This is part two of The Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries, The Hollywood Phantom. If you want to read the first part of my recap of this two-parter, you can find it here:

When we left off from part one, Joe had been snatched from outside a building he was snooping around, looking for his father and the other detectives who had been kidnapped from the conference. Frank was stopped by the security guard he and Nancy had a run-in with right after Weatherly disappeared. Nancy was on her way to the hotel to “get help” (cue the funny scene from Thor Ragnarok in my head.).

The security guards escort Frank to the head of security, and Frank takes them to the set.

Nancy has run back to the hotel and finds Fox talking with a police officer. She tries to tell them what happened, but the police officer rolls his eyes for a bit before agreeing to go with her to look at the photograph.

You know what’s going to happen, right?

The photograph is gone when everyone gets there — Frank with security and Nancy with the police. It’s been switched to a normal photograph. Dun-dun-dun. I don’t know why they didn’t just take the framed picture with them.

So now no one believes Frank and Nancy even though Joe hasn’t come back yet either.

Back at the hotel, Frank is pacing, worried about his dad because there was blood on the ring that was sent to the hotel.

“That means they ripped it off him,” he tells Fox.

Fox assures him that his dad will be fine, saying he’s known him since he was a lieutenant with the NYPD (huh…I haven’t read enough Hardy Boys to know this yet).

We switch to Joe tied up somewhere and trying to get loose and then back to Frank saying he’s going to look for his brother.

Nancy, who by the way has been without a sidekick this whole time, which is weird for her, says she’s going with him, Frank says she needs to stay behind.

Nancy goes to talk to the police and Jason Fox and they tell her to keep her nose out of things.

The manager of the hotel is also upset at her because she suggests that someone from the staff could be involved in the kidnapping and the ransom note.

She goes back to Studio 24 to look for Frank and Joe and this time she sees a photo on the floor and when she stoops to get it a man in a mask begins to chase her. This is the creepy masked man we’ve been seeing throughout the two episodes.

She hides behind a set, and the man runs by, and I thought she was safe but nope, he finds her and she climbs a scaffolding, which was so stressful for me to watch.

She escapes, though and finds an exit on the roof. Girl is running in her heels this whole time too.

Then she manages to balance across a wall and jump to another building (in heels!) and run inside and down a flight of stairs and out into the street, where she runs into Casey Kasem again. Whew.

He asks her if she’s okay and she says the sound stages are just scary at night. Why can’t she just tell people the truth? “A man was chasing me! Holy crud! It was scary!”

They chat a few minutes and he says something about leaving the country for an acting job. Nancy is like, “yeah, that’s nice. Okay…gotta go…” and starts running back to the hotel.

Next, we flip to Frank who is still wandering around looking for Joe. While wandering he stumbes onto the Charlie’s Angels set where Cheryl Ladd is being told she’s going to have to kiss the extra as soon as he comes around the corner. Ladd is up for it, but hasn’t met the extra yet.

Of course, Frank walks around the corner instead of the extra and bam…he’s suddenly making out with Cheryl Ladd.

He’s distracted though so he pulls away when the director yells “cut” and says, “Any other time I would discuss spending my life with you because that was nice but right now, I’m in a hurry. Thanks.”

I can’t help admiring Frank’s bellbottoms as he walks and as someone pulls up behind him in a car and starts chasing him. Frank is running well but hits a dead end. He’s sweating and his hair is all 70s wavy and now I get why the girls back then wanted to watch the show.

Anyhow, it’s the security guard and he tells Frank he’s taking him back to the main gate. Again.

Next, we see Joe waking all the way up and looking around him. He manages to scoot and roll to the door and open it with his feet.

Scene switch again — Nancy is grilled by the police and Fox who say she needs to tell them where she’s going  from now on. (There are so many scene switches in this one and they are like three minutes apart.).

Back to Frank who is climbing walls back into the sound stages to find his brother, who is rolling out of his prison area and trying to find a way to get the ropes off his hands while we see the guy in the mask driving toward him.

Joe manages to get himself untied and hides under a wagon and sees the security guard and the masked man get out of the car and go look for him.

He runs to the car and climbs in the trunk but leaves the license plate number scrawled on the wagon for Frank.

Nancy is with the police officer looking in a microscope at the negative she retrieved from the sound stage and says she sees makeup on it and a fingerprint.

“Your forensics guy should be able to pick that up,” she says (sort of arrogantly).

So the guy is taking orders from a very young woman now? I have no idea how old they are supposed to be in these shows but they don’t go to school so I would guess early 20s.

The police say Frank is back at the hotel now after being picked up so Nancy goes back to the hotel.

After we see Joe sneaking around and finding his dad and the other men, right before he’s knocked out yet again, we switch to Nancy looking out a window and someone sneaking up behind her.

Is it the bad guy? Has he found her?

No. It’s Frank and he scolds her for leaving her hotel room door open.

“It could have been anyone!” he says.

“I can take care of myself,” she says with a whispered tone.

“You’re not doing a very good job of it,” he responds, somewhat breathlessly, standing close to her and I think… Oh my gosh, they’re going to kiss!

But the scene cuts away and suddenly (whiplash!!) Nancy marches into the room where the police officer and Fox are and thrusts a piece of paper in the officer’s hands. She says the kidnapper only wants her to come, no police, with the ransom money.

