Ken Osmond Movies

This distaff variation of the Goodbye Mr. Chips theme is based on a novel by Frances Gray Patton. While confined to a sickbed, ageing New England schoolteacher Miss Dove (Jennifer Jones) recalls the many students who passed through her classroom. Among her now-grown-up prize pupils are surgeon Tom Baker (Robert Stack), policeman Bill Holloway (Chuck Connors) and playright Maurice (Jerry Paris), all of whom were able to overcome difficult childhoods and strive for success with the help of Miss Dove. As it turns out, it is Dr. Tom Baker who is to perform the operation that may save the life of his ailing former teacher. A 60-minute TV adaptation of Good Morning Miss Dove, with Phyllis Kirk in the Jennifer Jones role, was seen in 1956 as part of the weekly anthology The 20th Century-Fox Hour. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the undisputed classics of American television, the weekly, half-hour sitcom Leave It to Beaver was created by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, who had risen to prominence as principal writers of the TV version of Amos 'n' Andy. Fulfilling their ambition to create a warm, credible sitcom about modern suburban life as seen through the eyes of small children, Connelly and Mosher came up with a pilot film, "It's a Small World," in 1957. This trial balloon featured Jerry Mathers as six-year-old Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, Paul Sullivan as his 11-year-old brother Wally, Casey Adams (aka Max Showalter) as their accountant father Ward, and Barbara Billingsley as their housewife mother June. Also appearing in the pilot were Diane Brewster, Richard Deacon, and, in the one-scene role of a wise guy neighbor kid named Frankie, a very young Harry Shearer. Though the concept did not fly as "It's a Small World" (the pilot would be folded into a syndicated anthology series, Studio 57), CBS evinced interest when it reemerged, with several new cast members, as Leave It to Beaver, which debuted October 4, 1957.
Carried over from "It's a Small World" were Jerry Mathers and Barbara Billingsley, while new to the cast were Hugh Beaumont as Ward Cleaver and Tony Dow as Wally. Likewise retained were Diane Brewster and Richard Deacon, albeit in different roles as respectively, Beaver's schoolteacher Miss Canfield and Ward's co-worker Fred Rutherford. The basic original premise was also kept on, with Beaver and Wally trying to interpret the ways of the world through their own youthful and naïve perspective. The Cleavers lived in the town of Mayfield, and shared many of the same trials and tribulations as the "nuclear families" who comprised the series' fan base. What really sold the series was the warm, realistic rapport between the Cleaver kids and their parents, and the authentic-sounding dialogue, full of the slang and idioms common to youngsters of the Eisenhower era. The huge supporting cast included Rusty Stevens as Beaver's chubby pal Larry Mondello, who was invariably seen chomping on an apple and who lived in fear of his disciplinarian father who always seemed to be on a business trip to Cincinnati (Madge Blake, aka Batman's Aunt Harriet, was occasionally seen as Larry's mom); Stanley "Tiger" Fafara as another Beaver buddy, the adenoidal Whitey Whitney; Stephen Talbot as young Gilbert Bates, who spent most of his time talking Beaver into getting in trouble; Richard Correll as Richard, evidently brought in during the series' third season as a Larry Mondello replacement; Jeri Weil as snotty, insulting Judy Hensler, Beaver's classroom nemesis; Frank Bank as Wally's school chum (and Fred Rutherford's son) Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford, an amiable, none-too-bright oaf; Pamela Beard as Mary Ellen Rogers and Cheryl Holdridge as Judy Foster, Wally's erstwhile girlfriends; and Sue Randall and Doris Packer respectively as Miss Canfield's successors at Beaver's school, Miss Landers and Miss Rayburn. By far the most famous and celebrated of the series' supporting players was Ken Osmond as Wally's pal Eddie Haskell, that juvenile Uriah Heep who laid on the insincere charm whenever he was around Beaver's parents ("Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver. My, Mrs. Cleaver, you're looking lovely tonight. Are Wallace and Theodore at home?"), but who reverted to his true personality as a weaselly, conniving creep whenever he was alone with Wally and The Beav. Moving from CBS to ABC for its second season, Leave It to Beaver ultimately lasted six seasons and 234 episodes, signing off only because Tony Dow and especially Jerry Mathers had outgrown their roles. The final network episode aired on September 12, 1963; one week later, the series entered rerun syndication, where it has flourished ever since. And in 1985, most of the original cast (minus the late Hugh Beaumont) were reunited in their same roles in a new series, The New Leave It to Beaver, which was a spin-off of the earlier retro special Still the Beaver, and which remained in production until 1989. While the newer version is not held in terribly high esteem by fans, the original remains an audience favorite. