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.

Nicely done, A&E!

Aside from the shot of the portrait of Sherlock Holmes, Nero Wolfe's father, the opening wasn't promising. Some narration by Timothy Hutton as "Archie Goodwin," introducing the house on West 35th Street, Wolfe's seventh of a ton, etc.

But then it improved, and both Hutton and Maury Chaykin (as "Wolfe") were superior, and Saul Rubinek as "Saul Panzer" was excellent, albeit somewhat out of character when he winks at "Archie" while posing undercover... Rex Stout's Panzer would not have done that.

Chaykin showed a familiarity with the character that neither William Conrad nor Thayer David ever did, and his casting was both surprising and inspired.

Hutton struck the exact right note as "Goodwin," his boss' "eyes and ears" in the world outside the West 35th Street brownstone, and the prodder within who keeps "Wolfe" active on something besides his orchids and eating.

The roles of NYPD's "Inspector Cramer" and "Sgt. Stebbins" were also well-cast and true to Stout's oeuvre.

It is fervently hoped that A&E will continue to present the Nero Wolfe series using this cast… most of what they shot was done with interiors, so it shouldn't be too expensive.

Before anything else, I'd like to know why this episode is separated from the other 22 episodes. Since five of the novels were divided in two, the official list is 27 episodes. I have this as the pilot, based upon date released, followed by two seasons of novels and novellas. There were two main cast character change from this episode to the remaining 22. Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin, Fritz Brenner, Inspector Cramer, Purley Stebbins, Fred Durkin, Orrie Cather, and Lily Rowan remain the same throughout. The changes were the actors who played Lon Cohen and Saul Panzer. The rest of the cast was done as an ensemble.

Having read each of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe stories multiple times before this television series appeared, I was curious how faithful to the written word it would be. I was very pleased with the result. My only complaint is not the production values, but that now I'm losing my hearing, they did not think to supply subtitles. The Golden Spiders had everything to warrant a full series, but it was not to the taste of everyone, as there have been various complaints about one actor or another, too much bombast, earlier series (that frankly left me cold) being better, but for me...I was tickled pink that each episode brought forth the essence of that particular story.

The Golden Spiders made me hope for more.

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.