. Had me smiling throughout. Legendary performance by JC and endearing chemistry between them both.

[@dropsho]

Your suggestion that when phoning to lay the final trap Colombo, listening to Tommy play such beautiful music, seems like he just may be considering letting Tommy go is a wonderful observation demonstrating again that when Colombo is good it is the best.

[@Ariel-T-Friesner]

But then Columbo turns his back on the murderer!

[@robertwheatley9153]

Definitely in my Top 10 Columbo episode list. Surprisingly Cash has good acting chops in this..

[@mkassis713]

I really like this episode .Tommy has serious psychological issues which are shown after Edna reveals what he did to Mary-Ann , and tries to repeat the behavior with his student Tina .Edna found in Tommy the opportunity to get some easy cash to build her Tabernacle - talk about a double standard - a person gets a guy with a special talent out of jail , marries him and uses him to fulfill her dream project.Edna could certainly have found a decent guy with a special talent , but chose to be with Tommy and conceal all the flaws in their marriage , until the truth finally pops up and she blackmails Tommy.His plan is good to some extent : the sleeping pills found after the autopsy was made , the parachute -which I think he should have burned right after the deed was done , and finally the rental car keys that he didn't turn in ,which lit a bulb in Columbo's mind .All these guys in the Columbo series forget some important detail that gives them away , and this case no different.I specially like the final scene , because Columbo shows that he believes everybody has good in them.This is shown in other episodes ,such as 'Any Old Port" and "Try and Catch Me",to name a few.

[@RewskOnTV]

I first saw this episode 25 years ago and today I still have that song ringing in my head

[@amina-pr8xt]

...praise the lord...

[@sabineb.5616]

Great review of my favorite Columbo episode! When I first saw "Swan Song" I became an instant Cash fan, although l don't even like country music all that much 😉 However, I have to mention one thing: our perception of what qualifies as evil, has clearly changed since the 1970s - and frankly I cannot get worked up too much about the fact that Tommy Brown had sex with a 16 years old girl. Hey, that was what rock stars did back then, when the groupie phenomenon was in full swing. And these groupies were VERY persistent. I would not be surprised at all if Johnny Cash himself had enjoyed these girls now and then! He was no saint. The scene, when all these young girls try to storm Tommy Brown's dressing room, is quite realistic and I don't even think that bedding a 16 years old girl - if she was a willing participant - was a crime everywhere in the US at the time. In Germany, where I come from, such behavior may be frowned upon - rightfully so l might add - but it never was and still isn't a crime. If the teenager is younger than 16 it's a different story, and I think that the scriptwriters choose 16 as Mary-Ann's age in order to make Tommy not looking too bad. However, guess what's really pretty evil? Killing your teenage lover in cold blood! We may feel that Edna, the bible-spoutin' hypocrite, who used poor Mary-Ann for blackmailing her husband, got what she deserved. But killing Mary-Ann without the slightest sign of remorse and replacing her with another background singer one week BEFORE her death, makes Tommy Brown a pretty bad guy - at least in my book. Even the great Columbo himself neglects to investigate if Tommy had a motive for killing Mary-Ann. The scriptwriters just used her for showing off Columbo's musical prowess - and then everybody forgets about poor Mary-Ann, and nobody mourns her. Columbo must've been blinded by Tommy Brown's stardom, when he said his sentence about him being not bad through and through because he could sing so well! This last scene was really moving because of the great chemistry between Columbo and Tommy Brown. But the actual plot tells a different story: Tommy Brown was a bad guy, and there were no hints that he would've confessed any time soon, if Columbo hadn't caught him with that parachute!

[@METALITHrevetments]

"You're a lustful sinner Tommy."

[@TheReneex]

Swan Song was one of my all time favorite Columbo episodes and Johnny Cash was so devilishly good as the villain. Yet, you couldn't help but feel sorry for him. As we can clearly see that Ida Lupino was the real villain in the story. She obviously took Cash's character out of jail so that she could capitalize upon his singing ability while carrying on as a phony Evangelist. She was so self righteous and insufferable. It's hard to believe that he was willing to put up with her for the sake of his freedom.

[@catoblepag]

The Nick Colasanto / Solecanto pun is quite clever, since the character is a music producer and "canto" in italian means "I sing", or "song". Loved this review, just like the others... and we seem to agree on the quality of most episodes. The part with the military officer grew on me over the years and now I find it one of the best purely comical skits in Columbo: yeah, the guy looks like a parody, but in my opinion he's more like a senile man who's starting to lose it, so the government put him in charge of the most "harmless" job they could find (you can see he's still waitin' for that important call).

[@kevinobrien9626]

That damsel looks so much like a young Sandra Locke ... ha ha ha ha ha.

