Now You See Him

On February 29, 1976, Columbo walked into the Cabaret of Magic and found himself up against one of the series’ all-time great villains: Jack Cassidy’s Great Santini. It’s Cassidy’s third (and final) turn as a Columbo murderer, and the show leans into everything he does best—charm, arrogance, and that smile that says “I’m two steps ahead of you.” (or at least he thinks he is)

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This is Jack Cassidy’s third Columbo killer role (after Murder by the Book and Publish or Perish) and the last time the series got to use that Cassidy/Falk chemistry.

Sadly real-life had other plans, Cassidy died just a few months after this episode aired, killed in a housefire apparently sparked when he fell asleep on the couch with a lit cigarette.

Meet The Great Santini

Santini isn’t just a magician—he’s an operator. The kind of guy who treats every conversation like a performance and every room like a stage.

And the secret at the center of the story is genuinely dark: the owner of the club, Jesse Jerome, has been blackmailing Santini because he knows Santini’s real past identity—Stefan Mueller, a former Nazi SS guard. Jerome threatens to expose him to immigration authorities if he doesn’t keep paying up.

And Jesse Jerome

Sweaty extortionist Jesse Jerome is one of the least sympathetic murder victims in the entire series.

"Ah, dear Jesse, to know him was to detest him."

Played well by actor Nehemiah Persoff (who passed away in 2022 at the age of 103 years old) Jesse put the screws to Santini and Santini decided to end their arrangement for good.

His second adversary: His new coat

Santini isn't the only character Columbo has to do battle with. He also has a new coat, a gift from Mrs. Columbo, to deal with. It's stiff, uncomfortable, and just not...him. This becomes a running gag in the episode as Columbo tries multiple times to "lose" it.

And this leads to one of the funnier exchanges, between Columbo and Wilson, in the series.

C: "Where'd you find that?"

W: "In the lost and found. You left it in the cafeteria."

C: "I thought somebody stole it."

W: "At police headquarters?"

By the way, when Wilson brings the coat back for that exchange, he just double-parks his station wagon in the middle of the street. 

"Best on the bill, lovers un...zzzz"

Danny the singer serves no real purpose in this episode. He's courting Della and singing with the energy of a coma patient. Otherwise he's just filling space.

He was played by actor Patrick Culliton. Interestingly, in real life Culliton was a noted expert on famed magician Harry Houdini and at one time wanted to be a magician himself.

He doesn't have any acting credits in the last 20 years or so but as far as I can tell he's still alive and would be 81 years old now.

The legendary Michael Lally

Partway through the episode Santini is greeting folks at the bar and he turns to greet "Michael Lally" (by his real name). According to Lally's son this was a surprise to Lally, but it was a setup by Falk and Cassidy. Lally was expecting to have just another "face in the crowd" role, but Falk had bigger plans, and after the bar scene Falk persuaded him to do the boarding house scene later on.

Lally played it perfectly, and it's his most memorable appearance in the series.

Speaking of regulars...

The locksmith, Lassiter, is played by Victor Izay. He's also Conroy in Fade in to Murder, and the coroner in An Exercise in Fatality.

A wink...

When Santini gets out of the handcuffs on stage Columbo says "I knew you could do it." and gives him a little wink. Notably, Falk winks his glass eye.

By the way, a minute or three later, the bartender says that Santini does the water tank illusion every night at the exact same time. But he couldn't have that night because Columbo delayed him with the handcuffs challenge.

Plot holes

My biggest problem in this episode is with Santini's alibi. Really it all hangs on whether Santini could have faked the number trick with Thackery, and once Columbo learns how that could be done (with radio equipment) the whole thing starts to fall into place.

Just a few more things

• There is either a fake, or extremely bored, rabbit in a cage backstage. It doesn't move or blink the entire scene.
• Thayer David plays the magic store clerk. He had quite a little career going in the 60s and 70s, even had a part in Rocky, but died prematurely at 51 years old of a heart attack.
• If you want another Columbo-vs-magician matchup later in the run, the 1989 episode Columbo Goes to the Guillotine is the obvious companion piece.