IslandGuru Who payed the critics

AboveDeepBuggy Some things I liked some I did not.

StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Lancoor A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

dbborroughs 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.

Spondonman 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.

John Esche 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.

John Braun (kartrabo) 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.