MovieChat Forums > The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977) Discussion > The Secret of the Whispering Walls

The Secret of the Whispering Walls

posted 17 years ago by RikerDonegal
4 replies | jump to latest

Two of Nancy's elderly relatives are planning to sell their farm, but the paperwork is stolen and the sale is delayed. Nancy (with cowardly George in tow) goes to visit the elderly sisters, to figure out who would want to stop/delay the sale.

In subject matter and tone this closely resembles the book series that inspired it. There's a spooky old mansion, talk of ghosts wandering the hallways at night, a grumpy neighbour who wants to run them off, tunnels under the mansion, sounds in the night, and mysterious lights signalling from an upstairs window when everone is asleep. And it's a hoot from start to finish. Nancy is a dynamic heroine and Pamela Sue Martin has never looked more gorgeous (particularly when Nancy changes into a blue and white outfit midway through the episode).

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[–] smerd_70 17 years ago

This is one of my favorites from the first season.

No pulse, no heartbeat. If condition does not change, this man is dead.

[–] meister76 17 years ago

Agreed - a fine episode. Loved all the twists and turns.

[–] cantadora-212-57670 9 years ago

I was just rewatching this for the first time since childhood and I swear the two elderly women were a couple. I don't remember them explicitly saying they're sisters, so they could be. There's a lot of hints and subtext that you could read that way, IMO.

[–] iluvmydogs 9 years ago

IMO, either that episode, or the one about the Ghostwriter's Cruise, were the best Nancy Drew episodes. I actually think The Whispering Walls was kind of a re-do of one of the late 30's movies, with Bonita Granville as Nancy. She was great as Nancy too, and we really liked the kid who played Ted (I think it was Ted and not Ned). There were only about 4 movies, but they were all really good.

But, like I was saying, I think the Whispering Walls episode is similar to the movie where there was a tunnel between two of their houses, or between the barn and the neighbor's house. And, the neighbor was some kind of crook. You'd think I could remember more, as I've seen it several times. It's the one where Ted and her were about to drown in the tunnel, I believe.

I thought all of the ND episodes in the first year were really good, except for the last one about the field goal kicker. For some reason, that one just didn't do it for me. But, the rest of them were all pretty good.

But, evidently, they didn't get the ratings, as they really cut back on the just Nancy episodes, the 2nd year (only 3 of them). I don't know, maybe there were other reasons. Then Pamela Sue Martin left, and Nancy was essentially done at that point.

It's a shame, because I thought both shows were really good, as presented in that first year. As I've said before on this forum, the problem was the competition. Back then I think there were only 3 major networks, and they were going against 60 Minutes (which is still on), and the Wonderful World of Disney (which had a long run). ABC really couldn't think they were going to knock those two shows out of the top ratings, did they??