Rediscovering Nancy Drew

23. Translating Nancy Drew from Print to Film

Translating Nancy Drew from Print to Film Diana Beeson and Bonnie Brennen ~ ~ ancy Drew has the distinction of remaining a teenager over a ~ ~ span of more than six decades. She sprang Athena-like out of the head of Edward Stratemeyer in 1930, but her stout heart and generous mind were steeled by Mildred Wirt Benson, who wrote twenty-three of the first thirty books in the series. Nancy, however, was not the creative ideation of a single set of parents. During her sixty-five years as a teenage sleuth, a multitude of authors have assumed the pen name Carolyn Keene, writing new mysteries and revising the old ones, to maintain Nancy's status as a contemporary of her reading public. This essay looks at the changing Nancy Drew as her character shifts over time on the pages of her books and as her characterization undergoes treatment by Hollywood. It focuses specifically on the second book in the series, The Hidden Staircase (1930), written by Benson. A film of the same name was released in 1939, and some twenty years later, in 1959, Simon & Schuster issued a revised and updated version of the book. An examination of Nancy Drew in two versions of the same book and a film presumably based on the book will demonstrate that Nancy Drew, as a fictional character, is anything but static, enduring , and unchanging-although that's how most of her audience remembers her. For most readers, however avidly they read Nancy Drew mysteries, their acquaintance with her was a relatively brief 193 194 TRANSFORMING NANCY DREW interlude in their recreational reading careers. Mter a summer or a single year in grade school or junior high, they moved on to other mysteries or other kinds of books. Readers who entered grade school after 1959 probably became acquainted with the "modernized" postwar Nancy Drew ofthe 1950s. Older readers, and younger ones who became beneficiaries of the originals from the 1930s and 1940s, became acquainted with the Nancy Drew of the Depression and World War II. In the Nancy Drew mysteries of the 1930s, our sleuth is intelligent , honest, self-confident, kind, and courageous. As an independent young woman, she actively challenges the role of women in American society. Nancy Drew works alone and frequently acts outside generally accepted boundaries. She has an exceptional relationship with her father, who treats her as an equal partner rather than as a subordinate child. Beginning in 1959, thirty-four of the Nancy Drew mysteries were "updated" and revised. Some of the most obvious racist and antisemitic representations were removed, along with outmoded sexual stereotypes. The language was simplified and plots were redesigned , presumably to appeal to more contemporary audiences. Yet we would suggest that in their attempts to revitalize Nancy Drew much of what makes the series so exceptional was lost. The simplified stories exclude many of the cultural signposts and messages relevant to the 1930s. Nancy's independent character is softened and in these newer texts she relies much more heavily upon others for help and guidance. The post-1959 editions encode very different messages which reflect the mores, expectations, and experiences of postwar American society. In the 1930 version of The Hidden Staircase, Nancy Drew is the resourceful and efficient only child of attorney Carson Drew. Nancy confronts dangerous situations, befriends those less fortunate , and ultimately solves an important mystery. In the opening sequence of the mystery she is home alone. Her father is at work and the housekeeper, Hannah Gruen, has the day off. Nancy is threatened by Nathan Gombet, an intruder who demands to see her father. Although she is frightened by the man's strange conduct, Nancy faces him boldly and successfully handles the situation. Throughout the original book, Nancy is depicted as cool and collected in the face of danger. TRANSLATING NANCY DREW FROM PRINT TO FILM 195 The intelligent and independent Nancy Drew mirrors the changing status of American women during the first half of the twentieth century. Like other intelligent women during her era, she challenges traditional notions regarding her role in American society . The passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 was the culmination of an eighty-year struggle for political equality. Women used their newly won vote to advance a number of social changes. They focused on child labor reform, standards for pure food and drugs, and conservation activities. By the end of the 1920s, twentyfive percent of...