Sep 17, 2013
Last week I promised a new detective series to the show and I have the man for the job. Nero Wolfe is a fictional character created in 1934 by the American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe's confidential assistant Archie Goodwin narrates the cases of the detective genius. Stout wrote 33 novels and 39 short stories from 1934 to 1974, with most of them set in New York City. Many radios, television, and film adaptations have been made from the stories.
Nero Wolfe first appeared on radio in 1943 on the NBC Blue Network. This series did not last long. The second attempt was during 1945 on the Mutual network called The Amazing Nero Wolfe. This lasted only one season. The third series was known as The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe, started in 1950 and starred the talented Sidney Greenstreet as Nero Wolfe. The part of Archie was played by Lawrence Dobkin, then Gerald Mohr and finally Harry Bartell played Archie for the remainder of the series.
Sydney Hughes Greenstreet, born December 27, 1879, was an English stage and film star. He is most widely known for his Warner Bros. films with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre, which included The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca. He died on January 18, 1954, from complications due to diabetes.
Our story this week comes from The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe and is called Phantom Fingers. It stars Sidney and first aired on Jan 21, 1951.