David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

The Nancy Drew series comes to an anti-climactic close with this utterly ineffectual entry...

Rated: 2/4

Mar 5, 2008

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Steve D

Likely the best in the series.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/16/24

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Audience Member

This movie brings a movie franchise to an end, but it also has a great plot and characters. With comedy, and most of all... MYSTERY. Nancy Drew And The Hidden Staircase is a great classic film.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

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Itï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)s so good!!! Katt the director did such an incredible job! What a power for movie for young women! If you havenï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)t seen this movie yet, WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!?!??

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Audience Member

above average B movie series

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

It's a great film but his name is Ned, not Ted

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

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Teen detective Nancy Drew (Granville) swings into action when she comes to the conclusion that someone is trying to drive two little old ladies (Carner and Lewis) from their home by terrorizing them. The murder of their driver ups the stakes significantly, particularly since Police Captain Tweedy (Orth) becomes convinced the sisters killed him. "Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase" is the fourth and final mystery film based on the popular juvenile mysteries for girls. Like the previous installments, I have the sense that the characters here aren't behaving at all like the ones in the books--Nancy Drew is supposed to be the living embodiment of charm, poise and self-possession, as well as being so smart and skilled that she can run circles around any adult and take on any challenge in order to solve a mystery and bring culprit's to justice. But that's not at all the character we have here, nor in other three films in the series. The Nancy Drew in this film succeeds by being manipulative and deceitful... and by having a strange ability to convince her friend Ted (Frankie Thomas) to do anything she asks. Although by the end of this movie, during which she ends up getting Ted humilated in front of much of the town beause he ends up women's clothing, gets him fired from his summer job, and gets him dragged off to jail for evidence tampering, I can only assume that Nancy must be a "friend with beneffits" (and she must be REALLY good at delivering those benefits) if he is to continue to put up with her and the trouble she gets him into. Nancy may be having fun and solving crimes, but Ted seems to be the one paying the price. In fact, by the end of this film, the only thing that will keep Ted out of jail for real is the probable fact that Captain Tweedy (Frank Orth) is so inept that Nancy's father Carson (John Litle) probably has 90% of his practice built around suing him and the police department for defamation of character and wrongful imprisonment and that Ted will walk for that reason alone. Like "Nancy Drew: Trouble Shooter", the film immediately preceeding this one in the series, watching it evoked memories of reading juvenile mysteries back when I was a kid. The last half-hour in particular felt very much like the climax of those books. However, if they had plots as simplistic as this--what we have here is essentially a mystery with only one viable suspect--I like to think I wouldn't have enjoyed them as much. Still, the film's old-fashioned charm, excellent performances by everyone in the cast--with Granville and Thomas being especially good--and an exciting conclusion makes it very fun to watch. (It also provides a window into life in America 75 years ago... a place where icemen delivered ice for literal "ice boxes" in homes, for example. Ted's summer job as an iceman plays a prominant part in the storyline.) Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase Starring: Bonita Granville, Frankie Thomas, John Litel, Louise Carter, Vera Lewis and Frank Orth Director: William Clemens

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

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William Clemens

Director

Bonita Granville

Nancy Drew

Frankie Thomas

Ted Nickerson

John Litel

Carson Drew

Frank Orth

Captain Tweedy

Renie Riano

Effie Schneider

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Synopsis

Based on the popular book by Carolyn Keene, this mystery finds amateur sleuth Nancy Drew (Bonita Granville) determined to rope her boyfriend, Ted (Frankie Thomas), into helping her investigate the strange occurrences that elderly sisters Rosemary (Louise Carter) and Floretta Turnbull (Vera Lewis) have been experiencing in their Victorian-era house. When the Turnbulls are accused of murder, Nancy must act quickly to save the sisters from jail and discover who's been breaking into their home.

Director: William Clemens
Production Co: Warner Bros.
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 26, 2019
Runtime: 1h 0m

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