Now You See Him
- Episode aired Feb 29, 1976
- TV-PG
- 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
2.9K
YOUR RATING
A stage illusionist kills his employer and makes it look like a contract killing; it's up to Lt. Columbo to trick the master trickster.A stage illusionist kills his employer and makes it look like a contract killing; it's up to Lt. Columbo to trick the master trickster.A stage illusionist kills his employer and makes it look like a contract killing; it's up to Lt. Columbo to trick the master trickster.
Benjie Bancroft
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
John Blower
- Magician's Assistant
- (uncredited)
Donald Chaffin
- Club Patron
- (uncredited)
Robert Cole
- Chef
- (uncredited)
Dorothy Dells
- Secretary
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe boarding house interview scene with Mike Lally was filmed several months after principal photography was completed on the episode. The writers hadn't completed, or could not agree on, the plot twist featuring Lally as a damning witness who could help to reveal Santini's true identity. Peter Falk himself wrote and directed the scene. Lally had appeared in 20 previous episodes of Columbo in minor roles or as an extra, making him the second-most cast actor of the show behind Falk. Lally's son said the scene, which uses Lally's real name for his character, was Falk's gift to the elderly Mike Lally for his otherwise nameless contributions to the series.
- GoofsDetective Sergeant John J. Wilson is identified by name not only by Columbo but by himself, and both characters mention having worked together earlier. They did work together before in The Greenhouse Jungle (1972), but Detective Wilson's name (played by Bob Dishy) in that episode is Frederic, not John J.
- Quotes
Santini: And I thought I'd performed the perfect murder!
Lt. Columbo: Perfect murder, sir? Oh, I'm sorry. There is no such thing as a perfect murder. That's just an illusion.
- Alternate versionsThe original German version from the 1970s was censored due to the Nazi topic. The dubbing changed Jack Cassidy's character Santini from the ex-Nazi Stefan Mueller to a wanted British bank robber named Stanley Matthews. Also this Columbo episode was slightly cut in places where the dubbing changes would have become obvious (i.e. the last few seconds of the scene where the name "Stefan Mueller" can be read on Jerome's letter). In the 1990s the German TV network "RTL Television" had the uncut version of this episode re-dubbed, now sticking to the original plot and preserving the Nazi-topic.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Late Night with Seth Meyers: Sarah Silverman/Nico Hiraga (2021)
- SoundtracksCharade
Music by Henry Mancini
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Sung by cabaret singer and incorporated into the background score
Featured review
Columbo tricks a master illusionist in this splendid episode, with all the artful plotting, delightful comedy and tense cat-and-mouse play fans love
The Great Santini (Jack Cassidy) is a brilliant stage magician with a hidden past. His real name is Stefan Mueller and he was an SS officer assigned to the concentration camps. Jesse Jerome (Nehemiah Persoff), his current employer, has learned of the illusionist's Nazi career and is using the information to blackmail him. One night, while ostensibly performing his celebrated trick of being locked in a steel cabinet and dowsed in a tank of water, Santini is really disguising himself as a waiter and walking unseen to Jerome's office. When Jerome turns up dead, it looks like a contract killing. But our rumpled, redoubtable Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk), assisted by the overeager Sgt. Wilson (Bob Dishy), has a few tricks of his own.
If Columbo can outmaneuver a chess champion ("The Most Dangerous Match"), out-think a scientific genius ("Mind Over Mayhem") and outwit a master spy ("Identity Crisis"), what made a master illusionist think he could do any better?
This is a splendid "Columbo" episode, with all the tricky plotting, delightful comedy and tense cat-and-mouse play that fans love. Did I mention the comedy? In the weak "Greenhouse Jungle," Bob Dishy is clearly a good actor playing a tedious character. Here he returns as Sgt. Wilson but the script by Michael Sloan is much better. Wilson's comic business, this time involving Columbo's new raincoat, is much better integrated into the plot than in "Greenhouse"—and it's much funnier.
Harvey Hart does a very nice directing job. Somebody in his crew had an excellent eye for detail. I especially like how a little water trickles out of the trap door after Santini's daughter (Cynthia Sikes) opens it.
The ending is ordinary, without one of those great thunderclap surprises, as in "A Stitch in Crime" and "Suitable for Framing." I love the final scene anyway, with Columbo's funny yet unnerving imitation of a magician's stage technique. This "Columbo" will work like magic on any fan.
If Columbo can outmaneuver a chess champion ("The Most Dangerous Match"), out-think a scientific genius ("Mind Over Mayhem") and outwit a master spy ("Identity Crisis"), what made a master illusionist think he could do any better?
This is a splendid "Columbo" episode, with all the tricky plotting, delightful comedy and tense cat-and-mouse play that fans love. Did I mention the comedy? In the weak "Greenhouse Jungle," Bob Dishy is clearly a good actor playing a tedious character. Here he returns as Sgt. Wilson but the script by Michael Sloan is much better. Wilson's comic business, this time involving Columbo's new raincoat, is much better integrated into the plot than in "Greenhouse"—and it's much funnier.
Harvey Hart does a very nice directing job. Somebody in his crew had an excellent eye for detail. I especially like how a little water trickles out of the trap door after Santini's daughter (Cynthia Sikes) opens it.
The ending is ordinary, without one of those great thunderclap surprises, as in "A Stitch in Crime" and "Suitable for Framing." I love the final scene anyway, with Columbo's funny yet unnerving imitation of a magician's stage technique. This "Columbo" will work like magic on any fan.
helpful•360
- J. Spurlin
- Feb 6, 2007
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Wenn der Schein trügt
- Filming locations
- The Magic Castle - 7000 Franklin Av Los Angelès, California, USA(Stage and other interiors)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 38 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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