Nancy Drew, Reporter

Recently I discovered an outmoded but glowingly adorable film on Turner Classic Movies...one that did my heart a lot of good. Over a bowl of cereal, I watched "Nancy Drew, Reporter" (1939), the first in a series of films chronicling the adventures of Carolyn Keene's young, daring female sleuth. This venturesome film has a trifling running time of just over an hour, but packs enough moxie and 1930s good-nature to come off as a charming, forgotten relic. The prudish - nay, puritanical - principals that Drew and her chums are governed by, as well as the stark contrast between black and white - right and wrong - are unbelievable to the point of being comical. But through that naive, wide-eyed optimism lives a moment in time when true value was still being placed in good manners and honest morals. At least, it certainly seemed that way.

The plot isn't much to speak of. Nancy Drew (Bonita Granville) learns that a woman on trial for murder has been falsely accused, and the evidence which would absolve her is in the possession of a sketchy-looking couple. She spends most of the time searching for clues and trying to outwit the criminal element, all the while placating the local (and mostly useless) police department. But in the end we know good and well that the criminals will be hauled away to jail, and Nancy and her pals will have a hearty laugh at their own expense, ending the film on a warm, affable note.

The charm of 1930s-era Hollywood films (particularly the whodunit murder mysteries) have an undeniable magnetism that never fails to betwitch. The strictly enforced Hayes Code denied filmmakers any opportunity to be even marginally provocative in their stories. Moreover, the bad guys were never allowed to win, righteousness prevailing each and every time...no matter whether the circumstances were believable or not. Because of this, many of these types of films can seem quite wooden in their execution, quite flat in how they are directed, written and acted. Admittedly, there weren't many cinematic marvels to come out of Hollywood then.

Regardless, I love these movies. "Nancy Drew, Reporter" did me a lot of good. It reminded me of my helplessly old, home-spun soul...luring me backwards into a place and time when basic moral values were highly esteemed. No, people didn't really talk and act that way, but it's kinda heartwarming to imagine that it was how folks knew they ought to be. Plus I'm simply infatuated with the breezy jazz and and the 1930s colloquialisms. Watching with the right kind of eyes and ears can leave one nearly tipsy with outright nostalgia.