Rex Stout's portly detective prides himself on solving crimes without venturing outside his comfortable home; here he relies on others to do the legwork in pinpointing who among a number of ... Read allRex Stout's portly detective prides himself on solving crimes without venturing outside his comfortable home; here he relies on others to do the legwork in pinpointing who among a number of suspects is responsible for two sudden deaths, which the authorities at first are not conv... Read allRex Stout's portly detective prides himself on solving crimes without venturing outside his comfortable home; here he relies on others to do the legwork in pinpointing who among a number of suspects is responsible for two sudden deaths, which the authorities at first are not convinced were murders.
- Prof. Edgar Barstow
- (as Boyd Irwin Sr.)
- Maria Maringola
- (as Rita Cansino)
- Bill - Manuel's Caddy
- (uncredited)
- Johnny - Barstow's Caddy
- (uncredited)
- Delivery Boy
- (uncredited)
- Tommy - Roberts' Caddy
- (uncredited)
- Minor Role
- (uncredited)
Featured reviews
Edward Arnold was the obvious choice to play Wolfe in this adaptation of Rex Stout's FER-DE-LANCE Lionel Stander makes a fine Archie, and John Qualen is at home with a Scowhegian accent as cook Olaf. Unhappily, the writers lard in all of Wolfe's eccentricities as early and often as possible, and Arnold plays this one chuckling all the time. Director Herbert Biberman's direction seems to have been to let Arnold do pretty much what he wanted. Noteworthy for Rita Hayworth's first appearance in a Columbia feature.
Columbia would try again the following year with THE LEAGUE OF FRIGHTENED MEN. Walter Connally would play Wolfe in that one. Stander, still as Archie, wouldn't seem to notice the switch.
Wolfe here is much more cheerful and talkative than in the books, and Archie (Lionel Stander) is a less sophisticated Archie, with a nagging girlfriend (Dennie Moore) who wants to get married.
Wolf still drinks his special beer and tends to his orchids. He's an agoraphobic by choice - he could leave the house, but he doesn't want to. Here his chef (John Qualen) is renamed Olaf instead of Fritz.
The plot concerns the missing brother of his beer supplier (a totally unrecognizable Rita Hayworth) - Wolfe discovers he cut out put a newspaper article concerning the alleged death by heart attack of a man on a golf course.
Learning that Carlo made the springs for guns, he concludes that Carlo is dead and the death on the golf course was murder.
Of interest, the widow of the murdered man offers a $50,000 reward. The buying power in 1936 was over a million dollars!
Solid mystery.
Many actors have played Nero Wolfe on film, television, and radio, including Sydney Greenstreet, Walter Connelly, William Conrad, Thayer David, Kurt Kaszner, Francesco Pannofino, etc. My dream Wolfe was Raymond Burr. Back in the '30s, Stout wanted Charles Laughton.
Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's amanuensis, legman, and sometime tormentor, is supposed to be a tough, smart, courageous detective in his own right. Lionel Stander, also a fine actor when properly cast and directed, turns Goodwin into a clown.
The plot moves rapidly. Too rapidly, in fact, for the charm of the Nero Wolfe mysteries lies largely in the atmospheric familiarity of their milieu. They are written as if they were stately waltzes, and this films zips by like a two-minute jazz riff.
Of all the adaptations of the Nero Wolfe stories, from the Sydney Greenstreet radio version of the 1940's to the lovingly produced A&E network productions almost sixty years later, the nod must be given to the A&E version, and to Maury Chaykin's portrayal of Nero Wolfe.
Did you know
- TriviaThis was the first film Rita Hayworth made for Columbia Pictures Corporation.
- GoofsWhen playing Monopoly, Archie wins second prize in a beauty contest and collects $11.00. But in the actual game the prize is $10.00.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Lady with the Torch (1999)
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Fer-de-Lance
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime
- 1h 13m(73 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1