Now for something completely different
Feb. 1st, 2014 11:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lliiraI have decided to start semi-reviewing some things I like as well as things I dislike. To start: Columbo! I shall start with the first two TV movies.
Prescription: Murder: The first "episode" of the series is actually separate from the rest. It aired in 1968, three years before the second installment. Peter Falk looks significantly younger than he did just three years later; I assume they felt he should look a bit older to pull off the persona. Falk is also significantly more stylish than he would be later. I personally prefer him like this; I think the schtick was overdone eventually.
The movie is a must-see. It establishes the theme of Columbo in a way that no other episode addresses directly, but that is threaded throughout the entire series. Namely: the murderer is very smart and full of himself, with special skills that Columbo does not have, and therefore thinks he can get away with murder. But Columbo notes that a murderer is an amateur, but the police are professionals. "We do this a hundred times a year." It's a great start to the series, and if you like it, you'll probably enjoy many other episodes as well.
Script: Excellent. This is the first one. It was originally a play, which I think makes it even better.
Direction: Good. I don't know much about direction, so I just notice if it's either really bad or really good, and I didn't notice too much in this one. The last shot is very effective, though.
Acting: Excellent. We get to watch Peter Falk get a handle on the character, and he's spot-on from the beginning. Gene Benson, who plays the murderer, can hold his own with Falk in every scene, and his performance is appropriately subtle. Katherine Justice as the murderer's girlfriend isn't quite as good as Falk and Benson, but that's an unfair comparison because they are so good; she more than does her job.
Watch or not: Definitely watch.
Ransom for a Dead Man: Sigh. This one aired in 1971. It stars Lee Grant as the murderer of her husband. She's great. However, there's a problem at the center of the episode, and its name is Patricia Mattick. She plays the murderer's stepdaughter, and she is absolutely unbearable, both as written and as acted. She's one of those 70s teen girls written as alternately precocious and rude, but never human. Shortly after her introduction, I was wishing she'd been the victim.
Script: Bad. Could have been quite good, but ruined by the general ickiness around the stepdaughter.
Direction: Bad. The stepdaughter's performance is at least partly the director's fault. He also does some silly camera tricks. The episode was directed by Richard Irving, who also directed "Prescription: Murder", so it's surprising it's so obnoxious.
Acting: Lee Grant and Peter Falk are good when onscreen with anyone but the stepdaughter. When the stepdaughter's there, she takes over scenes, apparently in order to embarrass the audience, and that rubs off on the rest of the cast.
Watch or not: I saw it once and wish I hadn't. Don't watch.
Prescription: Murder: The first "episode" of the series is actually separate from the rest. It aired in 1968, three years before the second installment. Peter Falk looks significantly younger than he did just three years later; I assume they felt he should look a bit older to pull off the persona. Falk is also significantly more stylish than he would be later. I personally prefer him like this; I think the schtick was overdone eventually.
The movie is a must-see. It establishes the theme of Columbo in a way that no other episode addresses directly, but that is threaded throughout the entire series. Namely: the murderer is very smart and full of himself, with special skills that Columbo does not have, and therefore thinks he can get away with murder. But Columbo notes that a murderer is an amateur, but the police are professionals. "We do this a hundred times a year." It's a great start to the series, and if you like it, you'll probably enjoy many other episodes as well.
Script: Excellent. This is the first one. It was originally a play, which I think makes it even better.
Direction: Good. I don't know much about direction, so I just notice if it's either really bad or really good, and I didn't notice too much in this one. The last shot is very effective, though.
Acting: Excellent. We get to watch Peter Falk get a handle on the character, and he's spot-on from the beginning. Gene Benson, who plays the murderer, can hold his own with Falk in every scene, and his performance is appropriately subtle. Katherine Justice as the murderer's girlfriend isn't quite as good as Falk and Benson, but that's an unfair comparison because they are so good; she more than does her job.
Watch or not: Definitely watch.
Ransom for a Dead Man: Sigh. This one aired in 1971. It stars Lee Grant as the murderer of her husband. She's great. However, there's a problem at the center of the episode, and its name is Patricia Mattick. She plays the murderer's stepdaughter, and she is absolutely unbearable, both as written and as acted. She's one of those 70s teen girls written as alternately precocious and rude, but never human. Shortly after her introduction, I was wishing she'd been the victim.
Script: Bad. Could have been quite good, but ruined by the general ickiness around the stepdaughter.
Direction: Bad. The stepdaughter's performance is at least partly the director's fault. He also does some silly camera tricks. The episode was directed by Richard Irving, who also directed "Prescription: Murder", so it's surprising it's so obnoxious.
Acting: Lee Grant and Peter Falk are good when onscreen with anyone but the stepdaughter. When the stepdaughter's there, she takes over scenes, apparently in order to embarrass the audience, and that rubs off on the rest of the cast.
Watch or not: I saw it once and wish I hadn't. Don't watch.
