''Nero Wolfe'' is a 1979 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of the 1965

Nero Wolfe Nero Wolfe is a brilliant, obese and eccentric fictional armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery (fiction), mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Principality of Montenegro, Montenegro and keeps his past murky. He lives in a ...

novel ''

The Doorbell Rang ''The Doorbell Rang'' is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1965. Plot introduction Nero Wolfe is hired to force the FBI to stop wiretapping, tailing and otherwise harassing a woman who gave away ...

'' by

Rex Stout Rex Todhunter Stout (; December 1, 1886–October 27, 1975) was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. His best-known characters are the detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin, who were featured in 33 novels and ...

Thayer David Thayer David (born David Thayer Hersey; March 4, 1927 – July 17, 1978) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He was best known for his work on the ABC serial ''Dark Shadows'' (1966–1971), as Dragon, the Albino ex-Nazi ...

stars as Wolfe, gourmet, connoisseur and detective genius.

Tom Mason Thomas, Tom or Tommy Mason may refer to: Politicians * Stevens T. Mason (Stevens Thomson Mason, 1811–1843), also known Tom Mason, founding governor of Michigan, 1835–1840 * Thomas Mason (1753–1800), American businessman, planter, and politic ...

costars as Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's assistant. Written and directed by

Frank D. Gilroy Frank Daniel Gilroy (October 13, 1925 – September 12, 2015) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film producer and director. He received the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play '' The Subject Was Roses ...

, the film was produced by

Paramount Television The first incarnation of Paramount Television was operated as the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, until it changed its name to CBS Paramount Television on January 17, 2006. History Desilu Pro ...

as a pilot for an

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

television series, but it was shelved by the network for more than two years before finally being broadcast December 19, 1979.

Cast

as Archie Goodwin * Brooke Adams as Sarah Dacos *

Biff McGuire William Joseph McGuire Jr.; (October 25, 1926 – March 9, 2021), known as Biff McGuire, was an American actor, best known as Inspector Kramer in ''Nero Wolfe'' (1979). Early years McGuire attended Hamden High School and the University of Mass ...

Inspector Cramer The Nero Wolfe stories are populated by a cast of supporting characters who help sustain the sense that each story takes place in familiar surroundings. The main characters are Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. Household Fritz Brenner Fritz Brenn ...

* John Randolph as Lon Cohen *

Anne Baxter Anne Baxter (May 7, 1923 – December 12, 1985) was an American actress, star of Hollywood films, Broadway theatre, Broadway productions, and television series. She won an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, Golden Globe, and t ...

as Mrs. Rachel Bruner *

David Hurst David Hurst (born Heinrich Theodor Hirsch; 8 May 1926 – 15 September 2019) was a German actor, best known for his role in the film '' Hello, Dolly'' as Rudolph the headwaiter. Biography Early life and career Hurst grew up in a family of ac ...

Fritz Fritz is a common German language, German male name. The name originated as a German diminutive of Friedrich (given name), Friedrich or Frederick (given name), Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Fred ...

* John O'Leary as Theodore Horstmann * Sarah Cunningham as Mrs. Althaus * Lewis Charles as Saul Panzer *

Frank Campanella Frank Campanella (March 12, 1919 – December 30, 2006) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous television series, as well as a few films and Broadway productions. Early life and career Campanella was born in New York City, the son of P ...

as Fred Durkin * John Gerstad as Dr. Vollmer *

John Hoyt John Hoyt (born John McArthur Hoysradt; October 5, 1905 – September 15, 1991) was an American actor. He began his acting career on Broadway, later appearing in numerous films and television series. He is perhaps best known for his roles in th ...

as Hewitt *

Ivor Francis Ivor Francis (October 26, 1918 – October 22, 1986) was a Canadian-American character actor and acting teacher. He is the father of television soap opera actress Genie Francis. Life and career Francis was born in Toronto and began his acting c ...

as Evers *

Allen Case Allen Case (born Alan Case Lavelle Jones, October 8, 1934 – August 25, 1986) was an American television actor most noted for the lead role of Deputy Clay McCord in NBC-TV's '' The Deputy'' (1959–1961) opposite series regular Henry Fonda, w ...

as Rugby * Rod Browning as 2nd FBI Man * Katharine Charles as Marian Hinckley * Joe George as O'Dell * Richard Ford Grayling as 1st FBI Man * David Lewis as Mr. Althaus *

Robert Phalen Robert Anthony Phalen (May 10, 1937 – December 6, 1995) was an American actor who starred in films and on television. Life and career He was born on May 10, 1937 in San Francisco, California, where he attended George Washington High School, wa ...

as Yarmack *

Sam Weisman Sam Weisman (born May 21, 1947) is an American film / television director, film producer and former actor. He has directed the films '' D2: The Mighty Ducks'', '' Bye Bye Love'', ''George of the Jungle'', '' The Out-of-Towners'', '' What's the W ...

