Teen sleuth Nancy Drew (Bonita Granville) has aspirations to be a reporter, and investigates the poisoning of a local woman.
Warner Brothers made four Nancy Drew films starring Bonita Granville between 1938 and 1940, and this was the first one I'd seen. This is an entertaining piece of fluff with no designs to be anything but a cheesy mystery film. I enjoyed Granville's performance as Nancy very much, and Frankie Thomas was good as Ned Nickerson (for some reason renamed as "Ted" Nickerson).
There's some quite funny sequences and the film has a breathless pace. The only letdown is the slightly annoying presence of Mary Lee as Mary (what an original name!) and Dickie Jones (who would sion be voicing Pinocchio for Disney) as "Killer" Parkins, two kids who insist on tagging along with Nancy and Ned. The strangest part of the film (besides seeing Olin Howland dressed up as an old lady) is a completely random sequence where Mary Lee sings a song in order to pay for their dinner at a Chinese restaurant. I was not surprised to read that Lee was apparently a singer for a big band at the time.
Overall, this was a very entertaining film and well worth your time.
Warner Brothers made four Nancy Drew films starring Bonita Granville between 1938 and 1940, and this was the first one I'd seen. This is an entertaining piece of fluff with no designs to be anything but a cheesy mystery film. I enjoyed Granville's performance as Nancy very much, and Frankie Thomas was good as Ned Nickerson (for some reason renamed as "Ted" Nickerson).
There's some quite funny sequences and the film has a breathless pace. The only letdown is the slightly annoying presence of Mary Lee as Mary (what an original name!) and Dickie Jones (who would sion be voicing Pinocchio for Disney) as "Killer" Parkins, two kids who insist on tagging along with Nancy and Ned. The strangest part of the film (besides seeing Olin Howland dressed up as an old lady) is a completely random sequence where Mary Lee sings a song in order to pay for their dinner at a Chinese restaurant. I was not surprised to read that Lee was apparently a singer for a big band at the time.
Overall, this was a very entertaining film and well worth your time.