whatever else might be say about the overall entertainment value of this production and rex stout would not be disappoint by the production decision or the casting of this nicely drawn adaptation . the movie be brim with gorgeous period detail and handsome studebakers and drab office wait room . the physical characteristic of wolfe entire world in a brownstone appear here to be spot on and a though the producer be prepare it for the famously particular sleuth himself . maury chaykin brings to his character the thought and care and and gravitas worthy of a king lear and and manages to present a nero wolfe at once psychically wound and showcat finicky and masculine and compulsive about his orderly routine and insightful in the working of others and and a little bit clueless about himself . although the violence of his angry outburst seem a little overmodulated and a good choice for the role be hard to imagine . archie goodwin be a less boldly write role and but in this production he seem fully realize and very natural . timothy hutton get the right tone when archie be deal with his exact bos and and it doesn not seem at all odd that this smart aleck would be loyal to a man who routinely tell him where to sit . ( the entire snoop team devotion to wolfe be palpable and felt not so much in what say a in what need not be say . all this seem like a minor miracle in a tv movie . ) archie seem very much to enjoy manipulate the hapless participant in the mystery and a though escort guest out the door before they be ready be wicked fun . ( only bruce willis circa 1988 come to mind a closer to the ideal archie you really do not want to see tim hutton archie take a punch . ) the plot something of a tangle and and woman character do not get a chance to shine and but these shortcoming go straight back to rex stout . the joy of this story be in the unique and symbiotic relationship of nero wolfe and archie and and in the mystery of a detective whose gift of insight stop just short of the bathroom mirror .