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Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase

  • 1939
  • Approved
  • 1h
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
1K
YOUR RATING
Bonita Granville and Frankie Thomas in Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (1939)
Nancy helps two aging spinsters fulfill the byzantine provisions of their father's will, but the murder of their chauffeur complicates matters.
Play trailer1:29
1 Video
99+ Photos
ComedyCrimeFamilyMystery

Nancy helps two aging spinsters fulfill the byzantine provisions of their father's will, but the murder of their chauffeur complicates matters.Nancy helps two aging spinsters fulfill the byzantine provisions of their father's will, but the murder of their chauffeur complicates matters.Nancy helps two aging spinsters fulfill the byzantine provisions of their father's will, but the murder of their chauffeur complicates matters.

  • Director
    • William Clemens
  • Writers
    • Kenneth Gamet
    • Mildred Wirt Benson
  • Stars
    • Bonita Granville
    • Frankie Thomas
    • John Litel
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.6/10
    1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • William Clemens
    • Writers
      • Kenneth Gamet
      • Mildred Wirt Benson
    • Stars
      • Bonita Granville
      • Frankie Thomas
      • John Litel
    • 23User reviews
    • 15Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 1:29
    Trailer

    Photos202

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    Top cast29

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    Bonita Granville
    Bonita Granville
    • Nancy Drew
    Frankie Thomas
    Frankie Thomas
    • Ted Nickerson
    John Litel
    John Litel
    • Carson Drew
    Frank Orth
    Frank Orth
    • Captain Tweedy
    Renie Riano
    Renie Riano
    • Effie Schneider
    Vera Lewis
    Vera Lewis
    • Miss Rosemary Turnbull
    Louise Carter
    Louise Carter
    • Miss Floretta Turnbull
    William Gould
    William Gould
    • Daniel Talbert
    George Guhl
    George Guhl
    • Smitty
    John Ridgely
    John Ridgely
    • Reporter
    William Hopper
    William Hopper
    • Reporter
    • (as DeWolf Hopper)
    Creighton Hale
    Creighton Hale
    • Reporter
    Frank Mayo
    Frank Mayo
    • Tribune Photographer
    Frederic Tozere
    • District Attorney's Investigator
    • (as Fredric Tozere)
    Don Rowan
    Don Rowan
    • Phillips the Chauffeur
    Dick Elliott
    Dick Elliott
    • McKeever
    Fern Barry
    • McKeever's Secretary
    • (uncredited)
    Nat Carr
    Nat Carr
    • Policeman
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • William Clemens
    • Writers
      • Kenneth Gamet
      • Mildred Wirt Benson
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews23

    6.61K
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    Featured reviews

    6utgard14

    "A half-wit is a person who spends half their time trying to be witty."

    Fourth and final entry in the wonderful Nancy Drew series starring the ever-adorable Bonita Granville. This time out Nancy's trying to help a couple of elderly sisters. They want to donate their mansion for a children's hospital but their father's will stipulates the ladies must live in the house every night for twenty years before it's theirs. With two weeks to go before the twenty year deadline, someone is trying to scare the old ladies out of the house. So Nancy investigates, dragging best friend Ted (Frankie Thomas) into trouble along the way.

    As in the other films in the all-too-short series, pretty Bonita Granville is extremely likable. John Litel as her dad and Frankie Thomas as her sidekick are also great. Frank Orth's Captain Tweedy is amusing. The culprit behind the mystery is pretty obvious but it's still fun. Seems odd nobody suggested someone stay with the two old ladies to keep them safe, but I guess we wouldn't have had much of a movie then. Exciting finish, as the Drew series was usually good at providing. Wish there had been more of these movies.
    Doylenf

    The old-fashioned charm of the Keene novels is missing...

    Warner Bros. filmed several of these Nancy Drew stories in the late 1930s with Bonita Granville, Frankie Thomas and John Litel top-billed and this one is probably the best--and the only one actually based on one of the early Carolyn Keene novels.

    But the script is a hapless, far-fetched one and really stretches credibility and patience when viewed today. Only a certain nostalgia for these kind of B-films that played the lower half of a double bill can have any appeal for modern viewers.

    The actors aren't to blame. Bonita Granville as Nancy does an excellent job, as does Frankie Thomas as her All-American boyfriend Ted, and John Litel as her lawyer father. All of it, however, is weakened by a poor script and a weak storyline. Only the last twenty minutes or so maintains any real suspense.

    Most of it is pretty uninvolving but appeals more as a curiosity piece than anything else.
    7eschetic

    Overly energetic Nancy still heads a solid, fun film

    Long before Harry Potter arrived to slake the thirst of voracious young readers, the factory minted Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mystery series were getting regular readers.

