This was one of this series best episodes. A long-standing theme of many sitcoms from I Love Lucy through today's comedy shows deals with something valuable being lost and the characters trying desperately to find it. I rail against the episodes where the thing gets lost through absolute stupidity or some other illogical manner.
In this episode, the thing was not carelessly handled or lost through anyone's stupidity and the characters who could have gotten Dennis to help had no reason to think he would be able to help find it.
George Wilson has been told by his banker that a certain stock certificate he has is worth $500. George is excited and plans to take it to the bank that afternoon. But when he hears Dennis and Tommy at the door, he sticks it inside his phone book, partly to flatten out the rumpled certificate from the Buzzard Mountain Mining Company he bought decades ago and almost threw away, and partly to keep it away from any accidental damage the rambunctious boys might cause if they rush into the house.
The boys are welcomed into the house for a short time, as they are there to tell Mr. Wilson that he has been elected president of their club, the Treehouse Club-which, counting George, has three members. George is in such a good mood because of his "found money" in the stock certificate, that he agrees to pay $1 dues to the boys for his membership.
The boys leave and George has one thing he wants to do before going to the bank-take a nice bath. Martha goes out on an errand, leaving George alone, upstairs. Dennis is back at home when the man from the phone company comes with the new phone book, and he will take back the old one, which they recycle. Just after he leaves, Dennis realizes his next stop will be next door and he rushes to keep his best friend (Mr. Wilson) from being disturbed during his bath.
Dennis gets the man to give him the new book, then he and Tommy quietly enter and switch books, tossing the old one over the fence as they come out to complete the swap. Just after he leaves, they find the stock certificate on the sidewalk-we saw it fly out of the phone book when it was tossed, but the boys did not as they were climbing over the fence. They don't try to read the words, just notice the picture of the buzzard on the certificate and think it would be good to put up on the wall in their treehouse.
Now Martha has come home and George is done with his bath, just about to go to the bank and they then discover the certificate is not in the phone book. Martha thinks George is getting too forgetful. Dennis and Tommy come in and solve one mystery, telling how they exchanged phone books for Mr. Wilson. The boys were going to show him the stock certificate to ask about what sort of bird was in the picture, but seeing Mr. Wilson all upset, they choose to not bother him with that matter right now.
Now the Wilsons are phoning to find out where the old phone books were taken, and Henry and George go to the warehouse where they find a mountain of old phone books to look through.
The boys decide to switch the certificate for a picture of an eagle, and Dennis tells Tommy he put the other picture "away." Then they decide to go help find Mr. Wilson's old phone book. Up until now, they thought there was actually $500 in the phone book. Now they are told it was a piece of paper, so they are just looking for a phone book with something inside. They do their best to help, but after causing a wall of phone books to topple over (the old take one object out of the middle, causing all the rest to tumble, trick) they are sent home.
Next, Dennis is sadly telling his mom how unfair it is that they weren't allowed to help anymore and how Mr. Wilson will probably never see the tree house now. Alice says she'd like to see it, and Dennis proudly escorts her up to it. She admires all they did to make it homey, but when Dennis tells her about the magazine he took off Mr. Wilson's patio to put up in the tree house so he could read it, she very nicely suggests that he put it back so there won't be any more trouble today. Dennis does so. I loved the way Alice worked to help Dennis feel better.
This leads to Mrs. Wilson happening to find the stock certificate in that magazine-which is when we learn this is where Dennis put the certificate when he "put it away." Martha then does a really neat thing as she hears George and Henry returning, forlorned that they couldn't find the certificate. She smiles and tries to get George to open the magazine up, but it takes a while to get him to do so. When he finds it, he is astonished. A minute later, Dennis comes in and explains how the certificate got into the magazine and how he and Tommy had found it earlier.
Just after this, the banker comes along. He now ups the offer to $700, which George happily accepts, and then he borrows a dollar from Henry to pay his dues, all ready to join the club with the boys, delighted that they helped him gain an extra $200.
This episode could be the quintessential Dennis the Menace because of the fine way George was friendly to Dennis most of the time-which he was much more often than the comic book George ever was to Dennis. Dennis did cause a problem, but not because of carelessness or bumbling or accidentally breaking something. His helpful act of exchanging the phone books was a nice act and he didn't do anything dumb here. It ends with Wilson coming out ahead-as often happened in this series.
There were a lot of laughs. I liked George being nice to Dennis and not yelling at him at all. Alice's actions with Dennis, as described, and Martha's attempt to let George find the certificate without being told were very nice, loving touches displaying the way family members really treat each other-in sharp contrast to many of the comedy shows of later years.
