Leave It to Beaver (TV Series) Beaver the Magician (1959) User Reviews

Beaver: The 'Rock'

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 30 September 2010]

Beaver - The Rock! Little neighbor "Bengie" ( that's the way it's spelled on the ending credits) thinks Beaver has been turned into a rock! It takes a lot of convince him otherwise, too, which draws great concern from his mom and some help from June, Ward, Wally and finally Beaver and Larry.

Beaver and Larry Mendello had gone to the magic store shop earlier in the day when they decided on doing a stunt to fool little "Bengie Bellamy (Joey Scott)," a cute blond kid who's only half their age. They pull an Abra-cadabra act in which Beaver hides in a shed and rock is laid on the ground. Immediately after the act, Larry is called home by his mom, Beaver is still in the shed and poor Bengie runs home with the rock, thinking it is really Beaver Cleaver.

Coincidences, such as Beaver having to leave early in the morning to his Aunt Martha's, doesn't make it easier as the Cleavers can't produce a live "Beaver" to help convince Bengie Beaver is still human.

This was Scott's third and final appearance on the show. He went on to play children's roles for another five-year years, ending his career with a guest spot on "The Munsters" in 1965.

This is a silly episode but it's a funny one....and different. It's also memorable; one you won't forget.

How old were you when fantasy disappeared?

[pensman · 8/10 · 15 August 2017]

Beaver and Larry are downtown at the magic shop looking for some trick to buy. They settle on a coin box with a disappearing penny but no one in Beaver's family is impressed. While Larry and Beaver are sitting in front of Beaver's house, Bengie Bellamy stops by and at least he is impressed with the disappearing penny. They tell Bengie to come back latter for a big trick: Larry makes Beaver disappear and turns him into a rock. But before Larry can make Beaver turn back, Larry has to go home. Bengie takes the rock home with him because he believes it is Beaver.

When Bengie's mom finds the rock in bed with Bengie, she tells Bengie that the rock isn't Beaver and tomorrow morning they will go over to Beaver's house and Beaver will be there. Beaver won't because he is up with Aunt Martha for the weekend.

Next morning Mrs. Bellamy is there with Benjie to see Beaver. June explains Beaver is with his aunt but Bengie is convinced Beaver is the rock. Ward tries talking to Bengie but no go. June tries getting to bottom of the story and she learns about the penny trick. Ward calls Martha so she can put Beaver on the phone. Beaver talks to Bengie but Bengie then thinks that Beaver is in heaven.

Wally gets home and he tries to show Bengie how they did the trick but Bengie still believes Beaver is a rock. Ward goes up to bring Beaver back and not until Bengie sees Beaver does he believe Beaver isn't a rock.

A silly little episode but it should make some adults remember when they believed their Teddy-Bears spoke to them, monsters lived under the bed, and wrapping yourself in a sheet at night meant the monsters couldn't get you.

Cute but with moments of stilted dialogue

[bribabylk · 7/10 · 8 February 2022]

Beaver and Larry play a trick on a younger boy, "Bengie", instilling in him the unshakeable conviction that Beaver has been transmogrified into a rock. The boy takes the rock home and, sweetly worried about Beaver in his altered state, attempts to care for it like a pet. He tells his mom "A fat kid turned him" or something to that effect. Bengie's mother worries about it maybe a tad too much and shows up at the Cleaver residence bright and early the next morning with Bengie and the rock in tow, to set things straight. Circumstances conspire to thwart her, lol.

It was heart-warming that all the adults were so concerned about Bengie's emotional distress, going so far as to retrieve the Beaver early from his weekend with Aunt Martha, driving several hours round-trip to do so, in order to put Bengie's mind at ease. They wouldn't have gone to such lengths to soothe a child in Aunt Martha's day. Or maybe they would have--Bengie is just at that right age where grown-ups can't help themselves from bending over backwards for him. I have a feeling the Beaver didn't mind having to cut his visit short too much, as Aunt Martha was making him parade around in a tie and clean socks.

Overall the episode was cute and felt like a very real slice of a child's imaginative life. Where it fails is with some of the mind-bogglingly stilted dialogue. June is packing a suitcase for the Beaver's weekend sojourn, and every time she walks in the room Wally has to know "What're you doing?" "What's that junk for?" "What're you doing now?" Wally ALREADY KNOWS his brother is going to visit their Aunt Martha; his mother is putting CLOTHES into a SUITCASE--what does he think is going on? Good grief open your frickin' eyes and use your frickin' brain, Wally. A case where the writers put dumb dialogue into a character's mouth for the purpose of extracting exposition from another character. And then at the end Wally and the Beaver have a little convo mulling over the episode's events, with a lot of "You know, you shouldn't have blah blah blah" and "You know, when you're a kid blah blah blah" in that stilted way that people of any age didn't speak then or now. Then they turn away from each other and get into their respective beds at exactly the same time and in perfect synchronicity as if they'd been rehearsing it.

