Nancy Drew -- Detective was the first in a series of breezy B-pictures based on the teenaged sleuth created by Carolyn Keene. Bonita Granville is perfectly cast as Nancy, while John Litel and Frankie Thomas are equally effective as Nancys attorney father, Carson Drew, and erstwhile boyfriend, Ted Nickerson, respectively. Things get under way immediately when Mary Eldridge (Helena Phillips Evans), the wealthy benefactress of Nancys high school, disappears under mysterious circumstances. In direct defiance of her fathers orders, Nancy and Ted set off on their own investigation, which leads inexorably (and dangerously) to a highly suspicious rest home. The ever popular Mae Busch is her usual nasty self as a phony nurse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide