Out of the three Nancy Drew films starring Bonita Granville that I've seen so far (this one, "Reporter", and "Trouble-Shooter"), "The Hidden Staircase" is my least favorite. It's still enjoyable to watch, but the mystery is one of the least interesting (even though the identity of the bad guy is a surprise), the climax (Nancy and Ted are trapped in an underground tunnel) is underwhelming compared to the wild plane ride of "Trouble-Shooter", and even Nancy herself, for the first time, occasionally comes dangerously close to crossing the line from adorable to obnoxious, especially when she not only gets Ted into trouble with the law, but takes off and leaves him behind (after the "shooting" incident). I wouldn't recommend starting to watch the series with "The Hidden Staircase". **1/2 out of 4.
