Whistling is a skill eluding Dennis and Mr. Wilson. Pop psychology is discussed here, also. Mrs. Wilson and Mr. Quigley have good scenes. Quigley can be a jersey sometimes. His ribbing of Wilson leads to a great sight gag. Not as memorable as sight gags in Bringing Up Baby or On The Town. Still there are plenty of laughs. And this short can inspire someone to try and learn the art of whistling, also. Dennis sure rallies to Wilson's aide. Words can hurt. Laughter has its downside, too. The story takes on the look of a Sylvester cartoon. Maybe a good lesson from this one is the importance of doing something about a shortcoming.
2 Reviews
Insecurities Can Cause A Bond!
thejcowboy225 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Children can do extraordinary things with their bodies. I once read of a 4 year old who is visionally impaired who is a scratch golfer. Personally I knew of two individuals who could things with their anatomy that captivated by curiosity. My classmate Kenny who could put his eyelids inside out. Secondly my best friends brother who could easily walk on his hands. The typical blueprint for the Dennis the Menace series goes as follows. Depending on his age, (which to my knowledge is never mentioned) let's say Dennis (jay North) is around 8 or 9 years of old. Dennis an only child of the Mitchell's, Henry (Herbert Anderson) and his wife Alice (Gloria Henry). Dennis a curious and openminded child with no bounds for trouble. Let's emphasize that their is no malice involved. To further add to Dennis's non conformities, he takes everything literally and then acts upon the situation to the consternation of his retired overly frugal, irascible Mr. George Wilson played to perfection by Joseph Kearns. All Mr. Wilson wants is peace and quiet in his retiring years with his patient wife Martha played by Sylvia Fields. Mr. Wilson has vast hobbies to fill his days, i.e. horticulture, stamp and coin collecting to name a few. Dennis who lives next door constantly wants to be a part of Mr. Wilson's life making a grand entrance by yelling his name and then knocking over a something in his house or stepping on his foot with out ill feeling of course. Mr. Wilson wants no part of Dennis but Dennis never takes the hint. That's basically the formula of the show. In this case this episode goes in a different direction. Dennis and his best friend Tommy (Billy Booth) approach a group of boys dressed in native American garb. The group is lead by Buzzy (Barry Gordon) who instructs the group to whistle at the first sign of danger. Dennis wants to join but realizes he can't because he can't whistle. To make matters worse a toddler who can't even talk whistles with no difficulty. The group starts chanting and mocking Dennis as Mr. Wilson steps in and breaks up the teasing. Dennis and Wilson proceed inside Mr. Wilson's home. Dennis assumes that Mr. Wilson can whistle and asks for advise. Wilson tells Dennis to buy sour foods for a puckering effect. When Dennis leaves their home Martha is angered by her husband's advise. Mr. Wilson comes clean and admits he can't whistle either. This episode is basically the antithesis of the typical formula (Dennis annoying Wilson) and shows how actors old and young adapt to a script. Writer William Russell in a subtle way shows when push comes to shove Wilson does the right thing and covers Dennis back in a tense situation. It's a beautiful thing to witness against the majority of episodes. I find this one to be endearing. I often wondered how Jay North and Joseph Kearns interacted off camera in real life. This episode will give you a pleasant taste of the bond. .A splash of Comedy is thrown in between the grocer Quigley (Willard Waterman) and Wilson who confesses his inadequacies of putting his two lips together. Personally I couldn't blow bubbles with chewing gum for years. One day I figured it out. It's funny how trivial these problems are for all of us. We all like to make fun of each other but don't all of us to a certain extent hide our inadequacies?
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
