Good start, but then it gets ruined

Disappointment for a huge fan!

An absolute waste of money

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

William Clemens returned to direct this second case of Nancy Drew(played by Bonita Granville) her father Carson Drew(played by John Litel) and boyfriend Ted Nickerson(played by Frankie Thomas). This time, Nancy wins a newspaper prize with her class to be a reporter, which the reluctant editor agreed to. She tries to find evidence to clear a young woman wrongfully accused of murdering her employer for the inheritance money, which it turns out she was framed for by crooks. Ted's little brother and his girlfriend get in the act as well, though they tend to bring this film to a halt with their silliness, which can pretty much describe this installment as well. Bonita shines though.

Bonita Granville is "Nancy Drew, Reporter," in this 1939 B feature, which also stars Frankie Thomas and John Litel. This particular story is not based on any of the books. Nancy is one of a group of teens vying for an award from the local newspaper, and of course, she steals an assignment off of someone's desk that will put her at an inquest. She decides that the woman accused of murdering an elderly woman is innocent and goes after evidence that will clear her.Granville isn't the Nancy of the books, but the Nancy of the books isn't probably the best Nancy for the movies. I always think of Nancy as a very serious young woman with a sharp mind for mysteries. Granville is energetic, conniving, and a fast driver. She gets into trouble as well as danger. For some reason, her boyfriend Ned is now her boyfriend Ted (Thomas). Nancy's girlfriends aren't in the film. Instead, Ted has two brat siblings that follow them around.The most interesting parts of the film are actually its depiction of life in 1939, with the old houses, the pay phones, and the fact that Nancy always looked more formally dressed than one sees today.Very entertaining.

City Editor Thomas E. Jackson is not a happy man being saddled with these six high school kids who won a day to spend as a reporter on his paper. But when one of them is Bonita Granville as Nancy Drew, you know they're in for some big trouble.Nancy's not happy with the puff assignment she received, she takes a real one from a reporter's desk who's late that day to cover a coroner's inquest. Betty Amann who nursed a rich old lady is being charged with her murder. Nancy sees some suspicious behavior from a man in the audience and she follows him to the crime scene which is still taped off. If you think that stops her, you haven't seen any of the films in this series.Two things stand out about this one. The teenage girls of 1939 got to see young Frankie Thomas as Ted Nickerson stripped to the waist as Nancy convinces him to pretend he's a boxer. He goes into the ring with a real boxer who's her real suspect and the results are predictable.The second thing is that this is the only one of the Nancy Drew series with a musical number. Granville, Thomas, and two younger kids in their charge, Mary Lee and Dickie Jones are stuck for a bill in a Chinese restaurant. Owner Willie Fung says sing for your supper or wash dishes. Young Mary Lee is up to the challenge with a nursery rhyme swing medley that's real nice.Again, nothing outstanding, but amusing nonetheless.

NANCY DREW REPORTER is the second in a series of four programmers from the late 1930s, all directed by the same individual and starring the same cast. In this one, our junior reporter is hot on the trail of a poisoner, and her frantic hunt takes her into the netherworld of boxing, among other intriguing places. As has been noted elsewhere, the manic Nancy Drew of the movie series is not the more sedate Nancy Drew of the books, plus she is a bit older on film. But Bonita Granville's high spirits and fast-paced delivery are infectious, and so we go along for the wild ride. Granville, who later produced LASSIE on TV and in films, was absolutely charming at age 16, and is supported by some of the best actors of the day, including Frankie Thomas as her long-suffering boyfriend and John Litel as her authoritative lawyer dad. The 68 minutes on this one go by very fast, aided by a highly whimsical musical score. There's even a musical interlude halfway through that makes good use of Granville terrific singing voice. To add to the merriment, the cars seen throughout are an absolute riot. A must see. Also, the film quality and sound are first rate, way above many B films of the era. The people who put this trifle together clearly treated it the way they would any A production of the time.