This Old Man, He Solves Crimes

Columbo is one of the most beloved shows and characters in the history of television. It doesn't get any more iconic than that crumpled raincoat. No violence - in fact hardly any "action" at all...just great writing, villains you love to hate, and our hero. If you're looking for an alternative to car chases, gun fights, and poorly written dialog, Columbo should be on your list.

I bring it up because Netflix recently added all those great episodes they were missing from Seasons 1-7. The newer Columbos (1989-2003) and the pilots ("Prescription: Murder" and "Ransom For a Dead Man") are missing but that still leaves you with 43 episodes you can watch "just one more time".

So here's a few tidbits to think about as you revisit this classic show...

Columbo's first name was Frank. It's never spoken, but in a few episodes there are close-ups of his Drivers License or Badge and the name is clearly visible as Frank on each occasion. His wife's name is never given.

Columbo hums the childrens tune "This Old Man" in the third season episode "An Old Port In A Storm". That  tune was then heard in one form or another in virtually every episode since.

When asked to pick his favorite NBC episodes, Peter Falk choose "Now You See Him", "Identity Crisis", "Forgotten Lady" and "Any Old Port In A Storm" for an A&E presentation called "Columbo's Favorite Columbos".

Mike Lally (not Michael "Mick" Lally, the Irish star of stage and screen) appeared in 13 different Columbo episodes as 13 different characters. In fact, in "Now You See Him" his characters name is "Mike Lally". He is uncredited in all his appearances except "A Friend In Deed". 

John Finnegan appeared in 12 episodes - one less than Mike, but he's probably more recognizable because of his recurring role as Barney the cop). Finnegan also can be seen in at least 5 episodes of "McCloud" and an episode of "McMillan & Wife" - both series that alternated with Columbo in the NBC Mystery Movie.

Bruce Kirby is in 3rd place for most Clolumbo appearances with 9 (multiple characters).

There are several actors that appeared in 6 episodes of the show, but the most notable is Shera Danese - because she was Peter Falk's real life wife (they met on the show and were married for over 30 years until Falks death in 2011). Ms. Danese guested on many other TV shows, but her only film role of any note was Vicky the prostitute in the Tom Cruise comedy Risky Business.

Patrick McGoohan (John Drake on Secret Agent) played a murderer 4 times on the show, although I fround it more satisfying when Columbo finally got the goods on Jack Cassidy's 3 snobbish rounds as the killer.

Peter Falk wrote one of the episodes - 1993's "It's All In The Game" 

First time viewers and younger fans might not know that Peter Falk has a glass eye. That fact is alluded to in a couple of episodes ("I've got my EYE on you" as he points to his one good eye. as well as "Three eyes are better than one" when he accepts help with looking for the killer).

Solving crime is all in the family - Peter Falk's real life daughter Catherine was a private investigator.

Big time Hollywood directors had their hand in a few episodes - Stephen Speilberg directed the episode "Murder By The Book", Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs) directed "Murder Under Glass" and John Cassavetes ("A Woman Under The Influence") played the murderer in "Etude in Black". It's been reported that Cassavetes also directed that episode under a psydonym, but that has never been confirmed. Cassavetes last film, "Big Trouble" starred Peter Falk and featured Columbo veteran John Finnegan as a detective.

Columbo states in the series that the car he drives is a 1950 Peugeot and that there are only 3 of them in the country. In actuality, it's a 1959 Peugeot convertible, Model 403. There were only about 500 of that model made. Peter Falk picked the car himself out of the Universal lot. The plate number for the entire NBC run of the show was 044-APD. The plate changed to 448-DBZ when the show moved to ABC.

