Today I shall puff on an uncharacteristic cigar by way of a fond farewell to of one of TV’s greatest, most loved and iconic detectives, Peter Falk, the singular Lieutenant Columbo. Yesterday Falk hung up his signature coat, stubbed out his last cigar, kicked the car, let the dog out and kissed the wife goodbye for the last time. Speaking about the widely loved actor during a radio 4 interview William Link said Peter Falk was a ” likeable, endearing, amazing actor who played against the wealthy; a middle range working class guy who challenged them, they couldn’t get away with anything. The actor was like the character, original, forgetful, endearing with similar traits, a brilliant actor.”
At eighty-three years, the departing Falk portrayed a Holmes for our times; the self styled, anti-style icon. Courteous and sensitive, understated, underestimated and under the radar. The eternal underdog; unpolished, forgetful and apparently ill-equipped as a super-sleuth. His total multi-sensory disguise a master stroke of misleading. Columbo was the epitomy of the multi-sensory sensation: imprinting visual, auditory and olfactory recognition deeply in the collective subconscious – instantly recogniseable resulting in the creation of one of the most loved three-dimensional characters in TV history. Five key characterisation elements transfix and fix this character as deeply as the foundations of any soaring U.S. building: The coat, cigar, car, the wife and “Dog,” the dog.
Falk masterfully fashioned one of the most original detecives to grace the small screen, one who puffed on mass produced stogies: from the White Owl, New Yorker cigar to any cheap ‘smoke,’ everyday perfection for the master of the casual, the quintessential anti-snob persona personifying the disarmingly common guy, with an unmistakably eccentric, gently stalking presence. The prop was used as a master-stroke of timing, the drawn pause, a gradual dissembling of the protagonist timed to perfection. The insistent and beautifully symbolic lingering aroma by measures unsettling the questioned long after our hero has gone. It also served as a thought prop, just as Holmes’ tobacco pipe was an aide to problem solving. Fumbling to find his notebook or cigar, from one pocket to another, a further cue during his investigations that he might be a flaky push-over, incapable of homing in on the hidden clues to inexpungeable guilt. Holding us in our seats, this was the man who could seek out opportunity and motive as reliably as a pig is able to uncover hidden truffles. The coat, Spanish made Cortefiel, his own bought on 57th Street during a rainstorm and in preparation for a filming trip to England, formed a central part of his character, his armour, his disguise; a visual statement of his dishevelled and unwaivering humility. Seldom washed the coat oused “I’m no threat,” this added with the thoughtful shuffle, we have the perfect disguise of genius; the tenacity of the ‘homing’ mind beautifully undisclosed. The style initially reassuring, distracting and then in turns irritating “…one more thing,” stripping the layers of deception as effectively as a french polisher reveals the hidden quality of the wood. A further visual trick to mis-direct the senses, his faltering Peugeot 406, co-star and alter ego; classic, battered and eccentric, both the man and his plucky car. Another master-stroke in misleading, surely only a buffoon could drive such a vehicle. The fourth stroke, the basset hound “Dog,” lethargic, slow, present and unthreatening, all accents of the man. His frequent references to “my wife,” a reassuring background character who again takes away any perceived edge of danger, he appears to defer to the wife, whom he acknowledges as confidante, helping to keep him organised..the poor witless guy. All-in-all Falk created a likeable John Doe foil who used the best tricks in the book to disarm, charm, unsettle and lull his victims into a trance-like state creating a trail of subconscious self-disclosure.
“Just one more thing…”a devastatingly potent parting gesture leaving the ‘accused’ negotiating an unsettling minefield of apparently opaque evidence and triggering reactions designed to draw the clues trail straight to the cell door. RIP Peter Falk, dearly, sadly missed, whose classic series will offer ” just one more” irresistible piece of TV detective history forever. The series was created by William Link and Richard Levinson..the boxed set a must-have for all crime fiction lovers.
