Identity Crisis
Original airdate: November 2, 1975
Credits:
Writer: William Driskill
Director: Patrick McGoohan
Producer: Everett Chambers
Music: Bernando Segall Mystery Movie Theme:
Henry Mancini
Story: A U.S. intelligence operative code-named Geronimo (Leslie Nielsen) travels to Los Angeles. He sets up a meeting with Nelson Brenner (Patrick McGoohan), who is in charge of the CIA's "West Coast region." Brenner and Geronimo have worked together before in an operation in South America that turned out badly and where Geronimo was nearly killed. Geronimo was supposed to have gotten some cash on the side from the botched South American assignment. As a result, he's leery of Brenner, who seems financially well off for a spy. Nevertheless, after their gathering at a Long Beach amusement park, Geronimo follows Brenner's instructions. He is to meet with a representative of a mysterious character named Steinmetz, who is in possession of microfilm the agency wants. It is expected this will be the first in a series of meetings to haggle over the price and method of delivery.
Geronimo, whose cover is a businessman named A.J. Henderson, goes through with the meeting near the Santa Monica Pier. He encounters Lawrence Melville (Otis Young), an ex-con hired by Steinmetz to be an intermediary. After some brief negotiating, the two go their separate ways. Before Geronimo gets very far, out pops Brenner. After a moment of chit chat, Brenner surprises Geronimo, striking him once with a tire iron to knock him out and a second time to kill him.
Lt. Columbo arrives a short time later. The initial police conclusion is that the dead man was the victim of a mugger (his money and credit cards are missing). Columbo is bothered by one thing: the victim's sport coat is lying next to him. A mugger could take money without removing the coat. Columbo and his sometimes-sidekick Sgt. Kramer (Bruce Kirby), get a line on Melville. An ex-cop who's a bartender at a nearby tavern had talked briefly with "Henderson" and saw a man follow him out of the bar (he later identifies Melville through mug books at the police department).
Eventually, Columbo establishes the dead man is not A.J. Henderson (it turns out there is a real Henderson who is alive and well). Now the mystery deepens. The lieutenant, in trying to establish what the dead man did before the murder, finds out he went to an amusement park. After some nosing around, he finds a woman at a photo stand (who took pictures of incoming patrons to try and sell them photos) who has a picture of the dead man with someone else -- Brenner. So, Columbo visits Brenner, who is a rich business consultant. Their first encounter is at a speech being given by businessman Salvatore Defonte (Vito Scotti). Brenner wrote the speech and that's part of his alibi. (He claims to have dictated the speech around 11 a.m. -- the time of the killing -- and changed a clock in his office so it chimed 11 times as he recorded.)
The usual Columbo cat-and-mouse game ensues. Brenner is alternately charming ("You fascinate me," he tells the lieutenant at one point) and threatening (talking about all the powerful friends he has). The CIA director (David White) is worried enough that he personally pays a visit to Los Angeles to tell Columbo that Brenner and the dead man were both Agency operatives. The director does this relunctantly but takes the step so Columbo won't endanger any CIA operations.
What the director doesn't know is that Brenner is running a scam. There is no Steinmetz -- Brenner has fabricated him (appearing in makeup when dealing with Melville). He'll get both the money (when the CIA eventually buys the microfilm) and the glory (the credit for having obtained the microfilm). Brenner frames Melville, injuring the ex-con with a small car bomb. Police find Geronoimo's missing money and credit cards on Melville, now making him the No. 1 suspect.
But Columbo, of course, isn't satisfied and keeps digging. He breaks Brenner's alibi. The recording where Brenner dictates the speech has the sound of his office venetian blind being closed -- why would Brenner have to close a blind at 11 p.m. at night? It's more likely, Columbo says, that Brenner recorded the speech the next morning when sunlight was coming through the window (which is exactly what Brenner did). Also, the speech contains a reference to a news event (the Chinese pulling out of the Olympics) that happened seven hours after Brenner claimed to have written the speech. Finally, why would the killer remove the coat? Answer: spies often carry guns and Brenner wouldn't want the authorities to know the dead man was an operative. Brenner concedes the game to the crafty lieutenant.
Critique: McGoohan is wonderful, as both guest star and director. Clearly, McGoohan makes Brenner an extension of his Prisoner/John Drake persona. He says, "Be seeing you," as he says good-bye to people. His banter with Columbo sounds very similar to the way Number Six exchanged quips with Number Two. As director, he shoots some scenes at unusual angles (an exchange between Columbo and the photo woman are shot looking up at the pair). Falk is at his Columbo-like best. In fact, when directed by McGoohan, Falk's Columbo can be even more eccentric than normal. In an early scene, Columbo seems in his own world. The ex-cop bartender keeps wanting to tell the lieutenant about the dead man but Colubmo keeps staring at a belly dancer (the bar has a Sinbad motif).
The story is sometimes too complex for its own good. It's a bit hard to follow in places and moves slowly at times. Mark Dawidziak, author of a book on the Columbo series, suggests that the show worked best at a 90-minute length and this is a 2-hour show. I'm not sure I agree with that in all cases, but "Identity Crisis" seems like it could have easily been fitted into a 90-minute time slot. Nevertheless, the cat-and-mouse game between Columbo and Brenner is very good, their dialogue laced with all sorts of double meanings. Columbo, while visiting Brenner's plush home, notices the spy likes to play poker, backgammon and other games of chance.
"You like to gamble, sir?" Columbo asks.
"What else is there?" Brenner says.
One problem with the end: Brenner seems to give up awfully easy. It might have been a tad more realistic to show that Columbo was prepared for possible trouble. This has occurred in other episodes where it looked like Columbo was alone, only to have other officers nearby in case the killer tried anything.
A few oddities are present. When Geronimo changes clothes to meet Brenner at the amusement park, he switches from a regular suit to a more casual outfit. He's wearing a sports coat with a shirt that's open almost all the way to his navel. Well, this was the '70s after all -- a very bad clothes decade for men. Brenner is almost as bad, wearing leisure suits, though at least his shirts don't have flowered designs. Finally, the CIA director shows his business