Columbo: "Death Lends A Hand"

This week I took a taste of a show I haven't seen in years, but one of those I grew up with.  "Columbo" was around for such a long time it may have earned a place in the national DNA, that continuum of shared, familiar reference points a majority of us, particularly of a certain age, have in common.

Peter Falk never played anyone but himself, really, but he did that with more talent than most, and his charisma made it work for decades, for the space of a generation.  We loved him - the tenaciousness of his character and persona, the low-key way he always managed.  His turn in "The Princess Bride" was perfect mainly because Grandpa was *him* - because Peter Falk is and was what he was, radiating out of that film.

He also had one of the great heads of hair in Hollywood.

Honestly, the guy was attractive.  Sure, I cut my teeth on Randy Mantooth (har), and actually have dated his avatar serially (X is by far the taller - but the mobile eyebrows, the downturned sides of the mouth, and the coloring are definitely there; and there is that one dear ex boyfriend we actually *called* The "Emergency!" Guy).  But Peter's insinuating way works for him.  Yeah, and that coloring and the head of hair.  Heh.

***


"Death Lends a Hand" opens with a few scenes of remarkable cinematic quality for a 1968 teleplay.  Robert Culp, of all people, takes us through some tense and pretty believable moments - playing his *own* usual character - even including a group-talk/hallway-walk scene (Aaron Sorkin did NOT invent those!), and of course culminating in his murdering a particularly attractive specimen of the Sexy Seventies Spouse.  Here begynneth our story.

The realism of the opener settles down significantly of course, but not to abandon a decorator's dream series of mid-century locations.  These include The Bachelor's Mod Pad with astoundingly deep-pile olive green rug, the hip Red Carpeting and Mahogany Study in a mansion, and a few deco-porn shots of a super-mod office building and outdoor landscaping with pea-green cradle telephone.  Ooh, the technology!

Nothing in the murder itself nor Falk's progression is surprising, but the ride is always enjoyable.  There is a freshness in this very early show (the first in the series available on Netfix streaming), and a certain amount of fun in "knowing what you know" and looking back at the first days.  The script and production seem confident - and Falk, in his wonderful pose of affable self-effacement, seems as robustly realized from the start as they were throughout the many years we knew the character.

I'm looking forward to further outings, though these initial appearances at least seem to be clocking in at near feature-length runtimes (1:15).  Definitely a recommended addition to the streaming queue.