The Original Nancy Drew Movie Mystery Collection

Nancy Drew was all the rage in the 1930s, when Carolyn Keene's spunky teenage mystery fiction heroine made her literary debut, and Warner Bros. hoped she would reign again in 2007 with the release of Nancy Drew, which starred Julia Roberts' niece Emma as the girl detective (but it only raked in some $25 million at the box office). Not one to pass up a tie-in, Warner Bros. has released The Original Nancy Drew Movie Mystery Collection, featuring all four of the first Nancy Drew movies (Warner Bros. properties, of course), issued in a flurry from 1938-39. The amiable 15-year-old Bonita Granville stars as amateur sleuth Nancy in Nancy Drew: Detective, Nancy Drew: Reporter, Nancy Drew: Troubleshooter, and Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, embarking on adventures ranging from investigating a missing heiress to snooping out a poisoner in small-town River Heights. A few years ago I reviewed a single-movie DVD release of Nancy Drew: Reporter, and I called Granville's Nancy “damn annoying,” an “interfering brat,” and “so perky and enterprising—and so capable of escaping certain doom so darn easily—that you just want to smack her.” It's all still true, but there's also an undeniable gosh-darn golden-age charm to these brisk (60 minutes or so) and spirited flicks: today's ‘tweens game enough to brave a black-and-white movie may find the experience worthwhile. A strong optional purchase. (M. Johanson)