Sixteen-year-old amateur detective Bonita Granville (as Nancy Drew) is suspicious when widower father John Litel (as Carson Drew) announces they are going on a fishing and hunting vacation in the country. A successful lawyer, Mr. Litel has "never been an outdoorsman." He's really there to represent a friendly uncle charged with murder, which Ms. Granville quickly surmises. With help from wavy-haired boyfriend Frankie Thomas (as Ted Nickerson), also on vacation with his family, Granville sets out to solve the crime. They are assisted by superstitious chicken-thief Willie Best (as Apollo Johnson). Not very funny, Mr. Best's intellectually challenged character is the film's missing lynchpin. In one scene, Best is outfitted in bedclothes resembling a Ku Klux Klan uniform...
Cute and perky, Granville is best playing off attractive Charlotte Wynters (as Edna Gregory), who arouses interest from both her father and young Thomas. Granville's dinner scene is a delight. Thomas is an excellent foil, with great timing and some physical comedy. After decades of success on stage, this was the first film for "Uncle" Aldrich Bowker (as Matt Brandon). Younger John Harron, brother of acclaimed "silent" actor Robert Harron, appears as the "Crossman" shop clerk. Now appearing mostly as an uncredited extra, Mr. Harron's second scene gives him some relatively good screen time. John Harron died, unexpectedly, later in 1939. This entry in Warner Bros' short but sweet "Nancy Drew" series plays more like a situation comedy than a crime mystery, but it works.
****** Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter (6/17/39) William Clemens ~ Bonita Granville, Frankie Thomas, John Litel, Willie Best
Cute and perky, Granville is best playing off attractive Charlotte Wynters (as Edna Gregory), who arouses interest from both her father and young Thomas. Granville's dinner scene is a delight. Thomas is an excellent foil, with great timing and some physical comedy. After decades of success on stage, this was the first film for "Uncle" Aldrich Bowker (as Matt Brandon). Younger John Harron, brother of acclaimed "silent" actor Robert Harron, appears as the "Crossman" shop clerk. Now appearing mostly as an uncredited extra, Mr. Harron's second scene gives him some relatively good screen time. John Harron died, unexpectedly, later in 1939. This entry in Warner Bros' short but sweet "Nancy Drew" series plays more like a situation comedy than a crime mystery, but it works.
****** Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter (6/17/39) William Clemens ~ Bonita Granville, Frankie Thomas, John Litel, Willie Best