Before I Die (16 Jun. 2002)

A notorious gangster hires Wolfe to protect his real daughter, who is unaware of who her father is, and stop the woman impersonating his daughter from blackmailing him.

Director:

John L'Ecuyer

Writers:

Sharon Elizabeth Doyle (teleplay), Rex Stout (novel)

Stars:

Timothy Hutton, Maury Chaykin, Colin Fox

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Timothy Hutton	...	Archie Goodwin
Maury Chaykin	...	Nero Wolfe
Colin Fox	...	Fritz Brenner
Bill Smitrovich	...	Inspector Cramer
Conrad Dunn	...	Saul Panzer
Christine Brubaker	...	Violet
Seymour Cassel	...	Dazy Perrit
Lindy Booth	...	Beulah Page
Joe Pingue	...	Archie 2
Ken Kramer	...	L.A. Schwartz
Doug Lennox	...	Fabian
Bill MacDonald	...	Lieutenant Rowcliff
Matthew Edison	...	Morton Schane
Beau Starr	...	Thomas 'Thumbs' Meeker
Nicky Guadagni	...	Fabian's Girl

Storyline

Wartime food shortages leave Wolfe desperate for red meat in his meals, so when notorious criminal Dazy Perrit, the so-called King of the Black Market, wants to hire Wolfe, the detective accepts a case he would have turned down under normal circumstances. Perrit's real daughter is an altruistic medical student studying medicine at Columbia and doesn't know who her father is. As a diversion in order to protect her from his enemies, Perrit hires a petty criminal to pose as his daughter, but she has been blackmailing him. When both the bogus daughter and Perrit are murdered, suspicion falls on Archie.

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Plot Keywords:

gangster | black market | red meat | medical student | detective | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Action

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Details

Release Date:

16 June 2002 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fremantle International Distribution, Jaffe/Braunstein Films, A&E Television Networks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally published as part of Rex Stout's "Trouble in Triplicate" collection.

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Goofs

During the drive-by, when Archie returns fire, he clearly fires four times, but only three shots are heard.

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Quotes

Archie Goodwin: [to Dazy] Listen, uh, whatever it is you wanted, Wolfe wants no part of it. Now, I know that I'm not laughing it off. People that laugh things off with you end up at funerals playing the lead.

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Connections

Version of Poka ya ne umer (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Tom Toms Jam"
(uncredited)
Written by David Steinberg
Amazon.com ASIN B002HI26VE
The killer opens fire from a speeding taxi

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