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.

When I was growing up I loved kid's adventure books but passed on Nancy Drew,she was for girls only. When I actually read one I was surprised how phony the whole thing seemed, Nany was perky and perfect with an ideal life style. A widowed,indulgent father,a loving housekeeper,a generous allowance ,her own car,no home work and no chores. The Warner Bros. series wisely trimmed the fat,eliminating Nancy's girlfriends who helped her in cases,making Ted,not Ned,more prominent. In a couple of the movies he tries to avoid her and her schemes but she gets him involved anyway. It's highly unlikely the series could have continued,both leads were maturing out of the teen-age stage,Bonita left Warner bros. for MGM,so that was that. Interestingly,the series involved murders,not missing treasure or stuff like that. Bonita plays Nancy like a real girl,not perky and perfect with every step,she messes things up even with her enthusiasm.

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.

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.