The elderly Turnbull sisters want to donate their home for a children's hospital. Their late father stipulated that at least one of them has to be in the house every night for 20 years or else it goes to the city. A goon pushes Nancy Drew (Bonita Granville) aside to steal her father's affidavits. Her boyfriend Ted Nickerson saves her in the nick of time. The Turnbulls' chauffeur Phillips dies mysteriously but the cause is under dispute. The sisters are scared. Nancy helps to investigate.
It's the fourth and last time Bonita Granville played the teen sleuth. I'm not going to compare it to the book. Quite frankly, I've never read any of the books anyways. I want more out of the mystery solving. Nancy should be Sherlock but she's really only an inquisitive girl. She needs to be smarter than the audience. Instead, she's more driven than brilliant. She's being too girlie. She is often surprised by simple discoveries. She just needs to investigate on her own. She shouldn't need her father and the cops are cartoonish in their incompetence. Then, there is boy toy Ted. I like the couple's relative brain powers. I don't like that they have so much time together. After all, it's not a Ted and Nancy mystery solving team. It's supposed to be her alone solving the case.
It's the fourth and last time Bonita Granville played the teen sleuth. I'm not going to compare it to the book. Quite frankly, I've never read any of the books anyways. I want more out of the mystery solving. Nancy should be Sherlock but she's really only an inquisitive girl. She needs to be smarter than the audience. Instead, she's more driven than brilliant. She's being too girlie. She is often surprised by simple discoveries. She just needs to investigate on her own. She shouldn't need her father and the cops are cartoonish in their incompetence. Then, there is boy toy Ted. I like the couple's relative brain powers. I don't like that they have so much time together. After all, it's not a Ted and Nancy mystery solving team. It's supposed to be her alone solving the case.