Holiday episode finds Jed, Granny, Elly and Jethro back in the Hills for a winter vacation? Two things; it's a lot colder than California and Cousin Pearl (Bea Benadaret) still has a thing for Mr. Brewster (Frank Wilcox), but that plan is gettin' kinda' cold too. Get it?
He's only interested in oil, NOT romance, and this gets Jed a-thinkin'... So not to embarrass Pearl in front of all her friends, why not stage a mock marriage proposal at the local theatre where she's playing the piano. To save her reputation, Brewster will "pretend" to propose to her, and she'll turn him down, after lots of rehearsing too. Sounds do-able, but will it go AS PLANNED?
I agree with the last reviewer, Bea Benadaret has never been better in this role, and the silent movie theatre gag is a real surprise. By the way, the movie being shown (and Pearl playing all the music) is THE EAGLE, starring Rudolph Valentino! Brewster hams it up, being a stage actor in his youth, but does he ham it up TOO MUCH? Frank Wilcox deserves a round of applause for silent screen dramatics 101.
A clever script by Paul Henning, who was assisted by Phil Shuken, who wrote for THE REAL MCCOYS. It made sense, considering the rural family theme.
Character actress Elvia Allman returns as snooty Elverna, who could spark up any scene. Look for distinguished Sam Harris in the theatre audience, one of the more popular bit and character actors on tv and movies. He held the record of appearing in five Oscar-winning films in his long career, also frequently cast on Lucille Ball's tv show in the 60s.
Aside from everything else, a deserved nod to the makeup crew, who did an outstanding job with Bea Benadaret, and Max Baer as Jethro's sister Jethrine.
Frances Sperry handled the hairstyling on the show for years, assisted by John Sylvester who headed wardrobe (and was creative!), previously working on Gale Storm's tv show.
SEASON 1 EPISODE 15 remastered black and white CBS dvd box set. Seasons 1 through 5 are on dvd, and seasons 6 through 9 are finally expected to be released on blu ray in 2027. Always thanks to METV for running these mini classics.
