Irene Ryan Movies

Still riding high in the ratings after seven years on the air, The Beverly Hillbillies launches its eighth season on CBS. The festivities commence with the series' highly publicized return to its "roots": that is, the cast briefly leaves its Beverly Hills environs for an extended visit to mountain country, filmed on location at Silver Dollar City in the Missouri Ozarks. It is during this story arc that Elly May Clampett (Donna Douglas) falls in love with local boy Matthew Templeton, played by Roger Torrey. Although the romance would end before a march down the altar, actor Roger Torrey would return the following year as another of Elly's ardent suitors -- this one named Mark Templeton! The Clampetts' sojourn to Silver Dollar City also served to introduce a new recurring character: Shorty Kellems, played by Shug Fisher. Inevitably, Shorty would follow the Clampetts back to Beverly Hills, where he teams up with Jethro Bodine (Max Baer Jr.) to live the life of a "gen-u-ine" Hollywood playboy. Ultimately, this storyline segues into another continuity strand in which the Clampetts play matchmaker for Shorty and his homegrown sweetie Elverna Bradshaw (Elvia Allman) -- who just so happens to be the lifelong enemy of Granny (Irene Ryan). Elsewhere, Phil Silvers makes several guest appearances as con artist Shifty Shafer, who in an entertaining story arc lensed in New York City, manages to "sell" Central Park to the gullible Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen). And in another memorable multi-episode guest star turn, Soupy Sales shows up as aviator Lance Bradford, the insufferable nephew-in-law of Jed's banker Milburn Drysdale (Raymond Bailey). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is a "crossover" episode between Petticoat Junction and The Beverly Hillbillies, the second installment in a three-part Hillbillies story arc. Upon hearing that Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning) has given birth, old family friend Granny Moses (Irene Ryan) travels from Beverly Hills to Hooterville to help take care of the child. Unfortunately Granny loses her glasses and jumps to the conclusion that the Bradley's dog is Betty's baby--requiring the old dear to whip up an "emergency potion" to rectify the problem. At one point, Granny comments that Betty's mother Kate closely resembles her own Cousin Pearl--as well she should, since the late Bea Benaderet played both roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Those acerbic TV critics who'd predicted back in 1962 that the phenomenally successful The Beverly Hillbillies would wear out its welcome after three seasons must have been writhing in agony as the series entered its sixth year on the air in the fall of 1967. Although it had dropped from its ratings peak of number one in 1964 to 12th place in the intervening three years, the series still retained its loyal corps of fans, and had even picked up millions of new devotees in recent months. In a move to freshen up the basic format (nouveau riche hillbillies "invading" Beverly Hills), season six opened with a fascinating story arc, largely shot on location, in which millionaire mountaineer Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen) inherits a British castle on the outskirts of London. (Believe it or not, The Beverly Hillbillies was, at the time, one of the United Kingdom's most popular American imports.) This situation permits a whole new slew of comic complications, beginning with Granny's (Irene Ryan) tussle with the customs officials, and impressionable Jethro's (Max Baer Jr.) efforts to emulate the gallant knights of old, with his feisty cousin Elly May (Donna Douglas) reluctantly recruited to be a "damsel in distress." Upon the Clampett's return to Beverly Hills, Jethro persists in playing out his British-bred fantasies by becoming the Robin Hood of Griffith Park, leading to another story arc involving a band of hippies (or at least, the producers' notion of what hippies looked like). In other continuing storylines, Granny (Irene Ryan) thinks that the Civil War has been reignited when she sees a movie company filming a historical epic near the Clampett mansion; Jethro joins the military reserve, wreaking his usual well-meaning havoc, and later opens up a "topless" restaurant (no, it's not what you think); and the Clampetts become embroiled in the peculiar world of women's wrestling! The season ends with "Cousin Roy," featuring country & western singer Roy Clark in what was reportedly designed as the pilot for a Beverly Hillbillies spinoff series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Unfortunately, the comedy in this film is just about as crummy as its title. On the bright side, it does feature a number of veterans from popular TV sitcoms. It is set in a run-down diner where a bumbling short-order cook and a klutzy waitress work. They are so terrible at their jobs that they soon lose them. Next the two go to help a pal run her recently inherited bookstore. There they found trouble when a Russian spy mistakenly identifies the former cook as a defecting cosmonaut. Meanwhile, two would-be bank robbers are secretly sneaking 'round the bookstore trying to tunnel into the bank vault next door. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Having emerged as America's highest-rated sitcom of all time during its second season on CBS, The Beverly Hillbillies was a "shoe-in" for a third-season renewal, remaining in its familiar Wednesday night slot for another year beginning in the fall of 1964. Season four gets off to a rousing start with a multi-episode story arc in which nouveau riche mountaineer Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen) buys a controlling interest in Mammoth Studios, a Hollywood film factory run by executive Lawrence Chapman (Milton Frome). After briefly living on the studio grounds, Jed and his family decide to revitalize the fading studio -- and prevent it from being bulldozed into oblivion by banker Milburn Drysdale (Raymond Bailey), executor of Jed's vast fortune, by producing their own silent-movie epic, with the tacit blessing of gossip queen Hedda Hopper. In a related story arc, Jed's innocently sexy daughter Elly May (Donna Douglas) is ardently courted by Mammoth's leading male star Dash Riprock (Larry Pennell) -- who, in an outrageous case of mistaken identity, briefly assumes that Mr. Drysdale's spinsterish secretary Jane Hathaway (Nancy Kulp) is Elly May! Elsewhere, Arthur Treacher guest-stars as a "veddy proper" butler who attempts to educate the Hillbillies in the ways of culture and refinement; Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, who are heard performing the series' theme song at the beginning and end of each episode, pay one of their sporadic visits to their former neighbors, the Clampetts; Jed's impressionable nephew Jethro (Max Baer Jr.) dons tattered shirt and false beard to become a beatnik, and loads up on expensive and useless gadgetry in his efforts to become a "Double Naught Spy" like James Bond; Drysdale's rival banker Mr. Cushing (Roy Roberts) goes to great and unscrupulous lengths to persuade Jed to transfer his millions to Cushing's bank; and Granny (Irene Ryan) tries to arrange a match between Elly and the son of an old family friend (played by famed dialect coach Robert Easton). Although The Beverly Hillbillies fell from its Number One rating perch during its third season, the series still managed to post an admirable 25.2 Nielsen share, ending up in 12th place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first season of The Beverly Hillbillies can be regarded as a "shakedown" cruise, with the newly-rich Clampett family making first contact with the wealthy upper crust of Beverly Hills, CA, adapting to their strange but luxurious surroundings with a combination of farcical ignorance and warm-hearted common sense and decency. After striking oil on his property in the opening episode, poor-but-proud mountaineer Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen) is informed that his land is now valued in a "new kind of dollars" -- namely, "million" dollars (about 20 million, to be exact). On the advice of his social-climbing cousin Pearl Bodine (Bea Benaderet), Jed decides to move out of the hills and into a posh Beverly Hills mansion, taking his innocently voluptuous daughter Elly May (Donna Douglas), his elderly but feisty mother-in-law Granny (Irene Ryan) and Pearl's oafish son Jethro Bodine (Max Baer Jr.) along for the ride. Endeavoring to help the Clampett clan make the transition from abject poverty to untold wealth are Milburn Drysdale (Raymond Bailey), president of the Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills and the caretaker of Jed's fortune, and Drysdale's ultra-efficient secretary Miss Jane Hathaway (Nancy Kulp). Many of the earliest episodes are built around the Clampetts' hilarious misinterpretations of their new creature comforts: the mansion's swimming pool is referred to as "the cee-ment pond"; the billiard table is labeled "the fancy eatin' table"; the billiard cues are dubbed "pot passers"; and it takes several episodes for Jed and company to figure out where "thet music is a-comin' from" whenever somebody rings their doorbell. Meanwhile, animal-loving Elly May merrily goes about adopting as many local "critters" as she can find, the impressionable Jethro shows off the "cipherin' skills" he has accumulated as the world's oldest sixth grader (his future plans are to become either a brain surgeon or a fry-cook), and Granny crankily tries to transform her corner of Beverly Hills into a replica of her old mountain trappings, replete with a still for her "rheumatizz medicine."