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wally (Tony Dow) and his friends build a clubhouse and then (naturally) form a club, with one-dollar dues for their fellow eighth-graders. When Beaver asks to join the club, he is flatly informed that dues for younger kids amount to three bucks! Though it's daunting task, Beav canvasses the neighborhood in search of the ways and means to scare up the money. Veteran character actors James Gleason, Raymond Hatton, and Charles Wagenheim make this episode a treat for movie-trivia buffs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After visiting their Aunt Martha (Madge Kennedy), Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and Wally (Tony Dow) were supposed to use the money given them by their dad to purchase two train tickets home. Alas, their train is delayed, and in the interim the boys spend all their cash on hot dogs and ice cream. How are they going to get out of this one without getting clobbered? Watch for Bess Flowers, "queen of the Hollywood dress extras," in the train-station sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The formerly slovenly Wally (Tony Dow) has decided to become a well-groomed fashion plate, mainly so that he and his pal Eddie (Ken Osmond) can impress the girls at the local movie house. Impressed by Wally's metamorphosis, Ward (Hugh Beaumont) and June (Barbara Billingsley) decide it is high time for Beaver (Jerry Mathers) to clean up his act as well. Unfortunately, asking Beav to wash his hands and face and actually getting him to do it are two entirely different matters! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Beaver makes friends with Chuey Varella (Alan Roberts Costello), a youngster who can only speak Spanish. Hoping to impress Chuey, Beaver wants to learn a Spanish sentence that will be complimentary to his new pal. Alas, Beaver's "teacher" is the redoubtable Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond), who uses his junior-high Spanish skills to carefully coach Beav in a sentence that, when translated into English, comes out as "You have the face of a pig." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and Wally (Tony Dow) are pressed into service as baby-sitter when their next-door neighbors go out of town. Well, actually, their not baby-sitters, they're kind of pet-sitters, since their charge is the Donaldson's cat, Puff Puff. Unfortunately, the boys let the cat out of the bag when Eddie Haskell's dog, Wolf, chases Puff Puff away to parts unknown! This was the final episode of Leave It to Beaver's first season, and the last one to be telecast on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After promising Ward (Hugh Beaumont) that he'll paint the garbage cans at 50 cents per can, Wally (Tony Dow) discovers that Eddie (Ken Osmond) has wangled six times as much money from his "old man" for the same job. Hoping to increase his salary, Wally is abruptly informed by Ward that a deal is a deal. Desperate to weasel out of his job, Wally tries to foist the responsibility off to kid brother Beaver (Jerry Mathers) -- which explains why the alternate title for this episode is "Tom Sawyer." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Beaver (Jerry Mathers) has saved up six dollars and fifty cents to buy Wally (Tony Dow) a new camera as a birthday present (six dollars and fifty cents for a camera? This really is 1959!) Unfortunately, Beaver is led to believe that he's not going to be invited to his brother's birthday party. Already in a sullen mood, Beaver is persuaded by his pal Larry (Rusty Stevens) to spend the gift money on a keen bow-and-arrow set for himself -- and to spend whatever is left over on the cheapest and chintziest present he can find. Of course, no sooner has the money been spent than Beav finds out he's been invited after all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season three of Leave It to Beaver finds the Cleaver family living in a new house, the result of the series' production company moving out of Republic Studios and into their new stamping grounds at Universal. In the season opener, Wally (Tony Dow) is appointed chairman of his high school's blind date committee. Beaver (Jerry Mathers) gives Wally the business, insisting that the committee has been formed only to find boyfriends for girls who can't get them otherwise. Wally pooh-poohs this theory, but soon has cause to regret accepting the chairmanship when he is unable to match up anyone with Jill Bartlett (Beverly Washburn), the new girl in school. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wally (Tony Dow) is hired as a weekend lifeguard at Friends Lake. But when he reports for work, his boss regards Wally as too young for the job, and so he is reassigned to sell candy and hot dogs at the concession stand. Meanwhile, Beaver (Jerry Mathers) has been bragging to all of his friends about his brother, the brave lifeguard. When he finally discovers what Wally is really doing, Beaver is not only humiliated -- he's boiling mad! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season four of Leave It to Beaver begins as Beaver (Jerry Mathers) refuses to eat the Brussels sprouts his mom June (Barbara Billingsley) has served him. Pleading, cajoling, and threatening do not work -- Beaver will not eat the vegetable no matter what his parents do to him. Anxious to defuse the situation, Ward (Hugh Beaumont) forces Beaver to promise to eat Brussels sprouts the next time they are served. Not long afterward, the family goes to a fancy restaurant -- and guess what's first on the bill of fare? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide