NANCY DREW DETECTIVE
I never read the Nancy Drew novels nor watched the 1930s series starring Bonita Granville so when I saw the announcement of a blogathon celebrating whodunnits and detectives, I thought it would be a good opportunity to watch the four instalments of the series. In the end I didn't feel like participating in a blogathon but having seen the series and liking them well enough, I thought I might as well dedicate a blog post to them.
Let me first start by giving a little introduction to the Drew books, true classics in children's literature. Teenage sleuth Nancy Drew was the brain child of Edward Stratemeyer, a publisher who led The Stratemeyer Syndicate. He hired ghost writers, most of them newspaper reporters, to create stories based on plot outlines he provided. The first Nancy Drew books were written during the Depression under the collective pseudonym of Carolyn Keene. Most of the books were written by Mildred Wirt Benson and Stratemeyer's daughter Harriet Adams, with Wirt Benson writing the best-known books. Edward Stratemeyer himself didn't live to witness the success of the series. He died two days before publication of the first book in 1930.
Let me first start by giving a little introduction to the Drew books, true classics in children's literature. Teenage sleuth Nancy Drew was the brain child of Edward Stratemeyer, a publisher who led The Stratemeyer Syndicate. He hired ghost writers, most of them newspaper reporters, to create stories based on plot outlines he provided. The first Nancy Drew books were written during the Depression under the collective pseudonym of Carolyn Keene. Most of the books were written by Mildred Wirt Benson and Stratemeyer's daughter Harriet Adams, with Wirt Benson writing the best-known books. Edward Stratemeyer himself didn't live to witness the success of the series. He died two days before publication of the first book in 1930.
At the time of publication of the first book, Nancy Drew was a new kind of heroine, a bright 16-year-old high school girl who was independent, adventurous and brave. She solved mysteries and personified a dream image for teenage girls. The adventures of Nancy Drew spanned decades, well into the 21st century, and the books remained so popular because of the appealing main character.
Moving on to the film adaptation .... Warner Brothers wanted a companion series for their popular B-film series Torchy Blane (starring Glenda Farrell) about the adventures of a crime-solving female reporter. Stratemeyer's daughter Harriet Adams had sold the film rights to the Drew books to Jack Warner in 1937 for $6,000, an act she would later come to regret. Only eight years after the first book in the Nancy Drew series had been published, the studio made the first Drew film. For the role of Nancy, they chose 15-year-old Bonita Granville who had already numerous films under her belt. She had even received an Oscar nomination for her role in These Three (1936). After the success of Nancy Drew, Detective, three more Nancy Drew films were released the following year. They were all directed by William Clemens and written by Kenneth Gamet, who also wrote Torchy Blane. All films were well received and in 1939 Warner Brothers decided to expand the series with another four titles. However, these last four titles were cancelled and never saw the light of day. Granville's contract with the studio ended in 1939 and she left for better roles.
Like I said earlier, I haven't read the novels so I cannot make any personal comparisons to the films. But from what I've read online, the films took many liberties from the original source material, making alterations to the characters and the overall tone. Nancy in the book is intelligent, responsible, resourceful and ahead of her time. She respects authority and acts professionally. She excels in everything she tries her hand at. The Nancy Drew from the films is more of a schoolgirl, scatterbrained, a bit disorganised and bumbling. She goes on adventures to solve mysteries but she doesn't come across as very brave or fearless. The tone of the books was changed too. It was matured for the films in order to reach a wider audience. In comparison to the books, the films dealt with more severe crimes involving murders and dangerous criminals, yet on the other hand they contained more humour than the books.
Other characters had also undergone changes. In the films Nancy's father is an attractive and young widower, whereas in the books he is portrayed as an older and feeble man. In the films he meddles into Nancy's affairs and wants to keep her from getting involved in dangerous cases. The book's Carson Drew doesn't really interfere in his daughter's actions. It might have something to do with the fact that book Nancy is sensible and her father trusts her to be safe. Ted Nickerson (named Ned in the book; apparently the name Ned was considered to be too old-fashioned) is Nancy's boyfriend in the books, living in another city. In the films he is Nancy's next-door neighbour and an unwilling partner in crime. Housekeeper Hannah Gruen was replaced by Effie Schneider, Hannah's teenage niece who had a minor role in a few books as the part-time maid in the Drew's household. In the films, Effie's characteristics are combined with Hannah's.
All four films feature the same main characters, performed by the same cast:
*Bonita Granville as Nancy Drew, teenager and amateur sleuth;
*John Litel as Carson Drew, Nancy's father, widower and lawyer;
*Frankie Thomas as Ted Nickerson, Nancy's neighbour and friend;
*Renie Riano as Effie Schneider, housekeeper.
N.B. Frank Orth as Captain Tweedy is not a character from the book; he appears only in the first and fourth film and is mentioned in the second. His character, the clueless cop, was added to mirror the Steve McBride character from the Torchy Blane series.
The four films are (with the release dates):
Nancy Drew, Detective (November 1938)
Nancy Drew, Reporter (February 1939)
Nancy Drew … Trouble Shooter (June 1939)
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (September 1939)
Moving on to the film adaptation .... Warner Brothers wanted a companion series for their popular B-film series Torchy Blane (starring Glenda Farrell) about the adventures of a crime-solving female reporter. Stratemeyer's daughter Harriet Adams had sold the film rights to the Drew books to Jack Warner in 1937 for $6,000, an act she would later come to regret. Only eight years after the first book in the Nancy Drew series had been published, the studio made the first Drew film. For the role of Nancy, they chose 15-year-old Bonita Granville who had already numerous films under her belt. She had even received an Oscar nomination for her role in These Three (1936). After the success of Nancy Drew, Detective, three more Nancy Drew films were released the following year. They were all directed by William Clemens and written by Kenneth Gamet, who also wrote Torchy Blane. All films were well received and in 1939 Warner Brothers decided to expand the series with another four titles. However, these last four titles were cancelled and never saw the light of day. Granville's contract with the studio ended in 1939 and she left for better roles.
Like I said earlier, I haven't read the novels so I cannot make any personal comparisons to the films. But from what I've read online, the films took many liberties from the original source material, making alterations to the characters and the overall tone. Nancy in the book is intelligent, responsible, resourceful and ahead of her time. She respects authority and acts professionally. She excels in everything she tries her hand at. The Nancy Drew from the films is more of a schoolgirl, scatterbrained, a bit disorganised and bumbling. She goes on adventures to solve mysteries but she doesn't come across as very brave or fearless. The tone of the books was changed too. It was matured for the films in order to reach a wider audience. In comparison to the books, the films dealt with more severe crimes involving murders and dangerous criminals, yet on the other hand they contained more humour than the books.
Other characters had also undergone changes. In the films Nancy's father is an attractive and young widower, whereas in the books he is portrayed as an older and feeble man. In the films he meddles into Nancy's affairs and wants to keep her from getting involved in dangerous cases. The book's Carson Drew doesn't really interfere in his daughter's actions. It might have something to do with the fact that book Nancy is sensible and her father trusts her to be safe. Ted Nickerson (named Ned in the book; apparently the name Ned was considered to be too old-fashioned) is Nancy's boyfriend in the books, living in another city. In the films he is Nancy's next-door neighbour and an unwilling partner in crime. Housekeeper Hannah Gruen was replaced by Effie Schneider, Hannah's teenage niece who had a minor role in a few books as the part-time maid in the Drew's household. In the films, Effie's characteristics are combined with Hannah's.
All four films feature the same main characters, performed by the same cast:
*Bonita Granville as Nancy Drew, teenager and amateur sleuth;
*John Litel as Carson Drew, Nancy's father, widower and lawyer;
*Frankie Thomas as Ted Nickerson, Nancy's neighbour and friend;
*Renie Riano as Effie Schneider, housekeeper.
N.B. Frank Orth as Captain Tweedy is not a character from the book; he appears only in the first and fourth film and is mentioned in the second. His character, the clueless cop, was added to mirror the Steve McBride character from the Torchy Blane series.
The four films are (with the release dates):
Nancy Drew, Detective (November 1938)
Nancy Drew, Reporter (February 1939)
Nancy Drew … Trouble Shooter (June 1939)
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (September 1939)
NANCY DREW, DETECTIVE (1938)
First film in the series is loosely based on The Password To Larkspur Lane and written by Walter Karig (under the Stratemayer Syndicate house pseudonym Carolyn Keene).
Synopsis: Young Nancy Drew is a pupil of the Brinwood School for Young Ladies. A former student of the school, the elderly and wealthy Mary Eldredge, is about to make a donation of $250,000 to the school but then suddenly disappears. Most people believe Miss Eldredge went back on her promise and decided to withdraw the donation but Nancy thinks she has been kidnapped. Nancy's father, renowned lawyer Carson Drew, shares his daughter's suspicions but feels it's a matter for the police and is against his daughter investigating on her own. The viewer soon finds out that Nancy does what she wants and is prone to break the rules, which also means disobeying her father's wishes. She's determined to find out what happened to Miss Eldredge and enlists the help of her next-door neighbour Ted Nickerson. But Ted actually wants to go out fishing and reluctantly finds himself dragged into the investigation, ending up disguised as a nurse.
NANCY DREW, REPORTER (1939)
Synopsis: Nancy Drew is competing with other teenagers in a local newspaper contest and gets an assignment on a poetry club. It doesn't come as a surprise that Nancy trades this fluff assignment with a more interesting one, one that was meant for an absent reporter. That assignment deals with covering the Kate Lambert murder and the trial. The accused is Eula Denning and Nancy convinces her father, lawyer Carson Drew, to defend Denning. Meanwhile our heroine and her neighbour Ted search for evidence to track down the real murderer and to clear the name of the accused. Not so surprisingly, Ted finds himself once again in an unwilling situation, namely impersonating a boxer and participating in a match.
(N.B. Look out for a very young Joan Leslie among the teenagers.)
NANCY DREW ... TROUBLE SHOOTER (1939)
Synopsis: Carson Drew is going to defend his friend Matt Brandon, who is accused of murdering his neighbour Henry Clark. For this purpose he needs to go to the country and uses a vacation as an excuse. Nancy isn't fooled, of course, and finds out almost immediately what the real purpose of their country holiday is. Luckily her friend Ted Nickerson is also spending time in the country with his family so Nancy can enlist his help. What she hasn't counted on is her father meeting a woman whom he instantly feels attracted to, and this causes a distraction for Nancy. She is used to getting her father's full attention and now feels threatened by this other woman in his life. She can't help disliking Edna Gregory. Still, she has no time to dwell on this matter because she has more important things on her mind. She sets out to find the killer of Henry Clark, assisted by Ted and Apollo Johnson, Matt's servant (a role by Willie Best who frequently portrayed characters that were easily frightened). This time Ted finds himself in impossible situations again. He runs into a burning building to salvage evidence from the fire and he's also on a plane with Nancy while the pilot parachutes out. Stretching the imagination a bit, Ted miraculously manages to land the plane (upside down ...). Having survived the crash landing, Nancy reconciles with her father's new romance and embraces Edna.
NANCY DREW AND THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE (1939)
Last film in the series, loosely based on The Hidden Staircase, the second volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series written by Mildred Wirt Benson under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene, published in 1930 and revised in 1959. Reportedly this was Mildred Wirt Benson's personal favourite of the Drew books she wrote.
Synopsis: Two aging spinsters, Rosemary and Floretta Turnbull, want to donate their family estate to a children's hospital. However, their father's will states that the property is theirs unless they (or at least one of them) spend every night in the house for 20 consecutive years. With the 20-year period almost coming to an end and only two more weeks to go, unexpected things start to happen in order to scare them out of their house (among others the murder of their chauffeur). So Nancy comes to the rescue. She does her best to keep the Turnbull sisters in the mansion, even if it means that she has to fake evidence to further her investigation. Ted Nickerson is there to help too, knowing well enough he's a dope for letting Nancy drag him into her crime-solving scheme. ("Some day I'm gonna get psychoanalysed and find out why I'm such a dope.")
All four movies are enjoyable. Nothing special or anything, B-mysteries with a short running time, but I can imagine they are memorable for whole generations who grew up with the books. When I watched the first film, I was unaware of the other Nancy, the Nancy from the book. I knew of course the films were based on the popular Drew novels but I had no idea that the Nancy character from the books had undergone significant changes for the screen adaptation. Then I read up on Nancy Drew and found out that book Nancy is supposed to be some sort of superwoman and it's evident that Granville's Nancy is far from that. Granville portrays Nancy as a likeable and spunky heroine, but she's also easily flustered. And not very brave. Sure, she goes out on adventures to solve crimes and she has the best intentions to bring this to a positive result but once confronted with the bad guys or realising what danger she's just faced (like surviving a crash landing with a plane in Nancy Drew ... Trouble Shooter), she faints. And she is not a very good driver either. She always seems to hit something while driving her cute Ford Cabriolet (unlike Nancy from the stories who is a skilled driver).
Although I really like Bonita Granville as Nancy, my favourite character is Ted Nickerson. I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked the actor Frankie Thomas (he also reminds me a bit of my 18-year-old nephew). I had never heard of him or seen him before and when you see him in photos of the films, he looks sort of nondescript, yet Thomas did a good job creating a memorable (at least for me) and likeable character, apparently a different character from the books. I thought he was Nancy's boyfriend in the films as well but it turned out that he was just her neighbour and I actually preferred it. Thomas and Granville have great chemistry and I like their playful banter and how natural their interaction looks. What I probably liked most is how reluctantly Ted takes part in Nancy's investigations and how brave he is, just like Nancy (NOT!). In the grand finale of the films, we often see both of them acting afraid and looking as if they want to hide behind each other's back. For instance, Ted says to Nancy in Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase while facing danger: "I can only hope you can keep up with me when I start retreatin'." My hero.
Regarding the other characters: I like Captain Tweedy and his interactions with Nancy. I know the actor Frank Orth from the Dr. Kildare series where he plays the café owner and I have liked him ever since. The scene where Captain Tweedy falls through a hole in the ground (in Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase) had me laughing out loud. John Litel as Nancy's father doesn't make much of an impression. I liked him best in Nancy Drew ... Trouble Shooter where he has a love interest. I was very disappointed that in the following Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase no mention was made of this romance and it appeared as if nothing had happened. I didn't really think much of Effie Schneider, the housekeeper, her role was too small and not very important to the stories.
My least favourite of the four films is Nancy Drew, Reporter and my favourite is Nancy Drew ... Trouble Shooter. I like Nancy Drew ... Trouble Shooter best (with the love interest for Nancy's father) because it shows a little bit more insight into the main characters. I like seeing Nancy just being a teenager, having to deal with her jealousy. This film has also one of my favourite Nancy scenes. The one where she is preparing dinner and making a mess of it is a joy to watch. It also makes her endearing and very human.
Before ending this post I want to share a couple of trivia:
*Frankie Thomas got 4th billing in the first film (obviously Granville got first) after John Litel and James Stephenson. In the second instalment he got billed third after Granville and Litel (it was the only of the four films where he was billed under the name of Frank Thomas, Jr.). Fortunately in the third and fourth film Frankie got what he deserved, his name right after Granville's.
*"I’ll bet you 23.80 ..." is a popular expression from the film and is used while trying to figure out the mystery. $23.80 was the weekly paycheck for an employee of the Works Public Administration during the Depression. In those days the amount became slang when betting someone.
*Bonita Granville had fond memories of making the Nancy Drew films and said her favourite film of the series was Nancy Drew … Trouble Shooter. Glad it's my fave too.
Synopsis: Two aging spinsters, Rosemary and Floretta Turnbull, want to donate their family estate to a children's hospital. However, their father's will states that the property is theirs unless they (or at least one of them) spend every night in the house for 20 consecutive years. With the 20-year period almost coming to an end and only two more weeks to go, unexpected things start to happen in order to scare them out of their house (among others the murder of their chauffeur). So Nancy comes to the rescue. She does her best to keep the Turnbull sisters in the mansion, even if it means that she has to fake evidence to further her investigation. Ted Nickerson is there to help too, knowing well enough he's a dope for letting Nancy drag him into her crime-solving scheme. ("Some day I'm gonna get psychoanalysed and find out why I'm such a dope.")
All four movies are enjoyable. Nothing special or anything, B-mysteries with a short running time, but I can imagine they are memorable for whole generations who grew up with the books. When I watched the first film, I was unaware of the other Nancy, the Nancy from the book. I knew of course the films were based on the popular Drew novels but I had no idea that the Nancy character from the books had undergone significant changes for the screen adaptation. Then I read up on Nancy Drew and found out that book Nancy is supposed to be some sort of superwoman and it's evident that Granville's Nancy is far from that. Granville portrays Nancy as a likeable and spunky heroine, but she's also easily flustered. And not very brave. Sure, she goes out on adventures to solve crimes and she has the best intentions to bring this to a positive result but once confronted with the bad guys or realising what danger she's just faced (like surviving a crash landing with a plane in Nancy Drew ... Trouble Shooter), she faints. And she is not a very good driver either. She always seems to hit something while driving her cute Ford Cabriolet (unlike Nancy from the stories who is a skilled driver).
Although I really like Bonita Granville as Nancy, my favourite character is Ted Nickerson. I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked the actor Frankie Thomas (he also reminds me a bit of my 18-year-old nephew). I had never heard of him or seen him before and when you see him in photos of the films, he looks sort of nondescript, yet Thomas did a good job creating a memorable (at least for me) and likeable character, apparently a different character from the books. I thought he was Nancy's boyfriend in the films as well but it turned out that he was just her neighbour and I actually preferred it. Thomas and Granville have great chemistry and I like their playful banter and how natural their interaction looks. What I probably liked most is how reluctantly Ted takes part in Nancy's investigations and how brave he is, just like Nancy (NOT!). In the grand finale of the films, we often see both of them acting afraid and looking as if they want to hide behind each other's back. For instance, Ted says to Nancy in Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase while facing danger: "I can only hope you can keep up with me when I start retreatin'." My hero.
Regarding the other characters: I like Captain Tweedy and his interactions with Nancy. I know the actor Frank Orth from the Dr. Kildare series where he plays the café owner and I have liked him ever since. The scene where Captain Tweedy falls through a hole in the ground (in Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase) had me laughing out loud. John Litel as Nancy's father doesn't make much of an impression. I liked him best in Nancy Drew ... Trouble Shooter where he has a love interest. I was very disappointed that in the following Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase no mention was made of this romance and it appeared as if nothing had happened. I didn't really think much of Effie Schneider, the housekeeper, her role was too small and not very important to the stories.
My least favourite of the four films is Nancy Drew, Reporter and my favourite is Nancy Drew ... Trouble Shooter. I like Nancy Drew ... Trouble Shooter best (with the love interest for Nancy's father) because it shows a little bit more insight into the main characters. I like seeing Nancy just being a teenager, having to deal with her jealousy. This film has also one of my favourite Nancy scenes. The one where she is preparing dinner and making a mess of it is a joy to watch. It also makes her endearing and very human.
Before ending this post I want to share a couple of trivia:
*Frankie Thomas got 4th billing in the first film (obviously Granville got first) after John Litel and James Stephenson. In the second instalment he got billed third after Granville and Litel (it was the only of the four films where he was billed under the name of Frank Thomas, Jr.). Fortunately in the third and fourth film Frankie got what he deserved, his name right after Granville's.
*"I’ll bet you 23.80 ..." is a popular expression from the film and is used while trying to figure out the mystery. $23.80 was the weekly paycheck for an employee of the Works Public Administration during the Depression. In those days the amount became slang when betting someone.
*Bonita Granville had fond memories of making the Nancy Drew films and said her favourite film of the series was Nancy Drew … Trouble Shooter. Glad it's my fave too.
PHOTOS/GIFS IN THIS POST FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:
*Bonita Granville, 1939;
*Nancy Drew, Detective (1938) with Bonita Granville and Frankie Thomas;
*Nancy Drew, Reporter (1939) with Bonita Granville and Frankie Thomas;
*Nancy Drew ... Trouble Shooter (1939) with Bonita Granville, John Litel, Frankie Thomas and Charlotte Wynters;
*Nancy Drew ... Trouble Shooter (1939) with Bonita Granville and Frankie Thomas;
*Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (1939) with Bonita Granville and Frankie Thomas;
*Bonita Granville in a publicity still for Nancy Drew;
*Bonita Granville as Nancy Drew.