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Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter (1939)

Rate: 7
Viewed: 8/07, 8/20

NancyDrewTrouble
8/07: What a wonderful film Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter is except it's terribly racist.

The show starts off slowly during the first half hour but takes off by the moment that Nancy Drew brainstorms an idea of tracking down a murderer by following the trail of a rare tropical plant.

Quite honestly, I've never seen a movie like Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter as it's so funny, enthusiastic, simplistic, and ingenious. When I saw Bonita Granville with the brown hat, she reminded me of Indiana Jones.

Big thanks go to everybody for taking the two spoiled brats out of this film and making sure the focus is on Nancy Drew and Ted Nickerson. Once again, Bonita Granville and Frankie Thomas are fun to watch, and they're outstanding. However, the way the filmmakers made the black kid look mentally retarded is unforgivable.

All in all, Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter is much better than the previous picture.

8/20: Nancy Drew and Ted Nickerson are back for another round in Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter.

Having cut out the two annoying kids from the last sequel, the movie is a lot better, retaining its charm from the original. Obviously, the best part is the chemistry between Bonita Granville and Frankie Thomas. While the former may be the star, it's really the latter who makes the charm work.

However, what's with the chicken-stealing black kid named Apollo? Racially stereotyped in the tradition of Stepin Fetchit, he (Willie Best) looks sleepy and simple-minded. At one point, Apollo wore a white night cap, resembling a KKK figure. Another is Nancy told him to go over the field and dig out the arbensis plant. Why couldn't she do it instead? Elsewhere, the maid makes a stupid racist comment about giving poison ivy back to the Indians.

It makes little sense for Marley to set the nursery on fire when he only needs to steal the box of sales records. Ditto for flying the two kids up in the air and then parachuting out of the plane. All Marley had to do is to smother them quietly. While in the barn, Ted should've smashed the wood boards so he and Nancy can escape through the window.

All in all, Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter is fun, but not giving Willie Best a proper character is the biggest mistake of the film.