By Violet LeVoit
Nancy Drew... Reporter
Brief Synopsis
A teen-aged sleuth sets out to prove a young girl innocent of murder charges.
Cast & Crew
Read More
William Clemens
Director
Bonita Granville
Nancy Drew
John Litel
Carson Drew
Frank Thomas Jr.
Ted Nickerson
Mary Lee
Mary
Dickie Jones
Killer Parkins
Film Details
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Comedy
Release Date
Feb
18,
1939
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the character "Nancy Drew" created by Carolyn Keene.
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 8m
Sound
Vitaphone
Color
Black and White
Film Length
7 reels
Synopsis
When the newspaper runs a promotional contest awarding fifty dollars for the best story written by a high school journalitst, Bostwick, the city editor, decides to wash his hands of the kids by assigning them to cover trivial topics. Undaunted, student reporter Nancy Drew, the daughter of District Attorney Carson Drew, overhears the staff discussing the Lambert murder hearing and decides to cover the trial herself. At the courthouse, Nancy sits next to a man with a cauliflower ear and listens intently as Eula Denning, the murder victim's ward, is accused of poisoning Kate Lambert for the inheritance money. Eula's only defense is that the fingerprints on a missing tin of poison do not match hers, and after the court is adjourned with Eula's conviction, the man with the cauliflower ear speeds off in his car, smashing Nancy's car fender in the process. Nancy trails the man to the Lambert estate, and when Bostwick refuses to follow up on her lead, she decides to undertake her own investigation. Tricking her boyfriend, Ted Nickerson, into helping her, Nancy tracks down the tin, only to have it stolen by the girlfriend of the man with the strange ear. Nancy discovers that the man is a boxer named Soxie Anthens, and traces his girlfriend, Bonnie Lucas, to Miles Lambert, the nephew of the slain woman. Learning that Miles will inherit the Lambert fortune if Eula is convicted, Nancy suspects him of the murder and sets a trap by printing a false story that the missing tin has been found. As Lambert races to Soxie's room to claim the tin, Nancy, Ted and Sergeant Entwhistle of the police department record his confession with a hidden tape recorder, thus bringing the real killer to justice.
Director
William Clemens
Director
Cast
Bonita Granville
Nancy Drew
John Litel
Carson Drew
Frank Thomas Jr.
Ted Nickerson
Mary Lee
Mary
Dickie Jones
Killer Parkins
Larry Williams
Miles Lambert
Betty Amann
Eula Denning
Thomas Jackson
Bostwick
Olin Howland
Sergeant Entwhistle
Sheila Bromley
Bonnie Lucas
Frank Orth
Captain Tweedy
Renie Riano
Effie Schneider
Jack Perry
Soxie Anthens
Charles Halton
Whitney
Irving Bacon
Tracy
George Guhl
Police officer
Leonard Mudie
Deputy district attorney
William Gould
Coroner
Jack Mower
Deputy coroner
Willie Fung
Chinese restaurant Props.
Joan Brodel
Mayme
Florence Halop
Phyllis
Lois Verner
Theresa
Charles Begole Smith
Charles
Jack Wagner
Jack
George Offerman Jr.
Boy
John Dilson
Deputy coroner
Walter Young
Dr. Hibbard
Nat Carr
Dr. Carey
Hooper Atchley
Chemist
Cliff Saum
Policeman
Betty Roadman
Matron
Jessie Perry
Matron
James Conlin
Man-Tribune "Morgue"
Jimmy Fox
Trainer
George Lloyd
Gym attendant
Bob Perry
Gatekeeper
Pat West
Jake
Jack Kenney
Man with cigar
Charles Sullivan
Spectator
John Ridgely
Hotel clerk
Chester Gan
Waiter
Paul Fung
Waiter
Frankie Burke
Bellboy
Edgar Edwards
Drunk
Clyde Courtwright
Doorman
Steve Clark
Passerby
Charles Marsh
Engineer
Harry Hollingsworth
Policeman
Al Lloyd
Al Herman
Jack Gardner
Crew
Film Details
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Comedy
Release Date
Feb
18,
1939
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the character "Nancy Drew" created by Carolyn Keene.
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 8m
Sound
Vitaphone
Color
Black and White
Film Length
7 reels
Articles
Nancy Drew... Reporter
"It's that danger chasing kid again!" proclaims the trailer announcing the second Nancy Drew movie starring Bonita Granville. This time, the teen sleuth enters a newspaper contest for teens, only to get wind of an exciting murder trial. But when a mysterious man with a "cauliflower ear" smashes up her fender on the way home from the courthouse, Nancy, with the help of awkward boyfriend Ted Nickerson (Frankie Thomas), figures out there's more to this case than meets the eye. Granville had lots of uncredited work as a kid extra in pictures like Little Women (1933) and Anne Of Green Gables (1934), but here the fifteen-year-old actress shines in a junior version of the "reporter picture,"a common profession for adventurous (and autonomous) female characters in the 1930s and 40s. (Due to studio ideas of propriety, however, the lively and appealing Granville would have to wait until Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter made later that year, after her sixteenth birthday, to kiss her on-screen love interest.)
By Violet LeVoit
By Violet LeVoit
Nancy Drew... Reporter
"It's that danger chasing kid again!" proclaims the trailer announcing the second Nancy Drew movie starring Bonita Granville. This time, the teen sleuth enters a newspaper contest for teens, only to get wind of an exciting murder trial. But when a mysterious man with a "cauliflower ear" smashes up her fender on the way home from the courthouse, Nancy, with the help of awkward boyfriend Ted Nickerson (Frankie Thomas), figures out there's more to this case than meets the eye. Granville had lots of uncredited work as a kid extra in pictures like Little Women (1933) and Anne Of Green Gables (1934), but here the fifteen-year-old actress shines in a junior version of the "reporter picture,"a common profession for adventurous (and autonomous) female characters in the 1930s and 40s. (Due to studio ideas of propriety, however, the lively and appealing Granville would have to wait until Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter made later that year, after her sixteenth birthday, to kiss her on-screen love interest.)
By Violet LeVoit
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This picture was also reviewed as Nancy Drew-Reporter. It was the second in Warner Bros.' Nancy Drew series. For additional information about the series, consult the Series Index and see entry above for Nancy Drew, Detective.
