Peter Falk Movies
Best known as the rumpled television detective Columbo, character actor Peter Falk has also enjoyed a successful film career, often in association with the groundbreaking independent filmmaker John Cassavetes. Born September 16, 1927, in New York City, Falk lost an eye at the age of three, resulting in the odd, squinting gaze which later became his trademark. He initially pursued a career in public administration, serving as an efficiency expert with the Connecticut Budget Bureau, but in the early '50s, boredom with his work sparked an interest in acting. By 1955, Falk had turned professional, and an appearance in a New York production of The Iceman Cometh earned him much attention. He soon graduated to Broadway and in 1958 made his feature debut in the Nicholas Ray/Budd Schulberg drama Wind Across the Everglades.
A diminutive, stocky, and unkempt presence, Falk's early screen roles often portrayed him as a blue-collar type or as a thug; it was as the latter in 1960's Murder Inc. that he earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, a major career boost. He was nominated in the same category the following year as well, this time as a sarcastic bodyguard in Frank Capra's Pocketful of Miracles. In 1962, Falk won an Emmy for his work in the television film The Price of Tomatoes, a presentation of the Dick Powell Theater series. The steady stream of accolades made him a hot property, and he next starred in the 1962 feature Pressure Point. A cameo in Stanley Kramer's 1963 smash It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World preceded Falk's appearance in the Rat Pack outing Robin and the Seven Hoods, but the film stardom many predicted for him always seemed just out of reach, despite lead roles in 1965's The Great Race and 1967's Luv.
In 1968, Falk first assumed the role of Columbo, the disheveled police lieutenant whose seemingly slow and inept investigative manner masked a steel-trap mind; debuting in the TV movie Prescription: Murder, the character was an immediate hit, and after a second telefilm, Ransom for a Dead Man, a regular Columbo series premiered as part of the revolving NBC Mystery Movie anthology in the fall of 1971, running for seven years and earning Falk a second Emmy in the process. In the meantime, he also continued his film career, most notably with Cassavetes; in 1970, Falk starred in the director's Husbands, and in 1974 they reunited for the brilliant A Woman Under the Influence. In between the two pictures, Falk also returned to Broadway, where he won a Tony award for his performance in the 1972 Neil Simon comedy The Prisoner of Second Avenue. In 1976, Cassavetes joined him in front of the camera to co-star in Elaine May's Mikey and Nicky, and directed him again in 1977's Opening Night.
After Columbo ceased production in 1978, Falk starred in the Simon-penned mystery spoof The Cheap Detective, followed by the William Friedkin caper comedy The Brink's Job (1978). After 1979's The In-Laws, he starred two years later in ...All the Marbles, but was then virtually absent from the screen for the next half decade. Cassavetes' 1986 effort Big Trouble brought Falk back to the screen (albeit on a poor note; Cassavetes later practically disowned the embarrassing film) and and in 1987 he starred in Happy New Year along with the Rob Reiner cult favorite The Princess Bride. An appearance as himself in Wim Wenders' masterful Wings of Desire in 1988 preceded his 1989 resumption of the Columbo character for another regular series; the program was to remain Falk's focus well into the next decade, with only a handful of film appearances in pictures including 1990's Tune in Tomorrow and a cameo in Robert Altman's The Player. After the cancellation of Columbo, he next turned up in Wenders' Desire sequel Far Away, So Close before starring in the 1995 comedy Roommates.
