Steven Spielberg Owes His Director Career to This Forgotten Detective Gem
It was the most memorable TV detective who influenced the future career of the great director.
Some superheroes wear spandex suits, but this one is a rumpled image of a bumbling police lieutenant with a cheap cigar. But underneath, he is an intellectual shark ready to rip a criminal's throat out.
Classic detective series Columbo's each episode begins with the villain killing a person and then leading everyone around by the nose.
But not Columbo himself. Actor Peter Falk, who paradoxically combines a simpleton and a cunning person in his face, staked out an honorable place for his hero in all sorts of lists of the best detectives of all time.
Columbo became a gem of the inverted detective. The Columbo series cannot be called a classic detective story, because the most important detail in the structure of the narrative has been replaced.
The murder itself and the identity of the perpetrator are clearly shown to the viewer.
It seems that this is the biggest mistake that makes watching boring. Roughly speaking, however, the viewer is watching a chess game between two people who are far from being stupid.
Even if one side always wins in this game, the show does not become less exciting.
It may be hard to believe, but the first episode Murder by the Book was directed by Steven Spielberg.
As Spielberg later admitted, the producers encouraged his creative impulses in every way possible – especially when it came to shooting methods that were not traditional for a television project.
Creators Richard Levinson and William Link wanted their show to feel like a feature film. And if you watch the opening of the first episode carefully, you will notice that it looks more like a movie than TV show. https://youtu.be/3mqLRS2VkcA
It was The Murder by the Book that shaped the legendary detective, and from which all other episodes were to follow.
Columbo was the springboard for the great director career – the episode he made was so successful that Steven was offered the chance to make a movie Duel for television, which began the official career countdown of the director of such hits as Jaws and Catch Me If You Can.