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Meet Nero Wolfe More at IMDbPro »
| Index | 6 reviews in total |
14 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
The portly detective solves a bizarre murder on a golf course., 16 April 2001
Author:
Regis Hartdy from California
While this first Nero Wolfe film seems well-intentioned, it's really of
interest only as an historical curiosity. Edward Arnold, one of the great
character actors of all time, looks pretty good as the portly Wolfe, but
his
portrayal of the detective is way off base. Rex Stout created Wolfe as an
irascible, egotistical, curmudgeonly man who quaffs beer endlessly from a
glass. Arnold portrays him as a jolly, laughing, hale-fellow-well-met who
drinks beer directly from the bottle -- something that Wolfe did very
rarely.
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.
11 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
A missed opportunity, but still great fun for what's there, 14 May 2007
Author:
John Esche from Jersey City, New Jersey
In the 1930's, when the motion picture mystery was having a golden age
and studios were sending the latest best sellers straight to film as
fast as the top mystery writers could come up with new characters and
scenarios, Columbia looked at the success of S.S. van Dine's Philo
Vances (First National, Warner Brothers), Dashiel Hammett's Nick & Nora
Charles (MGM), Earl Derr Biggers' Charlie Chans (20th Century Fox) and
others building on the oft filmed legacy of Conan Doyle's Sherlock
Holmes and thought they had a winning entry in Rex Stout's soon to be
classic detective Nero Wolfe.
A combination of the irascible brilliance of a Holmes (even author Rex
Stout speculated on the intellectual debt if not direct lineage of
Wolfe to Holmes' brother Mycroft) and the hard boiled practicality of a
Sam Spade with the narrative charm of a Doctor Watson in Wolfe's
side-kick/assistant, Archie Goodman, how could a series based on the
new characters fail? It probably shouldn't have, but in producing a
relatively faithful adaptation of Stout's first Nero Wolfe novel, "Fer
de Lance" (the name of a poisonous snake that figures late in the
plot), they just missed the challenging tone that won Wolfe fans on the
page.
The casting of character actor Edward Arnold, famed for playing
outrageous incarnations of the Devil and devilish industrialists was
probably a master stroke, but fearing that such an acerbic character
might not win viewers, they softened the character and made him too
given to "fat man jollity" and too light on the irritated "phoeys."
Legman (in more ways than one) Archie followed the unfortunate studio
pattern of consigning "Dr. Watson" side-kick characters to comic relief
with the miscasting of fine (all too soon to be blacklisted) character
actor Lionel Stander. As conceived in both the Nero Wolfe films
Columbia managed, Stander's "Archie" was eager but not the skilled
detective Stout had created whose own capability made Wolfe all the
more brilliant in comparison.
Failings in tone which ultimately doomed the series notwithstanding
(along with the failure to find a definitive Nero - Walter Connolly
essayed the role in the second and final Columbia film, the 1937 LEAGUE
OF FREIGHTENED MEN, based on Stout's second Wolfe novel), MEET NERO
WOLFE is a highly entertaining film in its own right.
The murder on the golf course is beautifully filmed with clues clearly
enough laid out the sharp viewer can have the fun of guessing ahead of
Archie and Nero "whodunnit" and why. Even with too many self conscious
laughs from his character, it's a pleasure to see the lighter side of
Edward Arnold for a change, and while wrong for a true "Archie
Goodman," Lionel Stander gives one of his best performances, and isn't
quite as befuddled as Nigel Bruce's classic (but decidedly
non-Sherlockian) Dr. Watson.
1936's MEET NERO WOLFE isn't the great Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodman we
would eventually get from Maury Chaykin and Timmothy Hutton on TV's A&E
Network, but it's solid entertainment and an interesting
"might-have-been" look at what should have been one of the classic 30's
mystery series in the hands of a studio more sensitive to the demands
of producing a classic mystery series.
9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Meet ( Not Very) Nero Wolfe....., 18 April 2007
Author:
parmrh from Chapel Hill, N.C. U.S.A.
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.
9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
In the true spirit of Rex Stout., 16 April 2000
Author:
John Braun (kartrabo) from Newbury Park, CA, United States
A great who-done-it mystery film told with the true spirit of author
Rex
Stout's genius detective Nero Wolfe.Perfect in size,girth,and bellicosity
Edward Arnold portrays the heavyset armchair private investigator as fans
of
the novels would expect.His man of all tasks,Archie Goodwin(played here for
laughs),is portrayed by gravel-voiced character favorite Lionel Stander.
Adapted from the
first
Nero Wolfe novel'Fer De Lance',the mystery in the film begins with a
strange
death at a golf course which was actually murder.It is a very young Rita
Hayworth who hires Nero Wolfe to solve the crime before the police
prosecute
a loved-one for the murder.The story moves quickly with marvelous
red-herrings,interesting clues,murder attempts,and plenty of suspects to
choose from(Victor Jory,Walter Kingsford,Frank Conroy).
All of the elements from the novels
are
included :the brownstone mansion,the huge library and red-leather chair,the
orchid room upstairs,the endless beer supply,and Wolfe's personal chef
played by John Qualen.Columbia pictures had a winner here and there were
hopes of a series but,because of Edward Arnold's commitments elsewhere he
bowed out after this entry.There was one more Nero Wolfe film following the
success of this one.It was 'The League of Frightened Men'(1937),and starred
Walter Connolly as Wolfe and Stander returning as Archie
Goodwin.
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Competent potboiler, not twaddle, 21 October 2007
Author:
Gary170459 from Derby, UK
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.
Great fun-too bad this never clicked for a real series, 1 March 2009
Author:
dbborroughs from Glen Cove, New York
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Edward Arnold stars as the house bound large framed detective with a
passion for beer and orchids. The story starts when a college dean dies
nominally of a heart attack after teeing off on a golf course. We
quickly learn that a the death was no accident when a mysterious young
man dies while clutching a newspaper story on the dean's death.
Unfortunately for the killer the second dead man is the brother of a
friend of Nero Wolfe who springs into action...well wanders into action
as promises of money periodically appear on the horizon. Aiding Wolfe
is his aide de camp Archie Goodwin, who as the film begins is
attempting to leave Wolfe's employ so that he can get married.
Amusing 1930's mystery is a good time. No its not perfect, Arnold's
Wolfe is often abrasive, and the marriage subplot quickly runs out of
steam but the film is otherwise a really good way to spend 75 minutes.
First off you have two great performances from Arnold and Lionel
Stander as Goodwin. Next you have an intriguing mystery that or the
most part works, certainly it holds your attention as you try to find
out who's doing what, especially with several red herrings. Lastly the
dialog is crisp and witty. The exchanges are very pithy.and often very
funny. I really like this film and I regret that this never clicked
enough to cause a series to appear, though it did spawn a sequel,
though with out Arnold as Wolfe.
Worth a look if you can manage to come across a copy.
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