    While straight forward and relatively uncomplicated in their mystery plotting, they were basically solid "B" level templates, and at the height of the 30's Hollywood mystery vogue, Warner Brothers jumped on the bandwagon with a creditable four film series of Nancy Drew's - this final effort arguably the best (and the only one to share a title and a couple plot elements with an actual Nancy Drew book).

    Bonita Granville makes a borderline silly Nancy, with a mad energy level approaching Betty Hutton levels and (plot-wise) causing as many problems as she solves, but once accepted, her chemistry with John Litel's warm Carson Drew (the father figure) and Frankie Thomas' guileless comic foil/boyfriend Ted Nickerson is outstanding. Had the series tried for more, these solid supporting performances might well have kept it around for a longer run, but Granville's frequently charming caricature and Frank Orth's even sillier Police Captain Tweedy (who never listens to ANYONE once he hears half a clue) firmly place it in limited audience "B" territory - above the cartoonish "Dick Tracy" series, but several steps below the longer running "adult" Charlie Chan's, Mr. Moto's, Sherlock Holmes', Thin Man's or even the solid Saint's, Falcon's or Lone Wolf's.

    The best thing about the series 70 years after it was first shown (and which should still hold the attention of the serious film lover) is its beautifully observed picture of life in small town America just before World War II, when icemen actually did deliver blocks of ice to the actual ice boxes which adorned most kitchens (and the standard system for calling for delivery) both of which form interesting plot points.

    We're not talking great art here. Consider the drop in quality of the still decent 3rd and 4th Harry Potter films - as the books got better, "movie-movie" directors made the films less faithful and less effective. At least the Nancy Drew series ended on a high note as they edged closer to the source material.
    10sdiner82

    Fourth, final, delightful entry in the terrific "Nancy Drew' Series

    From 1938 to 1939, Warner Bros. produced four entries in its "Nancy Drew" series. Each is a perfect delight; why didn't the studio continue making more of them? Perky, blonde, vivacious Bonita Granville is perfection as the feisty teenaged sleuth. John Litel is equally solid and dependable as her tolerant dad. Rene Riano is a joy as the Drews' long-suffering but devoted housekeeper. And the underrated Frankie Thomas outshines them all with his droll, engaging, All-American-Boy niceness as Nancy's would-be boyfriend Ted, whom Nancy drags reluctantly into each of her outlandish crime-solving schemes. This final entry packs more fun, suspense, and twisty plot turns into a mere 60 minutes than most of today's bloated bombs manage to squeeze into two hours. The Drew's home, nestled on a cozy small-town American street, complete with picket fences and old-fashioned street lights, could be a block away from the Hardy family's domain. Although done on a B-budget, the production values of the entire Nancy Drew series are first-rate (craftily utilizing the sets of Warners' big-budget films of the era). Watch "Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase" (and spend the night in a "haunted" house, shivering along with Nancy and Ted) and I guarantee you'll be hooked--and searching TCM's listings for showings of the other three entries in the series. Mystery, wry comedy, spine-chilling suspense, first-rate writing, crisp direction, and endearing performances by actors with charisma to spare--movies of any generation don't get any better than this! The Drew series quartet is a fascinating forerunner of the teenagers-in-jeopardy genre revived in 1978 by "Halloween" (and a thousand imitators) for a more blood-thirsty generation. There's not one single drop of blood to be seen in the entire Nancy Drew series, but the suspense and chills are no less palpable. Catch these unsung classics as soon as possible. After 60-some years, they are still fresh as if newly minted, and thoroughly irresistible.
    whpratt1

    NANCY DREW LIVES ON FOREVER

    It always was a great joy to read Nancy Drew books and being able to see "The Hidden Staircase" was a wonderful thing Hollywood was able to give to the public in the 1940's. Bonita Granville, Frankie Thomas and John Litel gave excellent performances and made the Drew characters come to life. Films in those days had a limited budget and it was an innocent age without all the blood and gore in todays films. No criticism is necessary for these Classic Films with Classic actors which are still being shown in the year 2000 and forever.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Fourth and last film in the "Nancy Drew" series released by Warner Bros. from 1938 to 1939. Three years later, the series' star, Bonita Granville, would return to Warners briefly for a supporting role in the Bette Davis classic, Now, Voyager (1942).
    • Goofs
      As Ted and Nancy talk outside the Turnbull house following the scene in which the Turnbull sisters report the theft of minor household items, the shadow of the boom mic can be seen passing across a wooden post behind them.
    • Quotes

      Ted Nickerson: [trying to impress the maid with a joke] A duck is a chicken with snowshoes.

      Nancy Drew: And a halfwit is a person who spends half their time trying to be witty.

    • Connections
      Follows Nancy Drew: Detective (1938)

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • September 9, 1939 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Нэнси Дрю и потайная лестница
    • Filming locations
      • Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Warner Bros.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h(60 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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