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Classic US TV
"Just one more thing...": Rewatching Columbo
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<blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 282541" data-attributes="member: 23"><p style="text-align: center"><strong><span style="font-size: 22px">Make Me A Perfect Murder</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 15px"><img src="https://i1.wp.com/columbophile.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Perfect-opening-titles.jpg?w=719&ssl=1" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 526px" /><img src="https://i2.wp.com/columbophile.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Perfect-1-2.jpg?w=714&ssl=1" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 525px" /></span></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px">A good <em>Columbo</em> episode should be surprising. And this one ticked that box nicely. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px"></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px">On paper, the premise seems a little ordinary: spurned TV executive shoots her lover dead and hides the gun. But with this episode it’s all in the execution. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px"></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px">As Kay Freestone, Trish Van Devere make an unexpectedly watchable killer. Beneath the big hair, pretty porcelain features and purring voice (she’s like an amalgam of Molly Hagan and Kristin Chenoweth) is a calculating and steely killing machine. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px"></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px">The murder-during-the-screening reminds me very much of <em>Double Exposure</em> or <em>Forgotten Lady</em>. Yet, despite the familiar territory, <em>Perfect Murder’s</em> killing is one of my very favourites of the entire series not because of its ingenuity or creativity, but because of the way it’s filmed. Four real-time minutes where we follow Kay as she carries out her murderous mission. The tension ratchets up with every ten second reminder of how long is left. Even more tense than the killing is Kay’s urgent walk back to the projection booth where she needs to change the reel right on cue. Along the way she is held up waiting for a security guard mooching round in the lobby, pawing appreciatively - and <u>very slowly</u> - through a top shelf magazine. We feel Kay’s frustration at every obstacle, and we exhale in relief when she makes it in the nick of time. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px"></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px">This is far from the only tension in the episode. There are a number of standout scenes on this level, from Kay’s paranoid-filled drive (a scene no doubt inspired by Janet Leigh’s similar drive in <em>Psycho) </em>to her desperately trying and repeatedly failing to retrieve the gun from atop the fake ceiling of the lift, knowing Columbo is in the area. This is a contender for the most tension-filled <em>Columbo</em> episode, and all the better for it. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px"></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-size: 15px">Patrick Williams - at this point my favourite <em>Columbo</em> composer - sells these moments incredibly well as his score picks up the viewer and takes them along for the ride. James Frawley’s direction also feels nicely subjective at times. Slick Kay may be, but we also experience a lot of the fallout and fear that follows her crime in a very real way that we just don’t in most episodes. It’s very welcome. </span></span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><em><span style="font-size: 15px">continued...</span></em></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mel O'Drama, post: 282541, member: 23"] [CENTER][B][SIZE=6]Make Me A Perfect Murder[/SIZE][/B] [SIZE=4][IMG width="526px"]https://i1.wp.com/columbophile.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Perfect-opening-titles.jpg?w=719&ssl=1[/IMG][IMG width="525px"]https://i2.wp.com/columbophile.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Perfect-1-2.jpg?w=714&ssl=1[/IMG][/SIZE] [/CENTER] [COLOR=#000000][SIZE=4]A good [I]Columbo[/I] episode should be surprising. And this one ticked that box nicely. On paper, the premise seems a little ordinary: spurned TV executive shoots her lover dead and hides the gun. But with this episode it’s all in the execution. As Kay Freestone, Trish Van Devere make an unexpectedly watchable killer. Beneath the big hair, pretty porcelain features and purring voice (she’s like an amalgam of Molly Hagan and Kristin Chenoweth) is a calculating and steely killing machine. The murder-during-the-screening reminds me very much of [I]Double Exposure[/I] or [I]Forgotten Lady[/I]. Yet, despite the familiar territory, [I]Perfect Murder’s[/I] killing is one of my very favourites of the entire series not because of its ingenuity or creativity, but because of the way it’s filmed. Four real-time minutes where we follow Kay as she carries out her murderous mission. The tension ratchets up with every ten second reminder of how long is left. Even more tense than the killing is Kay’s urgent walk back to the projection booth where she needs to change the reel right on cue. Along the way she is held up waiting for a security guard mooching round in the lobby, pawing appreciatively - and [U]very slowly[/U] - through a top shelf magazine. We feel Kay’s frustration at every obstacle, and we exhale in relief when she makes it in the nick of time. This is far from the only tension in the episode. There are a number of standout scenes on this level, from Kay’s paranoid-filled drive (a scene no doubt inspired by Janet Leigh’s similar drive in [I]Psycho) [/I]to her desperately trying and repeatedly failing to retrieve the gun from atop the fake ceiling of the lift, knowing Columbo is in the area. This is a contender for the most tension-filled [I]Columbo[/I] episode, and all the better for it. Patrick Williams - at this point my favourite [I]Columbo[/I] composer - sells these moments incredibly well as his score picks up the viewer and takes them along for the ride. James Frawley’s direction also feels nicely subjective at times. Slick Kay may be, but we also experience a lot of the fallout and fear that follows her crime in a very real way that we just don’t in most episodes. It’s very welcome. [/SIZE][/COLOR] [CENTER] [COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)][I][SIZE=4]continued...[/SIZE][/I][/COLOR][/CENTER] [/QUOTE]
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Classic US TV
"Just one more thing...": Rewatching Columbo
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