New posts

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 282883" data-attributes="member: 23">Columbo Goes To The Guillotine continued I have mixed feelings about Columbo’s introduction. I liked the atmosphere of the night scene and the first glimpse of him being from the flash of his lighter as he got another cigar going (his cigars are now brown instead of green, I noticed). But there was also a sense of artifice to the scene. For a start, it was obviously on a backlot set, and so lacked the documentary realistic air of so many previous episodes. Then there was the music. It feels like John Cacavas had been instructed to come up with a theme for the character. It’s decent enough, but it also feels a little derivative, reminiscent of Poirot with a hint of Tales Of The Unexpected. It also feels a little playful, which isn’t unusual for this series (thinking about some of the fun end title themes we’ve seen), but apart from playing against the mood of the scene, it also felt more like a stock TV character motif rather than a score written for a unique feature-length TV film. I wouldn’t be surprised if it keeps showing up from now on, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. There’s also the fact that Columbo was the first officer on the scene. He’s traditionally arrived only after Crime Scene Investigators or whatever have done their bit. Has his role changed over the years, I wonder. Or is the writing a little sloppy? For me, the greatest Columbo introductions come when we first meet him through the eyes of the killer as he enters their world. For this reason, I could have done without seeing him discovering the body and would have preferred his first dialogue to be speaking to the plant as Elliot Blake wanders up to him.There’s little to say about Peter Falk’s performance at this stage. The subtle idiosyncrasies that I admired so much in early episodes have now been dialled up into caricature. He’s still a joy to watch, but more in a “national treasure” kind of way, rather than genuine admiration for a terrific performance.The cinematography and general look feels very much in tune with my association of the late Eighties/early Nineties era. It’s slick, shadowy and tasteful, but also feels grey, colourless and a little flat. continued...</blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?