The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery

Plot

After Wolfe reacts petulantly to a change in one of his favorite meals, his assistant Archie Goodwin pranks him by allowing a neighborhood boy, Pete Drossos, to consult Wolfe about a case. Pete claims a woman wearing distinctive golden spider-shaped earrings asked him to get a police officer while she was driving at a stoplight, and he believes her male passenger was holding her hostage. The next night, NYPD Sgt. Purley Stebbins informs them that Pete has been killed by a hit-and-run driver, along with INS agent Matthew Birch.

Pete's mother brings Wolfe $4.30 that Pete saved and asks him to find the killer. Angered by Wolfe's reluctance, Archie uses the money to place an advert asking the woman to contact Wolfe. Wealthy widow Laura Fromm arrives wearing the golden spider earrings and hires Wolfe, but refuses to reveal the driver's identity; the next day, she is also killed in an apparent hit-and-run. Wolfe decides to solve the murders.

He identifies a charitable organization Fromm supported as a link. Archie investigates Fromm's secretary Jean Estey, director Angela White, public relations manager Paul Kuffner, and the wife of the charity's attorney Dennis Horan. The charity is part of a blackmail ring targeting illegal refugees. Horan is identified as a key ringleader along with Birch, who took orders from an unknown woman. Gathering the suspects, Wolfe reveals the murderer is Jean Estey, who used code words Fromm had overheard.

Production

Executive producer Michael Jaffe explained in a 2002 interview that The Golden Spiders was chosen to introduce contemporary audiences to Nero Wolfe because it had activity that could slowly bring viewers into Wolfe's static milieu. The story takes the detective outside, includes a gunfight and a tough interrogation scene, and has pathos from a young boy's murder and Wolfe's dealings with the boy's mother. Saul Rubinek, who later played Lon Cohen in the series, was cast as Saul Panzer in the pilot. Rubinek said he had known Maury Chaykin for almost 30 years and was an aficionado of Rex Stout's work, having recorded several audiobooks of Stout novels. He noted that Chaykin was great casting as Wolfe, and his character Saul Panzer goes undercover as an immigrant.

Reception

The film garnered high ratings of 3.2 million households and critical praise for Chaykin as Wolfe and Hutton as Archie, prompting A&E to order a weekly one-hour drama series. Don Dale of Style Weekly wrote that the film offers a chance to meet one of the most unusual characters in detective fiction. Jerry Krupnick of The Star-Ledger called it a delightful mix of tangled webs and intriguing complications with a nifty 1950s setting. David Cuthbert of The Times-Picayune praised the language as pure Wolfe and Maury Chaykin's delivery as smooth and measured.

Steven Oxman of Variety noted superb acting, stylish design, and perfect pacing from director Bill Duke, with Chaykin wonderfully petulant and Hutton showing surprising comedic charm. Danny Heitman of The Advocate found the film long on talk and short on action, with self-conscious narration by Hutton, but praised the production values and period detail evoking Eisenhower-era New York.

Home video releases

The Golden Spiders is included on two A&E DVD box sets: Nero Wolfe: The Complete Classic Whodunit Series and Nero Wolfe: The Complete Second Season. It was also released independently on VHS and DVD. The film was distributed by Pearson Television International and saw its first international DVD release in August 2008 in Australia as part of Nero Wolfe – Collection One by FremantleMedia Enterprises.