QUICK TAKES - March 5, 1996

Peter Falk, who endeared himself to American and French TV audiences as the rumpled, wily detective on “Columbo,” was made a Chevalier of Arts and Letters, France’s highest arts honor. Film star Gerard Depardieu, a longtime friend of Falk, bestowed the honor in a ceremony last week. . . .On the heels of the announcement that Jay Leno is taking NBC’s “Tonight Show” to Chicago the week of April 29, CBS says its “Late Show With David Letterman” is going to San Francisco for a week in May. The May ratings sweeps begin April 25. . . . Oscar-nominated director Michael Radford will speak Wednesday at the American Film Institute’s Directors on Directing series following a 7:30 p.m. screening of his film “The Postman (Il Postino).” The event, open to the public, takes place at the AFI campus, 2021 N. Western Ave.