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). 

"The Beverly Hillbillies," Big Hit of the 1960s

This was originally published October 5, 2012 as "The Beverly Hillbillies Made Great Points," but I slightly edited and updated it on January 21, 2015, especially to reflect the then recent passing of Donna Douglas, who played Elly May.* I then did a bit of an expansion to the article on January 7, 2018.

The early 1960s brought a new show to television, "The Beverly Hillbillies," which spawned or paved the way for a number of other shows with a "country" or "rural" theme. The show garnered high viewer ratings through the years, except for near the end of its run, which was for nearly a decade. In those times, virtually all regular shows were recorded in black and white ("Bonanza" was an exception), and it wasn't until the mid 1960s that color was used for all shows, and so it was with "The Beverly Hillbillies," which started out in black and white and then switched to color production. For those unaware, the general idea of "The Beverly Hillbillies" was that a poor family from way back in the hills struck oil on their property. They had led a life essentially isolated from (then) modern society and its devices, and when an oil company executive offered them money for the rights to their oil, they thought they were going to be paid in some sort of "new dollars," because he offered them "million" dollars, as "million" was a term beyond their vocabulary. When all was said and done, these formally uneducated folks moved to Beverly Hills, a wealthy suburb some ten miles from downtown Los Angeles. The family was headed by Jed Clampett, played by actor Buddy Ebsen, a widower with an attractive daughter, Elly May, played by Donna Douglas, and references during the series seem to indicate that the Ellie May character would have been in her late teens when the show started. She was sheer tomboy through and through, and she loved to climb trees and she had a natural gift with animals of all sorts, or "critters," as the Clampetts called them. Elly May was also not afraid to take on her cousin, Jethro Bodine, played by Max Baer, Jr., Jed's nephew, a tall strapping boy (supposedly also in his late teens), who was the "educated" one of the family, as he "gradgeeated" 6th Grade; the Clampett way of saying "graduated." The family's final member was "Granny," Jed's mother in law, unforgettably played by Irene Ryan. Granny was a little old woman, sometimes religious, sometimes sweet, and sometimes as cantankerous as a bunch of angry yellow jackets. She took care of the family when they were sick and she called herself an "MD," for "mountain doctor." Collectively they were called "the Clampetts," and they moved into a luxurious Beverly Hills mansion next door to the mansion of their moneygrubbing banker, one Milburn Drysdale, played by Raymond Bailey, and his snooty blue blood wife, Margaret, played by Harriet MacGibbon, who constantly tried to "rid the neighborhood" of what she considered the Clampett blight, although the Clampetts did their best to be friendly to Mrs. Drysdale and even to do things for her. The Clampetts always referred to Mrs. Drysdale as "Miz Drysdale." Mr. Drysdale was ably served at the bank by his secretary, Jane Hathaway, played by Nancy Kulp, an unmarried woman who took a strong liking to Jethro. Drysdale often took Miss Hathaway's ideas, claiming them as his own when they worked, but blaming her for his own failed schemes.**

The writers for this show did such a great job in contrasting the lifestyles of the Hillbillies and their Beverly Hills' neighbors. Banker Drysdale was consumed with moneymaking, and with tens of millions of Clampett money deposited in his bank, he was forced to go along with some of the family's beliefs and practices out of fear of losing their account. Drysdale and others couldn't understand why the Clampetts didn't just settle down and let their oil contracts and investments bring in the money, like many of their wealthy neighbors did, and they could then conform to the social ways of Beverly Hills high society. Instead, the family's values didn't really change with their newly acquired wealth, and in fact, their values dictated they had to keep busy and earn a living, as well as help others, for FREE, a concept totally lost on Drysdale, who called it "un-American." When Jed learned that the government needed money, he offered to pay more in taxes, an idea that astonished the money loving Drysdale, who claimed that it was the American way to try to avoid paying taxes, although Jed told him he didn't mind paying the taxes, because "I can afford it." The family refused to have servants and Granny cooked their "vittles" (victuals; that is, food) every day, a diet of things like groundhog, possum, hog jowls, turnip greens, hawk eggs, and gopher gravy. Granny made her own lye soap in a big "kittle" (kettle) out by the "cement pond" (pronounced "ceement" pond=swimming pool). She also kept a still (shortened form of "distillery") for making her "rheumatiz medicine," which was really booze, "white lightnin'," and as she told one lady with rheumatism as she handed her a glass of "medicine," "I've had rheumatiz for about forty years... Loved every minute of it."  

In one episode, in an effort to keep busy, the Clampetts decide to convert their mansion into a boarding house, a practice against the zoning laws in their "exclusive" neighborhood. In an absolutely hysterically funny scene, they place signs along the street to lure in potential boarders (also against the law there). As Drysdale and his secretary approach the Clampett mansion, they see all of these signs, one of which says something like, "Just a little bit more, keep on comin'," then followed by another sign saying, "Outdoor swimmin' and indoor plummin'." All efforts by Drysdale and Miss Hathaway only manage to move the Clampetts a little toward modern times, but their timeless decency and practicality remain the same. In another episode, Drysdale tries to get Jed to take up a hobby instead of pushing a dilapidated cart around the neighborhood with a sign offering to fix things for people, FOR FREE. He shows Jed a boat in a bottle, a project which took the owner several years to complete. Jed promptly tells him how much easier it would have been to build the boat outside the bottle. When Drysdale tells him the man wanted to build the boat inside the bottle, Jed calmly notes that he won't be able to float it inside the bottle. The banker then tells Jed it isn't for sailing, it is just for viewing, which brings the response from Jed, "Why?" followed by a comment about people needing to do useful things, including helping others. Drysdale changes the subject to stamp collecting, pointing to one Hawaiian stamp and telling Jed that it cost thousands of dollars. When he asks Jed if he would like to own it, Jed responds that he doesn't know anyone in Hawaii to write to, and that it obviously costs too much money to send a letter there anyway. In a final effort, Drysdale brings out a coin collection and shows Jed a dime that cost the owner several thousand dollars. Jed then wants to know why the guy would pay that much for a dime, since it's only worth ten cents. When Drysdale tries to explain, Jed asks something like, "If your friend puts that dime into a candy machine, will he get thousands of dollars worth of candy?" It's tough to argue with common sense.

