Columbo: Double Exposure (1973) (TV)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Richard Quine

Writers:

Stephen J. Cannell (written by)
Richard Levinson (creator) ...

Release Date:

16 December 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

A self-styled "motivation research specialist" uses subliminal cues to commit a murder. Lt. Columbo is on the case.

Plot Keywords:

Alibi | Murder | Police Detective | Crime Investigation | Investigation

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Lt. Columbo
Robert Culp	...	Dr. Bart Keppel
Robert Middleton	...	Vic Norris
Chuck McCann	...	Roger White
Louise Latham	...	Mrs. Norris
Arlene Martel	...	Tanya (as Arlene Martell)
Danny Goldman	...	Press photographer
John Milford	...	1st Detective
George Wyner	...	Film Editor
Richard Stahl	...	Ballistics man
Francis De Sales	...	Patterson (as Francis DeSales)
Alma Beltran	...	Housekeeper
Dennis Robertson	...	Detective Marley
Harry Hickox	...	2nd Detective
Ann Driscoll	...	Mrs. Halstead

Also Known As:

Colombo: Alibi calibro 22 (Italy) [it]
Columbo - Ein gründlich motivierter Mord (West Germany) [de]
Columbo - Ein gründlich motivierter Tod (West Germany) [de]
Columbo - Subconscient (France) [fr]
Columbo: Salattu viesti (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (2005) (DVD) (self applied)

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

The stage and theatre where Dr. Kepple shows his movie with subliminal cuts in "Double Exposure", with its gold curtain and distinctive stairs at stage right, is the same place where Dr. Mason delivers his motivational speech in Columbo: How to Dial a Murder (1978) (TV).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Columbo arrives at a back office with monitors, he's being tracked by a videocamera. He arrives and sees himself live on the monitor, filmed from behind. What he sees doesn't match with his actual position, judging by a hand resting against a wall.

Quotes:

Dr. Bart Keppel: [voiceover narration for motivational film] Nothing can happen in this country until someone sells something. We are traditionally a nation of salesmen. But most importantly, we have turned salesmanship into a creative art. Salesmanship, a profession that has become a way of life, our most powerful weapon in the war of ideas and economies, a tribute to American creativity.

Movie Connections:

References High Plains Drifter (1973)

Can subliminal advertising help you commit a murder? Find out on today's episode of "Columbo"!

Dr. Bart Keppel (Robert Culp) styles himself as a "motivation research specialist," and it's true he has written several books on marketing and made a name for himself on the subject of "subliminal advertising"—which involves inserting frames of an advertised product into the reels of a film. The frames go by too fast for the conscious mind to note them; but subconsciously the mind picks them up and makes the viewer crave what is pictured. But this advertising expert's more lucrative sideline is blackmail. He takes secret pictures of his married clients with a girl hired to tempt them. His latest victim, Vic Norris (Robert Middleton), balks and wants to turn in Dr. Keppel (don't call him Mr. Keppel) to the D.A. The blackmailer prevents this by murdering Norris during a screening of a promotional film. He finds a clever alibi and an even cleverer way of tempting his victim into the wrong place at the wrong time. But his projectionist (Chuck McCann) finds out and blackmails the blackmailer. It's up to our rumpled Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) to use subliminal tricks of his own to unmask the killer.

This enjoyable "Columbo" episode, directed by Richard Quine from a script by Stephen J. Cannell, bears resemblance to "Columbo: Death Lends a Hand," which also featured Robert Culp as a killer who blackmails one victim too many. The subject of subliminal advertising is amusing, though I think the idea was discredited at some point. The last I heard of it was when some Japanese animators innocently inserted frames of American flags into episodes of the TV cartoon, "Alf." There was an uproar, but the idea of hypnotizing people with frames of film came to look silly. Still, give this episode your willing suspension of disbelief, and you'll enjoy it.