While not quite capturing the essence and old-fashioned charm of the original Nancy Drew novels, Warner Bros. turned out a series of pleasant programmers starring BONITA GRANVILLE as the teen-age sleuth who is a lot smarter at solving crimes than her elders.
The Nancy Drew of the original stories came across as a bit more sophisticated in her behavior than she is in any of the Nancy Drew films. And sometimes Granville's girlish behavior borders on brat territory and can be slightly annoying--but overall she's a bundle of teen-age energy in the role and FRANKIE THOMAS as Ted makes an appealing helpmate out of a rather colorless role.
JOHN LITEL, a reliable Warner contract player, is perfectly cast as Nancy's attorney father. The story involves the disappearance of a nice old lady who has contributed a good sum of money to Nancy's school and then promptly disappears from sight. Nancy takes a chance on tracking her down (in some highly improbable ways) and she and her boyfriend are able to solve the case in time for the predictable happy ending.
Based on "The Password to Larkspur Lane", it passes the time pleasantly enough in a modest running time, although it's not without its faults and is clearly aimed at younger viewers familiar with the Drew stories.
Summing up: A fairly good start to the series.
The Nancy Drew of the original stories came across as a bit more sophisticated in her behavior than she is in any of the Nancy Drew films. And sometimes Granville's girlish behavior borders on brat territory and can be slightly annoying--but overall she's a bundle of teen-age energy in the role and FRANKIE THOMAS as Ted makes an appealing helpmate out of a rather colorless role.
JOHN LITEL, a reliable Warner contract player, is perfectly cast as Nancy's attorney father. The story involves the disappearance of a nice old lady who has contributed a good sum of money to Nancy's school and then promptly disappears from sight. Nancy takes a chance on tracking her down (in some highly improbable ways) and she and her boyfriend are able to solve the case in time for the predictable happy ending.
Based on "The Password to Larkspur Lane", it passes the time pleasantly enough in a modest running time, although it's not without its faults and is clearly aimed at younger viewers familiar with the Drew stories.
Summing up: A fairly good start to the series.