The officer says he won’t let her do it and she says he will because the kidnapper will know if he switches to someone else.

Not only that, but Frank says he’s going to go too.

The officer says he will not be going and Frank snaps, “I’ll go whether you allow it or not. It’s my brother and dad you’re rescuing.”

Honestly, these kids are hindering an investigation and should be thrown in jail, but the cop just sighs and says, “Fiiiiine.” Or something like that and they start to concoct a plan to set up the exchange.

Everyone heads out soon after that and there is a zoom in on the hotel manager’s face so now we have to wonder if he is involved.

Nancy and Fox get on a tour bus with the briefcase of money and head off to meet up with the person for the exchange.

Scene switch and Joe in the jail cell with his dad and the others.

Suddenly he remembers a nail file in his sock. Yes….Joe has a nail file in his sock and begins to pick the lock. How very convenient.

Another scene switch and Nancy and Fox are going through a tunnel on the tour and then a warehouse. Suddenly the doors close in the warehouse and the woman leading the tour gets nervous. The masked man grabs Nancy and pulls her down and when Fox turns to say something to her, she’s gone.

Nancy is being put in an elevator by the fake security guard and the masked man.  They check the money in the briefcase they stole, and then smuggle her out into a car and make her lay on the floor. Meanwhile, Joe has broke out and comes out the door and sees the men leaving with Nancy.

He finds his way to security to tell them Nancy has been grabbed and suddenly a police chase ensues. I don’t know how Joe got to security so fast so they could tell the police officer, but he did I guess and Frank and the officer take off after the car. The only problem is that the water is drained from the fake lake enough for the bad guys to drive the car over but the masked man pushes a button and the water fills in again so they can get away.

In the end, they won’t get away, though, because they come around down a street where shooting for a show is going on and can’t turn anywhere, which means the police corner the car. The masked man jumps out, pulling Nancy with him, and Frank leaps from the car and then leaps over the hood of another car and tackles the masked man. He flips the guy over and rips his mask off and it’s — oh my gosh! Casey Kasem!!!

He’s the kidnapper?!! Well, there’s some American Top 40 for you.

But Casey isn’t down yet. He flings his arm back and knocks Frank back off him and tries to take off. Sadly, he takes off right into the fist of Robert Wagner, who knocks Casey flat on his back.

Robert cockily says he’s always glad to help, “especially when there’s a beautiful girl in distress” while watching Nancy.

Nancy runs up to him, all mooney-eyed and says, “How can I ever repay you?”

Robert smirks and says, “We’ll think of something.”

Gag. He’s old enough to be her father. He always was a dirty old man. *wink* (I really have no idea…I’m just messing around. I won’t mention *cough* Natalie *cough* Wood *cough* here.)

“I don’t believe it,” Frank cries.  “I did all that and she hugs him.”

“You’re not a movie star kid,” the cops says.

But he does have good news for Frank. His dad and brother have been found and are safe.

Joe Fox is happy with the outcome when the kids go to visit him at his hotel room the next day, but they say it’s not all good news because Casey (Paul Hamilton) wasn’t the only one involved. Yes, the security guard was but so was…yes! Joe Fox!

“You engineered this whole plot,” Frank says. “Hamilton wasn’t smart enough to do it on his own.”

Joe and Nancy lay out their case with Frank, pointing out how Hamilton and the guard were always one step ahead of them. Someone must have been on the inside, they say.

“What motive could I even have?” Fox says with a smirk.

Nancy tells him they’re sure if they look things up they will find out that he is flat broke.

“That’s why you were insisting real (cash) ransom money,” she says.

Frank says they have one piece of evidence. It’s Bronson’s medallion which showed Fox’s fingerprints on the bottom of the medallion, showing he’d ripped it off his neck during the kidnapping.

Fox smirks again, can’t say anything to refute them so tries to leave the room. Unfortunately for him, the police are waiting for him at the doorway. He congratulates the kids on their sleuthing.

“You are three of the most remarkable detectives I’ve ever worked with,” he says.

He’s taken away by the police with another smirk.

At the end, Fenton is discussing what happened with the boys and then Frank decides he is going sightseeing.

Nancy marches up and demands to know where he’s going.

“I’m going sightseeing. There’s more to LA than just this hotel. Is that alright?”

“No, it isn’t,” Nancy says sharply. “You didn’t ask me.”

“I didn’t know I had to clear it with you first,” Frank snaps.

“No, you didn’t ask me to go with you,” Nancy says.

Frank laughs and smiles and asks if she’d like to join him.

“What I’d like to do is thank you,” she says with her tone softening.

“For what?” Frank asks and now we are getting the profile view of them.

“For saving my life,” Nancy says tenderly.

Oh. My. Gosh. Are they going to kiss??!!! Are they????

Yes. Yes, they are because Nancy gives him a very tender kiss on the mouth.

Swoooon.

Joe steps behind them and asks where they are off to, essentially making him the third wheel.

End episode. Sadly, we are never to see Nancy and Frank shipped together because soon the show’s name will changed to Hardy Boys and, alas, there will no longer be a Nancy included.

That’s the end of this recap.

I haven’t decided which episode I will recap next because I watched one where the Hardy Boys went to Egypt and … wince …. It was pretty horrible.

If you want to read my other recaps you can find them here: