"The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula (1977)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Joseph Pevney

TV Series:

"The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" (1977)

Original Air Date:

11 September 1977 (Season 2, Episode 1)

Genre:

Family | Mystery

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Nancy Drew | Teen | Hardy Boys | Detective | Amateur Detective

Cast

Pamela Sue Martin	...	Nancy Drew #1
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Leon Askin	...	Haufman Berger
Claude Bessy	...	Frenchie
Albert Carrier	...	Paris Hotel Clerk
Shaun Cassidy	...	Joe Hardy
Ruth Cox	...	Bess Marvin
Carl Esmond	...	Kolbe
Fritz Feld	...	Fritz
Karen Fredrik	...	Mandy Richards
Ed Gilbert	...	Fenton Hardy
Lorne Greene	...	Inspector Hans Stavlin
Walter Janovitz	...	Waiter (as Walter Jonowitz)
Clyde Lucas	...	Lead Guitar in Alison Troy Band (Paul Williams Band)
Norbert Schiller	...	Caretaker
Parker Stevenson	...	Frank Hardy
Bernie Taupin	...	Tim Carstairs
Roger Til	...	Paris Police Officer
John Van Dreelen	...	Mayor
Norbert Weisser	...	Gurd
Paul Williams	...	Allison Troy

Series Cast

These people are regular cast members. Were they in this episode?

Edith Atwater

...

Aunt Gertrude

Trivia:

The first song performed by Paul Williams in this episode, "The Hell of It", is also performed by him in 'Phantom of the Paradise (1974)'. At the end of the song, Williams dons a set of fake teeth that makes him look like the Phantom of the Opera, the character parodied by him in the movie.

Goofy fun

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Worried about their father who hasn't checked-in in over a week, Frank and Joe Hardy (Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy) look for clues in the last European village he was known to have been in. The boys soon discover that their father was on the trail of a gang of art thieves who appear to be using the movements of the rock singer Allison Troy as cover. They also discover a young woman named Nancy Drew who is looking for their father. The next step seems obvious – follow Allison Troy to the next gig. But Allison Troy just happens to be headed to a rock festival in, of all places, Dracula's castle. Has Dracula returned and is he responsible for Mr. Hardy's disappearance? And what does Dracula have to do with missing artwork? It's up to our intrepid threesome of amateur detectives to find out.

Yeah, the whole thing really is as silly as it sounds. The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew stumbling around secret passages in the bowels of Dracula's castle while a multi-day rock concert is going on above is without a doubt one of the more ridiculous ideas I've ever been asked to swallow. But even more ridiculous is Paul Williams as supposed rock god, Allison Troy. Sorry, I'll buy the Dracula story before I will Little Enos as a rock star. And it's not like there's much of a mystery surrounding the stolen paintings and the legend of Dracula. I spotted "Dracula" as soon as he came on screen. In all honesty, it's not very good.

Wait a minute – I admit The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula isn't very good, yet I've rated it a 6/10? What gives? Well, there's no accounting for sentimental value in these things. While I can't remember this specific episode, The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries was one of my favorite television shows in 1977. And the goofy charm in every one of the episodes still appeals to me. The show may not work for everyone, but it has always worked for me.