as Quayle

Production

Disappointed with the

Columbia Pictures films Columbia most often refers to: * Columbia (personification), the historical personification of the United States * Columbia University, a private university in New York City * Columbia Pictures, an American film studio owned by Sony Pictures * ...

based on his first two Nero Wolfe novels, mystery writer

was leery of further Hollywood adaptations in his lifetime. "I've had offers," Stout told author Dick Lochte in 1967, "but I haven't been to a movie in 30 years and I despise television. ... Anyway, the money, in addition to what the books are bringing in, would put me in a tax bracket where I wouldn't see much of it. If the characters are any good for films or television they'll be just as good 10 years from now." Ten years later, a little more than a year after Stout's death, literary agent

H.N. Swanson Harold Norling Swanson (August 28, 1899 – May 31, 1991) was a literary agent who represented Frank Buck, F. Scott Fitzgerald and many other well-known American writers. He was a member of the Cliff Dwellers Club and was one of the founding me ...

negotiated an agreement for a Nero Wolfe television movie. In 1976

purchased the rights for the entire set of Nero Wolfe stories for

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

. Paramount paid $200,000 for the TV rights to eight hours of ''Nero Wolfe''. The producers planned to begin with an ABC-TV movie and hoped to persuade Welles to continue the role in a mini-series.

was signed to write the television script ("The Doorbell Rang") and direct the TV movie on the assurance that Welles would star, but by April 1977 Welles had bowed out. "I was told to discover someone for the role since no other name actors were acceptable to them (ABC/Paramount) or to me," Gilroy wrote in his memoir, ''I Wake Up Screening'' (1993). "After a bicoastal search, which acquainted me with just about every corpulent middle-aged actor available, I, close to giving up, encountered

. No sooner did he start to read than

Emmet Lavery Emmet Godfrey Lavery (November 8, 1902 – January 1, 1986) was an American playwright and screenwriter. Born in Poughkeepsie, Lavery trained as a lawyer, before devoting his career to the theatre and to film. He wrote the English libretto for ...

, the producer, and I exchanged a look: We'd found our man." At a cost of about $1.5 million,Margulies, Lee, "Clues to Stout Mystery Revealed"; ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', November 29, 1979 ''Nero Wolfe'' was filmed in March, April and May 1977, in locales including

Van Nuys Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1 ...

and

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The scene in which Mrs. Rachel Bruner (

) goes ice skating was filmed at

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

. In June 1977, UPI reported that the two-hour film would air during the 1977–78 season, with the possibility of it becoming a weekly series in January 1978. But the film had still not aired when Thayer David died in July 1978. In a November 1979 interview, Gilroy mildly complained to the Associated Press that ''Nero Wolfe'' had still not been broadcast by

, and praised the performance of David. "It doesn't affect my career one way or the other that they haven't shown it, but that was the most important thing he ever did on film, and I'm determined to get it aired," Gilroy said. ''Nero Wolfe'' was finally broadcast by ABC-TV at midnight December 18, 1979. Asked why the movie had not been run before, a former ABC executive familiar with the movie's development said, "It wasn't very good. It was very slow and plodding and talky. We just felt it wouldn't get any numbers." Asked why it had finally been scheduled, a network staffer speculated, "It's called 'dusting off the shelf.'" Frank Gilroy was recognized with an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

nomination by the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

in 1980. In January 1981, Paramount Television's one-hour weekly series ''

'', starring

William Conrad William Conrad (born John William Cann Jr., September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor, producer, and director whose entertainment career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television, peaking in popularity when he s ...

, began a 14-episode run on NBC.

Reception

James Bawden of the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' wrote, "This adaptation of Rex Stout's ''The Doorbell Rang'' is way above average." Paula Vitaris of ''

Scarlet Street ''Scarlet Street'' is a 1945 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang. The screenplay concerns two criminals who take advantage of a middle-aged painter in order to steal his artwork. The film is based on the French novel ''La Chienne'' (liter ...

'' wrote, "Not surprisingly, this version played fast and loose with the original story, even implying a romantic relationship between the notoriously woman-shy Wolfe and wealthy widow Rachel Bruner (Anne Baxter), at whose behest Wolfe had taken on one of his most formidable foes, the FBI."

Home media

In 2003, AudioVision Canada released ''Nero Wolfe'' on DVD in a described edition for the blind and those with diminished vision. On May 3, 2017, VEI announced a DVD release for the 1981 TV series starring William Conrad. Reported to be "coming soon", ''Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe: The Complete Series'' will include the 1977 pilot starring Thayer David.

References

External links

* {{Frank D. Gilroy 1979 television films 1979 films 1979 drama films 1979 in American television 1970s American films 1970s English-language films 1970s mystery drama films American detective films American drama television films American English-language television shows American mystery drama films American mystery television films Films based on American novels Films based on mystery novels Films directed by Frank D. Gilroy Films scored by Leonard Rosenman Films set in Manhattan Films shot in Malibu, California Films shot in New York City American murder mystery films Nero Wolfe Television films as pilots Television films based on books Television pilots not picked up as a series English-language mystery drama films