- Title: A Nero Wolfe Mystery – Champagne for One
- IMDb: link
Today’s Throwback Tuesday post takes us back to the mid 20th Century New York and the private detective offices located at 454 W. 35th Street. “Champagne for One” offers a different set-up as it allows Archie Goodwin (Timothy Hutton) to witness a murder while standing in for an acquaintance (Boyd Banks) at a charity dinner and dance for unwed mothers. When one of the women, who had contemplated suicide, is poisoned at the party everyone from the host (Marian Seldes) to Inspector Cramer (Bill Smitrovich) is willing to write it off as suicide. Everyone that is, except for Archie Goodwin.
“Champagne for One” is notable for Nero Wolfe (Maury Chaykin) being put off guard by observations from both one of the women (Kathryn Zenna) from the party and later by the unexpected attentiveness of Purley Stebbins (R.D. Reid). The two-part episode ends in an elaborate recreation of events from the fateful evening in the study of Nero Wolfe where he exposes the murderer and the true motive for the crime (which isn’t related to the red herring of the father of the woman’s child also being at the party).
great!