The warehouse man, Guy Raymond, was funny too, making sure the men did not make a mess of all his phone books as they frantically searched. I think a 9 is a fair score.
In this episode, the thing was not carelessly handled or lost through anyone's stupidity and the characters who could have gotten Dennis to help had no reason to think he would be able to help find it.
George Wilson has been told by his banker that a certain stock certificate he has is worth $500. George is excited and plans to take it to the bank that afternoon. But when he hears Dennis and Tommy at the door, he sticks it inside his phone book, partly to flatten out the rumpled certificate from the Buzzard Mountain Mining Company he bought decades ago and almost threw away, and partly to keep it away from any accidental damage the rambunctious boys might cause if they rush into the house.
The boys are welcomed into the house for a short time, as they are there to tell Mr. Wilson that he has been elected president of their club, the Treehouse Club-which, counting George, has three members. George is in such a good mood because of his "found money" in the stock certificate, that he agrees to pay $1 dues to the boys for his membership.
The boys leave and George has one thing he wants to do before going to the bank-take a nice bath. Martha goes out on an errand, leaving George alone, upstairs. Dennis is back at home when the man from the phone company comes with the new phone book, and he will take back the old one, which they recycle. Just after he leaves, Dennis realizes his next stop will be next door and he rushes to keep his best friend (Mr. Wilson) from being disturbed during his bath.
Dennis gets the man to give him the new book, then he and Tommy quietly enter and switch books, tossing the old one over the fence as they come out to complete the swap. Just after he leaves, they find the stock certificate on the sidewalk-we saw it fly out of the phone book when it was tossed, but the boys did not as they were climbing over the fence. They don't try to read the words, just notice the picture of the buzzard on the certificate and think it would be good to put up on the wall in their treehouse.
Now Martha has come home and George is done with his bath, just about to go to the bank and they then discover the certificate is not in the phone book. Martha thinks George is getting too forgetful. Dennis and Tommy come in and solve one mystery, telling how they exchanged phone books for Mr. Wilson. The boys were going to show him the stock certificate to ask about what sort of bird was in the picture, but seeing Mr. Wilson all upset, they choose to not bother him with that matter right now.
Now the Wilsons are phoning to find out where the old phone books were taken, and Henry and George go to the warehouse where they find a mountain of old phone books to look through.
The boys decide to switch the certificate for a picture of an eagle, and Dennis tells Tommy he put the other picture "away." Then they decide to go help find Mr. Wilson's old phone book. Up until now, they thought there was actually $500 in the phone book. Now they are told it was a piece of paper, so they are just looking for a phone book with something inside. They do their best to help, but after causing a wall of phone books to topple over (the old take one object out of the middle, causing all the rest to tumble, trick) they are sent home.
Next, Dennis is sadly telling his mom how unfair it is that they weren't allowed to help anymore and how Mr. Wilson will probably never see the tree house now. Alice says she'd like to see it, and Dennis proudly escorts her up to it. She admires all they did to make it homey, but when Dennis tells her about the magazine he took off Mr. Wilson's patio to put up in the tree house so he could read it, she very nicely suggests that he put it back so there won't be any more trouble today. Dennis does so. I loved the way Alice worked to help Dennis feel better.
This leads to Mrs. Wilson happening to find the stock certificate in that magazine-which is when we learn this is where Dennis put the certificate when he "put it away." Martha then does a really neat thing as she hears George and Henry returning, forlorned that they couldn't find the certificate. She smiles and tries to get George to open the magazine up, but it takes a while to get him to do so. When he finds it, he is astonished. A minute later, Dennis comes in and explains how the certificate got into the magazine and how he and Tommy had found it earlier.
Just after this, the banker comes along. He now ups the offer to $700, which George happily accepts, and then he borrows a dollar from Henry to pay his dues, all ready to join the club with the boys, delighted that they helped him gain an extra $200.
This episode could be the quintessential Dennis the Menace because of the fine way George was friendly to Dennis most of the time-which he was much more often than the comic book George ever was to Dennis. Dennis did cause a problem, but not because of carelessness or bumbling or accidentally breaking something. His helpful act of exchanging the phone books was a nice act and he didn't do anything dumb here. It ends with Wilson coming out ahead-as often happened in this series.
There were a lot of laughs. I liked George being nice to Dennis and not yelling at him at all. Alice's actions with Dennis, as described, and Martha's attempt to let George find the certificate without being told were very nice, loving touches displaying the way family members really treat each other-in sharp contrast to many of the comedy shows of later years.
The warehouse man, Guy Raymond, was funny too, making sure the men did not make a mess of all his phone books as they frantically searched. I think a 9 is a fair score.
