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Reviews
Prescription: Murder (1968)
Solid introduction to Falk's detective character.
Considering that the true pilot of Columbo (IMDB considers this a made for TV movie) aired 3 years later, and it took a few seasons for the series to gain traction, Falk's later character is 80% defined in this first appearance. Sure, the car, dog and trench coat came later, but most of his mannerisms show up in this movie.
All here: "One more thing." The cigar. Columbo's perseverance and attention to detail. The 'acting dumb'. He even mentions his wife! And of course the murder is shown up front, with the rest of the movie having him try to solve the crime by pestering his prime suspect.
My favorite scene has Columbo asking the suspect psychiatrist if he could become a patient. Columbo felt he himself had an overly-suspicious nature. Over drinks they play mental games, and it's an enjoyable and defining moment in the film. Gene Barry is solid as the antagonist, and the story is well written.
I give it a 9 instead of 10 mostly because the series had stories a notch above this first attempt.
Il pianeta degli uomini spenti (1961)
Claude Rains is fun to watch
I found this movie in one of those Mill Creek 50-packs. It's a low-budget sci-fi film that works better with ideas than special effects. As a MST3K fan I found myself riffing some scenes out of habit. But as flawed as it is, trashing it outright misses the better points.
I don't know what movie Claude Rains thought he was in, because he truly brings his A-game as a curmudgeon. He's the professor (often in a hammock) who the futuristic government doesn't believe. Stuck in his belief of scientific fact, he is not taken seriously.
Does Rains chew the scenery? Yep, but it's fun and funny. I felt he probably enjoyed this character. He gives Prof. Benson mannerisms and tics that a lesser actor would not have bothered with. So he is 2 of my 5 points, because is so fun to watch.
Homicide: Life on the Street: Black and Blue (1994)
Andre and Yaphet shine
These earliest episodes tend to be strongest when Pembleton works his mind-freak on suspects - see Three Men and Adena. In this episode the highlight is Pembleton's unrelenting breakdown of a suspect during eight minutes or so. I had to rewind and watch it again. He makes a cocky young black cigarette-smoking street punk break down by punching through the suspect's mental layers. He starts by wielding the race card ironically as a weapon, commanding Bayliss to leave and calling the suspect 'boy' repeatedly. Of course, it's not all about race, but what a great twist.
G's (Yaphet's) reaction to this interrogation is the other joy to watch. In a show full of solid characters, Giardello is perhaps my favorite. Maybe because he doesn't yell, but is blunt. Maybe because nothing gets by him. Maybe because he truly appears to have a better understanding of the bigger picture than the rest of the detectives.
Superior episode for these two actors/characters.