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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 276738" data-attributes="member: 23">Dagger Of The Mind / Requiem For A Falling Star continued Back in LA, things get a little meta when Columbo visits Universal Studios where he spends time nattering with a film star in her bungalow between scenes. There are also a couple of moments - including the very first scene - in which we’re fooled into thinking we’re watching something “real”, only for it to turn out to be a scene the actress is filming. Anne Baxter is great as Nora Chandler. She radiates Old Hollywood energy, and the energy between she and Peter Falk is great fun. It made me realise that the one thing I missed a little in Daggers Off The Mind is the intense one-to-one battle of wits. With the previous episodes having two killers that energy can’t help getting somewhat diluted. Requiem For A Falling Star has some terrific twists. There’s Nora getting the wrong target when blowing up a car, only for Columbo (and us) to eventually discover the dead person was her intended target. And if I’m following, this is also the first (and, who knows, possibly the only) episode in which Columbo uncovers an old murder along the way, deducing that Nora’s P.A. died because she knew that Nora had murdered her husband many years earlier and buried him in the outdoor area of the bungalow. I share Columbo’s sense of awe at the bungalow Nora had on the lot. If this comes along with stardom, I can understand why many would find it an attractive prospect. I could certainly happily live in that residence if only it didn’t come with the fame and fandom (and murder). Columbo phones his wife from Nora’s bungalow. She’s out on both occasions, but Nora speaks to his brother-in-law (or is it his cousin) George. There’s some really funny business where he asks Nora to enquire how tall George is then, as soon as the question is asked, Columbo takes the receiver and listens while placing his hand over his mouth to stop from laughing  Then he just hangs up. I take it to mean that George is rather short. I wonder if he will become a recurring unseen character? Incidentally, Anne Baxter also seems to be trying to keep a straight face through this scene. I wonder how much of this she was expecting?In other recurring Columboisms, when Nora asks him if he’d thought about getting another car he responds that he has got another car for his wife, but it’s “nothing special. It’s just for transportation”. It’s a nice, funny line, previously spoken to the Mancunian garage owner in Étude In Black. Incidentally, the sight of Columbo’s old banger screeching to a halt with glamorously regal Nora in the passenger seat is hilarious. In more meta stuff, costume designer Edith Head plays herself, her Oscars proudly on display as she discusses wardrobe with Nora (even more mind-blowingly, among hordes of famous actresses Edith had previously dressed Anne Baxter in The Ten Commandments). On Nora’s orders, Edith presents Columbo with a wide and garish orange tie which he quickly loses. I can’t blame him. It’s hideous. This episode’s Gotcha is notable to me for its intimacy. Throughout the episode a real respect develops between Columbo and Nora. As frustrating as she finds his presence, one senses that she grows to like him. And he is in awe of her, telling her on their first meeting that he’s been in love with her since he was a little boy. Nora’s quiet confession - her “star” façade slipping into something far more human - and the way she gathers her things to leave the bungalow with Columbo has a quiet dignity that I found touching.</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?