Episode 218 - Big Bad Wolfe (New Adventures of Nero Wolfe)

Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Jack Mooney

Arts, Performing Arts, Mystery, Detectives, Old, Radio, Time, Tv & Film, Oldtimeradio

4.6 • 982 Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2017

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You need a big man to solve big crimes, and few detectives come bigger than Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe. The gargantuan gourmet and orchid aficionado will crack the case as long as he doesn’t have to leave his house. For the legwork and rough and tumble elements of the job, he turns to his able assistant Archie Goodwin. Sydney Greenstreet stars as Wolfe in a pair of radio mysteries: “The Case of the Careless Cleaner” (originally aired on NBC on November 17, 1950) and “The Case of the Malevolent Medic” (originally aired on NBC on February 23, 1951).

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Welcome to down these mean streets where today after two weeks of radio cops
0:26.3	were returning to the world of private eyes with one of the biggest old-time
0:30.7	radio detectives Rex Stout's Nero Wolf. There were several radio shows
0:36.0	based on the adventures of Wolf and his loyal legman Archie Goodwin, but the one
0:40.7	Rex Stout enjoyed the most was the single season run of the new adventures of Niro Wolf.
0:47.0	It aired on NBC from the fall of 1950 until the spring of 1951, and it starred Sydney Green Street, the fat man of the Maltese
0:56.6	Falcon in the title role.
0:59.4	Wolf fancied himself the greatest detective in the world, and Archie Goodwin observed the only trouble is he is
1:07.3	Waying in it close to 300 pounds wolf would be content to stand his brownstone tend to his his orchids, and enjoy gourmet meals and
1:14.6	fine beer served to him by his butler Fritz.
1:18.6	But such a lifestyle can become expensive, and Wolf would often be forced to take on a case.
1:24.4	He'd dispatch Archie to gather facts and interview witnesses as Wolf waived the evidence from
1:29.2	the comfort of his study.
1:31.5	Most stories would end with the suspects assembled at the house as Wolf summed up the
1:35.9	solution of the crime. This has long been one of my favorite old time radio detective shows,
1:41.6	despite its short run and a relatively small number of available
1:45.4	episodes. I love Sydney Green Street as Nero Wolf. He's a favorite of mine with his scene stealing
1:52.3	performances in Casablanca and the Maltese
1:54.7	Falcon, and he was a perfect choice for the role.
1:58.5	His instantly recognizable voice gives life to every confounded and fui uttered by Wolf over the course of a case.
2:05.9	This would be Green Street's last acting role after retiring from films in 1949
2:11.9	and before his death in 1954.
	...

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