Falk continued to work in both film and television for the next decade and a half, starring in various Columbo specials through 2003, appearing with Woody Allen in the made-for-TV The Sunshine Boys in 1997, and playing a bar owner caught up in mafia dealings in 1999's The Money Kings. Other projects included the Adam Sandler-produced gangster comedy Corky Romano (2001), the Dreamworks animated family film A Shark Tale (as the voice of Ira Feinberg), and the Paul Reiser-scripted, Raymond de Felitta-directed comedy-drama The Thing About My Folks (2005). In 2007, Falk starred opposite Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore in Lee Tamahori's sci-fi thriller Next. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Peter Falk launches his sixth season as the world's sloppiest, most disheveled and most diligent homicide detective in Columbo, originally telecast as a rotating component of The NBC Mystery Movie. Those criminals who think they're about to get away with the "perfect murder" upon meeting the apparently scatterbrained Lt. Columbo for the first time are in for a rude awakening when the little man in the soiled raincoat probes and prods until he finally solves the case and brings the miscreant to justice -- usually by tripping up said miscreant with his or her own words. Only three episodes appeared during season six, but each one is a gem. "Fade in to Murder" stars William Shatner as the leading man of a popular TV detective show (not unlike Columbo) who uses methods gleaned from his show's scripts to bump off a blackmailer and establish an alibi. "Old Fashioned Murder" features Celeste Holm as the scheming head of a museum who cooks up a robbery/murder with a daunting array of phony clues. And in "The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case," a clever businessman Theodore Bikel murders his embezzling partner and tries to redirect suspicion to the dead man's high-maintenance wife. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk
Nickey (John Cassavetes) is a small-time Jewish gangster in trouble with the mob. He calls on his lifelong friend Mikey (Peter Falk) for help. During the night the two spend together, the power of their friendship is undermined by their mutual nastiness and pressing financial concerns. Elaine May's script was allegedly taken from an episode in the life of her uncle. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, John Cassavetes, (more)
- 1976
Now You See Him was one of the more popular installments in the Columbo TV series. Jack Cassidy guest stars as "The Great Santini," master magician. Encumbered by a blackmailer, Santini decides to bump the fellow off. But he can't possibly be the guilty party--because, you see, he was on stage performing his famous "water tank" trick at the time of the murder. Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) performs a few dextrous tricks of his own to wangle a confession out of Santini. Bob Dishy, Robert Loggia and Nehemiah Persoff co-star in this February 29, 1976 Columbo offering. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
As penned by Neil Simon, this satire of movie mysteries is set in motion when several prominent detectives are invited to the mansion of the reclusive Lionel Twain (Truman Capote). In Ten Little Indians fashion, the gathered sleuths are locked into the forbidding mansion, and subject to various death-dealing devices. While struggling for their lives, the vainglorious gumshoes continue to try to one-up one another. Each character is broadly based on a famous literary detective: Sidney Wang (Peter Sellers) is an aphorism-spouting Charlie Chan clone: Dick and Dora Charleston (David Niven and Maggie Smith) are patterned on the protagonists of the Thin Man flicks; Milo Perrier (James Coco), a Hercule Poirot takeoff, stalks through the proceedings declaring "I'm a Belgie, not a Frenchie!"; Sam Diamond (Peter Falk) is Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe and Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade rolled in one; and Jessica Marbles (Elsa Lanchester) is a dottier variation of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. Best bit: a "conversation" between blind butler Jamessir Bensonmum (Alec Guinness) and deaf-mute maid Yetta (Nancy Walker). The fade-out gag of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson showing up late for Lionel Twain's party was edited from the theatrical version of Murder by Death, but was restored for TV. The film marked the big-screen directorial debut of Robert Moore, who'd previously directed several of Neil Simon's Broadway productions. Moore went on to direct another Simon spoof, The Cheap Detective (1978), before his untimely death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eileen Brennan, Truman Capote, (more)
- 1976
A Matter of Honor motivates the murder in this 2-hour Columbo episode. Ricardo Montalban guest stars as a famous retired bullfighter. Feeling as though he's been betrayed and humiliated, Montalban kills his best friend in a manner that makes the killing seem accidental. The modus operandi: Montalban drugs his victim and plunks him in the bull ring with a particularly ferocious toro. Vacationing in Mexico, Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) sniffs around until he's able to corner Montalban in the episode's "moment of truth." A Matter of Honor first aired February 1, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Jeff Griffin (Peter Falk) is dying of cancer. Sarah Phoenix (Jill Clayburgh) is suffering from terminal leukemia. Ignored or reviled by their respective families, Griffin and Phoenix turn to each other for emotional support. Deciding to live their last months to the fullest, they indulge in outrageous, childish public behavior and vent their anger at their conditions full-force, knowing full well that they won't have to answer for their silliness or rage. They also fall in love with each other. The only proviso to their relationship is that Griffin must promise not to visit Phoenix in her final days, and vice versa. Written by John Hill, Griffin and Phoenix: A Love Story was first telecast on February 27, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Jill Clayburgh, (more)
