Interview with Jerry Mathers: Working with Hitch, Playing the Beaver, and How Bob Hope Saved His Life

Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers as "The Beaver."

Born on June 2, 1948 in Sioux City, Iowa, Jerry Mathers' acting career began at the age of two when he appeared in a Pet Condensed Milk commercial with Ed Wynn on The Colgate Comedy Hour. He graduated to film roles later in the 1950s, acting alongside Bob Hope, Shirley MacLaine, and Alan Ladd. He achieved lasting fame in 1957 when he was cast as young Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver. The classic sitcom's original run was for six years and 234 episodes. Today, it's still shown twice daily on MeTV and throughout the world. In 1982, Jerry Mathers reunited with most of the original cast for a highly-rated reunion movie called Still the Beaver. Its success led to a popular revival TV series known as Still the Beaver and later The New Leave It to Beaver. Jerry Mathers has also appeared as a guest star on numerous TV series, such as My Three Sons, The Love Boat, and Diagnosis: Murder. He made his Broadway debut in 2007 as Wilbur Turnblad in the Tony-winning musical Hairspray at the Neil Simon Theater. Diagnosed with Type II diabetes in the mid-1990s, Jerry Mathers has appeared before the Congressional Caucus on Diabetes and has spoken at numerous events about the importance of early diagnosis, diet and exercise, and the proper treatment for diabetes.

Café:  You were six-years-old when you appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Trouble With Harry (1955). What are some of your memories of working with Hitchcock?

Jerry Mathers with Shirley MacLaine.

Jerry Mathers:  I had worked as an actor since I was two years old, so this wasn't like it was my first part. I just found Alfred Hitchcock to be a very, very nice person. As I grew older as an actor, I found out that a lot of people found him to be very intimidating. I had a great time with him. I used to sit on his lap and run over lines with him. We went to Stowe, Vermont, to film The Trouble With Harry, so it's a little bit different when you're on location with the film crew. The local people in the area would make lunch for the whole crew and I remember the ladies used to make us blueberry muffins. Each woman would have three or four dozen muffins and Mr. Hitchcock, who was a gourmet, would go up and down the aisle and make his picks. And those were always the best ones because he really knew how to choose them. I got to know him a little better, though I was still a child, when he was doing Alfred Hitchcock Presents because that was filmed on some of the sets from Leave It to Beaver. Some people have said that a particular set looks just like the Beaver entry hall or library. I'd see him on the lots because he'd come in and do some of the intros and outros for his TV series

Café:  What do you remember about working with Bob Hope as the young Bryan Lincoln Foy in The Seven Little Foys (1955)?

Jerry Mathers:  I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Bob Hope. In The Seven Little Foys, there was a true-life scene in which there was a fire in a vaudevillian theater and Eddie Foy saved a lot of people's lives. In those days, they didn't have fire prevention systems and sprinklers. The vaudevillians used candles to light the stage. When they caught on fire, which wasn't often, people would get trampled on trying to get out. When we went to do that scene, I was at the side of a stage sitting in this catwalk and Bob Hope knew that I was up there. When he saw that they put too much gasoline on the curtain, he knew that I was in danger. Everyone else panicked and ran out like they were supposed to, but Bob Hope noticed that I could't get out. He threw a blanket over himself and ran through the flames and got me out. So, he actually saved my life.

Café:  You and Barbara Billingsley were the only cast members retained from the original Leave It to Beaver pilot. What led to the roles of Ward Cleaver (played by Max Showalter) and Wally (Paul Sullivan) being recast?

Beaver and the original Wally.

Jerry Mathers:  I know that the boy that was to play Wally had a growth spurt. When they brought him back several months later, he had gotten really big--and really looked like a big brother. He was almost as tall as Hugh Beaumont, who was 6' 1". Tony Dow hadn't really worked as an actor. He was an AAU diver training for the Olympics. He had been in a pilot for another series called Johnny Wild Life because of his swimming and diving abilities. It was kind of a take-off on Tarzan. His mother took him on the second interview for Leave It to Beaver and he got the part of Wally. The producers were looking for someone very athletic and that was definitely Tony Dow. As for the part of Ward, the producers did several screenings. They'd bring in people from the outside as well as people working in other shows on the lot. They'd administer a questionnaire asking how you liked each character. For some reason, they decided to replace both of the actors who played Wally and Ward in the pilot.