There were so many hilarious episodes, I can't begin to go into all of them, but.... you're not getting off this easy, so here are some comments about other episodes. In one great episode, Mrs. Drysdale has a gardener begin flower beds for the Drysdale backyard, but Elly May's chimpanzee keeps taking his gardening tools. Mrs. Drysdale believes Granny is stealing the things, and the situation sets off a feud between Mrs. Drysdale and Granny. In another episode, back at their property in the hills, there is a minor property boundary dispute with a neighboring Indian tribe. The chief of the tribe and his son are highly educated individuals, but Granny hears of the dispute by telephone and she assumes that there is a pending Indian attack, an attack Granny is so insistent will take place, Drysdale has to organize an Indian raid, just to keep Granny happy. In a couple of the very highly rated episodes, the Clampetts went to England to care for Jed's ailing English relative. Well.... ah, the Clampetts and American English and societal customs were not exactly on super close terms, but the Clampetts trying to understand the English spoken in England and English society made for some great laughs. In what I believe Buddy Ebsen later said was his favorite episode, Drysdale wants the Clampetts to consider buying a yacht. Jethro gets Jed a uniform for when they go to the yacht, but it's an admiral's uniform, and the Clampetts get the dock number mixed up and end up aboard a U.S. Navy destroyer! When the ship's officers and crew see Jed's uniform they think he's a real admiral there for an inspection, while Granny is upset that if they buy the "yacht," she'll have to cook and look after the couple hundred men of the crew! In a somewhat touching episode, actress Gloria Swanson appears as herself and the Clampetts see an article that Miss Swanson is moving from her California home. She is having an auction conducted for many of her belongings to raise money for charity, but the Clampetts misunderstand and they think the star of silent pictures is being evicted from her home and her belongings are being sold off to help pay debts. The Clampetts go to the rescue of Gloria Swanson, an effort much appreciated by the famous actress, who finds out she still has quite a following in a little rural town called "Bugtussle." 

Like part of the show's main subject, "The Beverly Hillbillies" was not a beloved show to some who feared Americans, under the strong influence of television, would all begin speaking "Clampett," instead of English and these folks must have been inwardly, if not outwardly, furious that the public LOVED the show, as demonstrated by its strong numbers in the viewing audience ratings. When the show ended, it only really ended in new episodes, because the existing episode catalog was replayed on a continuing basis on stations all over, which was a way of fans telling the show's critics to go jump in the "ceement pond!"

For fans of the show, check out, "The Beverly Hillbillies," by Stephen Cox, Cumberland House Publishing, Inc. Initial publication 1988, then in 1992 and 2003.       

* For more about Donna Douglas, this is the link to my January 3, 2015 post:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2015/01/elly-may-cant-be-gone.html
 
** To give proper credit, the show's catchy theme song was played by bluegrass duo Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, and sung by Jerry Scoggins. All three have passed on, with Earl Scruggs just passing away in 2012 at the age of 88. Flatt and Scruggs made several appearances on the show over the years. Irene Ryan, who in real life was much younger than the "Granny" character she played on television, died only a couple of years after the show ended. She was 70. Buddy Ebsen died in 2003 at the age of 95, but he had successfully transitioned from playing "Jed Clampett" to a private investigator in the hit CBS drama "Barnaby Jones" in the 1970s. Raymond Bailey died in 1980 just a couple weeks shy of turning 76. Harriet MacGibbon died in 1987 at the age of 81. Nancy Kulp died in 1991 at age 69. After the end of the "Beverly Hillbillies," Kulp became part of the cast of NBC's hit comedy, "Sanford and Son." She later ran for Congress as a Democrat in her native Pennsylvania, but lost to the Republican. Buddy Ebsen, a Republican, recorded an ad against Kulp, a deed which split the two veteran performers until not long before Kulp died. See note one, above, for Donna Douglas' information. Max Baer Jr. is now 81 years of age (as of December 2018). He had a rough go as an actor after the show ended, as Hollywood saw him as too tied to the character of Jethro, but he successfully got into producing and directing.

Photo is from the 2016 CBS Studios/Paramount DVD for Season One

WORD HISTORY:
Hill-This word is distantly related, through Indo European, to "excellent," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from French, and it is much more closely related to "holm" (as in "Stockholm"), a word from Germanic borrowed by English from Old Norse; perhaps at least, in its main meaning of "small island," but English "may" have already had its own form of the word. "Hill" goes back to Indo European "khel/khol," which had the notion of "height, elevation." This then produced Indo European "kholiz," with the same meanings. This gave Old Germanic "hulniz," which seems to have meant "top rocks, elevated land or rocks." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "hyll," which later became, "hyl," and finally "hill." Low German had "holm," meaning "hill, elevated piece of land, small island in a river or sea," and this passed into German in the 1600s, but its use has been mainly literary, not in every day speech. Icelandic has "hóll, meaning "hill." Others had, or still have, forms that meant/mean "island;" that is, "land elevated above water," or "rock," from the idea of "elevated above ground or sea level," as Danish has "helle," with both meanings. Dutch "hil," is an old form meaning, "elevated land, hill."