utgard14 Third entry in the delightful Nancy Drew series starring Bonita Granville. This time Nancy's lawyer dad (John Litel) has to leave town to help an old friend accused of murder. Nancy comes along and, of course, takes it upon herself to investigate the case. While there, Mr. Drew meets a woman and becomes enamored but Nancy isn't crazy about her. Granville's wonderful as ever as the headstrong sleuth. Litel's great as well. Frankie Thomas is also here as Nancy's sidekick and would-be boyfriend, Ted. He and Granville had great chemistry. Aldrich Bowker steals every scene he's in as the cantankerous accused murderer. Additional comic relief in this one comes from Willie Best. It goes without saying Mr. Best's negative stereotype character will offend some modern viewers. Exciting climax involving a barn, a bull, and an airplane. Points for creativity.

gridoon2018 "Nancy Drew - Troubleshooter" is a delightful piece of fluff, marred only by an embarrassing racial stereotype (Apollo, the black hired help who is a near-retard), though I supposed it can be overlooked given the trends of the time (1939). Bonita Granville is an utter joy to watch, and Frankie Thomas, as Nancy Drew's on-and-off boyfriend, has great comic timing. Leonard Maltin correctly reports that the emphasis here is more on comedy than on mystery: there are some very funny scenes (Nancy "interrogating" Effie, Nancy's cooking attempt, etc.), while the mystery plot is thin (the killers are even revealed to the audience in the middle of the picture) but functional. There is even a pretty spectacular climax, starting with an out-of-control bull and going to an out-of-control plane. I enjoyed both of the Bonita Granville-Nancy Drew films I've seen so far (this one and "Reporter"), and wonder why no more than the existing four were made. **1/2 out of 4.

Michael_Elliott 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.

robert_deveau Though I've enjoyed the four Warner Bros. Nancy Drew films for their fast pace, snappy dialog and light touch, Bonita Granville doesn't bear much resemblance to the hyper-perfect Nancy of the long-running series of novels. The main drawback to the literary Nancy is that she's too perfect, even winning a golf tournament against a superior, more experienced player in THE HAUNTED BRIDGE. In TROUBLESHOOTER, (which bears the least resemblance to the books of any of the four films), Nancy's perfection is taken down a few notches: she can't drive (rear-ending several parked cars, constantly taking her hands off the wheel in her excitement), she can't cook (making a veritable Lucy of the kitchen), she allows the bad guys to destroy evidence -- why, she's as scared of ghosts as Willie Best and she can't even fly an airplane! NANCY DREW, TROUBLESHOOTER, with its general lack of mystery and constant slapstick, is essentially a parody of Nancy Drew. Fun, and satisfying in a slightly sadistic way, but nothing like the books.