Day 214: Columbo, Requiem for a Falling Star

Show: Columbo

Episode Particulars: S2EP5, “Requiem for a Falling Star”, original airdate January 21^st, 1973.

 Summary: Actress Nora Chandler (Anne Baxter) receives two pieces of unwelcome news in quick succession. One, writer Jerry Parks (Mel Ferrer) is attempting to blackmail her. And two, her assistant Jean (Pippa Scott) has declared that she’s in love with Parks and plans to marry him. In order to deal with both these problems, Chandler uses gasoline to blow up Parks’ car. But she soon finds out that Parks wasn’t in the car; Jean was. Which means that Parks is still alive, and could tell Columbo things Chandler doesn’t want him to know…

Standalone Thoughts: I can’t be wholly objective about this episode, because I’m a sucker for anything involving Hollywood, especially old Hollywood, and movie making. The episode is littered with glimpses of how things work behind the scenes, pictures of film icons (I know I saw Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields in there, and maybe even Humphrey Bogart), and even a cameo by Edith Head, the great costume designer. Serious film buffs like myself will also get a kick out of Nora Chandler for several reasons. Her full name calls to mind two fairly famous mystery names, Raymond Chandler and the Nick and Nora film series, and the fact that she’s played by Anne Baxter (and is called an aging actress several times) is all but guaranteed to make you think of All About Eve at least once. So if you want a bit of old Hollywood glamour, you’re in for a real treat.

Looking at the rest of the episode…it’s got its ups and downs. I find it very charming that Columbo is starstruck by Chandler, to the point of trying to straighten up and look a little less rumpled when he goes to meet her for the first time. I also like that Chandler seems to like him, which leads to some nice interplay between the two. And the fact that the case gradually reveals itself to be less clear cut than it seems is always a nice way of keeping the formula fresh. However, that last item can also fall into the “down” category, because it requires keeping some things hidden from us until the last minute. Because I’m familiar with the tropes, I knew there was something else going on, and to the episode’s credit, it didn’t quite go where I was initially thinking; my mind went straight for the soap opera option and concluded that Jean was Chandler’s illegitimate daughter, maybe even by Parks. Even so, it’s hiding things from the audience, which can be frustrating for us. Though I will give the episode some points for at least laying out some of the information so it all makes sense after the fact. Some mysteries don’t even give you that much.

In conclusion, this episode has its weaknesses as a mystery (including the fact that Columbo puts everything together thanks to a massive coincidence), but the trappings surrounding it make up for it, especially if you’re a movie buff. And as I established, that was good enough for me.

Number of “Columbo-isms”: 3/6. There’s actually two bits of business surrounding Columbo’s car, a tiny running bit involving his wife, and at least one version of “Just one more thing”. I personally didn’t see much in the way of fumbling, but other people can feel free to disagree on that.

Other: *This episode contained another outfit that I felt was worth discussing;

Here’s the thing; almost all of this outfit is fine. It looks comfortable, it’s pretty, and I could see people wearing something like that today. But it’s the string of A’s across the chest that baffles me. If Chandler’s first name started with an A, that would be one thing, but since her name is “Nora”, that theory’s out. And those A’s are too clear for me to say they’re just a decorative whorl that looks a lot like an A. I also doubt this is a brand thing, like the Chanel C’s. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to find a reason for this, so I just have to scratch my head at why Chandler is wearing an outfit bearing a letter she has no direct connection to and, furthermore, may remind some people of The Scarlet Letter. And that’s one association I don’t think most people want their clothes to make.

*Columbo says at one point that this is the first time he’s ever been in a movie studio. This is both true and untrue, depending on how you look at it. He was on a movie studio/set in “Prescription; Murder”, but that may not be considered official Columbo canon at this point, since it was originally a standalone story. Or Columbo’s lying a bit to keep his persona up. Either way, continuity hounds can at least come up with a reason for this discrepancy.

*We get a glimpse of Columbo’s note taking process today, when he reads some of his notes to Chandler to explain how he put all the pieces together. We don’t see that side of him very often, so I liked that detail. Even if it is in service to the “hiding things” aspect I discussed above.

Would This Hold Up in Court?: On the one hand, Columbo probably could have gotten the evidence he needed if he’d just managed to find a good reason to get a warrant to search Chandler’s property (and I think he could have found one). On the other, the way he actually got her involved him falsifying evidence, though the episode’s a little different in that we actually see him setting it up for once. Still, the defense is probably going to take advantage of this, so let’s say that while Chandler will probably be convicted for one crime, they might have a harder time with the one Columbo was actually investigating.