Prescription: Murder (1968)

Columbo (1968-2003)
Television Film | Crime Drama | USA | English | 1h39m
Dir: Richard Irving | Scr: Richard Levinson & William Link | Play: Richard Levinson & William Link | Ph: Ray Rennahan | Prod: Richard Irving | Mus: Dave Grusin | Ed: Richard G. Wray | AD: Russell Kimball | Snd: James T. Porter | Cast: Peter Falk, Gene Barry, Katherine Justice, William Windom, Nina Foch, Virginia Gregg

A smug psychiatrist comes to believe that he has committed the perfect murder, when he enlists the help of his mistress, an aspiring young actress and patient of his, to help create an alibi for him by posing as his wife for a pre-holiday runway bust-up, just hours after he had actually killed her, having made it look like a robbery gone wrong. However, despite his attention to detail, he doesn’t count on the dogged determination of an apparently dithering homicide detective, who seems to be on to him right from the very beginning, in this excellent first outing for Peter Falk as Lt. Columbo. Falk, unsurprisingly, is first-rate, with good support coming from Barry and Justice. Grusin’s distinctive score also catches the ear.