Meet Nero Wolfe

I never read Rex Stout books yet, so I can't compare this film adaptation of Fer-De-Lance to that book or the character presentation in this pacey mystery. But as a mystery film it's fairly entertaining with Nero Wolfe, from his home, taking on a case of a man dying on the golf course. There are a number of suspects, and some good deductions.

Nero Wolfe, as played by Edward Arnold, is jolly, and chortles a lot but is sharp-minded, however, I didn't like how he treated his assistant, Archie, played by Hart to Hart star Lionel Stander, like a thicko. Well he is, I guess, but he should get some credit for running around and questioning people.

A good mystery that keeps one watching and the denouement at the end was quite a surprise.

What is Nero Wolfe here....

1) Wolfe is a genius... 2) Wolfe prefers to stay at home... 3) Wolfe drinks Beer and tosses the caps in his desk drawer.... 4) Wolfe has an assistant named Archie Goodwin.

What is not Nero Wolfe here.....

1) Wolfe is a generally friendly, avuncular fellow who chuckles and smiles constantly. 2) Wolfe welcomes guests to his home, telling them to return "anytime". 3) Wolfe guzzles Beer...straight from the bottle! 4) Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin is a gravel-voiced moron with a Brooklyn accent, who only wants to get away from Wolfe to marry his stereotype dumb blonde Brooklyn accented "galfriend" and Honeymoon at Coney Island, (then become a furniture salesman!)

I could add the other assorted differences...The lack of Archie's narration ( a blessing given this Comic Relief version of "Archie")... Wolfe's 'cook' named Olaf...The stereotype Irish Detective named O'Grady...etc...

Bottom Line: If you are a fan of Nero Wolfe, you will strain to perceive him here. Stick with the A&E series or the books. If, as a collector, you feel you must see this ( as I did ) do not expect anything of consequence and you shall not be disappointed.

After watching this, it is easy to understand why Rex Stout did not care for Hollywood getting it's uncaring hands on his creations.

"Meet Nero Wolfe" (1936) is basically a radio play on the screen: the budget is low, the direction practically nonexistent (apart maybe from the opening sequence, set at a golf course). All that matters is the plotting (which is dense enough), the dialogue (which is sometimes lively), and the acting, primarily from the two leads: I have seen Edward Arnold as a supporting character in comedies before, and found him too loud, but this time as the lead he finds the right tone and makes Nero Wolfe pleasingly eccentric. Lionel Stander, looking younger than ever, plays his loyal sidekick. Rita Hayworth, also looking younger than ever, has a very small part. **1/2 out of 4.

To start with, this was a very enjoyable detective mystery from the 1930s, but it just wasn't Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe. The story is based on Stout's novel "Fer-de-Lance" but considerably altered, probably due to the difficulty of filming the novel's airplane scenes and to time constraints. The most egregious fault with this movie is turning Archie Goodwin into a psuedo-buffoon and saddling him with a fiance who contributes absolutely nothing to the story line. Nitpicking, Wolfe is too mobile, jolly, and penurious and drinks his beer from the bottle; none of these inaccuracies are necessary. Still, if you can get it to watch (ah, there's the rub) it is an entertaining hour and a half.

I first came across Nero Wolfe in the excellent 2001 TV series starring Maury Chaykin – this set in stone my image of the man – I even pictured him when I read this Rex Stout story Fer-de-Lance. Back in the '30's Edward Arnold was a fine and serious actor but he over-egged Wolfe's character in all departments for this one, making him totally unsympathetic and a wonder anyone put up with him. Nowadays of course the character would sneer and laugh at us "fools down on the street" for not using the internet to do everything for them.

A man has a heart attack on a country golf course – sedentary guffawing beer guzzling orchid growing New Yorker Wolfe proves it was murder and the wrong man without moving a muscle but with a lot of help from his comic stooge (in this) Archie. The only person he seems to care for is Marie who supplies him his booze, she plays a significant part as Wolfe's helper in return for finding her brother's killer. There's some ingenious detective work going on here taken at a breakneck speed, but it would have been much better had it been at a more lugubrious pace. And Maisie's repeated question to Archie "When are we gonna get married?" wears awful thin! Favourite bits: John Qualen making up the kitchen table for Archie to sleep on with very mixed emotions in the crowded house; Wolfe's treatment of the young and spry Victor Jory throughout.

All in all some fun moments and I enjoyed it, although utterly unlike the recent TV series - I'm not surprised it didn't work back then based on this screenplay.