Nancy Drew was no shrinking violet. The driven amateur detective was one of the first role models for young women to look up. Since "The Secret of the Old Clock," was published in 1930, the Nancy Drew series has sold over 80 million copies worldwide. As the books were gaining an audience, Warner Bros. produced four snappily paced B-pictures based on the stories. Transforming the spunky girl sleuth into 15-year-old Bonita Granville, the Nancy Drew films capture a bit of magic on their own. Carolyn Keene, the author of the Nancy Drew books, is as fictional as the teenage heroine. It was Edward Stratemeyer who was the man behind the curtain. Stratemeyer wrote and later oversaw the publication of these children's adventure and mystery books. After he died in 1930 his daughters managed the publishing syndicate by hiring writers to pen the mysteries; paid a flat fee, these ghostwriters agreed under contract not reveal their identity. List of films Today! on TCM Nancy Drew Reporter (1939) The Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977) Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Diamond Triangle/The Mystery of the Ghostwriter's Cruise The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene Rediscovering Nancy Drew by Carolyn Stewart Dyer The Mysterious Case of Nancy Drew & The Hardy Boys by Marvin Heiferman & Carole Kismaric Truly a factory style of book publishing, the Nancy Drew stories would be outlined and written in a few weeks then heavily edited to ensure uniformity of character and tone, as well as conformity to a precise formula--20 chapters and about 180 pages. The complicated mysteries of the Nancy Drew writing factory was revealed by several literary scholars in Carolyn Stewart Dyer and Nancy Tillman Romalov's anthology "Rediscovering Nancy Drew." (University of Iowa Press, 1995). Although the Nancy Drew series was intended mainly for young girls, many grown men (including myself) can recall reading the books just as avidly as their sisters. Compared to the young boys' Hardy Boys series, the Nancy Drew books were arguably more engaging, with their independent-minded heroine. In their original versions, written by Mildred Wirt Benson, Nancy Drew was quite a daring figure, an adventurous 16-year old driving about in her own roadster. These volumes were rewritten in the late '50s, to bring the stories up-to-date, which also made the girl detective a bit less independent. In recent years Applewood Press has reprinted the original versions of the first five volumes, to a great deal of acclaim. The four Warner Brothers Nancy Drew films are typical examples of B-films. Made on a relatively low budget, with a short running time (about an hour each), they were intended to be shown as part of a double bill, along with the main feature, newsreels and cartoons. Their director, William B. Clemens (b. 1905), received his start as an editor of Westerns for a variety of studios. Best known for his series of B pictures for Warner Brothers, Clements directed other serial mysteries such as Philo Vance and Perry Mason. Only one of the films--Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (1939)--the last in the series, is actually based on a Nancy Drew novel. The others, Nancy Drew--Detective (1938), Nancy Drew--Reporter (1939) and Nancy Drew--Troubleshooter (1939), are studio concoctions. They include such tried-and-true Hollywood formulas as comic cross-dressing, a musical variety number performed by Bonita Granville and the other child actors in a Chinese Restaurant, a vaguely Western setting in one film, with frequent emphasis on pratfalls not to mention occasional ethnic stereotyping. Nonetheless, the films have undeniable charm with the saucy Granville (1923-1988) as Nancy Drew, fresh from her Oscar-nominated performance as the rumor-mongering child in These Three (1936). Invariably, she manipulates her boyfriend Ted Nickerson (Frankie Thomas) into playing along with her schemes; he always seems to receive the brunt of their misfortunes. Her father, the widowed attorney Carson Drew, is made into a lively and sympathetic figure by John Litel, who is also known for his role as the father in the Henry Aldrich series. Renie Raino plays Effie, the Drews' dimwitted and easily flustered housekeeper. Perhaps the most subversive aspect of the films is their depiction of a small-minded and comically inept police force, especially as embodied by Captain Tweedy (Frank Orth). The formula is winning, and it holds up surprisingly well today. LIST of FILMS 28 Friday 8:00 PM   Nancy Drew, Detective (1938) A teen-aged sleuth investigates a wealthy woman’s disappearance. Bonita Granville, John Litel, James Stephenson. D: William Clemens. BW 66 m. 9:30 PM   Nancy Drew—Reporter (1938) A teen-aged sleuth sets out to prove a young girl innocent of murder charges. Bonita Granville, John Litel, Frankie Thomas. D: William Clemens. BW 68 m. 11:00 PM   Nancy Drew—Troubleshooter (1939) A teen-aged sleuth tries to clear one of her father’s friends of a murder charge . Bonita Granville, John Litel, Frankie Thomas. D: William Clemens. BW 69 m. 12:30 AM   Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (1939) A teen-aged sleuth helps two old ladies deal with the "haunting" of their mansion. Bonita Granville, Frankie Thomas, John Litel. D: William Clemens. BW 60 m.