Among the many subplots developed this season are Cousin Pearl's ongoing rivalry with Granny; Pearl's tireless efforts to marry off Jethro's twin sister Jethrine (also played by Max Baer Jr.), and her own furtive romance with oil-company executive John Brewster (Frank Wilcox); the Herculean efforts by Mr. Drysdale's snobbish wife Margaret (Harriet MacGibbon) to remove "those dreadful Hillbillies" from her neighborhood; and the ill-fated attempt by the Drysdale's overaged-preppy offspring Sonny Drysdale (Louis Nye) to woo and win Elly May, which nearly results in an old-fashioned shootin' feud between the Drysdales and the Clampetts! Though roundly panned by many of America's top TV critics (with such rare exceptions as the erudite Gilbert Seldes, who lauded the series for brilliantly upholding the tradition of the classic "rube outwits city slicker" stage comedies of the previous century), The Beverly Hillbillies closed out its first season as the nation's top-rated program. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical, an ex-fan dancer leaves the burlesque to start a new in a small town with her two teenage children. There she soon becomes one of the most respected women in town; she also falls in love with the school principal. Unfortunately, her happiness disintegrates when her past is revealed. Fortunately, the townsfolk respect her too much to hold it against her. Songs include: "We're on Our Way", "Why Can't I?", "Is It Love?", "I'd Rather Be", "My Calypso Baby" (Paul Dunlap), and "Teenage Cutie" (Dick Kallman, sung by Luis Amando). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Marjorie Main is the whole show in the Universal programmer Ricochet Romance. Playing the outspoken new cook at a rundown dude ranch, Marjorie forces everyone around her to pitch in and bring some life back into the place. She also sets her sights on old layabout Chill Wills, scheming to rope the critter into marriage. Veteran comedy director Charles W. Lamont moves the proceedings along with style, never missing an opportunity for a low-comedy slapstick turn. The most surprising aspect of Ricochet Romance is that it is not an entry in Marjorie Main's Ma and Pa Kettle series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical comedy, a rambunctious small-town girl inadvertently joins the Army and decides to make the best of it. Songs include: "Lovey," "If Only Dreams Came True," "Boy, Oh Boy," "Song of the Women's Army Corps." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Robert Newton exhibits absolutely no shame in his portrayal of the title character in Blackbeard the Pirate. If you thought that Newton's "Arr, matey"s got out of hand in Treasure Island, wait til you see this one. The plot concerns the efforts of the British admirality to bring Blackbeard to justice. To that end, officer Keith Andes allows himself to be abducted by the pirate's minions. Also captured by Blackbeard is luscious Linda Darnell, the adopted daughter of Andes' superior Torin Thatcher. When it turns out that everyone is being double-crossed by the insidious Thatcher, all Technicolor hell breaks loose. William Bendix costars as Blackbeard's chief henchman, appearing to be a model of subtlety when compared to his costar. Future "Beverly Hillbilly" Irene Ryan has some nice moments as Linda Darnell's lady-in-waiting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Even at age 38, Loretta Young could successfully pull off her ingenue duties in the innocuous comedy Half Angel. Young plays Nora, a prim and proper nurse, engaged to the stuffy Tim (John Ridgely). Unbeknownst to both, Nora is a sleepwalker; during her nocturnal forays, the less-inhibited side of her personality takes over. While somnambulizing one evening, she heads to the home of her former boyfriend John (Joseph Cotten) and makes amorous advances towards him. Fascinated, John tries to get Nora to behave the same way while she's awake, but it takes eight reels to accomplish that formidable feat. Half Angel bears no resemblance to the 1936 Claire Trevor vehicle of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide