- Lieutenant, you should underestimate me, just like I do. In a small distance from the city, whose name still does not say anything to those present, there is a museum, the curators of which are the Little family. The museum is ordinary and you will not find waxed people or figures of the most terrible monsters known to mankind. Oh no, it contains precious figurines, jewelry and other decorative objects of peoples that have long ceased to exist. And the museum will soon share the fate of the disappeared peoples. The fact that this place brings only losses, not profits and the senior member of the family, who is the trustee of the museum, Edward Lytton, intends to close the place and sell all the exhibits. Naturally, his sister Ruth disagrees with this state of affairs. A woman’s life was far from sugar and she was repeatedly taken away everything – dreams, hopes, aspirations, beloved man. All this Ruth Lyton was deprived and the only joy for her was the museum and she will not allow it to be taken away.
Milton Schaeffer is a man with no future. All his life he dreamed of getting everything at once, and therefore engaged in petty thefts as a result of which he spent his best years behind bars. Now he works in museums that belong to the Littles and, as usual, steals exhibits. Ruth learns about this and in any other situation, an elderly woman would have fired a negligent employee, but now she has other plans. Ruth turns to Milton with an offer that's hard to refuse: We need to rob this museum under cover of night and return the artifacts to the old lady. Milton will receive a false passport and a hundred thousand dollars. Where does an elderly woman, which barely makes ends meet, Milton does not think, he is blinded by the shine of money.
Milton follows all Ruth's instructions, but he doesn't know that the old lady is determined to kill two birds with one stone. Literally. An old woman kills both Milton and her brother Edward, making it look like the men killed each other. And that’s all, the problems are solved – the museum is still her, and the thief got what he deserved. One trouble - Lieutenant Colombo took up the investigation.
So, we have one of those, in all respects, pleasant series “Colombo”, which you want to watch and review. There are many reasons for this, but I will name three main ones. First, actors. Usually, in the series about Colombo, very little time is given to secondary characters, and therefore the actors that play them, do not try very hard. This series is different. Each of the actors, no matter how small the role assigned to them, manages to successfully reveal his hero. Celestia Holmes, who played older sister Ruth - a lady from high society, who loves to play in public and pretend to be a kind of timid lady, ready to faint from the mere mention of the police. Because of this, she is not taken seriously, but it is necessary to look into her eyes only once to realize that she knows how to pretend as much as Lieutenant Colombo. Jenny Berlin, who played Ruth Little’s niece, looks unsociable and not particularly smart, but only in appearance. In fact, she is an intelligent and resourceful woman who, among other things, also has a kind heart. True, she hides this behind the cynicism and rudeness that have become her eternal companions, but it is understandable - there are too many secrets in this family. And even secondary actors, whether it is a maid of the Little family or a young and not very smart Sergeant Miller, were able to profitably present their heroes from unexpected sides.
Secondly, Lieutenant Colombo himself, who in this series will face people who will not want to answer questions, in particular, with a makeup artist, and therefore will have to compromise and ... get a haircut. Here would replace his worn cloak with an elegant tuxedo, as it was in one of the early series, and the hero of Peter Falk would look like a real count. However, he is so well and he still demonstrates ingenuity and amazing humanity. Especially closer to the end.
Third, the investigation itself. It is conducted ahead of time and it is worth Colombo to find a suitable thread, as Ruth cuts it, figuratively speaking. The elderly lady immediately throws up false evidence and tries to make the investigation go wrong. And it looks exciting, and most importantly dynamic. Even regret that the timing of the series is only seventy-five minutes. You could add fifteen minutes of screen time. I wouldn't mind.
Outcome? An interesting and in its own way even touching series that can keep the screen from the beginning to the very end. There's a bizarre mix of drama, detective and comedy. The actors adequately performed their parts, and the soundtrack pleases the ear. So I recommend this series to all those who have not seen it, and those who have seen it, why not review it?
9 out of 10