Jack Cassidy mort trop jeune à 49 ans joue admirablement dans ce Columbo. Il jouait déjà dans le premier Columbo, apres les episodes pilotes, réalisé par Steven Spielberg "le livre temoin". De la fiction a la réalité, le grand Santini (Jack Cassidy) joue un ancien nazi criminel de guerre. Le sergent Stefan Müller . Jerome,le patron du cabaret où se produit Santini, fait du chantage, il le menace de le denoncer au israeliens s'il ne paye pas une certaine somme d'argent,45000 dollars au lieu des 5000 dollars qui représentent 5 pour cent du montant touché par Santini .Or Nehemiah Persoff qui joue le rôle de Jérôme est né dans la Jerusalem mandataire avant d'émigrer aux Etats Unis. ''Persoff was born in Jerusalem in what became Mandatory Palestine, on August 2, 1919, to Puah (née Holman, 1887–1963) and Shmuel Persoff (1885–1961). His father, who was a silversmith, jeweler, and art teacher, decided that there were better prospects in the United States and initially emigrated on his own. It was another six years before he was financially secure and was able in 1929 to bring over his wife, three sons, Boaz, Avraham, and Nehemiah, and two daughters, Tamar and Geula (Julia).At first the family lived in an apartment in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, before eventually moving to the Bronx. His parents later returned to Israel. Persoff attended the Hebrew Technical Institute, graduating in 1937.''