I apologize now, this may be long.

Murder Under Glass is one of my favorite episodes but there's always been something about it that doesn't feel right, almost like a scene is missing.

We know that Columbo usually suspects the killer the first time he meets him or her and he never lets on that he suspects them.
More times than not, the killer never suspects that he's a suspect until the third or fourth time that they have the pleasure of Columbo's company.

In Murder Under Glass, when Paul Gerard leaves Vittorio's after first meeting Columbo, there is nothing there for him to suspect that Columbo suspects him.

The second meeting, Columbo meets him at a restaraunt and then they go shopping for Columbo's dinner that he has forgotten to pick up. I still don't see anything that would tip off Gerard that Columbo suspects him.

The third meeting, Columbo shows up at Gerard's home and sits down with him and his guest. The Japanese guest asks Columbo if he has any hot suspects, and Columbo says he has his eyes on one and turns and looks at Gerard and gives him a knowing little smile. Gerard just sits there and gives the same type of smile back with an air about him that indicates that he has known that he is Columbo's prime suspect and isn't one bit surprised that Columbo just indicated it was him.

This has always made me feel like there is a scene missing between the second and third meetings where Columbo tipped his hand and gave Gerard an indication that he was the suspect or where, like most every other suspect, Columbo found a clue that the murderer forgot to get rid of and the murderer realized his mistake.

I'm just wondering how everybody feels about this or what your thoughts about it are.

I have seen more than one occasion of this. I often wonder if sometimes scenes are cut to help the 'flow' or keep the running time correct. Also remember that no-one had video players in the early 70's, so there would be less of a chance to scrutinise the episodes like we can now.

Ian

You're probably right. I know of one scene that was absolutely cut, at least from the dvd release, so there are bound to be more.

Which one is it? Tell us more about it, please! So we don't see everything that we are supposed to on the DVD's?

The scene I'm talking about that I know was deleted is in Publish or Perish. If you watch it on the dvd release, before the episode starts, it shows some preview clips of the episode. One of those clips shows Eddie Kane talking to Riley Greenleaf when they meet the junkyard at the beginning of the episode. Eddie says to Rile "I'll be the authority behind every bombing in the world." But, in the episode, we never see Eddie say this.

I haven't seen the episode for awhile, but I might remember that line occurring at Eddie Kane's apartment before Riley is about to murder him. Maybe they dubbed the line over shots of Eddie and Riley in the junkyard to give the preview more "excitement"...to possibly make the audience wonder if the bombings are going to play a bigger role in the episode than they actually do?

That would be a possibility, but I'm sitting here watching it on my iPod and it shows Eddie's face while he says it and you can clearly tell it's in the junkyard by the junk in the background.

Things like this do happen. On the official CD of the music from 'Bill and Ted's Bogus Adventure' you can hear script from the film that was not actually shown in the cinema release. Sometimes the editors and producers are not as careful as we think I feel.

Ian

I'm going to keep holding out hope that when all the seasons have been released here in the US, that we'll get a deluxe box sets with some behind the scenes stuff and deleted scenes.

One scene that comes to mind is, I believe, the one you mentioned about the two of them shopping for vegetables in the outdoor market. If this is the same one, I would say that, as Columbo talks about his hypothosis of the victim drinking the (poisoned) wine by mistake, and Paul says in effect, yes, that's a good idea, and then Columbo says, more or less, it is? Then explain it to me! THEN, my point is, I believe Paul had an inkling that Columbo had cleverly trapped him, and I think at least by then Paul knew the jig was up.

as a side note i'll just say that columbo suspected paul gerard from their very first meeting. columbo tells him in the final scene why he suspected him from the very beginning.
he tells gerard that he found it quite odd that gerard came directly to the restaurant instead of seeking some type of medical attention. afterall, vittorio rossi had died from being poisoned at a meal that gerard had (half) shared with him, yet he did not go to a hospital to check if he had been poisoned as well.
there is a possibilty that gerard sensed this suspecting nature by columbo, especially because he kept popping up wherever gerard was.

Columbo absolutely lets Paul Gerard know he is suspicious right from the begining. When they are leaving the restaurant on the night of the murder, Columbo says out of the blue...."I'm not gonna let you get away with it".

The context was I'm not gonna let you get away without giving me the recipe, but that statement didn't really fit the situation and anyone who has just committed murder is going to feel very uncomfortable with the lead detective saying out of the blue...."I'm not gonna let you get away with it".

Columbo always make the killer feel uncomfortable with these kind of remarks.

excellent catch.

You guys brought up some very interetsting points and I can see how each and every one could start to trickle into to the back of Gerard's mind.

Thanks for the input everybody.