Max Baer, Jr. as Jethrine Bodine in a screenshot from the episode.
"Trick or Treat" is a Halloween-themed episode of the American sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. It is the sixth episode of the first season of the series. It first aired in the United States on CBS on October 31, 1962. The episode is now in the public domain in the United States because its copyright was not renewed. A video of the entire episode can be found on this page.
The Beverly Hillbillies is about a family known as the Clampetts. The family is made up of widower Jed Clampett, his mother-in-law Daisy Moses (known as Granny), Jed's tomboy teenage daughter Elly Mae and Jethro Bodine (the teenage son of Jed's cousin Pearl Bodine who calls Jed "Uncle"). Jed lives in poverty in the mountains of an unspecified state. When oil is discovered on Jed's property, he instantly becomes a multi-millionaire. Jed's cousin Pearl urges him to move to California, where he can enjoy a life of luxury, and to take her son Jethro with him. The Clampetts move into a mansion in Beverly Hills. The Clampetts are poorly educated and have little understanding of life outside of their old rural hometown. Much of the series' humor derives from the Clampetts' many cultural misunderstandings and the difficulties that they have in adjusting to life in their new surroundings.
In the episode, Granny is upset because she has not been welcomed to Beverly Hills by her neighbors. Jed says that they should go to their neighbors' houses and introduce themselves. The Clampetts do not realize that it is Halloween, a holiday with which they are unfamiliar. In their shabby old clothes, they are mistaken for costumed trick-or-treaters and are given large amounts of candy.
Plot[]
Irene Ryan as Granny and Buddy Ebsen as Jed in a 1970 publicity photo.
It is the end of October. The Clampetts have recently moved into their mansion in Beverly Hills. Granny is unhappy there. She asks Jethro to drive her back to her old home in the mountains. Jed tries to cheer Granny up by telling her that he has invited his cousin Pearl (Jethro's mother) and her daughter Jethrine to visit them. Granny does not believe that Pearl will come to visit. Jed says that she will because she is looking for a husband for Jethrine. Granny replies that Pearl is looking for a husband for herself and that the man she has chosen is John Brewster, the executive from the OK Oil Company who is in charge of the oil fields on the Clampetts' property. Jed points out that Mr. Brewster lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Granny says that business brings Mr. Brewster to Jed's old home and that Pearl will be waiting for him when he arrives.
Pearl and Jethrine (played by Max Baer, Jr., the same actor who plays Jethro, in drag) sit in a horse-drawn cart and wait until they see Mr. Brewster's car. They then follow him to Jed Clampett's old house. Pearl pretends to Mr. Brewster that they have come to the same place by coincidence. Mr. Brewster mistakes the outlandishly flamboyant clothes that Pearl and Jethrine are wearing for costumes and asks them if they are going to a Halloween party. Pearl has never heard of Halloween, which is not celebrated in her mountain community. Realizing the mistake that he has made, Mr. Brewster tells Pearl that Halloween is when people wear their best clothes. Pearl says that the clothes she and Jethrine are wearing are homemade. Mr. Brewster says that they look like they come from Saks. Pearl takes offense at this remark.[1] Nevertheless, she still hopes to have a relationship with Mr. Brewster and agrees to accompany him into Jed's old cabin and see the telephone that has been installed there.
It turns out that Granny is unhappy because none of her new neighbors have welcomed her to Beverly Hills. Jed reminds her that they are living among movie stars now and that the beautiful young actress Mary Pickford, "America's Sweetheart" whose films are very popular at the movie theater where Pearl works,[2] might come to their door one day. Granny reminds Jed that, back home, they always welcome new neighbors by calling on them and bringing them food. Jed decides that things must be done the other way round in Beverly Hills. It must be the custom there for new arrivals to go out and present themselves to their neighbors, and maybe receive food from them.
Max Baer, Jr. as Jethro in a 1062 publicity photo.
That afternoon, Jed, Granny, Jethro and Elly Mae, all wearing the shabby old clothes that they always wear, go out to call on their neighbors. When the door bell rings at the first house that they go to, the owner says that she is not expecting anybody. Agnes the maid says that it is probably just children trick-or-treating. Agnes opens a small hatch in the front door. Jethro, hoping to be welcomed to the neighborhood with some food, asks her if she has anything for them. Agnes assumes that the Clampetts are costumed trick-or-treaters. She asks, "Aren't you rather big for this?" Jed replies that he thinks that everybody would be too big to get through the little hatch that Agnes has opened. This amuses Agnes. She invites the Clampetts in and gives each of them a plastic jack-o-lantern full of candy.
A boy and a girl appear. The boy is wearing a cowboy costume. The girl is wearing a witch costume. They are both wearing ugly masks. The boy asks if they can go out now. Agnes replies that they have to wait until it gets dark. The Clampetts do not realize that the children are wearing masks. They think that the reason why Agnes did not call on them is because she has ugly children.
The Clampetts return home, carrying their plastic jack-o-lanterns and paper bags full of candy that they received at other houses. Jed decides that he wants to telephone his cousin Pearl. He is eventually connected to Pearl on the telephone that has been installed in his old cabin. Jed urges Pearl to visit him in Beverly Hills. He says that even the unattractive Jethrine is certain to find a husband there because it is full of ugly young people.
Video of episode[]
Video from Wikimedia Commons. The episode is now in the public domain in the United States because its copyright was not renewed.
Cast[]
- Buddy Ebsen - Jed Clampett
- Irene Ryan - Granny
- Donna Douglas - Elly Mae Clampett
- Max Baer, Jr. - Jethro Bodine/Jethrine Bodine
- Linda Henny - Voice of Jethrine Bodine
- Bea Bernaderet - Pearl Bodine
- Frank Wilcox - John Brewster
- Shirley Mitchell - Agnes the maid
- Ted Eccles - Boy in cowboy costume
Footnotes[]
- ↑ Mr. Brewster means that Pearl and Jethrine's clothes look like they come from the luxury department store Saks Fifth Avenue. Pearl thinks he is saying that the clothes look like they were made from old sacks.
- ↑ Mary Pickford (April 8, 1892 - May 29, 1979) was 70 years old at the time the episode was made and had not appeared in a new movie for twelve years. She was a very popular actress during the silent movie era. The movie theater where Pearl works still only shows silent films, some thirty-five years after the first feature length sound film was released in the United States.