classicsoncall It would be too easy to pick this story apart for it's lack of credibility, but that would be a disservice to all the young fans of the Nancy Drew series of books and films that continue to entertain to the present day. The best thing to do with this one is watch it with a few kids and get their reaction to the on screen hi-jinks between Nancy (Bonita Granville) and her put upon pal Ted Nickerson (Frankie Thomas). Nancy's pretty slick actually, the way she filched the newspaper assignment and how she managed to con her way into and out of the scrapes she found herself in.There were a few things that had me going 'Huh?' though, like did the door man at the gym REALLY charge them ten cents to get in? The other head scratcher was the lettering on the office door of the River Heights Tribune - what exactly is a 'Newspaper Morgue'?

bkoganbing City Editor Thomas E. Jackson is not a happy man being saddled with these six high school kids who won a day to spend as a reporter on his paper. But when one of them is Bonita Granville as Nancy Drew, you know they're in for some big trouble.Nancy's not happy with the puff assignment she received, she takes a real one from a reporter's desk who's late that day to cover a coroner's inquest. Betty Amann who nursed a rich old lady is being charged with her murder. Nancy sees some suspicious behavior from a man in the audience and she follows him to the crime scene which is still taped off. If you think that stops her, you haven't seen any of the films in this series.Two things stand out about this one. The teenage girls of 1939 got to see young Frankie Thomas as Ted Nickerson stripped to the waist as Nancy convinces him to pretend he's a boxer. He goes into the ring with a real boxer who's her real suspect and the results are predictable.The second thing is that this is the only one of the Nancy Drew series with a musical number. Granville, Thomas, and two younger kids in their charge, Mary Lee and Dickie Jones are stuck for a bill in a Chinese restaurant. Owner Willie Fung says sing for your supper or wash dishes. Young Mary Lee is up to the challenge with a nursery rhyme swing medley that's real nice.Again, nothing outstanding, but amusing nonetheless.

Neil Doyle Another pleasant programmer in the Nancy Drew series starring BONITA GRANVILLE as the girl sleuth, this time it's NANCY DREW...REPORTER based on the Nancy Drew books by Carolyn Keene.This one was written by an original screenplay writer, not based on an actual Drew story, but it follows the mold of the original books, using some of the same characters again. Nancy is determined to prove Eulah Denning is not a murderess but her father (JOHN LITEL) vehemently disagrees with her. DICKIE JONES (he was the voice for "Pinocchio"), is her pesky kid neighbor and once again, Nancy has to enlist the aid of FRANKIE THOMAS to help her do some investigating.Watch for JOAN LESLIE in a bit role as one of Granville's classmates on a field trip.The story has Nancy tricking her father into defending the accused woman while she works on finding exculpatory evidence. Litel, by the way, has a much lighter touch than usual as the stolid attorney and actually kids around with his daughter in this one. FRANKIE THOMAS has his usual line where he says, "You're not going there alone, are you?", as Nancy talks him into joining in on her detective work. The accent is more on comedy than mystery, especially when Nancy gets boyfriend Ned involved in a boxing match.There's even a totally unexpected sequence where Nancy, Ned and the pesky kids have to literally sing for their supper in a Mandarin restaurant. The plot goes off in all directions without keeping track of finding the real murderer, which makes it one of the weaker entries in the series.Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to have a writer work up an original screenplay. At any rate, it doesn't work this time.

mlevans Although it took a few minutes for me to accept Bonita Granville as Nancy Drew, once I did, I really enjoyed this little film. Having read both some of the modern 'Nancy Drew Files' (and having submitted a manuscript for one) and one of the original 1930 stories, I was taken slightly off-guard by Granville's somewhat flighty, scheming character.Still, Granville did make a good Nancy Drew. While she seemed to fluster and fright much more readily than the Nancy of the novels, she still showed the ingenuity, spunk, determination and courage. She was a wee bit more manipulative of her father, successful attorney Carson Drew, and of Ted (Ned in the books) Nickerson, the boy next door.Ted was solidly played by Frankie Thomas, certainly not the athletic, confident Ned of the modern books, but an ideal sidekick for the movie Nancy. Thomas' wiry build and facial contortions added to the comic effect.In fact, while the Nancy Drew novels have always been detective/adventure stories, the movie version – at least Nancy Drew … Reporter – was really a comedy. And a cut little comedy it was. The cast went well together and the script was cute. I wasn't bothered by the one musical number. Actually I found that young Mary Lee, later a Roy Rogers sidekick, had a very charming voice.John Litel as Carson Drew was certainly different than the father in the books. The Carson Drew of the novels is a very serious, stoic attorney, who rarely shows much life. Litel's Drew was a pleasant surprise as a doting, affectionate father. He was quite charming when he carried Nancy to her bed, forcing the hyper teen to hit the sack, serenading her all the while. I suspect an identical scene filmed today would lead to speculation about the nature of the father-daughter relationship. This was 1939, though, and Nancy fibbing to the newspaper editor with fingers crossed behind her back was about as naughty as things got.Overall, this is still a fun little family film. For its time and place, I would have to call it at least a solid '7.' This may have been a 'B' movie but, just like in high school, a 'B' is not usually a bad thing.