A gem

[Dfjord · 10/10 · 30 May 2019]

Some people seem to take a visceral dislike to this episode, but I think it's one of the best. The show always excelled at getting into the minds of children and rendering it in spare, beautifully observed dialogue, and in this one they go even deeper, into the sweet yet gently warped psyche of five-year-old Bengie. And watching how everyone of all ages tries to grapple with that reality is part of the fun. Such great writers on this show.

Surrealism in LITB

[MichaelMartinDeSapio · 10/10 · 5 September 2016]

LEAVE IT TO BEAVER had some notable forays into the surreal. This is one of them. Beaver has suddenly become interested in magic tricks after visiting a local novelty shop with his pal Larry Mondello. The two boys perform a magic stunt for little neighborhood boy Bengie Bellamy in which they appear to transform Beaver into a rock. Bengie is fooled and carries the rock home, thinking it is really Beaver.

To complicate matters, Beaver goes away to visit his Aunt Martha this weekend. The adults and Wally try every trick in the book to convince Bengie that Beaver is not really a rock, but he is unshakable in his belief. Even talking to Beaver on the phone doesn't convince him!

Interesting episode with philosophical/epistemological overtones, not as silly as it first appears. Bengie's mother is played by old-time character actress Ann Doran, who went back to Frank Capra films in the 1930s. Many funny lines from her as well as from starchy Madge Kennedy as Aunt Martha and Joey Scott as Bengie.

THE FUNNIEST EPISODE OF THE SERIES !

[suzleinmd · 10/10 · 8 August 2023]

Beaver's friend, Bengie, and his mother, are HILARIOUS in this episode !!!

Despite all of the best attempts by everyone to convince poor little Bengie that Beaver is still alive and not a rock, Bengie is not convinced.

Every time someone tries to convince Bengie that the rock is not Beaver, and the audience is thinking that this attempt certainly will convince Bengie that Beaver is alive and visiting his aunt, Bengie remains unconvinced.

The acting by both Bengie and his mother is perfect !

They are both very convincing and their facial expressions are priceless !

I truly believe that this episode is the funniest of the whole Leave It to Beaver series !

Hilarious

[CJPALLISTER2002 · 10/10 · 23 May 2023]

This is the funniest and on my opinion the absolute best episode so far out of the ones I've seen, it shows how a kids imagination can be prone to believe all sorts of whimsical nonsense.

It also shows Theodore the beaver in a more mature sense more toward the end, with Benjy. As always it was a wholesome episode with an obvious moral at the end, traditional family values and all that but it really does stand out among the other eps I've seen.

If I was to recommend one episode of the show it would absolutely be this one or the one where Wally shaves, I also realise that this is somewhat of a hot take. Maybe it's generational I never grew up with the show.

ROCK-A-BYE BEAVER!

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 14 January 2024]

Another George Tibbles classic, who wrote a ton of episodes for MY THREE SONS, also associated with Betty White's early tv shows in the 50s.

Perhaps the most creative episode of the entire series, and with little Joey Scott (as Bengie), who we all loved. One of those "let's see if we can fool someone" stories, naturally with Larry caught up in the mechanics. The guys pay a visit to Uncle Artie's Magic Shop (on Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood?) and get a few interesting ideas.

Benjie becomes their perfect audience... Larry pretends to make Beave disappear and turn into a ROCK. Complications arise, Larry has to run off at the last minute, leaving poor Benjie to believe Beaver is one hard rock! By the way, there's some truth to this episode. All of us young kids had practical jokes played on us, some worse than this! Watch what happens next.

You also have to feel sorry for Benjie's mom, well played by Ann Doran, who gets caught up in this mess. Joey Scott appeared in only a few episodes of the series, but not forgotten. He was a natural. Joey went on to star with Ann Doran in the NATIONAL VELVET tv series, later to become a popular producer, working to this day on short film projects.

Look for Eddie Marr as magician Uncle Artie. Eddie was in lots of cult films, such as I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF. Madge Kennedy makes another appearance as Aunt Martha, whose career went back to silent films. She was a favorite of Alfred Hitchcock, appearing on his tv show and in his masterpiece film, NORTH BY NORTHWEST.

Don't miss the insanity, and some hilarious dialogue, both from the kids and the adults in the room. SEASON 3 EPISODE 12.

