I watched this out of curiosity last night. It's the first ever appearance of the character of Columbo. The episode's story would later be expanded as Levinson and Link adapted it into a stage play, and that play itself would be adapted into Prescription: Murder, the 1968 TV movie that introduced Peter Falk in the role.
It's interesting to note that "Enough Rope" is in color. NBC was in business with RCA, which made color TVs, and while the majority of their lineup was black-and-white until 1966, they always had a few exceptions. It's a dainty use of color, quite different from the garishness of a lot of later 1960s TV, or the deserty look of the 70s.
The $64,000 is how Bert Freed does as the Lieutenant. Well, it's weird to see a guy who looks so much like a thumb in the role. But he does pretty well. He's kind of sneaky, which is good. Peter Falk didn't really catch fire in the role until the second pile, Ransom for a Dead Man.
Definitely more of a curiosity than anything else, though.
2 comments:
Scanning through the episode I saw a good piece of the story, enough to admire the plot, very like a classic Colombo with Peter Falk, but different enough to showcase how a different actor would portray the detective. Freed isn't nearly so sloppy and lackadaisical as Falk's later portrayal, nevertheless it's an acceptable performance if not quite as entertaining.
I can't really say the other actors impressed me all that much but Richard Carlson did look every inch the frustrated psychologist at the end of his rope and with that I'd better say something nice about his horribly irritating wife's grating voice. That wasn't so nice, was it? I wondered why he hadn't murdered her sooner.
You're right about the use of color by NBC was much more subtle than the brassy hues that became popular. I guess that had a lot to do with selling hyper-reality to the public. Apparently nowadays they've dulled the colors because it allows the CGI to work better.
There was apparently kind of a journey attached to this plot. The writers came up with it as a televised play as a way of getting around the writers' strike that was happening at the time. A couple of years later they'd do it as a stage play with Thomas Mitchell. Then a few years after that it was adapted into the first Peter Falk Columbo movie. Freed is, as you say, good if not quite as entertaining. For what it's worth, Falk didn't really grow into the part until his second movie either.
It's a stagier version of the same kind of story, which is both a limitation and part of its charm. The wife is played by a good actress, but she really has to drive home that this is a nightmare marriage. I'd at least be tempted to fake my own death. Carlson gives a more naturalistic performance. It actually wouldn't have been a terrible idea to cast him later as another character.
The hues in this one recall old magazine ads and fashion/interior design illustration. It's quite pretty in its way. You're right that they've dulled down the color to make it easier to insert FX. That doesn't explain why, say, McDonalds restaurants have been leeched of color.
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