I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Blistering performances.

With my dad being a big fan of writer Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series of book,I decided to search around online for a Wolfe novel which he has not yet read.As I started my Wolfe hunt,I was shocked to stumble upon a film adaptation of the novels,which led to me getting ready to meet Nero Wolfe.The plot:Returning to her employer after making a sudden departure, Maria Maringola reveals to her boss Nero Wolfe that her brother Carlo has suddenly disappeared.Getting Maria to go into detail about the last known events of her brother,Wolfe discovers that Carlo had cut a story out of a newspaper about a college dean called Prof. Edgar Barstow dying of a heart attack on a golf course.Suspecting that Carlo's "disappearance" may actually be a murder,Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin begin to take a closer look at Barstow's family.Initially being told by everyone that's he's imagining things,Wolfe pushes for a second autopsy to be performed on Barstow,which reveals that he had been poisoned.With Wolfe suspecting that someone on the golf course is not only behind Barstow's death,but also Carlo's.Wolfe and Goodwin set their sights on scoring a "birdie" with the killer.View on the film:Based on Stout's Wolfe novel Fer-de-Lance, (which is given a cheeky cameo in the opening credits) the screenplay by Joseph Anthony, Howard J. Green & Bruce Manning gives the film a fast pace comedic bite,as Wolfe marks the post-Prohibition era with gallons of homemade booze,and also runs rings around the suspects,and even his own assistants.Along with the Comedy slides,the writers keep a close eye on keeping the murder mystery burning,with the murderers initial playfulness becoming surprisingly vicious,as Wolfe and Goodwin get closer to solving the case.Whilst he still shows signs of his stage origins in his second feature,director Herbert J. Biberman uses smoothly-handled swift camera moves to build a terrific frantic atmosphere,with Biberman cleverly using clocks as a symbol to Wolfe & the killer reaching their deadly hour.Joining Wolfe every step of the way, Lionel Stander gives a joyful performance as the hapless,but well meaning Goodwin,whilst a pretty Rita Hayworth gives a charming performance as sweet Maria Maringola.Taking on the title role, Edward Arnold gives an excellent performance as Wolfe,with Arnold showing Wolfe to be full of powerful energy and also having a full grip on his skills of out smarting anyone who comes his way,which makes this a fantastic meeting with a true lone Wolfe.

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.

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.

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.