Walter Connolly is really only competent in this rather lightweight crime thriller. His "Nero Wolfe" character is called upon to investigate the killings of some Harvard alumni many years after a hazing incident at the frat house went spectacularly wrong; leaving one poor fresher crippled. Now I've only read one or two of Rex Stout's books featuring this legendary, self-indulgent, detective and I can't say I ever really engaged with his character, or that of his sidekick "Archie" (Lionel Stander in this) and that didn't exactly help me appreciate this pretty formulaic, lacklustre even, drama that is pretty much a join the dots affair. Eduardo Ciannelli does his best to liven things up, but really it is the screenplay that lacks punch. The ending, when it comes, is almost as routine as if we were ending a chapter of a book before reading the next one - no real sense of suspense, jeopardy or even interest. The production is basic at best and well, nah, sorry - maybe one for "Wolfe" fans, but of little merit otherwise.
A group of young holiday friends meet for a festive get-together. At dinner, the feast turns into a murderous scavenger hunt, led by the astute detective William R. Windsor.
When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt, Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detectives freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons—they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live.
A sheltered Amish child is the sole witness of a brutal murder in a restroom at a Philadelphia train station, and he must be protected. The assignment falls to a taciturn detective who goes undercover in a Pennsylvania Dutch community. On the farm, he slowly assimilates despite his urban grit, and forges a romantic bond with the child's beautiful mother.
A domestic house cat named Francis investigates the grisly feline murders taking place in his new neighborhood.
Inspector Nick Cafmeyer seems to have it all - looks, brains and a successful career. But a dark cloud hangs over his life: since the age of nine, he has been haunted by the unsolved disappearance of his younger brother, Bjorn. Plettinckx, a known sex offender, was questioned but quickly released. Plettinckx lives close by and takes fiendish pleasure in harassing Nick. Then, when a disturbing case comes to light involving a missing nine-year-old, Nick heads a massive search which turns into a relentless manhunt.
The body of teenager Gloria Hollinger is found dead on a Los Angeles beach, and Lt. Phil Gaines is in charge of the investigation. Gaines learns that the girl, a stripper and prostitute, committed suicide, but he ignores the connection between her and a powerful mob lawyer, Leo Sellers. Hollinger's father, however, is not satisfied with Gaines's results, and attempts to investigate the case on his own.
An opulent beach resort provides a scenic background to this amusing whodunit as Poirot attempts to uncover the nefarious evildoer behind the strangling of a notorious stage star.
Gruff gumshoe Francis Hogan is hired by a mysterious woman to find her boyfriend who has gone missing. With his perpetually hungry partner in tow, Hogan must untangle a web of intrigue involving the criminal underworld and a dead courier. One double-cross follows another as Hogan investigates the whole sordid affair.
A career officer and his wife work with a police detective to uncover the truth behind their son's disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq.
An embezzler's wife begs his boss for forgiveness, only to fall in love with him.