Café: Didn’t your mother play a part in Hugh Beaumont getting the role of your TV father?

Jerry Mathers and his mother Marilyn.

Jerry Mathers:  My mother Marilyn is 91 and she is amazing. She has always been and continues to be so supportive of my career. Yes, she did play a big part in Hugh Beaumont getting the role of Ward. I worked with Hugh before Leave it to Beaver when we filmed a promotional commercial for Rose Hills Memorial Park. My mom liked Hugh very much and told him at that time the producers of a television series that I had just been hired for, Leave it to Beaver, were looking to cast the father. She thought Hugh would be perfect for the part and encouraged him to audition. And as they say, the rest is history! What many people don't know is that Hugh Beaumont wasn't really an actor, he was a Methodist minister. Before Leave It to Beaver, his most famous role was as private detective Michael Shayne in a series of "B" movies that played before feature-length films. Michael Shayne was a very mean character. To get people to talk, he would pound them against a wall. He was a very aggressive private detective. That wasn't really what Hugh Beaumont's personality was. So when he got to Leave It to Beaver and would take Beaver into the library or den and tell Beaver that he shouldn't have done something--that was much more Hugh Beaumont reverting to the preacher that he really was.

Café: How would you describe a typical day on the set of Leave It to Beaver?

Jerry Mathers:  It was 39 weeks a year and we'd go out after that for a few weeks of promoting and meeting with advertisers in New York and Chicago. We'd come back for a short vacation and then start filming the new season. We did that for six years and 234 shows. A typical week started on Monday. We'd go in and read the script. For the first few years when I wasn't that good a reader, they would have someone read my lines and I'd listen to them. It was a very good time and everyone was very nice.

Café: I know this is a difficult question since there were over 200 episodes of Leave It to Beaver, but what are your two or three favorite episodes?

Beaver in the giant soup bowl.

Jerry Mathers:  I like the one where I climb up into the soup bowl. That was fun. They actually built a billboard on the backlot of Universal. So for the outdoor shots, I was up there for about half a day. I got to miss a lot of school for that one. Of course, I had to make it up the next week by doing more hours. The show was just a grand adventure with a lot of adults around and we just had a really good time. After I'd do my schoolwork, I'd work on models that kids were building at the time. We'd play catch during lunch. It was just always a fun place to be every day.

Café: My wife and I loved Beaver’s friendship with Gus, the fireman. Burt Mustin, who played Gus, appeared in 14 episodes. Why do you think his friendship with Beaver resonates so strongly?

Jerry Mathers:  What many people don't know is that Burt Mustin's acting career actually started at the age of 67 after film director William Wyler cast him in the 1951 film Detective Story. Burt spent most of his early working years as an insurance salesman and he also had a degree in Engineering. As for Gus, I think he's kind of like a grandfather figure or the wise old man. He may be right or may be wrong--the kind of a sage that a lot of people wish they had. I had several of them on the set. Hugh Beaumont was a Methodist minister. A lot of people say he was such a good father figure. He was used to doing things like that.

Café: After Leave It to Beaver (1957-63) ended, did you stay in contact with any of the actors who played Beaver’s friends?

Richard Correll and Jerry Mathers.

Jerry Mathers:  Richard Correll, who played Beaver's school friend Richard Rickover, and I are lifelong friends and often see each other at family gatherings. Rich is a very accomplished television director and producer and has directed over 700 shows. I would see some of the others sometimes, but not as often as when we were doing the show. A lot of people don't realize that Los Angeles is very, very spread out. I couldn't drive at the time, so when Leave It to Beaver ended, we all went back to our homes. When we were teenagers, we all became close friends. Richard was friends with Harold Lloyd, the great silent film star. He had a daughter and we'd go over there and he would show us movies. It was a really good time for me. I had a wonderful childhood.

Café: The New Leave It to Beaver (1983-89) had a very successful run with 102 episodes. How would you compare it to the original Leave It to Beaver?