Season five of Columbo brings Peter Falk back to his signature role as a disheveled, seemingly absent-minded homicide detective whose outwardly sloppy and disorganized methods of deduction invariably trip up those murderers who have convinced themselves that they have gotten away with "the perfect crime." As before, Columbo remains essentially a monthly rather than weekly series, one of several components of The NBC Mystery Movie. The first of the season's six episodes (each running between 90 and 120 minutes) is "Forgotten Lady," starring Janet Leigh as a fading movie star who commits murder in order to make a comeback (the ending of this one is a real surprise -- especially to Columbo!) Next up is "A Case of Immunity," wherein a foreign ambassador commits two murders and almost gets off scot-free...until Columbo plays a neat game of diplomatic duplicity. Patrick McGoohan returns to Columbo as both director and star of "Identity Crisis," a neat tale of espionage, murder, unforeseen evidence, and a handful of cute "inside jokes" for trivia buffs. Columbo shows up in Mexico for "A Matter of Honor," in which bull-ranch owner Ricardo Montalban tries to pin a murder he has committed on an innocent "toro." Returning for a third Columbo appearance is Jack Cassidy, who in "Now You See Him" plays a master magician who commits murder in front of dozens of witnesses while managing to (almost) get off scot-free. And in "Last Salute to the Commodore," which like "Identity Crisis" was directed by Patrick McGoohan, Columbo must solve a murder without any clues in advance as to the identity of the guilty party -- and, in fact, this is the only Columbo episode in which even the audience doesn't know "who done it" until the very end! ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk
- 1975
Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) takes one of his rare vacations in the 90-minute mystery Troubled Waters. Even on a cruise ship, he can't seem to avoid murder. The victim this time is the singer in the ship's band. The top-billed special guest star is Robert Vaughn, so draw your own conclusions. Directed by Ben Gazzara, Troubled Waters was first telecast as the February 9, 1975 episode of the Columbo TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
This 2-hour TV movie stars Janet Leigh as a onetime musical star who dreams of a comeback. Leigh's autocratic and much-older husband Sam Jaffe refuses to finance her re-entry into show business. Leigh responds by killing Jaffe and placing the blame elsewhere. The plan almost works....and then Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk) comes waddling in. The Forgotten Lady was originally telecast September 14, 1975, as the first Columbo episode of The NBC Mystery Movie's fifth season. Watch for the closing clip from the early-1950s Universal musical Walking My Baby Back Home--starring Janet Leigh. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Playback is a 2-hour Columbo episode, guest-starring Oskar Werner in his American TV series debut. Werner plays an electronics expert who installs TV cameras in every room of his mansion. Even so, he manages to bump off his mother-in-law without leaving a clue. That's the cue for Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) to lurch into the scene. Playback was first broadcast on March 2, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
- R
John Cassavetes' harrowing masterpiece charts the emotional meltdown of a suburban housewife and its effects on her blue-collar Italian family. Gena Rowlands stars as Mabel Longhetti, a mother of three whose husband Nick (Peter Falk) works as a construction worker; a mismatched couple like so many others in Cassavetes films, the Longhettis seem to be complete opposites: she's impetuous, extroverted, and fragile, while he's controlling, distant, and hard-bitten. Their differences underscore a series of domestic dramas, culminating in a nervous breakdown that sends Mabel to a psychiatric hospital for six months, only to return to a home environment on even thinner ice than before. The improvisational style central to Cassavetes' vision is at its most acute throughout A Woman Under the Influence. Like its title heroine, the film threatens to veer out of control at any time, its shape and scope defined not by narrative but by the emotional upheaval at its center. Embracing the full spectrum of the Longhettis' relationship, from seismic bursts of high drama to small, even trivial moments of domestic tedium, its long scenes relentlessly probe every nook and cranny of the family's life, drawing out each moment for maximum emotional impact; the film is by turns beautiful and ugly, illuminating and frustrating, and it features a performance by Rowlands as heartwrenching and unforgettable as any ever committed to celluloid. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, (more)
