Having viewed "Dial M For Murder" for the first time (a Hitchcock mystery made in 1954), I just now realized that its lead character Ray Milland (Tony Wendice) would later star as Jarvis Goodland in "The Greenhouse Jungle", just as John Williams (who plays Chief Inspector Hubbard) would appear as Sir Roger Haversham in "Dagger Of The Mind".

Not the same Columbo episode mind you, but the very same season and only two episodes apart.

And after checking IMDb, I also learned that Martin Milner, whom we all know started the whole series off in "Murder By The Book", is uncredited for his role as a cop in the film, but I didn't catch that. (I'll have to watch it again and look for him).

Then to top it off, Robert Cummings (who played Grace Kelly's love interest Mark Halliday in Dial M) used a few different stage names throughout his career -- one of which was Blade "Stanhope" Conway.

Oh, and ironically, you'll recall that Jarvis Goodland's nephew's name was "Tony".

And, of course, "Dial 'M'for Murder" was the direct inspiration for Levinson and Link's "Prescription: Murder." Man plots to kill his wife in an elaborate and clever manner. The plan goes awry and wife survives. The would-be killer must think on his feet to outwit the police detective. L & L brought many variations to this premise, the obvious onebeing the creation of the seemingly simple-minded Columbo. Williams' inspector in Dial M is much more formidable.

Two other L & L scripts take inspiration from earlier mysteries. "Murder By Natural Causes" utilizes the cat-and-mouse who's-fooling-who format from "Sleuth." I find MBNC to be superior to Sleuth. It holds up better under repeated viewings. And I've discussed the similarities between "The Last of Sheila" and "Rehearsal for Murder" in that thread a few weeks ago.

Mark

very interesting! i just watched "dial M for murder" for the first time and LOVED seeing ray milland in the role--i had never really seen his earlier work. i also thought the detective seemed so familiar but wasn't able to place him! thank you for posting this!

i will have to watch it again this weekend and look for martin milner.