Jerry Mathers.

Jerry Mathers: It was really fun to be able to go back and see people like Barbara Billingsley. Sadly, Hugh Beaumont had passed. We hired several people who were in the original show and even the crew, who were still in the business. It was interesting to accept the role of the father in the show in place of Hugh Beaumont. Those were very big shoes to fill and try to play the same part. But it was interesting to move from the part of the boy to the part of the father.

Café: Since you were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the mid-1990s, you have been actively involved in diabetes awareness and education. What kind of information do you share with people living with diabetes?

Jerry Mathers:  I try to share with them that it's something a lot of people have. There's Type 1, which you're born with. Type 2 is the kind I had and I had it because I was overweight. At the time, I had invested in several businesses, one of which did catering so that I put on a lot of weight. That contributed to my diabetes. I was lucky enough to catch it early and when I took off the weight, I was prediabetic. I never had to take insulin. But I'm prediabetic for life so I always have to watch my weight.

Café:  You stay pretty busy! Do you have any other upcoming events you’d like to share with our readers?

Jerry Mathers:   I do a lot of personal appearances all over the country. You can go to my web page, which is JerryMathers.com and that's the best way to see what I'll be doing. And you can also check my Facebook page: The Jerry Mathers. That's the best way to find out if I'm going to be in your area.


In addition to his web site and Facebook page, you can also follow Jerry Mathers on Twitter and Instagram.

The Five Best Bob Hope Films

John Greco, the classic movie blogger behind the delightful Twenty Four Frames, recently listed his favorite comedies of the 1940s. Not surprisingly, two of Bob Hope's best efforts made the list. That got the Cafe staff thinking about our favorite movies starring Mr. Hope. So, here goes!

Paulette Goddard and Bob Hope.

1. The Ghost Breakers (1941) - This first-rate haunted house comedy benefits from a funny script and a strong cast. It reteams Hope and Paulette Goddard from the similar The Cat and the Canary (1939). Both movies feature spooky settings and were adapted from stage plays. However, while The Cat and the Canary comes off as a bit creaky, The Ghost Breakers holds up nicely. Willie Best, a fine comedian in his own right, has his share of great lines, too, as Hope's valet. Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis remade The Ghost Breakers as Scared Stiff in 1953. Both original and remake were directed by George Marshall.

2. Son of Paleface (1952) - This is the rare case where the sequel is better than the original--and that's saying a lot because The Paleface (1948) is pretty funny. Bob plays Junior, an Eastern dandy who heads out West because his father--Paleface Potter--supposedly left behind a fortune in gold. Instead, he finds that Dad pretty much owed money to everyone in town. Jane Russell, Hope's Paleface co-star, plays a saloon owner with a secret identity and Roy Rogers is an undercover government agent with a rifle hidden in his guitar case. This is classic Hope, with lines like: "Why, I'm so mean, I hate myself."

Crosby and Hope.

3. Road to Utopia (1945) - The best Road movie casts Bob Hope and Bing Crosby as a a pair of vaudeville performers who stowaway on a ship to Alaska. Their plan is to cash in on the gold rush, but they end up impersonating a couple of killers named Sperry and McGurk. Naturally, Dorothy Lamour is on hand, as well as a talking fish, a cameo by the Paramount mountain, and Bing playing the adult offspring of Bob and Dorothy. (Yes, this is one road Road movie where Bob got the girl...sort of.)

4. My Favorite Brunette (1947) - I'm a fan of all three of Bob Hope's My Favorite... films. In this outing, he plays a baby photographer with aspirations of becoming a private detective. He explains in voiceover that he knew what it took to become a detective: "Brains, courage, and a gun. And I had the gun." When Dorothy Lamour's exotic client mistakes him for a real private eye, Bob tackles a case involving a kidnapped uncle, mineral rights, and plutonium. Peter Lorre plays a knife-throwing henchman and Lon Chaney, Jr. is a delight as his oafish assistant. I also love the "keyhole camera."

Bob with Madeleine Carroll.

5. My Favorite Blonde (1942) - There were a lot of candidates for this final spot, but you can't go wrong with this comic variation of a Hitchcock espionage film. Bob plays a vaudeville entertainer (with a roller-skating penguin, no less) who encounters a mysterious, beautiful blonde on a train ("Is that your real hair or did you scalp an angel?"). She turns out to be a secret agent who needs Bob's help to elude her pursuers. Bob and Madeleine make a fine duo; it's too bad they didn't make any more movies together. Actually, Ms. Carroll took a five year break from acting after My Favorite Blonde, devoting herself to caring for the wounded and orphans during World War II.

Honorable Mentions:  The Paleface; The Lemon Drop Kid; and Casanova's Big Night.

An Interview with Audrey Dalton on Olivia & Joan, Bob Hope, and William Castle

Born in Dublin in 1934, the beautiful and talented Audrey Dalton fashioned a film and television career that spanned three decades. In the 1950s, she acted alongside screen legends such as Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton (My Cousin Rachel), Bob Hope (Casanova's Big Night), Barbara Stanwyck (Titanic), and Alan Ladd (Drum Beat). She also starred in cult film favorites The Monster That Challenged the World (1957) and Mr. Sardonicus (1961). In the 1960s, she was a frequent guest star in classic television series such as Wagon Train, Thriller, Perry Mason, and Gunsmoke. Ms. Dalton recently appeared at the Williamsburg Film Festival in Williamsburg, Virginia, and graciously agreed to an interview.

Café:  How did you get into acting?

Audrey Dalton at the 2016
Williamsburg Film Festival.

Audrey Dalton:  I had always wanted to ever since I was very little. I was fortunate enough that my family moved to London when I was 16. I later auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and was admitted. I was trained there and, while still at the Academy, a scout from Paramount Pictures saw me in a theater production. That led to an audition for a film in Hollywood. I came over for six months...and here I am. I'm not going to tell you how many years later (laughs).

Café:  So you had a contract with Paramount?

AD:  I was on contract to them for two years. I did loan-outs to Fox and then I became a free agent--not under contract anymore.

Café:  One of your first film roles was My Cousin Rachel. What was it like starring opposite Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton?

Audrey Dalton and Richard Burton.

AD:  Olivia de Havilland--I was awestruck. It was Richard Burton's first movie in Hollywood. He was a character, such a raconteur. He'd talk and talk. I think he was a little intimidated by Olivia de Havilland, too. She was always so gracious for a major star. It was Richard Burton's first film and he had trouble shooting, as we do, in segments. He wanted to do the whole scene. He didn't like to do it again for different shots and different cuts. But he learned to do it. I saw My Cousin Rachel for the first time in about 30 years just the other night on television. I sat and watched it when I should have been packing to come here. It was a good movie and Richard Burton's performance was wonderful--all that fire and energy and with that wonderful speaking voice.

Café:  His character should have stuck with you instead of Rachel.

AD:  Well, who knows what might happened later after Rachel died? It was all shot on Twentieth Century-Fox's backlot except for the ocean scenes, on what is now Century City. If you have been in Beverly Hills, that's a huge shopping center. So, the place where I shot Titanic and My Cousin Rachel is now all buildings and hotels.

Café:  You starred with Olivia's sister, Joan Fontaine, in Casanova's Big Night. Did you get a feel for the relationship between the sisters? I have read where it was very cool.

AD:  I have heard that, too. But the subject never came up. Those were the kinds of things you didn't talk about. They were so different, in looks and personalities. Joan was very effervescent and a great match for Bob Hope. They just traded barbs all the time and laughed and joked.

Café:  What was it like playing in a Bob Hope comedy?

AD:  It was fun. On the set, he always had the same group of small-part players with him. He knew all these people and would make sure that they were included somewhere in his movie so they always had a job. He took care of people. He was very, very sweet. In fact, when I first came here, I was 18 and on my own. He had a son and a daughter, who were a little younger than me by a couple of years. On Sunday evenings, he would sometime take me to dinner with his wife. They would come pick me and take me to dinner because they figured I needed a little looking after. He and Dolores were kindness itself.

Café:  Did Bob Hope stick with the script when filming?

AD:  Oh, no! He drove the writers and the director crazy. He kept twisting lines to try to make them funnier. He would say "gon-dole-la" instead of "gondola," which the writers wanted him to say. It goes back and forth a bit in the movie.

Café:  How well did you get along with Alan Ladd on Drum Beat?

With Alan Ladd in Drum Beat (1954).

AD:  Alan Ladd was wonderful to work with--very professional. He was very quiet off the set, very much a gentleman. I knew his family in Los Angeles. My father had known Alan because they were both into race horses. When I came here, Alan was asked to keep an eye on me. He took me into his family. He had a daughter who was a student at UCLA and she and I became good friends. We're still friends.

Café:  Delmer Daves is one of my favorite 1950s film directors. How would you describe his working style as a director on Drum Beat?

AD:  He was very tall and gregarious. He had a wonderful background of stories. He knew every day what he was going to shoot and he coaxed and pulled to get people to do what he wanted. He was very upbeat, never down, and always smiling. The world was wonderful. I was so sad when I heard that he had passed away.

Café:  The Monster That Challenged the World has become a well-regarded science fiction film of the 1950s. What was your initial impression when you read the script?

That's not Audrey on the poster!

AD:  I was puzzled by it. I was a working actor. I believed that was my job and you did your job. In those days, I was not picking and choosing. I never really did, unless it was offensive or something I didn't want to do. I thought it was a very interesting experience--as all my movies were in different ways. The director, Arnold Laven, had formed a production company with Jules Levy and Arthur Gardner. The monster stuff was fun, crouching behind a desk with a monster breaking down the wall. But you had to play it very straight. Once you start seeing the funny side of it, it doesn't work. Tim Holt had come out of retirement to do this movie. He was a quiet, very nice man--the most "unactor" actor that I ever worked with. The film's poster features a woman in a bathing suit. People think it's me, but it was the actress whose character was drowned in the opening sequence. She's pulled into the water by the monster. We shot down on the beach for that. I think the rest of it was filmed along the California Aqueduct.

Café:  You and Jacqueline Scott both worked with William Castle on different films. What was it like working with William Castle on Mr. Sardonicus?

Dalton in Mr. Sardonicus.

AD:  William Castle loved those kinds of movies. He got such a kick out of enticing the audience. He would literally giggle and laugh. I even have shots at home of him in the torture chamber of Baron Sardonicus. One of the devices was called an iron maiden, which was like a sarcophagus tomb standing on end. But when you opened it, it had all these nails sticking out. I have a picture of William Castle going into it. Oscar Homolka was the butler and had this face that he could pull in five different directions and he'd threaten young maidens. The clothes, especially the gowns, were beautiful. I had a very good time making that movie.

Café:  You've appeared in a number of fine films and classic TV series. What are some of your favorite roles?

AD:  Usually, I loved the one I was in at the time...which is not giving you an answer. I loved going back to Wagon Train, because I knew everybody. I think I did eight episodes of Wagon Train. There was one where I had to sing an aria from La Traviata. I am one of those people who has been blessed with not having a voice to sing with...at all. I can't carry two notes. I needed to be singing this aria. So, the studio gave me a recording of it and I had to learn it by rote so you could see the throat muscles work during the scene. Later on, of course, they substituted a singing voice for mine. But the poor crew had to listen to me sing it on the set. They deserved some extra money for having to put up with the awful screeching.

Café:  I recently saw one of your Wagon Train episodes. It was one where you fell in love with a man who may have been John Wilkes Booth. We never know for sure.

AD:  I also remember "The Liam Fitzmorgan Story" episode, which had an Irish feel to it.

Café:  Can you still do an Irish accent?

Audrey Dalton and her daughter Tara.

AD:  Well, it's not too hard (spoken in an Irish accent). In fact, if I'm talking on the phone to people at home, it comes without even trying.

Café:  When people come up to you at conventions like this, are there one or two roles that they ask you about the most?

AD:  Titanic (1953) is a big one. People are interested in it and, of course, the Westerns. One of my favorites was a Bonanza episode with Mercedes McCambridge (1962's "The Lady from Baltimore"). I was trying to marry Little Joe and big brother knew what I was up to.