Still wearing the same old rumpled raincoat, chewing the same old unlit cigar, and trapping clever murderers with "just one more question," homicide detective Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) launches a fourth season of 90- to 120-minute episodes, shown as a rotating component of The NBC Mystery Movie. The season begins with "An Exercise in Fatality," starring Robert Conrad as a famous physical-fitness guru who goes to elaborate lengths to murder his crooked business partner while provided a foolproof alibi for himself. Dick Van Dyke is cast against type as a celebrated photographer who cold-bloodedly murders his wife and stages the killing to look like a botched kidnapping in "Negative Reaction." In "By Dawn's Early Light," Patrick McGoohan makes the first of several Columbo appearances as the taciturn head of a boy's military academy who will go to any lengths to prevent his institution from admitting female cadets.Robert Vaughn shows up in "Troubled Waters," in which Columbo's vacation is interrupted by the murder of a cruise-ship vocalist. In "Playback," Oscar Werner commits murder before a videotape camera, the better to throw the only "witness" off the track. And in the season's final episode, "A Deadly State of Mind," George Hamilton plays a psychiatrist who uses hypnosis to drive his wife to inadvertently kill herself, a crime that Columbo solves through the simple method of hoisting the criminal on his own mind-game petard. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk
- 1974
In this suspense movie, Lt. Colombo thwarts the evil scheme of a military academy commandant who is planning on murdering the school board chairman to further his career. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1974
This 90-minute Columbo episode casts Dick Van Dyke in the image-busting role of a cold-blooded murderer. Van Dyke plays a photographer who calmly shoots his hateful wife (Antoinette Bower) after binding her to a chair. He arranges the evidence to make it appear as though the wife had been kidnapped, and that her abductor/murderer was an ex-convict--who becomes Van Dyke's next victim. Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) gathers clues in his usual shambling, off-the-cuff fashion, allowing Van Dyke to trip himself up at episode's end. Negative Reaction was first telecast October 6, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Swan Song first aired on March 3, 1974, as a 90-minute episode of Columbo. Johnny Cash stretches his acting range to play a country-western star. When Cash's evangelist wife Ida Lupino uses his talents to raise money for her somewhat questionable cause, Johnny would like a slice of the pie. She refuses; he responds by killing her. Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk), as is his wont, pokes and prods around in hopes of getting Cash to confess. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Season three of Columbo finds the series still a rotating component of the NBC Mystery Movie, still starring Peter Falk as Lt. Columbo, a homicide detective whose sloppy appearance and scattershot methods adroitly hide the fact that he has a mind like a steel trap. Just as in the two previous seasons, Columbo invariably lulls murderers into a sense of security by appearing to be miles away from solving their crimes, only to be hoodwinked into tipping their hands by episode's end. The first of this season's eight episodes (each running between 90 and 120 minutes) is "Lovely But Lethal", featuring Vera Miles and Martin Sheen (guess who plays the title character). "Any Old Port in a Storm" finds Columbo zeroing in on wine producer Donald Pleasence, who after killing his brother arranges the evidence to make it seem as if the victim tied in a swimming accident. Jackie Cooper plays a politician who kills his campaign manager in a phony assassination attempt ostensibly directed at himself in "Candidate for Crime". In "Double Exposure," Robert Culp makes his third Columbo appearance, this time as a doctor-turned-filmmaker who pulls off a murder during the screening of a new production. Jack Cassidy, who appeared in the first Columbo episode back in 1973 shows up as a publisher who murders his best author while arranging an airtight alibi in "Publish or Perish." "Mind Over Mayhem" finds Columbo trying to prove that a brilliant scientist (José Ferrer) killed an associate to protect his plagiarizing son. Johnny Cash makes a rare acting appearance as a country & western star who arranges his wife's death in a plane crash in "Swan Song." And in "A Friend in Deed," Columbo is faced with the dilemma of bringing a police commissioner (Richard Kiley) to justice for committing murder to cover up another crime; this last episode was directed by Peter Falk's longtime friend, actor Ben Gazzara. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk
- 1973
A Stitch in Crime was first aired as an episode of TV's Columbo. Leonard Nimoy guest stars as a brilliant, ambitious heart surgeon. Jealous of an equally brilliant associate (Will Geer) Nimoy arranges for his rival's death on the operating table. No one could possibly suspect Nimoy of deliberately killing his patient--no one but Columbo (Peter Falk), that is. A Stitch in Crime premiered on February 11, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Any Old Port in a Storm is another two-hour TV cat and mouse session with Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk). Donald Pleasance portrays a winemaker whose covetous brother plans to sell the family vineyard. Pleasance puts the kibosh on this transaction by killing his sibling. He tries to make it look like an accident, but Columbo endeavors to prove otherwise--all the while exhibiting a hitherto unrevealed expertise in the field of fine wines. Julie Harris costars in this 1973 episode of the Columbo TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Requiem for a Falling Star features Anne Baxter as a fading movie queen. And is her face red--Baxter had intended to murder a vicious gossip columnist, but accidently kills her own secretary instead. Only briefly at a loss, Baxter endeavors to pin the blame for the secretary's demise on the columnist. Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) suspects that the "falling star" is attempting to obfuscate the facts. This January 21, 1973 Columbo episode co-stars Mel Ferrer, Kevin McCarthy and Frank Converse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Short Fuse was one of the first installments in the TV series Columbo. Roddy McDowell is the murderer-of-the-week, a spoiled-rotten heir who does in his hated (but rich) uncle with a box of exploding cigars. Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) dogs McDowell's trail, both indoors and out. Several of the exterior scenes were lensed at the aerial tramway in Palm Springs, California. Anne Francis, James Gregory, Ida Lupino and William Windom also appear in this 1971 Columbo episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Peter Falk is as shrewd and sloppy as ever as Lt. Columbo in the made-for-TV Most Crucial Game. Columbo's quarry this time is oh-so-clever murderer Robert Culp. The lieutenant is certain that Culp is the guilty party, but the suspect has an foolproof alibi that places him miles from the murder scene. Also appearing in Most Crucial Game are members of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team (no, Culp doesn't kill them). This 90-minute episode of TV's Columbo series was originally telecast November 5, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Rumpled, raincoat-wearing, cigar-chomping Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) continues to play clever mind games with criminals who mistakenly believe they've committed the proverbial "perfect murder" as Columbo enters its second season. This year the series, one of several rotating programs of the detective anthology NBC Mystery Movie, offers eight episodes of varying lengths (90 to 120 minutes) for the entertainment of Columbo's ever-growing list of fans and devotees. John Cassavetes and Blythe Danner guest star in the opener, "Etude in Black," wherein Columbo matches wits with a symphony conductor who has murdered his mistress; this episode was written by no less than Steven Bochco. "The Greenhouse Jungle" stars Ray Millandand Bradford Dillman as a larcenous uncle and nephew who plan to raise a huge amount of money with an elaborate kidnap scam which inevitably segues into murder. Robert Culp, "special guest killer" in the first-season episode "Death Lends a Hand," returns to play a different but equally homicidal miscreant in "The Most Crucial Game." Columbo heads to London in "Dagger of the Mind," a tale of backstage intrigue and suspicious-looking suicides, with Richard Basehart heading the guest-star list. Movie star Anne Baxteraccidentally kills her press agent while attempting to do in her husband in "Requiem for a Falling Star." Leonard Nimoy plays a doctor who uses his medical knowhow to cover up two murders in "Stitch in Crime." A deaf chessmaster Laurence Harvey hatches a murder scheme that points the finger of guilt to a non-deaf person in "The Most Dangerous Match." And in the season-two finale "Double Shock," Martin Landau plays a dual role as a pair of greedy twins, one of whom committed murder -- and, of course, it's up to Columbo to ID the guilty party without "seeing double." ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk
- 1972
A slightly bizarre rare plant collector kills off his nephew to help finance his hobby. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Suitable for Framing is a 90-minute episode of TV's Columbo series. The special guest murderer this time is Ross Martin, playing an erudite art critic. Rather than submit to blackmail, Martin bumps off an awkward colleague and tries to pin the blame elsewhere. It's obvious he has no idea what's in store for him when Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) waddles onto the scene. Kim Hunter and Don Ameche also appear in Suitable for Framing, which was first broadcast November 17, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
After being "auditioned" in a pair of made-for-TV movies, Prescription Murder (1968) and Ransom for a Dead Man (1971), disheveled but diligent homicide detective Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) graduates to his own TV series, telecast during its first season as on the rotating components of The NBC Mystery Movie. Driving a beat-up car, dressed in a tattered raincoat, chomping on an unlit cigar, and forever prattling away about seemingly inconsequential matters, Columbo at first always seems to be a step too slow to solve the murder at hand. And yet, as several suspects who think they have committed the "perfect crime" learn to their regret, Columbo is a lot more clever than he looks -- or behaves. Running anywhere from 90 to 120 minutes, the first season's worth of seven Columbo episodes are an impressive lot indeed. The first, "Murder by the Book," features Jack Cassidy as one-half of a popular writing team (not unlike Columbo creators Richard Levinson and William Link) who murders his partner after learning that the victim plans to break up the combination. (This episode was directed by a talented 24-year-old newcomer by the name of Steven Spielberg). In "Death Lends a Hand," private eye Robert Culp kills his client's wife only to be hired by that selfsame client to help Columbo in his investigation of the crime! "Dead Weight" stars Eddie Albert as a homicidal general who tries to woo and win the only witness (Suzanne Pleshette) to his crime. Ross Martin is seen as an art critic who kills to get his hands on a valuable collection in "Suitable for Framing". "Lady in Waiting" finds Columbo playing his usual cat-and-mouse game with a woman (Susan Clark) who tries to pass off the murder of her brother as an act of self-defense. Roddy McDowall's scheme to send Columbo off on the wrong track by planting false clues to the murder of his uncle is the plot device upon which "Short Fuse" hinges. And in "Blueprint for Murder," murderer Patrick O'Neal allows Columbo to dig up a safe in which he has not hidden his victim's body, believing that he will be safe to store the corpse in that selfsame safe once Columbo has left the scene; this last episode of the season was directed by series star Peter Falk. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk
