The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe
In American mystery, there is probably no better known house
than the little brownstone on W. 35th street that is the home
and office of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. The only mystery
residence that surpasses it in fame is the Baker Street flat
of Sherlock Holmes (which unlike Wolfe's home, can actually be
found on the map). It is no coincidence that mention the most
famous British detective when talking about Wolfe, because the
Nero Wolfe stories, written by Rex Stout, are a compelling
blend of the British-style "drawing room" mysteries and the
American "hard boiled" mysteries.
Rex Stout, the author of the Nero Wolfe mysteries, wrote more
than 40 books starring the gargantuan detective starting with
1934's Fer-de-Lance and ending in 1975 with A Family Affair.
He had written several other books (that never had the same
success) including a book featuring Inspector Cramer (Red
Threads) and a couple with a female detective, Dol Bonner.
However, his most enduring stories are the ones involving
Wolfe and Archie.
Nero Wolfe, a man born in Montenegro (later part of
Yugoslavia) is a large figure, often stated by Archie as being
"a seventh of a ton" in bulk. Aside from being a genius in
detection, the large man was also a gourmand with expensive
tastes in food, a gardener of orchids, and a voracious reader.
He rarely leaves his home, and never on business, preferring
to solve the crimes in his office, in a style similar to the
British drawing room mysteries. His daily schedule is
inviolate, including two 2-hour periods up in the plant rooms
and time set aside for lunch and dinner. (Business is never
spoken during meals.) While he is superb at his detection, he
is indolent to the point of needing a prodding from Archie to
work for money.
Archie Goodwin, on the other hand, fits the mold of standard
hard-boiled detective to a "T". He is sarcastic and witty and
far more the man-of-action. Acting as Wolfe's legman (as well
as Boswell, similar to Watson's penning of Holmes' stories),
he is the one to go out and get the facts (and bring home the
suspects for questioning) while Wolfe tends to his orchids.
His is the voice that can prod Wolfe into taking a case, and
his skill and knowledge brings the pieces of information that
Wolfe needs to solve the crimes.
Of course, Wolfe and Goodwin don't live in a vacuum. There are
other characters that round out the cast and give the stories
a true richness.
The aforementioned Inspector Cramer is a good example. At
times a help and often a hinderance to Wolfe, Cramer is often
distrustful of Wolfe's intervention in a case that he is
working on. (Admittedly, with the tricks that Wolfe and Archie
play during a case, he has some reason to be.) Still, he can
often be counted on to gather suspects to Wolfe's office and
take his place of honor in the red chair near the desk.
Fritz Brenner, a chef of great skill, keeps Wolfe's appetite
filled with fine food and the bottles of beer Wolfe drinks
when solving the case. He is an understated and indispensible
member of the Wolfe household.
Saul Panzer, Orrie Cather and Fred Durkin fill in as
operatives when more help than Archie can provide is needed on
a case. Highly dependable, but each with their own style, they
are often essential in narrowing down a case.
Seargent Purley Stebbins, another homicide cop, is perhaps
Archie's greatest foil in the stories. He's as distrustful as
Cramer but not as smart.
Other characters come and go, but these represent the core
characters of the series of Rex Stout stories and make their
appearances on the radio show.
The radio show had a run of several years, starting with
Santos Ortega playing Wolfe in 1943. In 1945-46, Francis X.
Bushman took the role of the orchid fancying detective with
Elliot Lewis as Archie. Finally, in 1950-51, Sydney
Greenstreet (best known for his roles in Casablanca and The
Maltese Falcon) took the role as Wolfe. Due to failing
ratings, the network went through six different actors playing
Archie: Wally Mahr, Lamont Johnson, Herb Ellis, Larry Dobkin,
Gerald Mohr, and Harvey Bartell. (Some say that it was
Greenstreet's overacting that was the cause of the slumping
ratings, but since he couldn't admit that he was the problem,
he just kept changing Archies.) These were original stories
written in the same style of Rex Stout's Wolfe stories (and
they caught the style nicely).
Of course, this isn't the end of Wolfe stories on the radio.
In 1982, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation created 13
one-hour episodes of Nero Wolfe that were based, directly, on
the stories by Rex Stout. This was said to be a great version
(that I hope to get my grubby little hands on soon).