Beaver Makes a Loan

(*Wally quote*) - "Hey, Beaver, you got crumbs in the butter."

Larry Mondello owes Beaver 75 cents after he puts the squeeze on Beaver to loan him the money.

It doesn't take much coaxing from Whitey and Gilbert to convince Larry to go to the movies with them and just forget about paying Beaver back.

But Larry actually does have a conscience and he's willing to make amends in order to keep his friendship with Beaver going.

Beaver learns a lesson in trust in this third-season episode. The monetary back-and-forth is a bit confusing, but the gist is that Beaver borrows money from Ward, then lends money to Larry, who then welches on him. Larry is on his way to go pay Beaver back, but he gets derailed by Gilbert and Whitey who entice him with a hamburger-and-apple-pie lunch and an afternoon at the movies ("The Iron Fiend"). There's a great moment as the camera shows Larry's conflicted emotions: do his duty by Beaver, or go with Gilbert and Whitey? When Larry doesn't show up at Beaver's house, Beaver goes out to find him; and the two boys have a "show-down" at the soda shop where Larry is downing cream sodas with the last of his (borrowed) money. This is a very funny scene - like children enacting a Western. Of course, Beaver and Larry make up in the end. It was a telling touch to have Larry walk down the street singing "You Always Hurt the One You Love." How true, Larry Mondello, how true!

Beaver needs a quarter for a new notebook at school, but Ward doesn't have anything smaller than a dollar. So he gives one to Beaver and says he expects his 75 cents in change back that night. At school, when Larry sees that Beaver has a whole dollar, Larry asks Beaver if he can run downstairs and buy both their notebooks, since he wasn't able to get a quarter for his own notebook from his parents. Larry ends up having to pay a debt of fifty cents to the school before he can purchase anything, so he returns to Beaver with two notebooks, but no change.

When Beaver tells Ward what happened to his change, Ward says that Beaver should get the 75 cents he normally gets for the movies from Larry, since Larry owes him that money. You can see Larry actually does feel guilty about the debt he owes Beaver, and plans to take the 75 cents he normally gets to go to the movies to Beaver to pay him back. But along the way he meets Whity and Gilbert, gets distracted, and gets seduced by the plot outline of the "Robot Fiend"- this is the last day it's in Mayfield - and also by Whity saying that he can join them for lunch at his house where there will be hamburgers and pie. So Larry ends up going to the movies with the money he owes Beaver. Meanwhile Beaver sits at home waiting for a Larry Mondello and 75 cents that will never come. Cue one Angry Beaver as well as complications ensuing.

Wally was right to point out to Beaver that Larry Mondello was no friend. But at least Larry never had any malicious intent where Wally's best friend, Eddie Haskell, definitely did. This episode points out the fact that Larry is just a weak person without much character who gives in to all of his whims and appetites. He's the kind of person who, as an adult, will probably get into major trouble because of these traits. Plus you don't get to see Beaver this seethingly angry very often.

You know Beave and money don't mix -- OR is it Larry and money don't mix?

The story is relatable, because most all us kids had money slip through our fingers to friends. Going, going, gone! A fate worse than death. Beave needs money to buy a notebook, however Ward doesn't have change. Mistake Number One: Ward gives him a dollar -- expecting the money back?

You know where this is going.

Mistake Number Two: Old pal Larry "smoothly" gets control of the cash, managing to pay off a debt and then going to the movies with Gilbert and Whitey. The nerve of this guy! I agree with the last reviewer, regardless how much Wally complains to Beave about Larry, he has Eddie for a pal, a work of art himself. Can't argue with that one.

Poor Beave has to sit home, waiting... and waiting... for Larry and the money to return. Some lessons to be learned. The offbeat dialogue is hilarious; Beave telling June Larry is late because he may have been eaten by a loose lion! That bit had to have been lifted from LAUREL AND HARDY or ABBOTT & COSTELLO.

By the way, the dollar Ward loaned Beaver is worth nearly 11 dollars today. A lot of mazuma.

Best of SEASON 3 EPISODE 11 remastered dvd box set. 6 dvds. Released 2010. The color box cover featuring Wally and Beave is the best ever.

All I know is, if Beaver was getting into the loan shark business, this is one time that he could've definitely used the services of the bully, Sonny Cartwright (from the previous episode) as his muscle. That's the only person who ever seemed to give Larry what he deserved.