Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter

Nancy Drew--Trouble Shooter (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Third film in Warner's teenage detective series has Bonita Granville returning as Nancy Drew. This time out she's trying to save her uncle farmer whose been accused of killing a man. This is probably my favorite of the first three films because it takes on a lot more than just the actual mystery behind the killing. There's an entire subplot where Nancy gets jealous that her father is dating a woman and you'd expect something like this to come off silly but it actually works pretty well. There are plenty of laughs as well especially one sequence where Nancy tries to cook dinner. The mystery in the film doesn't actually get too much attention but it leads to a nice, if unbelievable, ending.

When a ranchowner's body is found buried on his own land, it's up to Nancy Drew to solve another murder in NANCY DREW--TROUBLE SHOOTER. And once again, BONITA GRANVILLE decides that she and FRANKIE THOMAS must go about solving the crime despite the warnings of her father (JOHN LITEL) to stay away from the case.

Nancy's other concern is that her father is being too chummy with a woman he seems to be attracted to. But mostly, she's bubbling with energy as she and Frankie Thomas set out on another adventure while racing around the countryside in her roadster. A tropical flower and a greenhouse figure importantly in the plot.

So does a crop duster airplane. The film is an improvement over the first two entries as far as production values go. The B&W photography is crisp and the sets look as if more money was spent on them. The crop duster sequence is milked for all it's worth and ends the film with a wallop of a ride.

Summing up: Better than average entry in the series.

Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter (1939) was the third in the series of four films about the teenage heroine. All starred Bonita Granville as the title character. But Granville's "Nancy" owes more to the heroines of 1930's screwball comedies than to her literary counterpart. This Nancy alternates between master of deductive reasoning and teenage airhead, causing as many problems as she solves; with nice guy neighbor Ted Nickerson (Frankie Thomas) her comic foil. Granville was extremely expressive and did not seem to mind being shown in unflattering situations (much like Zasu Pitts back then and Miley Cyrus today).

In "Trouble Shooter", Nancy and her attorney father head to the country with their housekeeper to defend old family friend Matt Brandon (Nancy calls him Uncle Matt) from a murder charge. Their escapades include poison ivy, an enraged bull, crop-dusting, a rare flower, Ted's new boat, and a rival for Mr. Drew's affections. Nancy is still crushing on poor Ted-who wanders around with a dazed expression on his face for most of the film.

Willie Best appears as his standard stereotype character, this time named Apollo Johnson. Also known as "Sleep 'n' Eat", in almost all of his films this early black actor encounters a ghost and gives the audience a wide-eyed look of terror. I don't know why people found this repeated gag so funny back then, maybe Hollywood just thought they did and kept using it. At least in "Trouble Shooter" Nancy has the good grace to exhibit the same exaggerated reaction when the ghost appears.

All four films in the Nancy Drew series are surprisingly entertaining and have a lot of charm. "Trouble Shooter" has Nancy at her daffiest. There is more silliness than characterization so I suggest watching at least one of the others first.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Nancy Drew battles to prove that her uncle Matt is innocent of murder. Nancy also battles her father Carson Drew but not over how to prove her uncle innocent but over his love life. Mr Drew has been single for many years but meets Edna Gregory, a single woman that likes him. What, another woman for Mr Drew, heavens no!, not for Nancy's father! She enlists the help of her friend Ted to battle this Gregory woman. But love transcends all ages as Ted is bitten by the "cupid" arrow also. Fine performance by John Litel and Charlotte Wynters "Drew & Gregory" make this Nancy Drew film one of the best ever made. The ending will also take your breathe away as Nancy becomes co-air pilot w/Ted a self taught "by book" pilot. So I leave these questions with you, can Nancy free her uncle? Can Nancy stop her father from asking a certain question?

By far, this was one of the better Nancy Drew's, with Ms. Granville. When her Uncle Matt is accused of murder, the best lawyer Carson must take the case, and naturally Nancy goes with him.

Since Carson is not a townie, he comes in under scrutiny but gets Matt out of prison for a little while. During this time, he meets a beautiful woman who catches his fancy, much to Nancy's dismay. Since Ted is also in town, she enlists him to dissuade her father. Naturally Ted falls for the loveliness of the woman and Nancy's troubles amount.

The whole resolution was done masterfully. It showed a maturation of Nancy and dealing with another woman in Carson's life.

The mystery of the killer was rather simple, but interesting with Ted along. Frankie and Bonita were great with each other. I wish they had done more together.

A great movie to watch - so pop your corn, grab a soda and don;t miss a minute of this very cute endeavor of a movie.