Café:  Were you bad?

AD:  Oh, I was bad! And with a scheming mother.

Café:  Do you have any upcoming projects you'd like to share with our readers?

AD:  I enjoy events like this and do them every once in awhile. We have great grandchildren now and I love to take care of them. My life is more domestic now.

Bob Hope Ain't Afraid of No Ghosts

Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard.

One of Bob Hope's best films, The Ghost Breakers is a first-rate haunted house comedy that benefits from a funny script and a strong cast. Made in 1941, it reteams Hope and Paulette Goddard from the similar The Cat and the Canary (1939). Both movies features spooky settings and were adapted from stage plays. However, while The Cat and the Canary comes off as a bit creaky, The Ghost Breakers holds up nicely.

Bob plays a radio broadcaster named Lawrence (Larry) Lawrence (his middle name is Lawrence, too--"My parents had no imagination"). He has a radio show on which he's billed as "the man who knows all the rackets and all the racketeers." While visiting a hotel to see a disgruntled gangster, Larry accidentally fires a gun at the same time another man is fatally shot. Thinking he has committed a homicide, Larry hides in the hotel room of Mary Carter (Paulette Goddard).

Mary (Goddard) encounters a zombie
played by Noble Johnson.

Mary has recently inherited a Cuban castle called Castillo Maldito, located on the ominous-sounding Black Island. For 20 years, no one has been able to spend a night in the castle and survive until morning. Additionally, an anonymous individual offered to buy the estate for $50,000, although Mary refused to sell. She helps Larry evade the police and, in return, he agrees to accompany her to the eerie castle. He keeps his promise even after he's cleared of the murder rap--and Mary receives a note stating: "Death waits for you on Black Island." By that point, it's clear that Larry has become smitten with Mary.

Unlike The Cat and the Canary, much of the plot takes place outside the haunted house. That's not a bad thing, with Hope delivering some of his most memorable wisecracks. My favorite is this exchange with Richard Carlson, in which the latter describes the island's undead:

CARLSON: It's worse than horrible because a zombie has no will of his own. You see them sometimes walking around blindly with dead eyes, following orders, not knowing what they do, not caring.

HOPE: You mean like Democrats?

Bob Hope and Willie Best.

Willie Best, who worked with many of the best comedians in Hollywood, has perhaps his most substantial role as Larry's valet. He and Hope form a funny team and, as Thomas Cripps points out in his book Slow Fade to Black, they even subtly poke fun at racial stereotyping: "As he (Best) fumbles with oars, Hope says, 'I thought you rowed for Harlem Tech'...(Later) they reverse the old humor when they see an apparition and Hope panics while Best says, "I know better.'"

It's funny to count the number of
scenes that emphasize Paulette's legs.

Paulette Goddard is in top form as the plucky heroine and genuinely seems to be having fun. The same could be said for the rest of the cast, which includes Noble Johnson as a zombie, Paul Lukas as an untrustworthy solicitor, and Anthony Quinn playing twins. Look fast and you might even spot Robert Ryan in his film debut as an ambulance driver.

The Ghost Breakers was loosely based on the 1913 Broadway play The Ghost Breaker by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard. It was adapted twice previously as silent films. Additionally, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis starred in a 1953 remake called Scared Stiff. It's one of their better comedies and features Lizabeth Scott as Mary. It was directed by George Marshall, who already knew the plot pretty well--he also helmed The Ghost Breakers.

Bob and Paulette in their earlier film.

After recently watching The Ghost Breakers again, I sought out the Hope-Goddard version of The Cat and the Canary (1939). Although the mist-filled Louisiana Bayou seems promising in the opening frames, the film quickly dissolves into a straightforward haunted house comedy. It's mildly amusing, with Goddard holding most of the plot together (the delightful Gale Sondergaard and George Zucco are sadly underutilized). Bob Hope still seems to be getting comfortable playing a lead role. It's amazing how much more assured he would be just one year later in The Ghost Breakers.

