Masterful Cinema

Am I Missing Something?

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.

That title goes to "Nancy Drew - Trouble Shooter", in my opinion. But "Detective" may be the (relatively) "grittiest" of the series - which is ironic, because it's also the only one where no murders occur. However, it has a real sense of danger sometimes, as the bad guys take Nancy very seriously and try to intimidate her into stopping her investigation. Bonita Granville gives a typically bright and spirited performance, and she has excellent chemistry with both John Litel (Nancy's loving father) and Frankie Thomas (her on-and-off boyfriend Ted, who is sometimes the unsung hero of these films - here he is even the one who makes the smartest realization: that they should look not for the place that the pigeon was going TO, but the place it was coming FROM). Technical note: this is the only one out of the 4 Nancy Drew films in the official DVD collection that has a severely damaged print on two or three instances. **1/2 out of 4.

Rather than writing a long review on all four movies, I will be remarking on the whole series and the individual movies here.Bonita Granville stars as sleuth Nancy Drew, based on books by Carolyn Keane, though I hear they're not completely faithful as they take out some of her girlfriends, which was probably a good thing, as they want to emphasize on Miss Granville's character and her on-going relationship with supposed boyfriend and partner in sleuthing, Ted Nickerson, played by Frankie Thomas, but against his better judgment. Dad is lawyer Carson Drew, played John Litel, and the law is represented by Frank Orth, a rather inept police chief who takes the easy decisions with less work to it. He is seen in the first installment and the last, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase.I won't be going into the actual plots of each, but I will say that if you want a fun fast-paced mystery, then you should see this mystery series which is out on DVD. Of the four movies, I would rank the third, Nancy Drew - Troubleshooter, as the best with a rating of '9', with some great aerial shots of Nancy and Ted in a plane they can't fly (they were put in that position by the bad guys) and with a subplot of a love interest for her dad. This installment moves very briskly and is very funny. The last one, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, I would rank as '8' and the first one, maybe '8', too. (My favorite two are the last two, but they are all entertaining.) But the weakest in my opinion is the second one, Nancy Drew - Reporter, ranked '6' or '7' tops, due mainly to the presence of two young actors who are too obnoxious to bear, Ted's younger sister and friend. In almost all of these movies, the killer is already known by the viewer as there are very few suspects. The fun and entertainment is in the case, the chase, and the predicaments that Nancy Drew gets in with Ted. On the whole, the Nancy Drew series does provide Bonita Granville a chance to stand out and shine from her other films and from other stars of her age. And, you get to see Hollywood making some family entertainment that should be enjoyed by all. My rating of '8' at the top is for the whole series. I just wish they could have made more, but maybe Miss Granville or the bigwigs got tired of them. It all ends with a remark that "Ted" is in trouble again, "dad." Ironic, of course, it's because of Nancy Drew, that he got in trouble. Nancy Drew may help her friends and solve murders, but it also has its consequences for others along the way.

even thought this movie was made in 1938,the picture and sound quality are excellent.there are also subtitles,which was good.the movie itself is funny,fast paced,and well acted.Bonita Granville plays the title character,and brings some sassiness to the role.i also liked the supporting cast,particularly her Sidekick Ted.i thought he had some funny lines.the chief of police was also a funny character.i thought the writing was good and i liked the story.even though the movie is 66 minutes,it didn't feel rushed or incomplete.it was well paced.this is the first of four movies in which Bonita Granville portrays Nancy,and if this any indication,i can't wait to watch the other three.for me Nancy Drew--Detective is an 8/10

This was the first of the 4 Warner Brothers attempts at filming a Nancy Drew mystery in the '30's, all of them pretty much revolved around this standard and all taking liberties with the characters and original stories, where used. The series of books began to be published in 1930 following on from the success of the Hardy Boys and ghosted mostly by Mildred Wirt under the name of Carolyn Keene, until 1953 when other ghosts completely took over. Therefore it's always amused me that the first book chosen to (liberally) adapt for the big screen, The Password To Larkspur Lane from 1933 was one written by a man, Walter Karig. There weren't as many astounding plot co-incidences in his 3 books as with Wirt's and it shows in the screenplay here.Nancy ably played by Bonita Granville is intuitively sure a nice rich old lady has been kidnapped for her money, her Dad's not too sure, but her beau Ted grumblingly followed her lead. This involves letting a message-bearing homing pigeon free and improbably following it by car to the nest of gangsters improbably led by otherwise sophisticated James Stephenson. It doesn't matter but it grates a little bit with Ned the confident proto-man changed to Ted the juvenile radio ham, Nancy is played slightly more immature than the stories at the time leading to the cops continually calling her a little girl, Effie was supposed to be 17 not middle aged, and Carson Drew although well played by John Litel never lost his temper like he did in here! But overall it's an engrossing pleasant mystery - good photography got the atmosphere of River Heights just right too.Not recommended for the serious! Obviously they couldn't be as good as the books but they were all good efforts and solid family entertainment and imho miles better than the 1970's TV series. I wish Warners had made 14 of them not 4!