The Beverly Hillbillies Episode: The Gloria Swanson Story

"The Beverly Hillbillies" was a comedy series with the basic story of a family, the Clampetts, from far back in the hills, who discover oil on their property. The family receives millions of dollars from an oil company and they move into a mansion in Beverly Hills, California. While the Clampetts have lots of money, their new wealth doesn't really change them, as they try to hold onto the same lifestyle they had back in the hills, by adapting it to Beverly Hills. At the same time, Beverly Hills' high society wants the Clampetts to conform, and all of this makes for some great laughs in this highly rated television series from the 1960s.  

 

This episode first aired in November 1966 on the CBS television network. In "The Gloria Swanson Story," the Clampetts misunderstand a newspaper article about famous actress Gloria Swanson vacating her Beverly Hills home.  

 

Episode main cast: 

 

Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett

Irene Ryan as Granny Moses, Jed's mother-in-law

Max Baer, Jr as Jethro Bodine

Donna Douglas as Elly May Clampett, Jed's daughter and Granny's granddaughter

Gloria Swanson as herself

Raymond Bailey as Milburn Drysdale, the Clampetts' banker

Nancy Kulp as Jane Hathaway, Mr. Drysdale's secretary

Milton Frome as Lawrence Chapman, head of the Clampett-owned movie studio Mammoth Pictures

George Neise as Mr. Foley, head of the auction

 

Jethro gets a job delivering newspapers in Beverly Hills. Always trying to be too clever, Jethro wraps the newspapers around roofing tiles to give them weight so that he can fling the papers to the mansions on his route. He does fling the newspapers too; right through windows and doors. As Jethro assaults Beverly Hills' millionaires with tile-weighted newspapers, Jed and Granny see a story in their newspaper about famous actress Gloria Swanson's house being demolished so that a golf course can be put in. Further, the article mentions that Ms. Swanson will move to the East Coast and that her possessions are being auctioned off. The thing is, the auction is for charity, but the Clampetts believe Gloria Swanson is being thrown out of her home and that her possessions are being sold to settle debts.

 

[NOTE: In 1966, when this episode was filmed, Gloria Swanson was still well known for her roles in silent pictures (remember, in the mid 1960s, there were many, many people alive from the era of silent films, but even those of us who were far younger certainly had heard of Gloria Swanson), but she did make some sound pictures, including one of the greatest movies ever made, "Sunset Boulevard," in which she played one of the best known movie characters in history, Norma Desmond. After that time, however, she rarely made motion pictures, but she did make television appearances. Gloria Swanson died in 1983, age 84.] 

It turns out, the Clampetts' banker, Mr. Drysdale, and some others are in charge of the deal to make Ms. Swanson's property into a golf course. Understand, there is nothing sinister going on, as Gloria Swanson wants to move back East, and as such, she wants to sell her property and have her belongings auctioned off, with the proceeds going to charity. The always moneygrubbing Drysdale tells his secretary, Jane Hathaway, that Ms. Swanson must have a screw loose, because she is giving the money to charity, and not depositing it in his bank to collect interest. Anyway, with Jethro flinging newspaper wrapped rocks at homes, Drysdale and another of the investors in the golf course deal think an eccentric fan of Ms. Swanson is throwing the newspapers because they are infuriated about a golf course replacing Ms. Swanson's mansion.

Granny, a long time devoted fan of Gloria Swanson, likes to say that she and Gloria Swanson are look a likes, which usually draws a smart aleck remark from Jethro, but as she leaves the room, Granny says she has heard it a hundred times. Jed then tells Jethro that he too has heard it a hundred times, but that it was always Granny who said it. So, the Clampetts head off to Ms. Swanson's mansion to see if they can help. They meet the man heading the auction, Mr. Foley, and he is supervising a couple of men moving Ms. Swanson's various belongings to a truck. When the men try to pick up the sofa, the Clampetts sit on it to prevent them from moving it. So the men go to take a couple of armchairs, but a couple of the Clampetts sit down in them too. Now Granny is left on the sofa, and the men try to carry her outside on the sofa, but Gloria Swanson appears at the head of the staircase and orders the men to "Put her down!" Mr. Foley informs Ms. Swanson that these are some fans who think they are defending her from being put out on the street, and the long time actress says how touching that is to her. She speaks to the Clampetts, but at first, they are awestruck at seeing Ms. Swanson. The Clampetts then explain how they love her, and Granny mentions that she and Jed saw one of her pictures twice (a silent picture). When Ms. Swanson asks if they had gone to a film festival in Venice, Italy, they tell her that they saw the picture at the Bijou Theater in Bugtussle, back in the hills. Jed tells her that back where they are from, Gloria Swanson is still the queen of the movies. 