My recommendation is that--if you just see one of these two spooky comedies--your best bet is The Ghost Breakers. It's not scary, but if you're a 'fraidy cat, please note Bob's confession: "I'm so scared, even my goose pimples have goose pimples."

1949--The Year in Film

In 1949, NATO was established, a postage stamp costs three cents, the first Emmy Awards were handed out, George Orwell's 1984 was published, and the first 45 RPM record was sold in the U.S. But as Harry Truman started  his second term as President, what was happening in the motion picture industry in 1949? Here are some highlights:

1. The Best Picture was All the King's Men, with Broderick Crawford winning Best Actor for his performance as Willie Stark. Olivia de Havilland won Best Actress for The Heiress.

2. The top-grossing film at the box office was Cecil B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah. It made $11,500,000, which would equate to $122,872,000 in 2013. That's a big moneymaker by today's standards, but don't forget that the U.S. population was a lot smaller in 1949 and there were less movie theaters, too. That makes Mr. DeMille's feat all the more impressive.

3. The top box office attractions were: Bob Hope; Bing Crosby; and Abbott & Costello. Incidentally, Bob and Bing weren't in a Road movie in 1949 (their last one had been 1947's Road to Rio).

4. After supporting roles in The Egg and I (1947), Ma and Pa Kettle got their own movie--appropriately-titled Ma and Pa Kettle. It was the first of a nine-film series with a new installment appearing every year through 1957. Majorie Main played Ma in all of them and Percy Kilbride co-starred in the first seven. He retired from acting after suffering an injury in an automobile accident.

5. Future stars that were born in 1949 include Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Bridges, Pam Grier, and Sissy Spacek. Film greats who passed away that year included Frank Morgan, Victor Fleming, and Wallace Beery.

Paul Robeson.

6. At the Paris Peace Conference, actor-singer Paul Robeson gave a speech in which he allegedly said that it was "unthinkable" for blacks to fight in a potential war against the Soviet Union. According to a 2011 article in the Smithsonian Magazine, an inaccurate transcript was released by the Associated Press and "historians would later discover that Robeson had been misquoted, but the damage had been almost instantly done." The House Un-American Activities Committee subpenoed baseball player Jackie Robinson, who testified that Robeson's comments, "if accurately reported, were silly."

7. Television became more prevalent, grew in popularity, and started to pose a threat to the film industry. The Sears & Roebuck catalog included television sets for the first time. RCA made great strides toward development of color TV (its color TV technology would become the U.S. industry standard in 1953). The Lone Ranger TV series made its debut on ABC and went on to become the fledgling network's first legitimate hit.

Alec Guinness in one of his eight
roles in Kind Hearts and Coronets.

8. Britain's Ealing Studios--which became known for its low-key, quirky comedies--released three classics:  Whiskey Galore (aka Tight Little Island); Passport to Pimlico; and Kind Hearts and Coronets.

9. Vittorio De Sica's Italian neo-realism masterpiece, The Bicycle Thief, was released in the U.S. and given an honorary Oscar. By 1952, it was voted the greatest film ever made in Sight & Sound magazine's first poll among film professionals.

10. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers appeared in their last film together: The Barkleys of Broadway.

Dorothy Lamour Is Bob Hope's "Favorite Brunette"

Confession: I sometimes get the plots of Bob Hope's three My Favorite... movies mixed up. While recently viewing My Favorite Brunette again, I kept waiting for the scene where the baddies give Bob truth serum--with predictably silly results. However, that classic bit is from My Favorite Spy with Hedy Lamarr. Well, to my defense, at least Hedy and Bob's Brunette co-star Dorothy Lamour both have dark hair--as opposed to leading lady Madeleine Carroll from My Favorite Blonde.

Bob Hope made the three My Favorite... films between 1942 and 1951, the peak period of his Paramount career. Technically, he played a different character in each film, though they all displayed the typical Hope persona. The series’ premise had Bob encountering mysterious women that got him involved in murder mysteries and spy intrigue. In My Favorite Blonde, he meets Madeleine Carroll (already a spy movie veteran after 1935’s The 39 Steps) on a train and winds up helping her elude Nazi agents. My Favorite Spy pairs him with the gorgeous Ms. Lamarr in a spy spoof with Bob as a comedian posing as a tough secret agent.

