Rusty Stevens Movies

Aunt Martha sends Beaver a precious family heirloom: a 14-karat gold ring that once belonged to her brother (and Beaver's namesake) Theodore. Ward (Hugh Beaumont) and June (Barbara Billingsley) warn Beaver to be very, very careful with the valuable ring. Well, he tries, but when he takes the ring to school to show his friends, he is goaded into putting it on his finger -- and then can't get it off! The prospect of his parents' wrath is second only to Beaver's fears that, in order to remove the ring, he's going to have to sacrifice "my favorite finger!" ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The usually cautious Ward (Hugh Beaumont) has gotten himself into a bind. He has promised to attend a father-son picnic with Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and to go on a fishing trip with Wally (Tony Dow). Problem is, both events fall on the same day at the same time. As Ward tries to figure a way out of his predicament, it is Beaver who surprisingly hits upon a solution -- one that, not so surprisingly, just might make things worse! With this episode, Sue Randall makes her first appearance as Beav's toothsome teacher Miss Landers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Larry Mondello (Rusty Stevens) goads Beaver (Jerry Mathers) into playing with Ward's new drill. Once the damage has been assessed, Ward punishes Beaver, who thinks he's being too severely treated. As far as the Beav is concerned, he has no other alternative than to bundle up his clothes, tie them to a stick hobo-style, and run away from home -- "And I'm not never comin' back." Now it's up to Ward to make the next move, and he does, using a bit of reverse psychology...but is he being too subtle for the situation? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Assigned to enact the role of a canary in the upcoming school play (complete with yellow, feathered costume), Beaver (Jerry Mathers) may not quite be up to the part, what with his bumping into furniture, props, and other actors. Worse still, well-meaning Ward (Hugh Beaumont) advises Beav to learn his role carefully -- thereby infesting our hero with a bad case of stage fright! Even so, the play goes on as scheduled, but there are a few surprises in store for the Cleaver family. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This dynamic and commanding adaptation of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning play focuses on a troubled Southern family and the discord over their dying father's millions. Wealthy plantation owner Big Daddy Pollitt (Burl Ives), celebrating his 65th birthday, is visited by his sons, Brick (Paul Newman) and Gooper (Jack Carson). He has cancer, but a doctor has deliberately and falsely declared it in remission. Seemingly perfect son Gooper and his wife, Mae (Madeleine Sherwood), have several children and are anxiously expecting to inherit Daddy's millions. By contrast, Big Daddy's "favorite," Brick, is a has-been football star who's taken to drinking his days away since the suicide of his "best friend" a year earlier. He resents his wife, Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor), because he believes that she had an affair with his deceased friend. As a result, he refuses to sleep with her, although she remains devoted to him. Since Brick and Maggie have failed to produce any grandchildren, Big Daddy is inclined to leave his estate to Gooper, but Maggie attempts to prevent that by telling him that she is pregnant. Big Daddy knows better, yet he recognizes that Maggie loves Brick so much that she would be willing to do anything for him. Although Brick is self-destructive and resentful, unable to come to terms with his losses, it takes Big Daddy's recognition of his own mortality to make Brick change his perspective. Brick's struggle with his sexual identity, and the nature of his relationship with his "friend," had to be toned down for mass consumption, although this intelligently written and acted film covers such topics as infertility, adultery, and alcoholism that were still considered taboo in the 1950s. Newman brings depth and feeling to the role as Brick, while Taylor succeeds brilliantly in portraying Maggie as a passionate and understanding woman despite her own real-life emotional turmoil over the death of her husband at the time, producer Mike Todd. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi

Former silent film star Madge Kennedy makes her first series appearance as the Cleaver boys' imperious Aunt Martha. While June (Barbara Billingsley) is out of town visiting her sister Peggy, Aunt Martha agrees to look after Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and Wally (Tony Dow). Unfortunately, she also uses this opportunity to purchase an embarrassing "Little Lord Fauntleroy" outfit for Beaver -- and worse, she insists that he wear it to school! Among other things, this is the episode in which we learn why Beaver never uses his given name, Theodore. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Beaver (Jerry Mathers) trades a glass doorknob with Larry Mondello (Rusty Stevens) in exchange for a stray chihuahua that Larry has found. Dad Ward (Hugh Beaumont) figures that the dog, whom Beav has named Poncho, belongs to someone, and thus places an ad in the paper. Though Beaver and Wally (Tony Dow) try not to get too attached to Poncho, they're fighting a losing battle -- and thus the boys concoct a scheme to hide the pooch when the owner shows up. This episode marks the final series appearance of Diane Brewster as Beaver's teacher Miss Canfield; also, the woman who accepts Ward's classified ad is played by Joanna Lee, the main villainess from the immortal Z-picture Plan 9 from Outer Space, and later an award-winning writer of made-for-TV movies. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi