Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (1939)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

William Clemens

Writers:

Mildred Wirt Benson (novel)
Kenneth Gamet (writer)

Release Date:

9 September 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery

Plot:

Nancy helps two aging spinsters fulfill the byzantine provisions of their father's will, but the murder of their chauffeur complicates matters.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Will | Nancy Drew | Chauffeur | Neighbor

Cast

Bonita Granville	...	Nancy Drew
Frankie Thomas	...	Ted Nickerson
John Litel	...	Carson Drew
Frank Orth	...	Captain Tweedy
Renie Riano	...	Effie Schneider, the Housekeeper
Vera Lewis	...	Miss Rosemary Turnbull
Louise Carter	...	Miss Floretta Turnbull
William Gould	...	Daniel Talbert
George Guhl	...	Smitty, a Policeman
John Ridgely	...	Reporter
William Hopper	...	Reporter (as DeWolf Hopper)
Creighton Hale	...	Reporter
Frank Mayo	...	Tribune Photographer
Frederic Tozere	...	District Attorney's Investigator
Don Rowan	...	Phillips the Chauffeur

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Vitaphone)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #3409)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Quotes:

Ted Nickerson: [frustratedly] Some day I'm gonna get psychoanalyzed and find out why I'm such a dope.

Movie Connections:

Follows Nancy Drew -- Detective (1938)

Fourth, final, delightful entry in the terrific "Nancy Drew' Series

From 1938 to 1939, Warner Bros. produced four entries in its "Nancy Drew" series. Each is a perfect delight; why didn't the studio continue making more of them? Perky, blonde, vivacious Bonita Granville is perfection as the feisty teenaged sleuth. John Litel is equally solid and dependable as her tolerant dad. Rene Riano is a joy as the Drews' long-suffering but devoted housekeeper. And the underrated Frankie Thomas outshines them all with his droll, engaging, All-American-Boy niceness as Nancy's would-be boyfriend Ted, whom Nancy drags reluctantly into each of her outlandish crime-solving schemes. This final entry packs more fun, suspense, and twisty plot turns into a mere 60 minutes than most of today's bloated bombs manage to squeeze into two hours. The Drew's home, nestled on a cozy small-town American street, complete with picket fences and old-fashioned street lights, could be a block away from the Hardy family's domain. Although done on a B-budget, the production values of the entire Nancy Drew series are first-rate (craftily utilizing the sets of Warners' big-budget films of the era). Watch "Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase" (and spend the night in a "haunted" house, shivering along with Nancy and Ted) and I guarantee you'll be hooked--and searching TCM's listings for showings of the other three entries in the series. Mystery, wry comedy, spine-chilling suspense, first-rate writing, crisp direction, and endearing performances by actors with charisma to spare--movies of any generation don't get any better than this! The Drew series quartet is a fascinating forerunner of the teenagers-in-jeopardy genre revived in 1978 by "Halloween" (and a thousand imitators) for a more blood-thirsty generation. There's not one single drop of blood to be seen in the entire Nancy Drew series, but the suspense and chills are no less palpable. Catch these unsung classics as soon as possible. After 60-some years, they are still fresh as if newly minted, and thoroughly irresistible.