In My Favorite Brunette, Bob plays baby photographer Ronnie Jackson, who tells his story in flashback as he awaits the San Quentin gas chamber. As Ronnie explains in voiceover, he was ready for a career change and knew what it took to be a detective: "Brains, courage, and a gun. And I had the gun."

Tough-guy Hope and Lamour.

When the exotic Carlotta Montay (Lamour) mistakes Ronnie for out-of-town detective Sam McCloud (an unbilled Alan Ladd), the baby photographer plays along. He is soon involved in a plot with a kidnapped uncle, mineral rights, and plutonium. Of course, the story is really just an excuse for the zany situations and frequently funny Hope wisecracks (to Carlotta: "We're caught like two rats in a trap...at least, we're a boy rat and a girl rat."). And while this may not be the Hope comedy with the truth serum scene, it is the one with the "keyhole camera" and a classic routine in which Hope keeps overlooking a clue that bad guy Peter Lorre repeatedly places in front of him.

Hope feels Lon's muscles.

As was typical in Hope's Paramount comedies, the supporting players are first-rate, especially Lorre as a knife-throwing henchman. The most surprising performance, though, comes from Lon Chaney, Jr., who channels his Lenny (from Of Mice and Men) to charming comedic effect as Lorre's oafish partner.

My Favorite Brunette may not be a top-notch Hope vehicle along the lines of Son of Paleface or The Ghost Breakers, but it's a solid comedy that will keep a smile on your face for 87 minutes.

The "Road" Movies A to Z

We interrupt the 31 Days of Halloween for an alphabetical tribute to the Bing Crosby-Bob Hope Road movies. Starting at the top:

A - Alaska (the setting for Road to Utopia); The African Queen clip used in Road to Bali when the boys "see" Bogey.
B - Robert Benchley, who narrates Utopia; "But Beautiful" the big hit song from Road to Rio.
C - Cannibals who want to eat Bob in Road to Zanzibar; Crosby, of course.
D - Deep sea diving, the boys' occupation in Rio; Duke, Bing's name in Utopia.
E - "The End" credit that Bob tries to prevent from ending Bali before he gets the girl.
F - Fearless Frazier, Bob's name in Zanzibar.
G - Gorilla that likes to blow out matches in Zanzibar.
H - Hong Kong and Hope are the obvious choices, but there's also the hypnosis used on Dorothy in Rio.
I - "It's Anybody's Spring", song performed by Bing in a shipboard talent show. He loses to an organ grinder and a monkey, prompting Hope to remark about bringing Sinatra on the next Road trip.
J - Josh, Bing's name in Road to Singapore.
K - Prince Ken Arok, the bad guy in Bali.
L - Lamour, of course. But also Aunt Lucy, played by Bob in a flashback in Road to Morocco.
M - "Moonlight Becomes You" the hit ballad from Morocco; the moon where Bob, Bing, and Joan Collins land at the end of Road to Hong Kong.
N - David Niven, who has a cameo in Hong Kong.
O - Orville, Bob's first name in Morocco, though he goes by his nickname "Turkey."
P - The "patty-cake" bit originated in Singapore that the boys use when an escape is needed; the Paramount mountain that makes a surprise appearance in Utopia...which also features Dorothy singing her hit song "Personality" (later, sadly, used by Wesson Oil).
Q - Anthony Quinn, who played villains in both Singapore and Morocco.
R - Rio!
S - Singapore!
T - Talking animals: camels in Morocco, fish and bears in Utopia. Bing's hit "To See You is to Love You" from Bali, which Hitchcock used in Rear Window.
U - Utopia!
V - Volcano in Bali; Jimmy Van Heusen, who co-wrote all the songs.
W - Whiskers worn by the boys in Utopia; the Woody Woodpecker cartoon "Alley to Bali" that spoofs Road to Bali.
X - The XL squid from Reap the Wild Wind that appears in Bali.
Y - "You're Dangerous" sung by Dorothy in Zanzibar.
Z - Zanzibar...a fitting way to end this list!