[@diosoth]

Unfortunately back then, despite the laws, some celebrity sleeping with teenage girls wasn't looked down upon like it is today. Lot of them were doing it & few people seemed to care. Steven Tyler right now is in legal trouble for doing just that in the 70s. Ted Nugent recorded a song about doing it. Not to mention how it's come out that a lot of the entertainment industry was doing just that- it kind of stings that Diff'rent Strokes, which did the bicycle man episode about it, had its own production staff doing it to the underage stars behind the scenes. Actually up through even the 90s it wasn't really treated as a huge problem(John K wasn't even exposed for what he did until much later & Axl Rose also did some nasty things)... I think society really didn't take it very seriously until To Catch A Predator came along. The episode throws it in to set him up for blackmail, then the later scene to remind us he's not so sympathetic, but Columbo never knows about it. I think Cash's strength here was that he was mostly playing himself with just a bit more of an evil tone. His younger days were full of some... moments. He never did anything as scummy as what Tommy did, though his one-time decision to pick a fight with one of the ostriches on his ranch almost got him killed(their toe claws are dangerous- if not for his belt buckle catching it he would have died when it kicked him).

[@danielguy3581]

The age of consent is below 18 in most of the Western world, with 16 being a common threshold. Usually socially unacceptable (though indeed, groupies and celebrities being a common exception to that), but not illegal.

[@lclarke7156]

Did the seamstress appeared in "Candidate for A Crime?

[@torridd]

Ha! This guy wasn't going to confess!

[@jonchowe]

I love this show so much; took me 34 years to find it (I'm 35). This was the first one I watched. Would love to see you interview/chat with Noiselund from KZbin; his Columbo remixes got me to watch the show!

[@ottospecht8438]

Your work here is exceptional! Insightful, hilarious observations & pleasing delivery. Kudos> 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👌🏻❤️

[@timi_ro]

Another episode I love rewatching!

[@EricNTammy304]

Why is the log rolling scene reversed? It's hilarious by itself, but I don't get why it's edited this way? Great review!

[@bloke2201]

Johnny Cash actually did quite a bit of acting before this. He was in several films... Great, memorable episode!

[@jamesantosca4005]

Excellent, entertaining review! You're delivery and sense of humor are superb.

[@davidalexander3320]

What has always irritated me about this episode is how they try to make Tommy a sympathetic character and mostly ignore the whole statutory rape stuff after its 1st mentioned. Columbo never seems to care about why the girl was killed as well. She's just an afterthought.

[@RegginaldRiglet]

Fantastic review as always schlock! Look forward to these.

[@thecw301]

Director Nick Colasanto later played "Coach" in Cheers

[@asteverino8569]

Thanks for another great review and humor.

[@MegaSmarterthanyou]

Bill Mckinney who plays "luke " was a great tv and movie character actor . He was in a few clint eastwood movies , was in Deliverance(his performance legendary in this movie) with jon voight and so on ... had a long career , you really shot him down in this episode.

[@shasta810]

yes he clearly had no clue who this established actor was and the great films he made!

[@kevinobrien9626]

He killed the 16-year old girl also... I don't recall too much mention of her death?! It was all about Edna. But this is a double-homicide and a very young victim. His most heinous infraction and it is glossed over, perhaps because the audience would hate him so much they might tune out.

[@richardclegg5853]

Nick Colasanto... COACH!!!

[@mogensschmidt2498]

johnny cash looks like elvis here kinda and is kinda handsome i will admit

[@Lorna8264]

One of the best voices ever

[@thegiftedone]

Dude!🤣 your editing skills are next level!…. 🏆. Those record scratching fx were perfect! I’m now your fan bud!

[@francesholman9442]

Columbo forever...........

[@lukacunningham342]

What was with the backwards talk?

[@gavc6442]

This episode is just Superb, Cash is excellent in it and omg that song….. you will not get it out your head for days!!! 😅

[@gabisyderas1855]

I love the slightly more folky instruments added to the mostly classical soundtrack. Makes me wish for a murder mistery scored by John Fahey or something

[@geraldvanhees779]

The guy that plays luke ( johnny cash's brother in law.) Was the same actor that played the mountain man in deliverance.

[@royfr8136]

the crime is completely unbelievable. The plane could have continued to fly for km. Even if it didn't he landed in his parachute so close to the cash that he goes there even with a broken leg....

[@hasan_z]

Maybe he pointed it down before hopping out?!

[@davidg-ig8vj]

Love the great John Randolph as the Air Force Colonel. Randolph was in an amazing film, "Seconds", with Rock Hudson (by no means your typical Rock Hudson film - you must check it out). And he also had an uncredited voice role in "All the President's Men" as fmr US Attorney General, John Mitchell, in a phone call with Bob Woodward (played by Robert Redford).

[@arielkars6150]

Exellent review... I love your channel. got addicted!

[@ianmangham4570]

Cash was in lots of MOVIES 🎥

[@snuffpappy]

One glaring moment of bad continuity is when Luke punches Tommy and his guitar hits the ground. Initially the headstock points to Cash's feet, in the next shot, his head. Similar booboo in Karate Kid with the boombox suddenly changing directions.

[@lewisner]

I don't like Johnny Cashes style of music but he was a pretty convincing villain for Columbo.

