Dagger of the Mind

The fourth episode of Season 2 takes Columbo out of the country for the first time. Dagger of the Mind was set in London, England (though a lot of it was filmed in Los Angeles) and pits the good Lieutenant up against a couple of Shakespearian actors.

Honor Blackman plays Lillian Stanhope and Richard Basehart plays her husband Nicholas Frame - not the brightest bulbs on the stage - who accidentally kill their benefactor when he learns of their scheme to manipulate him into financing their play.

📺Watch it for free on Tubi

A ham and a tart

The implication in the critical scene is that Lillian has seduced Sir Roger in order to con him into producing their play - but that they never consumated the fling.

In England? Not so much.

Only about 25% of the episode was actually filmed in England, mostly exteriors of notable buildings and a long montage that Falk apparently ad-libbed of him dashing around taking pictures. The rest of the episode was filmed in Los Angeles especially the interior scenes, including Sir Roger's mansion.

In fact, the part of Sir Roger's manion was played by Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. 

Aside from the cost savings of not filming the whole thing in England there was the practical matter of Wilfrid Hyde White, who plays the butler Tanner. He was English, but had left the country as a tax exile and so he couldn't film back in the UK anyhow.

Speaking of not English...

Richard Basehart, who plays Nicholas Frame, was born in Ohio.

Airports are often like that

The airport scene where Columbo has lost his luggage is effective at establishing him as a "fish out of water" in the UK, but I felt like it went on just a bit too long. It's possible the director was stretching it because they had to fill two hours.

We'll meet again

If you enjoy Bernard Fox, who plays Detective Chief Superintendent Durk, you'll see him again in another very good performance. He plays the purser, Watkins, in season 4's Troubled Waters.

Columbo: Troubled Waters

Lillian listening 

I don't know how I didn't even notice it the first few times I watched this episode, but Lillian Stanhope is evesdropping in the back of the scene when Durk and Columbo are chatting backstage about requesting an autopsy.

Just a few more things

• This is just the second 2-hour long Columbo (of the regular series). The first was Etude in Black.
  
  
• I love the line where Nicholas doesn't know the details of how an autopsy works and Lillian says "Why don't you know? If you'd taken that part in the Agatha Christie play you would know these things!"