The Original Nancy Drew Movie Mystery Collection

The Original Nancy Drew Movie Mystery Collection

Nancy Drew...Detective (1938) Nancy Drew, Reporter (1939)

Nancy Drew, Troubleshooter (1939) Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (1939)

In 1930, teen detective Nancy Drew debuted in print, captivating girls everywhere. In 1938, she came to the screen in the first of four films with Bonita Granville, whose Nancy is "brainy, feisty, resourceful, and full of energy" (Maltin's Classic Movie Guide). Sleuth with Nancy as she seeks a missing heiress (Nancy Drew, Detective), investigates a poisoning (Nancy Drew... Reporter), clears a family friend accused of murder (Nancy Drew--Trouble Shooter), and faces death in a secret tunnel (Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase). Whether you're revisiting Nancy or first met her in 2007's new Nancy Drew movie, we invite you to enjoy mystery and fun that moves like a speedy blue roadster!

Titles

Nancy Drew -- Detective
Stars Bonita Granville, John Litel, James Stephenson, Frankie Thomas, Frank Orth
Directors: William Clemens
Theatrical Release Date: November 19, 1938
Synopsis Nancy Drew and Ted Nickerson solve a kidnapping case of a wealthy elderly lady. Ted has to disguise himself as a nurse while Nancy beomse a "widow" in order to locate the lady they are rescuing.

Nancy Drew... Reporter
Stars Bonita Granville, John Litel, Frankie Thomas, Mary Lee, Dickie Jones
Directors: William Clemens
Theatrical Release Date: February 18, 1939
Synopsis While participating in a contest at a local newspaper in which school children are asked to submit a news story, local attorney Carson Drew's daughter Nancy intercepts a real story assignment. She "covers" the inquest of the death of a woman who was poisoned. Nancy doesn't think the young woman accused of the crime is guilty and corrals her neighbor Ted into searching for a vital piece of evidence, and they stumble onto the identity of the real killer.

Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter
Stars Bonita Granville, Frankie Thomas, John Litel, Aldrich Bowker, Charlotte Wynters
Directors: William Clemens
Theatrical Release Date: June 17, 1939
Synopsis Nancy Drew clears her Uncle Matt of murder charges when she exposes the real murderers. She and Ted find themselves in many dangerous positions such as trying to fly an airplane after the pilot parachuted out and being face-to-face with the murderer.

Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
Stars Bonita Granville, Frankie Thomas, John Litel, Frank Orth, Renie Riano
Directors: William Clemens
Theatrical Release Date: September 9, 1939
Synopsis Nancy Drew and Ted Nickerson solve a murder and save two elderly ladies from losing their family home. The old mansion is complete with a moving wall and a hidden staircase.

Posters

Theatrical Releases: 1938 - 1939

DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Warner (2-disc) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Warner Home Video - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC
Time:	Respectively 1:07:54, 1:05:30, 1:08:10 + 1:00:00
Bitrate: Disc 1
Bitrate: Disc 2
Audio	English (2.0 stereo)
Subtitles	English, French, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: All Original Aspect Ratios - 1.33 Edition Details: • Unrestored trailers for all 4 features DVD Release Date: June 12th, 2007 Standard 2 tiered Keep Cases inside a cardboard box Chapters: various

Comments:

The 4 features of the The Original Nancy Drew Movie Mystery Collection boxset are spread over 2 dual-layered, progressive DVDs (2 films on each disc). They are all 1.33 aspect ratio and there are optional English or French subtitles. The discs are specifically divided as follows:

Disc 1: Nancy Drew...Detective (1938) and Nancy Drew, Reporter (1939)

Disc 2: Nancy Drew, Troubleshooter (1939) and Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (1939)

There are no extras, aside from an un-restored trailer for each film and the pragmatic packaging is reflected in the price. Image quality looks a bit weak against comparably similar efforts. Each transfer shows artifacts that resemble some dirty grain. I suspect they are closely showing their age without benefit of extensive restoration. Contrast, greyscale and shadow detail are only average. There are plenty of instances of visible speckles and light scratches. The screen captures below are a pretty good representation of how the DVD appearance is - and detail is fairly good for the most part. The discs are housed in one standard dual 'keep case' and are not sold separately at this time (except some cheapo editions of Nancy Drew Reporter which is most likely in the Public Domain). Both DVDs are coded for Region 1 in the NTSC standard. I would say my expectations were a shade below in regards to the image quality.

This 4 films all starred Bonita Granville as Nancy Drew and Frankie Thomas as "Ted" (as opposed to "Ned" from the stories). Unlike her book counterpart Nancy and the entire filmic plots showed some humor but also produced a decent nostalgic value. This movies were often the second half of a double bill but were popular enough to produce three sequels from the original. I'll admit that I was entertained but I love the era as much as anything - the clothes, architecture and people's manners!