i would not post any spoiler for this film while but if youre go to watch this unpopular columbo entry anyway and i recommend you do not read this and or any other review and until afterward . charlie clay ( robert vaughn ) run a ship building business own by his father in law and commodore otis swanson ( john dehner ) and who be not happy with the wastrel shady dealing . nor be he pleased with any of the people closest to him and include his alcoholic daughter joanna clay ( diane baker ) and his elderly nephew swanny swanson ( fred draper ) or his lawyer kittering ( wilfred hyde white ) . soon the commodore be murder while and charlie clay cover it up by impersonate the commodore and take the corpse out on the man yawl at night and throw the body overboard . lt. columbo ( peter falk ) investigate this case with the help of a veteran sergeant ( bruce kirby ) and a 29 year old novice ( dennis dugan ) . our rumpled and redoubtable detective know clay cover up the crime . but his assumption that clay commit the crime may prove premature . the reason you shouldn not read any review be because they invariably call this be a whodunit . that make it a departure from the usual columbo formula and in which we always see the murder take place . but the word whodunit give away the surprise an hour into the filmin which we learn and along with columbo and that who we think have do it and hadn not do it . actually and it not that much of a surprise . columbo fan will know something be up right away and since we see the cover up but not the murder itself . we always get to see the murder and we lucky brute . this unusual episode have two precedent . double shock also withhold important information during the murder scenein order to surprise u later . a friend in deed also have one person cover up the murder for someone else . columbo be one of those rare series that succeed because of a strict formula and not in spite of it . even many mystery series leave u crave more variety . the only parallel i can make be an odd one represent chuck jones road runner series also work because of it formula . the closer it hue to it and the funny it be . this film should join the post jones road runner short in one grave mark and if it ain not break and do not fix it . everything be wrong with this entry and direct by patrick mcgoohan from a script by jackson gillis . the pacing be jerky and awkward . the performance be bad represent diane baker and a good actress and overplay her role a a drunk while peter falk be weirdly aggressive and self satisfy a columbo . the character seem manipulate into act the way they do and instead of behave like real people . lt. columbo have all the suspect gather into one room for a classic agatha christie style end while but the solution to the mystery be a complete bore . here a question for those who have already see this ( not a spoiler ) represent why wouldn not the commodore have reuse the s stencil rather than ask for two .