Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase Movie Premiere: March 15, 2019
After the death of his wife, Carson Drew leaves Chicago to begin a new life with his daughter in River Heights. 16-year-old Nancy Drew first looked at life in a small town as pretty dull… she was looking for excitement… which suddenly landed in her lap. Nancy soon offered to help solve why ghosts were moving furniture at Twin Elms mansion, and discover who were making those creaking footsteps, exploding lightbulbs and explain those strange kitchen drawers? Was it really the ghost of Malcolm Colfax… the original owner back for revenge… which seemed to be everyone’s thought? Nancy pulls in her best friends George and Bess, along with the local “mean girl” Helen.
Nancy Drew is soon on the case!
I’ve been in anticipation of seeing this movie on the big screen since last April when they first began shooting in my mother’s hometown of Monroe, Georgia and nearby Social Circle! I was visiting my mother while they filmed many local scenes in downtown Monroe, the courthouse square and the haunted house in Social Circle.
I received my “fan alert” on March 11th… and rushed right over to buy my tickets!
This movie was released to limited theaters, so in searching for the closest AMC theater after receiving the “fan alert” finding… I picked the Plainville Cinema premiere on March 15th… I bought two tickets immediately… dragging hubby along for the event! There was only one ticket bought before mine for the first showing. All the kids are still in school, so I suppose anyone going for this early showing will be older Nancy Drew fans… like me! (NOTE: It seemed that no one else bought tickets for the time I went today, it was just hubby and me, and one single man at this viewing. I was very disappointed… it felt so strange to be, almost, the only ones in the theater!)
Movie Review
I was all set to go … I carried my Nancy Drew purse, and my copy of The Hidden Staircase book, just in case I found a movie prop for pictures!
I was very disappointed that I found only one single movie poster hanging on the wall… no photo opportunities were there… and I had to even search it out… in asking the ticket taker where it was… he didn’t have an answer! Actually when he first took my ticket going in, he said… “if this movie like from an old book?”
My Favorite 10 scenes in the movie
- I loved the opening scene of Nancy riding the skateboard down Main Street of Monroe, Georgia… where it was filmed. Hubby and I had sat at a street cafe enjoying a breakfast while they set up this scene… while using a drone to film. I feel quite privileged to have been able to have seen several of the scenes being filmed, and recognize the areas they used. Monroe is my mother’s hometown… which afforded me the opportunity to have known of the movie being filmed there.
- Naturally I loved the book they chose for the first… of hopefully more Nancy Drew movies made for the younger generation. Nancy Drew and The Hidden Staircase has always been one of my favorite books… who doesn’t love chasing ghosts and discovering hidden doors in the wall, or tracking Pink Flamingo paint.
- Nancy was just within earshot of a woman (Aunt Flora) trying to talk to the Chief of Police while picking up trash on the courthouse steps… her concern was that ghosts were moving her furniture and her house felt haunted. I loved how Nancy’s antenna picked up quickly… immediately walking over to ask questions.
- It wasn’t like our Nancy to get caught… but this Nancy did when she was picking the lock on the garage where she discovered the Flamingo Pink color. Our Nancy never carried a real “pic lock” set… and never was caught by the police. Nancy didn’t have the same rapport with the police in this movie as in the books. I loved how the young police officer saved Nancy from even more trouble!
- I enjoyed the scene with Nancy in the cellar pushing the kitchen drawers out toward the villain chasing Helen… more like a Three Stooges type of humor. It also reminded me of the movie “Home Alone”… when the boy turned the tables on the crooks.
- Nancy was using her smarts when she snuffed the candle out and watched in which direction the smoke drifted… she immediately began looking closely inside the bookcase… looking for a clue… and finally discovering a latch which opened the bookcase to stairs…. leading to the basement. Now that was like the Nancy I loved!
- While it probably caused quite a problem in repairs, it was pretty funny when the girls turned the table on the bully… and he ended up all Blue! Go Nancy!
- I enjoyed all the scenes filmed on the courthouse square… as I know it so well and have walked in all her steps there. I took photos of many of the actual items they used that evening after they finished taping.
- I loved the house they chose for the haunted house… it was in the next town over of Social Circle. We watched daily as they transformed the house into a pink flamingo wonderland. I wondered why so many pink flamingos… and still don’t really know why… but everything was pink… even most of the grass… and it was pretty!
- What I loved the most was… that I knew the area so well… and was lucky enough to have visited while they filmed. As I watched the premiere today… it was like I was almost back in Monroe again… like I was right there… watching in real time!
My Favorite Lines
“A ghost moved my furniture!”
“She had me at people buried in the wall!”
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A few Clues Nancy picked up on were….
The very first time Nancy heard the Aunt Flora say… “ghosts moved my furniture”!
Hearing noises in the wall…. Nancy knew she had to investigate.
Ghosts didn’t make the lights shoot sparks!
Pink Flamingo Paint tracks to follow..
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Character Reviews
Nancy Drew: I would liked to have seen Nancy played as a younger girl, maybe 13/14 years old. I felt the girls acted too childish in the beginning of the show… not how 16 year old girls would. By the end of the show… she seemed to have grown a little more.
Bess: Sadly, Bess was my least favorite character in this movie… so unlike the Bess in my books. In the books, Bess is written as a pretty blonde, all bubbly, but a little plump. This Bess was a skinny brunette… geeky smart… with no confidence. She totally didn’t fit the part… at least to me. I missed my old Bess!
George: Another character with a totally different character look from the books. In the book, George was written as boyish looking with a short haircut, and never afraid… always willing to be right alongside Nancy. I did like this George as she was fearless, and always willing to help Nancy, but she didn’t have a strong part.
Helen: A very different type of character. In the book, Helen was Nancy’s first best friend in the books. In the movie, she played a pretty blonde rich girl… snobbish to Nancy, Bess and George. Nancy met Helen as being the niece of the woman who owned Twin Elms…. and slowly throughout their sleuthing together… they warmed up to each other!
Pros: Places filmed around Monroe and Social Circle
- Main Street of downtown Monroe
- Courthouse Square
- town alleys
- the haunted house in Social Circle
- Baker St. in Monroe where Nancy drove that tiny cute blue convertible
- old cotton mill… aka spice shop
- the bully theme in the beginning ended with the snobby girl becoming best friends with Nancy, Bess and George.
Cons: There were a few things I kept saying all through the movie… how they constantly talked about the event that her father was involved in… “Stop the Train“… but no train scenes were ever shown. I heard that they were at the train tracks filming, but nothing was in the film… guess maybe the scenes were cut! I would liked to have seen the four girls walking the train tracks together as a final scene… but who asked me?
Want more Nancy Drew… just follow the links below!
Like to read more, click… Making of the Nancy Drew Movie
Click for more… Nancy Drew stories
Need even more Nancy Drew history, click below….
2018: A to Z – All About Nancy Drew
© 2019, copyright Jeanne Bryan Insalaco; all rights reserved
Everyone Has a Story 
Thanks for the recap. Nice of your hubby to go along with you. Pretty sure mine would pass. Maybe one of my girls will go with me 🙂
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He didn’t mind so much… we pretty much go everywhere together, like the Bobbsey Twins! And still after almost 48 years of marriage. LOL
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