How the detective series "Columbo" was filmed: footage from filming and 15 interesting facts about the series (17 photos)

The detective series "Columbo" was filmed back in the 60s and 70s of the last century, but it was so popular that viewers watched it in the 90s and 00s.





1. If it were not for Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, then perhaps there would be no Lieutenant Colombo. It was Porfiry Petrovich from the novel “Crime and Punishment” that William Link and Richard Levinson were inspired by when they came up with Columbo. Although, it is worth considering that in addition to Dostoevsky, the authors were inspired by the works of the unsurpassed Alfred Hitchcock.



William Link and Richard Levinson

True, Columbo himself was initially created not for the series at all, but for a theatrical production, which was called “Prescription Murder.” The main role of Columbo himself in the production was played by actor Thomas Mitchell.

2. Realizing that you won’t get far with one production, Link and Levinson decided to try to break into television by making a film about Columbo. Friends wrote a script for the film and sent it to the Universal studio. The studio accepted this script, and NBC gave the go-ahead to broadcast this film.

3. When filming began, actor Thomas Mitchell, who played Columbo in the productions, had already died, so Link and Levinson needed a new actor to play the role.





Thomas Mitchell

Initially, the candidacy of actor Bing Crosby was considered, since the authors really liked the actor’s performance in the film “Man on Fire,” but Bing Crosby himself sent them a letter with a polite refusal, explaining that, firstly, he was retired and wanted to play golf, and -secondly, he does not want to get involved with television, as he considers it an eternal rat race.



Bing Crosby

Then they decided to try actor Lee Jay Cobb for this role. But after learning about his alcohol addiction, Link and Levinson decided that he would be a lot of problems. Then they decided to look again.

And then, quite by chance and very fortunately, William Link received a call from actor Peter Falk, who said that he had read the script and now desperately wanted to play this role. Also, Link noted that in the conversation Falk joked that he was ready to kill anyone for this role.

And when the actor came to audition, he played Columbo so excellently that everyone liked him, which is why he got the role.



Peter Falk

Later, Link said that he was very glad that they took Falk for this role, since other candidates died too early, and they would have had to look for a new actor for the main role (which would have been a big problem), or even close the series altogether.



4. When Peter Falk was just three years old, a tumor developed in his eye, forcing him to have his eye removed. Peter spent his entire life with an artificial eye. However, this did not hinder his development and career. Peter himself said that he never felt disabled, and his squint even became his “calling card.”



In one of the episodes this moment is even played out when Columbo says: “Come with me. Three eyes are better than one.”

5. Before the start of filming the second season, NBC producers decided that Columbo simply had to have an assistant. True, the authors and Peter Falk himself did not want this at all.

But because the producers insisted on a partner, the authors had to make concessions. As a result, both parties came to an agreement, making a dog Columbo’s partner, which, however, Falk himself did not like.

But when Falk saw the old Basset Hound, he simply “fell in love” with this dog. But the dog was so old that he died at the end of the second season.



By the following season, a younger basset hound had been selected for Columbo, but Peter Falk still missed his old friend very much.

Well, in order for the new dog to look like the previous one, he had to be specially made up, which took about 20 minutes a day.

6. Peter Falk created the character of Columbo himself. Moreover, he starred in his own clothes. He came to the shoot wearing a strange, rumpled raincoat, and in the end the creators liked this image so much that the raincoat became the character’s calling card.



One day, Peter decided to have lunch at a cafe, and went there straight in these very clothes. As a result, the employees of the establishment mistook him for a homeless person.

However, given the fact that Falk starred in this raincoat for 25 years (with interruptions), it was very worn out, so over time it had to be replaced.

7. After the release of the first two films, the director's chair was offered to the young and unknown aspiring director Steven Spielberg. But Peter Falk himself was against Spielberg’s candidacy due to his youth and inexperience. He just didn’t know that Spielberg would make such hits as “Jaws,” “E.T.,” “Jurassic Park,” etc.



Steven Spielberg in his youth

Then Link and Levinson invited Falk to look at the work of the young director. At that time, he had not yet released a single film, but only worked as a director of episodes in TV series. After watching Spielberg's work, Peter Falk was so impressed by the young director's work that he gave his go-ahead and even said that Spielberg was too good for a Columbo film. As a result, Spielberg became the director of the third episode, whose directing techniques were then used by the directors of other episodes of the series.

Well, just a few years later, Steven Spielberg made his first movie, Jaws (1975), which received three Oscars and was even nominated in the Best Picture category.

8. If a dog took 20 minutes a day to make up for a film, then it was much easier for Peter Falk himself in this regard. He was not made up at all. All that was required of him was that he come to the shoot rumpled and unkempt.



9. According to the producers, Peter Falk was quite difficult to work with, as he constantly got into arguments about the script and could even feign illness in order to delay filming, putting the producers in a bind.

Moreover, Falk tried to control almost all processes. He even went into the editing room to see what they ended up with.



As a result, Falk annoyed everyone so much that they simply hid the script work for new episodes from him under lock and key, and also closed the editing room so that he would not interfere with the work process.

All this led to the actor leaving the series in 1977, which is why filming had to be stopped. But after 12 years, an agreement was reached with Falk, and filming of the series continued. As a result, the Columbo series lasted until 2003, after which it was finally closed.



10. Sometimes, the authors did not have enough ideas for new episodes, so they involved their friends and others in this process. One day, director Larry Cohen stopped by the set to simply say hello and ask, “How are you?” But in the end, Link and Levinson encouraged him to write the script, and Cohen agreed to think about ideas. Thus, Cohen took part in writing the script for two episodes.

11. When the first Prescription Murder was released in 1968, it immediately became one of the top 10 most-watched television films. And it would seem that a sequel needs to be made. But for some reason no one was in a hurry to make a sequel.



Only in 1971 a new film about Lieutenant Columbo was released called "Ransom for a Dead Man." It was after its release that it was decided to make not just films, but a regular detective series.

12. The authors looked for inspiration for new episodes in the most unexpected places. For example, one day they were simply leafing through the telephone directory to find something suitable there. It was there that they saw a page with a list of telephone numbers of professional magicians. And then they came up with the idea of ​​making the main villain a magician who was once an SS officer.



13. Despite the fact that Peter Falk often interfered in the filming process and argued with everyone, he always spoke about the series only in a positive way. He said he was grateful to everyone involved for allowing him to play Columbo for 25 years.



14. Surprisingly, Columbo's name was never mentioned in any episode. The creators deliberately took this step to make the lieutenant more mysterious.

15. Peter Falk met his second wife Shira Denise while filming the TV series Columbo. In total, Shira played 6 different characters in six episodes.