The Illness of Peter Falk

[will.15]

My all time favorite was the one with Anne Baxter doing a kind of reprise of Eve Harrington twenty years later and a rarity for the series, a doozy of a twist ending. The rapport between Baxter and Falk is perfect and Falk has some of his funniest moments in the series. The scene where Columbo finally figures out the last piece of the puzzle by watching an old movie is something to behold.

[Ray]

My all time favorite was the one with Anne Baxter doing a kind of reprise of Eve Harrington twenty years later and a rarity for the series, a doozy of a twist ending. The rapport between Baxter and Falk is perfect and Falk has some of his funniest moments in the series. The scene where Columbo finally figures out the last piece of the puzzle by watching an old movie is something to behold.

I agree will, it is my all time favourite too, and Anne was stunning in her best ever TV role. It has the added novelty of the legendary dress designer Edith Head, playing herself.

[Moor Larkin]

The old Fox...............

[Rowdon]

One of those Hollywood 'roasts', yet laugh-out-loud funny. An amazing array of guests are entertained by a master.

[Moor Larkin]

He came in every night and we never even knew his name

No name, not even a number. That makes him a perfect Square.....

[will.15]

[RichardKimble]

The stage play Prescription: Murder (1962) with Thomas Mitchell was expanded from an episode called 'Enough Rope' (1961) from the TV series The Chevy Mystery Show ..... Columbo was played by Bert Freed in the TV episode making him the first actor to play the part. I wonder if it still exists.

"Enough Rope" is in the archives of the Paley Center for Media in both New York City and Los Angeles. Richard Carlson plays the homicidal shrink (the Gene Barry role).

It was originally offered to Lee J Cobb but he was unavailable. Crosby was offered the role next but turned it down. Falk was third choice.

According to Falk himself, he was something like the tenth choice. But everybody it was offered to turned it down. Levinson and Link initially opposed the casting of Falk -- they felt he was too young. But Falk actively campaigned for the part and when no one else wouyld take it... You know the rest.

L&L had conceived the Columbo character as an older, avuncular sort of benign curmudgeon. Link has said in several interviews that despite Falk's huge success in the role, Thomas Mitchell was the closest to their original conception of the character.

[RichardKimble]

My all-time favorite Columbo moment is the "gotcha" in the very last shot of "Suitable For Framing", with Ross Martin as a murderous art collector:

Warning - SPOILER
http://tinyurl.com/4m2wd3s

[batman]

"Enough Rope" is in the archives of the Paley Center for Media in both New York City and Los Angeles. Richard Carlson plays the homicidal shrink (the Gene Barry role).

Thanks for that info. Be nice to see it surface sometime.

[will.15]

If Thomas Mitchell was the ideal for Columbo, get a load of Charles Coburn in Impact, a crafty older detective polite to a fault to his wealthy female suspect using trickery instead of threats to get her to expose herself. He is not the focus of the story and doesn't quite get it right at first, but he gets there and figures out the final clue that puts her away for good, just like Columbo. And we know from the start what actually happenened like a Columbo story.