[@brunoBEGARANI-kx2ey]

I saw the ampoule😂😂😂

[@brunoBEGARANI-kx2ey]

A killer is a Swan😂😂😂

[@ianmangham4570]

Vito Scotti plays the Train Driver in Von Ryan's Express

[@Tnenamrep2]

I've forgotten what he was guilty of. What was it again?

[@kevinobrien9626]

Why drug the passengers? Who gives a shit? Just bail out. Oh, wait, let me guess: That conscience we've ... heard so much about. They won't die screaming. OK.

[@javiergilvidal1558]

No. Tommy's shoulders were within Edna's reach

[@brunoBEGARANI-kx2ey]

Super épisode comme tous ❤

[@djhutchison]

11:33 What happened there? The video rewinds back a few seconds for some reason...

[@art.demirjian9721]

I just love the word you use 🌟 "Religious hypocrisy" 🌟 🍷😂🍷 I shouldn't forget that, because our World is full of them and I am sick and tire of them. They turn my stomach upside down... 🍷😂🍷

[@kevanhubbard9673]

Almost like Colombo meets D.B.Cooper!

[@jonchess8844]

👍👍👍

[@JoJoJoker]

One one hand, Tommy Nash would’ve made more sense than Tommy Brown. On the other hand, he’s Mr. Brown instead of the Man in Black.

[@Ariel-T-Friesner]

Can you fix the backwards play at 11:32?

[@amina-pr8xt]

One of the least sympathetic victims, very true...

[@royfr8136]

in the U.K the legal age for sex is 16. I think the bigger crime would be killing two women no? 13:06 which you didn't mention

[@PatrolOfficer161]

Most satisfying!

[@master-kq3nw]

love this episode with johnny cash

[@darrenwiggins9957]

I wached this just lastnight. Cash was good.

[@That_AMC_Guy]

Bill McKinney??? Not a good actor??? Dude.... he was the KING of B-movies. He was in Deliverance, Cannonball, Thunderbolt & Lightfoot, First Blood, The Green Mile and countless dozens of TV appearances. We could all be so lucky as to be such a "poor" actor as Mr. McKinney.

[@toshibavoodoo]

Cool

[@jamesmcgrath3841]

The actual murder here is way too farfetched. He has to jump out of plane and get to the crash site miles away on a broken leg???

[@5anjuro]

I am still t a loss, how was Tommy Brown going to explain surviving the crash?

[@javiergilvidal1558]

He claimed he was tossed forward through the windshield and somehow landed on soft terrain. Hardly believable, especially the lack of the thousand cuts he would have suffered when going through the glass ...

[@kevinobrien9626]

Why do we care about the 'other' arrangement of that goddamn song? Wouldn't that time have been better spent showing us some 'remorse,' of which there seems to be a notable absence?

[@ianmangham4570]

Say CRAZY one more time

[@Ennis85]

"interesting to see such swipes being taken at Religous hypocrisy in a mainstream tv show as early as 1974" I don't understand, why wouldn't there have been such an element in an episode of mainstream tv show as early as 1974? What's the big deal about it?

[@pinball1970]

Two seconds in and I had to stop it. This is a great episode, love JC in this. I HATED the music, 'I saw the liiiigghhht!' Anyway, I did not want to adjust my comments based on your analysis, I want see how we compare. Ok let's go!

[@RegginaldRiglet]

Really? I find myself singing I saw the light continuously after a watching of this

[@pinball1970]

@@RegginaldRiglet Yes and me. I am hoping it will stop in a few days. So I can sleep

[@TheEntilza]

It's a Hank Williams song.

[@catoblepag]

The melody is fine, but I've always been really bothered by the way the lyrics "no more darkness, no more night" don't fit at all the metrics 😅 You've got this huge gap where you have to keep stretching that "mooore" until you can hastily sing "darkness", and it's very awkward. You'd need to add at least one more syllable, goin' from four to five, to make it sound right (first stupid example that comes to mind: "Goodbye to darkness, goodbye to night").

[@pinball1970]

@@catoblepag I like the episode (really like it) but that song....tune, words inflection harmony arrangement......No.

[@Kent933]

I think this is 1972 not 1974 but I might be wrong

[@javiergilvidal1558]

Read the copyright date at the very beginning. It clearly said 1974, though it was written in Roman numerals, at a time when people were not as illiterate as they are today ....

[@ianmangham4570]

BAKERSFIELD 🇺🇸 🌎 YEEEEEEHAAAAA 🤟💯😎

[@geoffreyparsons4353]

Bet Elvis was jealous

[@Makeyourselfbig]

Statutory rape and two murders. I think Columbo showed these cold-blooded killers too much respect sometimes.

[@swk38]

make the cast over a sock...?

[@olgazadig4961]

About religious hypocrisy, remember that Ronald Reagan being elected with the Moral Majority were something like science fiction by that time...

[@hasan_z]

11:30 ?????

[@jayonnaj18]

The narrator surely is unnecessarily using a lot of profanity!

[@javiergilvidal1558]

Ain't seen the light yet!

[@qualityman1965]

Cash was not a good actor. Sorry. Maybe as good as Willie Nelson.