Just One More Thing

Peter Falk has died.  He'd been sick for a while.  I read his autobiography a few years back (which came out just before he descended into dementia, apparently).  He sounded like a bit of a noodnik, actually, but it was because he cared so much--he fought over every part, going as far as rewriting hs lines when he wasn't happy.  And he was special enough that producers and directors were willing, even happy, to put up with his demanding style.

He was a fine all-around actor, but will be forever remembered as the slovenly but brilliant Lieutenant Columbo.  I was never much into police procedurals, but I made an exception for Columbo.  The show defied formula.  There was no whodunnit--each episode would start by showing the crime in great detail, usually committed by a name guest star.  The question was how would the Lieutenant figure it out.  Columbo would casually enter the story while the villain was confident he was safe, since he'd committed the perfect crime, and Columbo seemed like a nitwit. But Columbo would never quite leave, always one more question to ask.  The noose would slowly tighen and suddenly the suspect was caught in Columbo's web.

Such a memorable role might have left most actors hopelessly typecast, but Falk created many other memorable characters.  Even before Columbo, he did great work on stage and film.  It's said his performance in The Passion Of Josef D as Stalin was so charismatic that many found him sympathetic.  Once Falk became a TV fixture, he returned to Broadway to star in Neil Simon's The Prisoner Of Second Avenue.  He had to learn to project again, but once he got that down, he and Lee Grant as two beleaguered New Yorkers had a hit.

In movies, he had it down right away. In two of his earliest films, Murder Inc. and Pocketful Of Miracles, he was nominated for an Oscar. Both roles were as gangsters, though one was serious and the other comic.

He often played comedy in his 60s films, but in the 70s got to show tremendous complexity in a realistic style, working with John Cassavetes in Husbands, A Woman Under The Influence and Mikey And Nicky (which is an Elaine May film, and probably my favorite "serious" Falk performance).

Not that he stopped doing comedy, with memorable turns in Murder By Death, The Cheap Detective and, above all, The In-Laws.  He plays a "businessman" who actually works for the CIA.  He and Alan Arkin's children are about to get married, and the two men get stuck together in international intrigue.  Arkin is an excitable dentist, while Falk plays the voice of reason, except it's very possible he's an insane, rogue agent.   No matter how bizarre or hopeless the situation, Falk remains calm while Arkin falls to pieces.  Director Arthur Hiller once told me of all the films he made--Love Story, The Hospital--more people talk about The In-Laws than any other.

Falk continued working until a few years ago, making films and returning as Columbo every so often.  I think his most intriguing role in the past 30 years was as himself--or someone named Peter Falk, anyway--in Wim Wenders' Wings Of Desire.  The story is about an angel in Berlin who decides to become human.  Falk, playing himself (he's recognized on the streets as Columbo) explains he's also a former angel who made the switch.  When I watch the film, I get the feeling it's actually Peter Falk, showing us his process and telling us about himself.  I can't help but feel he wrote his own lines, about the joys of experiencing life, and not just observing.  Even if he didn't, I believe he believes it.  And it makes for a good epitaph.