 

The Clampetts leave, although they try to figure out a way to help Ms. Swanson, but "without robbing her of her pride," as Jed puts it. They head off to the movie studio they own to see Lawrence Chapman, the head of the studio, about making a silent movie starring Gloria Swanson. In the meantime, Mr. Drysdale meets with Ms. Swanson in his office about the plans for the golf course. As Gloria Swanson looks at an artist's rendition of the course, Mr. Chapman from the movie studio can be heard telling Miss Hathaway that he has to see Mr. Drysdale. Chapman opens the door to Drysdale's office, but he can't see Ms. Swanson looking at the golf course rendition. He tells Drysdale that the Clampetts want to make a silent movie. Drysdale tells him to make the picture, and Chapman replies, "But those idiots want to star Gloria Swanson." This brings Drysdale to cringe, which is misinterpreted by Chapman as Drysdale agreeing with his point of view. The mention of her name has brought Ms. Swanson to turn around, and she asks if she correctly heard that someone wants to make a silent picture with her as the star. Drysdale introduces Ms. Swanson to Chapman (He introduces Chapman as "the head of Mammoth Studios, until now." hahaha) Chapman tells Ms. Swanson that an eccentric hillbilly family named Clampett wants him to make the picture, and Drysdale chimes in that the family has millions of dollars, followed by Chapman saying, "They're short on marbles," which brings Ms. Swanson to say, "I've met the Clampetts, I think they're delightful people." Chapman utters, "Oh, it's just not my day." hahaha  When Chapman asks where they would show a silent picture, Ms. Swanson suggests the Bijou Theater in Bugtussle. 

The scene shifts to the Bijou Theater, where a poster announces the world premiere of "Passion's Plaything," starring Gloria Swanson, along with Jed, Granny, Elly and Jethro. The movie plays and Jed goes out to the line of people waiting to get in for the next showing, but he has to tell them that they will have to wait a little longer, because those inside won't leave until they see the movie again. There is a collective groan, but Jed cheers everyone up by announcing that Gloria Swanson is coming out to autograph a picture for everyone in line. Ms. Swanson appears, and one man tells her she's "the biggest thing to ever happen to Bugtussle." Ms. Swanson replies, "Bugtussle is the nicest thing to ever happen to me."   

 

 

Photo is of the 2018 CBS/Paramount "The Beverly Hillbillies" Fifth Season DVD

WORD HISTORY:

Silence (Silent)-The origin of "silent" is uncertain, although there is a theory about it,^ but I'm not completely persuaded by it. What is known is, Latin had "silere," verb infinitive meaning "to be still, to be noiseless;" thus also, "to be inactive;" thus, "quiet, calm." The present participle of the verb was "silens," which gave Latin the noun "silentium," meaning "the state of being quiet or still," also, "state of inactivity." This passed to Latin-based French as "silence" meaning "lack of noise;" thus, "stillness, quiet, calmness." English borrowed the word around 1200. The verb "silence" developed from the noun in the mid 1500s, initially with the meaning "to become silent," but the meaning that we usually think of today, developed in the late 1500s; that is, "to keep someone quiet, to prevent someone from telling something (usually some kind of force is implied)." The adjective "silent" was derived in the early 1500s from "silentem," the accusative singular form of "silens," the present participle form of Latin "silere." The adjective initially meant "with no talking," but within a few decades the word had taken on the broader additional meaning "without noise."

^ "Some" believe "silence" goes back to Indo European "sil/syl/seyl," or "shi," meaning "still, quiet, without wind, inactive or slow," which gave Old Germanic "silanan" meaning "to be silent, to be quiet," which connects it to the Old English noun "salnes," meaning "silence." This word did not survive in English, and Old English had "swige," a noun, for "silence" (German still has the related "(das) Schweigen" also meaning "silence"). The Indo European form is also thought by some to be the source of the Latin verb "silere" (see above).