Buddy Hart Movies

Fed up with the squabbling between Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and Wally (Tony Dow), mom June (Barbara Billingsley) demands that the boys call a truce. Swept up in the seriousness of the moment, Beav and Wally take a vow never to do anything without each other. Alas, this Damon-and-Pythias pact is tested when both boys receive invitations to two separate social events. Buddy Hart makes the first of several recurring appearances as the Cleaver boys' friend Chester. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Largely filmed in Canada, The Littlest Hobo was the result of a brainstorming session between Dorrell and Stuart McGowan, the same sibling production team responsible for TV's Death Valley Days. Hobo is a homeless German shepherd, whose adventures begin when he hops off a freight train in a strange town. Naturally drawn to down-and-outers, Hobo rescues a lamb that is slated for the slaughterhouse. The rest of the film concerns the dog and lamb's many trials and tribulations as they elude the authorities. Ideal for kiddie-matinee showings, Littlest Hobo also has much to offer for adult moviegoers. The film spawned a 1963 TV series, also assembled by the McGowan brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Envious of Wally's touchdown at the school football game, Eddie (Ken Osmond) needles Wally (Tony Dow) because he hasn't started shaving yet. Determined to reaffirm his manhood, Wally attempts to trim what few whiskers he has with his dad Ward's safety razor -- and gives himself a bad nicking in the process. Hoping to discourage Wally, Ward (Hugh Beaumont) applies a bit of psychology, which in typical Leave It to Beaver fashion, bids fair to make the situation worse. And yes, that's Howard McNear, the future Floyd the Barber on The Andy Griffith Show, playing (what else?) a barber. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Despairing over the fact that Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and Wally (Tony Dow) spend all their weekends at the movies, Ward (Hugh Beaumont) insists that the boys start enjoying the virtues of the great outdoors. He goes so far as to plan a weekend camping trip for himself and his sons -- only to pull out at the last minute when he has to put in overtime at the office. Undaunted, the boys proceed with the outing, pitching their tent in their own backyard -- and learning a few painful lessons about camping out during a rainstorm! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Pamela Baird makes her first series appearance in the recurring role of Wally's sometime girlfriend Mary Ellen Rogers. Though Wally (Tony Dow) would rather follow the example of Eddie (Ken Osmond) and go stag to the upcoming school dance, Mary Ellen is determined that Wally will escort her to the affair. Ultimately, the plucky heroine resorts to persuading girl-hating Beaver (Jerry Mathers) to help her change Wally's mind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Beaver (Jerry Mathers), Wally (Tony Dow), and a few friends have built a kayak in the Cleavers' garage. Though Ward (Hugh Beaumont) and June (Barbara Billingsley) admire the boys' industriousness, they forbid Wally to sail the kayak in Miller's Pond. As it turns out, Wally can't sail it anyway, because he's too big to fit in the vessel -- but Beaver isn't! After Beav gets a good dunking, he and Wally are faced with the formidable task of preventing their parents from finding out that they've disobeyed orders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wally (Tony Dow) has taken a summer job selling Igloo ice cream. Naturally, his friends take advantage of Wally, begging him to sell them ice cream on credit. Threatened with bankruptcy, Wally calls in all his debts at once, whereupon an outraged Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond) cooks up a clever revenge, placing a phony phone order for ice cream to be delivered at a girl's slumber party -- where, of course, no boys are allowed. The episode's slapstick finale is almost unbearably funny! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A top-secret Soviet spy satellite -- using stolen Western technology -- malfunctions and then goes into a descent that lands it near an isolated Arctic research encampment called Ice Station Zebra, belonging to the British, which starts sending out distress signals before falling silent. The atomic submarine Tigerfish, commanded by Cmdr. James Ferraday (Rock Hudson), is dispatched with orders to get to Ice Station Zebra carrying three passengers, a Englishman going by the name of David Jones (Patrick McGoohan), a Soviet turncoat named Boris Vaslov (Ernest Borgnine), and an American Marine officer, Captain Anders (Jim Brown), who is supposed to command the Marine unit assigned to the mission. Jones is problem enough, as he is in command of the mission and he prefers to withhold as much information as it's possible to do from Ferraday, even at the risk of the Tigerfish's safety. Add to that the fact that Anders is suspicious of Vaslov, and Vaslov seems much too inquisitive and is telling even less of what he knows about the mission, and Ferraday has his hands full trying to get these men to the polar ice -- 600 miles of dangerous travel -- in just two days. When an attempt to break through the ice -- coupled with some timely sabotage -- kills one man and nearly destroys the boat, the men surrounding these contending parties start to understand just how high the stakes are for everyone. It turns out that the Soviets want what was aboard that satellite as much as the West does; indeed, both sides are frantic to get it, and, just as much, to keep the other side from getting it -- and they're prepared to take it by brute force. Once Ferraday and his men arrive at Zebra, they find a disaster and still more mystery, with most of the men dead and the object that Mr. Jones is supposed to secure nowhere in evidence, and he and his two fellow men of mystery suddenly showing their killing instincts quite freely. And with the storm clearing from the Soviet side first, their planes and their paratroops are closing in on Ferraday, and his relative handful of men. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Kent (Kent Lane) is a college-dropout-turned-drifter who travels South from Big Sur down the California coastline. His worried father (Jack Albertson) tries to bridge the ever-widening generation gap with his son, but Kent is born to wander through his life with no apparent sense of direction, searching for something elusive and unknown. One woman commits suicide after Kent declines her invitation to stay. Michele Carey is Julie, the woman working for a carnival who almost gets our anti-hero to settle down. Soundtrack music is provided by Tim Buckley, Kim Weston (who has a bit part in the film), Judy Collins, Mickey Stevenson and Neil Young. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide