The Lt. Columbo Forum

An area where fans from all over can ask each other questions and voice their own ideas and opinions on anything Columbo.

This Forum is fondly dedicated in memory of  "cassavetes45"  (Carleen Zink),
Columbo's greatest fan and a great friend to us all.
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The Most Dangerous Match....

I have been force-feeding my husband Columbo episodes for the past few days and tonight we watched The Most Dangerous Match...he has seen it before..but he loves chess, so I thought it would be a good one for him to see again.
Now first off, on the wonderful heels of YM's "Danny Green" thread, there is a undercurrent of politics and a deeper subplot here than just a murder mystery.
I have always felt that Tomlin Dudek was likened to some kind of Russian defector. Although his nationality is never exactly mentioned there are allusions to the fact that he may be very controlled by his government. He mentions the "old country" and he calls Mazoor Berozski (his coach) "our leader". When he had gone missing the first time he says that Berozski probably has called out the "police, the MILITARY, and the FBI"...the "military" remark is sort of telling. Berozski has to check in with the Embassy to give details about the state that Dudek is in. Dudek has his constant "posse" around him...Berozski, a "medical practioner", his "physical trainer and dietician" and Linda Robinson his chess match arranger...each and every one of them are very concerned and also quite strict about the constant whereabouts of Dudek....maybe they don't want him to defect??? And Berozski is in a panic that he is going to be blamed for Dudek sneaking out for the escargot and also for being injured...maybe he is thinking that the government will punish him for his lack of guarding Dudek in the proper way.
Just some thoughts, kiddies.

Oh and on a different level.........when Columbo dials the doctor (the vet) from the French restaurant he only dials 6 numbers not 7. And a rarity happens in this episode...Columbo mentions the date...October 20th. And it was so spur of the moment that Clayton made up this elaborate plot. He loses the restaurant chess game to Dudek on the night before the match and then he remembers the trash thingy in his mind and sets off on his involved plan of murder. And lastly...wasn't it just so great for Clayton that when Dudek left his room to meet him on the morning of the match, so that Clayton could give him the note and try and knock him off...that the maid just happened to be coming in to clean the room and Clayton could put the tape on the lock so the door wouldn't lock?????
Ok..I'll stop picking on this episode....because I really really love it!!!
Hope I didn't bore you guys for going on so long.....but I will tell you one thing......I finally have learned how to spell Berozski without looking it up!!!

Re: The Most Dangerous Match....

Great points Cassa. Very interesting about the possibility of Dudek defecting. I hadn't thought of that before. And what is that about the 6 numbers instead of 7...I think I missed the point there.
Good stuff Cassa

Re: Re: The Most Dangerous Match....

And how did Clayton talk on the phone to a travel agent when he had already broken his hearing aid?

Joe

Re: Re: Re: The Most Dangerous Match....

How about this one:

While sitting in the French restaurant with Emmett Clayton discussing the case, Columbo makes reference to an inconsistency about the supposed accident (I think it was about Dudek forgetting to pack his chess set) by saying that it kept him awake the previous evening. The conversation was supposed to take place on the same day as the attempted murder, meaning that it would not have yet happened when Columbo was trying to sleep on the previous evening.

Re: The Most Dangerous Match....

Paul..the thing about the 6 numbers rather than 7 is just another goof in the episode. Here in the US telephone numbers are 7 digits long.......and then if you have to dial the area code, they are 9 digits long and then sometimes you have to dial a 1 before the area code...and.....ok I'll stop!!!!
Joe very good point...but could it be that the hearing aid was just starting to go on the fritz and then later it went out completely...and he is not wearing his hearing aid when he shoves Dudek into the trasher. But another moment that is a little vague is when that reporter calls him to ask for an interview and Clayton is holding the receiver to his mouth but the other end of the phone is not attached to his hearing aid...how does he hear him?
And David excellent point about the sleeping thing..it was all the same day.

Re: Re: The Most Dangerous Match....

The first time Clayton breaks into Dudek's room he puts tape over the lock, but the second time he just unlocks the door and luckily Dudek's doctor doesn't lock it on his way out. The door/lock also look different. I never understood why he didn't just tape it again.

I also wondered how Linda Robinson went from being Clayton's girlfriend to Dudek's sidekick. I could easily see her breaking up with Clayton, but did she move to the Soviet Union and start hanging out with Dudek? How could that have really happened? Maybe she wanted revenge for some reason, but that seems a little extreme!

Re: The Most Dangerous Match....

That's right E...and if you remember when the guy is in the room packing up the stuff he leaves the door ajar...and Clayton can easily slip his hand in and undo the lock...why didn't the guy lock the door on his way out? And as you pointed out, why didn't Clayton use the tape again?
That was a great point you made about Linda Robinson. Clayton was an American so she would have been with him in the states. I think maybe your revenge idea was pretty good!

Re: The Most Dangerous Match....


Oh Dear!!! The above post was from me...not cassavetes 34!!! Since we had a power outage about a week or so ago I have to type my name in every time I make a post....
So I wasn't trying to impersonate myself...I just mistyped!!!