Nancy Drew... Reporter (1939)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

William Clemens

Writers:

Mildred Wirt Benson (stories)
Kenneth Gamet (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 February 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Family | Musical | Mystery

Tagline:

STOP THE PRESSES! Nancy's on the trail of a terrific SCOOP!

Plot:

Nancy Drew, reporter for the school newspaper, clears a girl of murder charges.

Plot Keywords:

Newspaper | Murder | Nancy Drew | Trial | Teenager

Cast

Bonita Granville	...	Nancy Drew
John Litel	...	Carson Drew
Frankie Thomas	...	Ted Nickerson (as Frank Thomas Jr.)
Mary Lee	...	Mary Nickerson
Dickie Jones	...	Killer Parkins
Larry Williams	...	Miles Lambert
Betty Amann	...	Eula Denning
Thomas E. Jackson	...	City Editor Bostwick (as Thomas Jackson)
Olin Howland	...	Sergeant Entwhistle
Sheila Bromley	...	Bonnie Lucas
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Irving Bacon	...	Tracy (scenes deleted)
John Dilson	...	Deputy Coroner (scenes deleted)
Edgar Edwards	...	Drunk (scenes deleted)
Jack Gardner	...	(scenes deleted)
Jack Mower	...	Deputy Coroner (scenes deleted)
Walter Young	...	Doctor Hibbard (scenes deleted)

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Vitaphone

Certification:

USA:Passed (PCA #4838)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Florence Halop's film debut.

Quotes:

Nancy Drew: Ted, why did you have to have a sister?
Ted Nickerson: Ask Ma!

Movie Connections:

Followed by Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter (1939)

Soundtrack:

Something Tells Me

Time flies

I watched this film last Saturday night, thinking it's been a long time since I saw this or the other 3 in the series. It didn't disappoint, I knew exactly what I was going to get and did. It all depends on personal preferences of course, but if this is an ancient cheap B pic how come 67 minutes simply flew by? I happened to watch Blazing Saddles for the first time the night before and found myself continually counting down the time remaining on the VCR clock.

It's a highly enjoyable romp in the best family Warner Bros tradition, even with that juvenile Vaudeville/Swing scene in it - it's not something that I can easily relate to! Having read most of the "classic" Nancy Drew books ghosted by Mildred Wirt (and the few by Walter Karig), I still think it was a perfect part for Bonita Granville as the teenage heroine (John Litel was a litel stocky as her Dad). Maybe the plot was also a bit less implausible and full of marvellously astronomical co-incidences than most of MW's stories were too!

And to top it all the DVD only cost £3, a nice production from Alpha Video.