"Colombo": How the successful detective series was shot, breaking all the laws of the genre

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

At first glance, the success of "Colombo" is difficult to explain: neither a dynamic plot, nor a handsome investigator, nor even the usual question "Who killed?" Perhaps the reason is that things are not so simple, and the series carries a much deeper meaning than most of its competitors. Perhaps, in his genre, he is to a certain extent a monopolist.

Inverted detective

First of all, “Colombo” keeps its fans with an atmosphere which is the best suited for a quiet home evening. No mobile devices, no computers - watching the lieutenant's investigation takes the viewer into a bygone era, where you can see rotary telephones, old-fashioned dresses and cars - this is a retro world, the observation of which is captivating even now. The series was filmed in the full sense of the word in muted tones, it is low-dynamic, without scenes with cruelty and violence, without overly explicit episodes.

The main idea of the series lying on the surface is that it is "inverted", that is, the viewer learns about who and how committed the murder, not at the end of the episode, but at the very beginning. The main intrigue is the investigation itself, which is being led by Lieutenant Columbo of the Los Angeles Police Force, a rather ordinary at first glance investigator, not distinguished by any charisma, or courage, or even some kind of bright sense of humor. And the plot itself unfolds unhurriedly, without drama, scenes of violence - in addition to the crime itself committed at the beginning. The viewer observes an intellectual duel between Colombo and a criminal who, from the very beginning of the investigation, is in the field of view of the lieutenant - either by coincidence, or thanks to the intuition of a policeman.

A conversation about a crime does not even resemble an interrogation - especially since Lieutenant Columbo is constantly distracted by seemingly extraneous topics, talking between cases about himself and his family, maintaining the image of a simpleton chatterbox, which often forces the criminal to be too frank. Typically, the villainous murderer is high society, rich, successful and famous, and he looks down on a detective in a cheap suit and crumpled cloak, dismissively. Therefore, the discovery of the truth becomes a surprise for the criminal - the lieutenant turns out to be not as slow-witted as he seemed throughout the episode, and becomes the winner in the battle, although in fact he simply does his job.

Detective in a crumpled raincoat

In fact, the rank of police lieutenant presupposes a rather high professional level of a detective - and it is no coincidence that Colombo goes to investigate high-profile cases in high society. The idiot image serves as a good help in order to win over the interlocutor-suspect, as well as politeness, courtesy, willingness to agree with the proposed version of what is happening. Columbo asks a lot, and at first glance easily accepts answers, calming the vigilance of the criminal, who begins to look down on the lieutenant - and therefore underestimate.

Because the funny man in the crumpled cloak is actually a very observant and stubborn, brilliant expert in human psychology. Thanks to the series, the "Colombo method" appeared, which implies constant clarifications, additional questions - it is used by criminologists, psychologists, and specialists in various fields of business. And the detective himself achieves brilliant results, gradually luring the criminal into a trap and exposing him.

Lieutenant Columbo smokes cigars - the cheapest, drives an old and ever-breaking Peugeot convertible, constantly mentions in conversation his wife - whom the viewer will never see. During investigations, the detective often whistles the melody of the children's song "This Old Man", which is considered an unofficial soundtrack for the series. And his trademark "yes, there is something else" - constant returns with an additional question - in general, perhaps the most important feature of the detective, for which he is strongly disliked by the suspects in the crime. In some episodes, Colombo is accompanied by his dog, lazy and sedentary, perfectly fitting into the atmosphere of a leisurely investigation.

The pilot series "Colombo" - "Recipe for Murder" - was released in 1968. Despite the fact that the project turned out to be successful, the first season was filmed only three years later, then "Colombo" was released until 2003 with a break in 1978 - 1989. At the beginning of the project, a young Steven Spielberg became the director of one of the episodes, and “Colombo” gave other future movie stars a start in life. In this series, the first appearance on the screen of Jeff Goldblum, not even mentioned in the credits, took place, here the young Jamie Lee Curtis also played a small role.

In the series "Columbo" so-called "serial killers" were also noticed - when the role of the criminal was played by the same actor several times. Patrick McGohan has the most appearances - four -, Robert Culp and Jack Cassidy starred in the roles of the killer three times.

By 2003, when the last episodes of Colombo were filmed and released, the aging detective was still a lieutenant. This is not surprising, because if anyone can be recognized as "a person in his place", then it is Colombo, with his meticulousness, attention to detail, ability to talk everyone involved in the investigation. And the lieutenant himself, as he confessed to another suspect, really liked his work, as he liked the people with whom she confronted him. And it is also easy for the viewer to believe in this, as well as in the fact that the performer of the main role, most likely, received the same pleasure from the work.

Peter Falk - one eye and many achievements

Columbo, in his investigation, seems to be playing a chess game - move after move, leisurely, pondering his steps and the steps of his opponent. The chess player was also the performer of the role of the lieutenant - Peter Falk. However, he had quite a lot of talents. He came from a simple family in which branches of different nationalities intertwined - there were also Russian roots, but nothing Italian was noticed in the genes of the future actor. He was born in 1927. At the age of three, Peter lost his right eye, which was removed due to retinoblastoma, and wore a glass prosthesis all his life. This, however, did not stop Falk from getting an education in college, and then at the university, to play baseball and basketball.

In general, it seems that the nuances with the eyes had little effect on Falk's achievement of the goals that he set for himself in life. Take at least one of the actor's serious hobbies - drawing - which he was fond of throughout his life.

True, when Peter tried to enlist in the US Armed Forces, he was refused, but he was nevertheless taken as a cook on the ship. After service, Falk worked in public administration, but his love for theater and cinema still won. Since 1957, he has already appeared on television. In fairness, in at least one case, Falk's peculiarity served as some obstacle to career growth: during one of the screen tests, he was refused, which was motivated by the fact that “for the same money you can get an actor with two eyes. "For a long time, viewers wondered if Falk's hero, Lieutenant Colombo, had the same feature? The answer came from one of the episodes where the lieutenant asks for the attention of the interlocutor with the words "look at you too: three eyes are better than one."

The actor approached the work on the filming of "Colombo" extremely seriously, carefully rehearsing the role and achieving "the highest quality work." Therefore, he approached the text of the script very demandingly. One of the episodes - "Assassination Plan" - was directed by Falk himself. For his performance as Columbo, he was awarded an Emmy and a Globe. In 2006, the actor released an autobiography entitled Something More: Stories from My Life.

Peter Falk was married twice, in his first marriage with Alice Mayo had two adopted daughters, one of them later became a private detective. The second time he married actress Shira Deiniz, who later starred in several episodes of Colombo. Since 2008, information has appeared that Falk suffers from Alzheimer's disease. At the time of his death in 2011, he had no recollection of his children or his role in Colombo. The actor died of pneumonia, complicated by his illness.

"Colombo", which at first glance has no advantages over other detective series, nevertheless proved its relevance and success with viewers - by the period of its existence, popularity up to the present time - in the era of the Internet, borrowing quotes from episodes of the series for everyday use. And one more thing - about another famous detective: how Sherlock Holmes broke out of books into real life