Good for a few chuckles

[LukeCoolHand · 7/10 · 15 July 2022]

This was a fairly good episode. I chuckled a few times when Benjie kept saying that Beaver had been turned into a rock. I really never had that kind of imagination as a kid but my niece did. She had an invisible dragon named Fireglue as a friend. She talked about him all the time. I think she really believed he was real. Benjie was played by Joey Scott and later was a regular on the TV series National Velvet.

My Nephew the "ROCK!"

[thejcowboy22 · 5/10 · 27 September 2018]

Nothing can be worse than deceiving a young child or any person for that matter. I told a tall tale about a Mister Sandman to my Niece. In 1983 my parents moved into their second home in Jericho,New York and I spent one night over there with my Sister and her immediate family Husband and three year old Daughter Allison. Allison was a bright wide eyed inquisitive child eager to learn. Space was limited and I was relegated to sleep on the couch in the living room. Allison wanted to sleep there also and we became makeshift room mates. After the lights went out and the nightie nights were exchanged, Allison couldn't fall asleep. She kept pestering me asking me if I was still awake. After the seventh time I told Allison that all you have to do is relax close your eyes and Mr. Sandman will come and sprinkle sand in your eyes. That opened a Pandora's Box of worry for the young child. She was shaking asking me when and where is this Mr. Sandman which segues into this review of this Leave it to Beaver episode, "Beaver the Magician". Beaver ( Jerry Mathers) and his portly, blissfully ignorant friend Larry Mondello (Rusty Stevens) enter a Magic Shop in their town of Mayfield. With limited funds they purchase a devise that hides a penny which Beaver tries out on his pragmatic father Ward Cleaver played by Hugh Beaumont. Beaver successfully does the trick making the penny disappear and his Father's lukewarm response was a disappointment for Beaver. Larry and Beaver devise a new trick on a grander scale. Little Benjie Bellemy is the unfortunate recipient of the dirty trick as Larry hold up a sheet with Beaver behind it. A captivated Benji watching in anticipation as Larry says the magic words. Larry pulls the sheet away and Beaver is gone except for a rock on the ground. Benji is amazed beyond belief. Meanwhile Beaver is actually hiding in a storage box behind the curtain. To make matters worse Larry's Mother want's him home immediately. As Benji takes the rock/ Beaver into his wagon and walks away. Beaver gets out of the box and gets ready for a visit to Aunt Martha's some distance away. The next day June Cleaver (Barbara Billingsly) receives a phone call from a concerned Mrs. Bellemy (Ann Doran) (Benji's Mom), as the little boy is taking care of a rock which he truly believes is Beaver. All Mrs. Bellamy wants is Beaver to come over and show himself to the gullible Benji who goes as far as trying to feed the rock and sleeps with the rock as if it was truly Beaver . One Problem, Beaver is at his Aunt Martha's by now miles from home. . Will Benji be convinced with a phone call? Funny moments when Aunt Martha (Madge Kennedy) voices her opinion on the matter. I was never a fan of child actor Rusty Stevens as Fat Larry, maybe he reminded me of the boys I hung around with as a child. Always daring me to do something against my conscience or for that matter when I was in need they would 99 out a hundred times throw me under the bus. As I write this I realize that actor Rusty Stevens did succeed as the manipulative plausible friend to compliment our star Beaver. But it was Beaver's older Brother Wally (Tony Dow) who had the quote of this episode as he convinces his Mom that he will straighten Benji out by explaining the following," If you want to stay ahead of kids you have to be smarter than they are!" As for my Niece Allison she never went to sleep as she cried waiting for a Mister Sandman until my Father called her on the phone from another room and told her he couldn't come over and everything was going to be alright. She slept like an angel from then on.

"Mumbo Jumbo Squiggly!"

[StrictlyConfidential · 5/10 · 25 October 2020]

5-year-old Bengie Bellamy (who talks to ants) is a pretty gullible little rugrat. And it doesn't take much for Larry Mondello to convince him that he's actually turned Beaver into a rock.

And, since headstrong Bengie is so completely certain that Beaver has been transformed into stone there's no way to make him believe otherwise (even though others have tried to convince him of the contrary).

Anyway - Before Bengie's mother totally blows her top, Ward Cleaver comes up with a somewhat satisfactory solution to the problem (which doesn't please Aunt Martha).

The ONLY episode worth skipping.

[dayvo-28722 · 1/10 · 19 December 2018]

Without any question, this episode was simply awful. The little boy who believes The Beaver was transformed into a rock, was a terrible actor, and of all the episodes, made nostalgia worthless. Even the writing was less than ordinary. Shame on the producers for allowing this episode to be aired.