The Dog Trainer

Humor and emotional heartbreak are on display in this movie. Fremont stops obeying Mr. Wilson, and he takes to Dennis. Somehow the dog has to become friendly to George again. Comic highlight is the dream sequence where Wilson is a dog trained by Dennis with Mrs. Wilson and Fremont showing their disapproval. Voice actor Billy Bletcher does a great job providing dialog for Fremont. One of the amazing things about this series is how effective the dream sequences are. It's not easy to come up with good dream sequences. This series makes it look easy. Also, even if George's plight tugs at your heart it's not as intense as a Lassie movie.

Everyone who's familiar with the Dennis the Menace TV show knows that the last season or so with Gale Gordon was pretty bad overall, and Jay North was just too old to be playing that role anymore. But earlier in the series there were some really good and funny moments. This episode may have the all-time greatest dialog exchange in the whole series - and it's almost hard to believe they let something like this into the show given the conservative time when it was filmed...

Dennis and Tommy are trying to train Mr. Wilson's dog, Fremont. While doing so they are eating from a bag of jellybeans. Fremont isn't learning very well and Dennis doesn't think he's going to get paid anything. Tommy points out that it's Dennis' turn to buy the next bag of jellybeans and then comes this great scene:

Dennis: Tommy, I wonder what makes jellybeans so good.

Tommy: Search me - but someday I'm gonna have a big farm and grow nothing' but jellybeans.

Dennis: Jeepers, Tommy, you could get sick on jellybeans every day of your whole life!

Tommy: Yeah! When was the last time you got sick on jellybeans, Dennis?

Dennis: (Jay North on the verge of real-life laughing) Mmm... I feel kinda sick right now!

Tommy: (Billy Booth also trying not to laugh) Me too!

It's not just the dialog but the fact that even the kids found it so funny they almost broke up saying it, that's what really makes the scene rise above the rest of the plot. This wasn't a scene between Dennis and Tommy, it was Jay North and Billy Booth.