Word: falke
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...genre, Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and Miss Marples, Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade and Nick and Nora Charles, and Earl Derr Biggers's Charlie Chan are refurbished by Simon and his all-star cast, and introduced as Miss Marples (Elsa Lanchester), Milo Perrier (James Coco), Sam Diamond (Peter Falk), Dick and Dora Charleston (David Niven and Maggie Smith) and Sidney Wang (Peter Sellers). These, "the world's greatest detectives" have been brought together under one roof at the invitation of Mr. Lionel Twain, a fiendishly eccentric, rich, and rather repulsive murder mystery buff played by none other than Truman...
Despite the fact that the screenplay leaves the actors with nowhere to go in their roles, the performances are virtually all first-rate. Especially enjoyable is Peter Falk as the hard-boiled Frisco detective, Sam Diamond, whose uncouth manner provides an entertaining contrast to the cocktailparty elegance of Dick and Dora Charleston, played to perfection by David Niven and Maggie Smith, and the genteel prissiness of James Coco as the corpulent Belgian detective, Milo Perrier. Peter Seller's performance as the continually proverb-coining Sidney Wang is decidedly bland, however, which comes as a surprise and disappointment, since his impersonations...
...disasters, with an assortment of a dozen egos or so furiously stamping on each other's toes. But things are kept pretty much in control here--each star is given his own piece of the sky within which to shine. Particularly engaging are David Niven, Maggie Smith, and Peter Falk, while the only real gap is Truman Capote, who may have better luck in his current effort to become Marcel Proust. At the Cheri, in Boston...
Noting that "people in this country who committed war crimes continue to enjoy respect," Falk says that the mainstream of "the American people are unprepared for allegations of criminality. "War crimes trials would be disruptive," he says, "since so many people are trying so hard to forget." He admits, though, "Maybe I've too easily estimated the mood of the nation on the war issue...
Ralph Schoenman, who served as secretary-general of the Russell War Crimes Tribunal and who now lives in Princeton, N.J., says that Falk's view of popular sentiment on the war issue is "reactionary." "Nobody but the ruling class is willing to forget Indochina." Schoenman said last week. The Russell Tribunal, he says, was "an attempt to show that American imperialism needed experimental weapons to survive the war in Vietnam," adding that the best evidence of popular support for the Russell proceedings was the large number of military personnel who showed up to testify before the tribunal...