I've just seen this episode for the first time, and I think it's one of the worst Columbo movies I've ever seen - though Falk's performance is always a pleasure to see. IMHO it lies on the script. The ending is too predictable. I found it strange that Columbo didn't go and see what was at the exhibition much earlier, most of all when the murderer tells Columbo that he lost his gun and he provided a copy for the museum. Columbo usually checks out everything, he isn't so naive to believe in everything he's been told. Had he seen the gun at the museum, he would have found that the gun was original and had been used recently ... and, in fact the film would have ended much earlier! But we must wait for the coming out of the corpse to be sure that someone was actually killed - why not looking for disappeared military men among the general's entourage immediately? Why does nobody claim the sudden disappearance of Dutton? However I appreciated the actors' performance - especially that of "Helen", very good acted though her changes in attitude - according to the script - are too quick and far from believable. 6/10
Review of Dead Weight