Columbo was not known for it's music soundtrack, but there were 2 songs that fans took a liking to and wanted to know where to buy them...and they were both Hank Williams songs. Johnny Cash sings Hank's "I Saw The Light" in the "Swan Song" episode - the only version I could find was on a live album by Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins Jr (collectively known as the group The Survivors). A CD of that album is out of print, but can be currently found on Amazon from a seller asking $150. The other song is a version of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" played on the "Rest In Peace, Mrs. Columbo" episode. That song is uncredited in the show and is likely studio musicians who are copying a Cowboy Junkies version from their album The Trinity Sessions (in print - an MP3 of the song can be downloaded from Amazon for .99 cents)

For more Columbo info (LOTS more) go to the amazingly complete and wonderfully entertaining The Ultimate Columbo Site!

Let's Run It Up The Flagpole and See Who Salutes

I've been aware of the American Flag depictions in Jonathan Demme's Silence Of The Lambs since I first saw it. A huge flag drapes the car in the storage unit, there's a large flag in the killers house above his sewing table, and at the end when the window is shot out a small flag falls into frame and waves in the dust and sunlight. All these images were obviously placed there purposely and provide a subtext to the film (what that subtext is, I'll leave for smarter viewers than myself). But when someone asked me the other day exactly how many flags were depicted throughout the film, I had no idea. My guess would have been 5 or 6 - the 3 just mentioned which I remembered, plus a few I'm sure I never noticed.

A semi in-depth Google search came up empty. There were many discussions of the meaning of the symbolism (most too far-reaching for my taste), but no where could I find a complete list of flag depictions or an exact number. So I watched the movie again and the answer is...a lot.

If you just count actual American flags, there are, I believe, 10 plus several more on the uniforms of the police that are guarding Lecter in Tennessee (they each have a flag patch on the arm). There are 3 main actors where the patch is prominently shown, so 13 would be my answer for actual individual flags in the movie.

However, since the director is undoubtedly pushing the red, white and blue symbolism, there are many more instances that would go unnoticed in any other movie. I found at least 16 other images that could be considered representative of Old Glory. Here are just a few...

• When Clarice first meets Lecter, before she is taken down the hallway there is a board with 6 photos - 5 of them black and white, the sixth is a black and white portrait overlayed on red, white and blue stripes.
• The TV News graphic for the Buffalo Bill story includes wavy red, white and gray stripes.
• The body in the Tennessee gymnasium is strung-up with a red, white and blue banner (I should have remembered that one)
• When Starling searches the first murder victims room she finds a photo of her wearing a blue jacket with a red and white striped scarf
• Precious' dog bed is blue and white - not unusual, but there's red object (dog toy?) conspicuously placed in it
• When Starling is driving in Belvedere, she passes a wooded area where the trees are completely bare - except for a red, cloth object hanging on a branch in the distance (it's just as likely a flag as anything else)

At a certain point you start seeing red, white and blue symbolism everywhere (on purpose, coincidental, or just plain imagined - I don't know). There's a scene where a blue car is parked next to a red car against a white wall...and it's right across the street from a Pepsi machine (red, white and blue logo - was this originally an Orange Crush or 7-Up machine that was replaced with a color appropriate cola to drive home the theme even further?).

All told I found 29 images (actual flags plus representations) that could be legitimately argued as purposefully added to the film for a statement, plus another 7 or 8 that could be included if you're paranoid and/or insane. And all this doesn't include the Senator's daughter loudly singing Tom Petty's American Girl just before she's kidnapped.

To be honest, I don't get it. The flags are more prevalent around evil characters and evil deeds, but in the end good triumphs over evil and light shines on the flag. It doesn't really matter - I had fun watching the movie again (although it took about 3 1/2 hours with all the freeze framing) and now I have a trivia answer I didn't have before - 13 flags and 16 flag-like images.

Here the James Bond Baddies answers from the other day...

• No Hands - Dr. No
• Mute - Oddjob (Goldfinger)
• One Eye - Largo (Thunderball)
• Prosthetic Arm - Tee Hee (Live and Let Die)
• Three Nipples - Scaramanga (The Man With The Golden Gun)
• Deformed Ear - Elektra King (The World Is Not Enough)
• Face Scarred with Diamonds - Zao (Die Another Day)