The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery

One must watch this film closely or run the risk of missing something very relevant. I watched very closely and still missed the whodunnit part. Like Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot [another weirdo dick], big Nero likes to gather all the suspects' together and tell each one how the caper went down and then name the guilty party. Somehow, the big finale went straight over my little pointy head: I still don't have the vaguest inkling who the baddie is. Still, I consider this a very good film: loved the locales and old cars. What a great study Nero had. I'd give a month's pay for that red chair.

Whatever else might be said about the overall entertainment value of this production, Rex Stout would not be disappointed by the production decisions or the casting of this nicely drawn adaptation.

The movie is brimming with gorgeous period details, handsome Studebakers and drab office waiting rooms. The physical characteristics of Wolfe's entire world in a brownstone appear here to be spot on, as though the producers were preparing it for the famously particular sleuth himself. Maury Chaykin brings to his character the thought, care, and gravitas worthy of a King Lear, and manages to present a Nero Wolfe at once psychically wounded, showcat-finicky, masculine, compulsive about his orderly routine, insightful in the workings of others, and a little bit clueless about himself. Although the violence of his angry outbursts seems a little overmodulated, a better choice for the role is hard to imagine.

Archie Goodwin is a less boldly written role, but in this production he seems fully realized and very natural. Timothy Hutton gets the right tone when Archie is dealing with his exacting boss, and it doesn't seem at all odd that this smart aleck would be loyal to a man who routinely tells him where to sit. (The entire snoop team's devotion to Wolfe is palpable, felt not so much in what's said as in what need not be said. All this seems like a minor miracle in a TV movie.) Archie seems very much to enjoy manipulating the hapless participants in the mystery, as though escorting guests out the door before they are ready is wicked fun. (Only Bruce Willis -circa 1988- comes to mind as closer to the ideal Archie - you really don't want to see Tim Hutton's Archie take a punch.)

The plot's something of a tangle, and women characters don't get a chance to shine, but these shortcomings go straight back to Rex Stout. The joys of this story are in the unique and symbiotic relationship of Nero Wolfe and Archie, and in the mystery of a detective whose gifts of insight stop just short of the bathroom mirror.

This is the first in a television series of adaptations from the writings of Rex Stout. Unlike previous adaptations in English, this series was intended to be faithful to the original material. I don't watch television, so my only experience with this series is this episode, available complete (in some ten parts) at Youtube, and five production scripts available on the internet. It is notable that, visuals aside, the dialog is taken directly out of Stout, which for a Wolfe fan is a big plus.

Visually, like many such ventures - the Granada Holmes series, the cable TV adaptations of Raymond Chandler back in the '90s - the greatest strength of the series is also its most troubling aspect - a painstaking attention to set design detail and an immaculate lighting, coloring, and camera placement - all of which, however, adds up to: "television." There is nothing truly cinematic here, and it's unclear whether such productions can survive for long after their original broadcast. For instance, this production is certainly visually evocative of New York City in the 1950s, but still lacks authenticity - it is evocative in the manner of those museum dioramas of Native American villages; you're always aware that you aren't visiting the village, but merely looking at a carefully reconstructed replica in a glass box.

The acting throughout is impeccably professional. Of course Wolfe fans can argue about the all-important casting of Wolfe and Archie. Frankly, both Maury Chaykin and Timothy Hutton are fine. (The notion that the perfect Wolfe would have been Orson Welles I find frightful; and actually, the very best Wolfe appears to have been Tino Buazzelli, judging by fragments from the 1960s Italian TV series I've been fortunate to catch here and there. It is well to remember that Wolfe is Montenegran by birth; that is really very important, for it defines what is most lasting in his personality, and Stout himself was aware of its importance and works it into quite a number of Wolfe stories. Montenegro just across a bay from Italy, it is unsurprising that an Italian could both look the part and act it with aplomb.) However, a good interpretation can substitute for perfection. Sidney Greenstreet's radio interpretation of Wolfe is clearly not Stout's at all, but it is an amiable and believable impersonation of some detective named "Nero Wolfe." (On the other hand, William Conrad's Wolfe "interpretation" was so bad, I shudder every time I think of it.) Chaykin's interpretation is still not Stout's, but it is far superior to Greenstreet's, since it is a real effort to capture the character's irascibility without a trace of parody.

Overall, then, this is a high-quality television adaptation, and while still not perfectly Stoutian or perfectly Wolfean, stands as a good introduction to the novels for those unfamiliar with them. Those who complain about the leisurely pacing and occasionally unwieldy plot-twists would not find the novels interesting; those who find the unfolding of the narrative, with its subtleties of character and clues should definitely make the effort to get acquainted with the original novels; they are addicting and worthy of the legendary status they enjoy among mystery fans.

Nero Wolfe has consistently defied a good translation to the screen, perhaps because so much of the attraction in Rex Stout's novels is the wit of the language. But this is the best job so far. Best casting is Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin, who succeeds in combining the smart alec and hardboiled just like the character in the book. Chaykin makes a good effort as Wolfe; he isn't really BIG enough, so that his high-pitched tirades don't really do justice to Wolfe's bellowing. Wolfe's office is just as you could imagine it, down to the red leather chair. The orchid room, by contrast, is disappointing--need more flowers, more jungle. Not sure why Golden Spiders was chosen as plot--there are perhaps too many characters and the suspects aren't developed enough. Hopefully, this will be the first in a series of films.

Nice try to put on screen books of my favorite author. It looks like director loves them too. Of course, events go too fast - the books are pretty thick, and the time for the TV series is strictly limited, nevertheless scenery is the good work too. Maybe characters are not quite as I think of them - Wolfe should be bigger (handsomer :)), and Archie should be a little more attractive, and Fritz little younger. Saul+Fred+Orrie are good, and Cremer is perfect. But it's the best effort of putting the books on screen I've seen. It's made with love and application.