Original subtitles

- Here you are, dear.

- Thanks, darling.

Say goodbye to Dennis for me, will you?

I'm late.

- All right, dear.

Don't work too hard.

HENRY (OFFSCREEN): See you tonight!

- Bye! - Hey, Dad!

Dad!

Wait a minute!

- Well, he can't wait now, Dennis.

He's late for work as it is.

He said to tell you goodbye.

- But I have to talk to him, Mom.

I didn't know he was leaving yet.

- I'm sure it can wait till he comes home tonight.

Now, you two boys run along and play.

- OK.

I just wanted to tell him we were

playing hide-and-seek with Joey.

- Well, he'll be very happy to hear that, I'm sure.

Where is Joey now?

Did he go home already?

- Nope, he's still hiding.

- I hid him real good this time in the backseat of Dad's car.

Dad will probably find him when he gets downtown, I guess,

because--

- In the backseat of the-- Henry! Henry!

Henry, wait!

[car engine revs]

[theme music]

[bees buzzing]

DENNIS (OFFSCREEN): Hey, Opie, where are you?

- I'm out the back here, Dennis!

- Hey, Opie, look at this!

Look at what we found. - Huh?

- Could you fix it for us?

- Yeah.

Well, maybe, boys.

Just leave it here, and Opie will work on it.

As soon as I get the time.

- There sure are a lot of bees around here.

- Yep. I got me some hives.

I got me some hives. And I'm going to make them--

- You have?

- Mm-hm.

- Boy, they sure do itch, don't they?

Mr. Wilson got them last year from eating

too many strawberries.

And he--

- Oh, no, Dennis.

This is a different kind of hive.

These are beehives.

- Oh, that kind of hive.

- Boys, boys, boys.

Don't go over there.

Your lot will make the bees nervous.

- Gee, listen to them buzz, Tommy.

Boy, I bet those beehives are just full of honey.

Aren't they, Opie?

- I wish there was.

This late spring has got us messed all up.

- A late spring?

- Yeah, the clover ain't blooming.

The fruit trees ain't either.

You know what, boys?

There's hardly enough honey around to keep the bees eating.

- Well, if the bees can't find anything to eat,

what'll they do?

- It's kind of hard to tell.

Sometimes, they just swarm up and leave.

- Leave? You mean, for good?

- Yep.

I might even have to leave with them.

Move to the country or some place.

- Jeepers! Opie going away?

Me and Tommy will help.

Won't we, Tommy?

We'll help the bees find honey.

- Sure we will.

How?

- Well, maybe find some new flowers for them, or something.

- Yeah, we got flowers in our yard.

- That's right.

We have, too.

And Mr. Wilson's got a yard full of flowers, Opie.

- Uh, that's what the bees are depending on nowadays,

boys, the flowerbeds around town.

- Heck, I bet Mr. Wilson's flowers

got enough honey to feed a jillion bees.

- Sure, they have.

- And we'll help them find every single bit of it.

And don't you worry, Opie. Goodbye!

- Goodbye, boys!

[chuckles]

- So we're going to help him, me and Tommy.

- Well, now, that's very nice of you.

- And we're not going to let anybody step on them

or swat them or do anything to them.

- And Opie said sometimes birds grab these bees

and eat them up.

- So we're going to watch out for birds.

And we're going to get people to grow flowers in everything.

- Well, that's very interesting.

Now, we know all about the birds and the bees.

- Yes, I've been wondering about that.

- Uh, honey, I've got to duck over to the Wilsons.

There's something I want to talk to him about.

- Hey, Dad.

If you're going over to Mr. Wilson's, can we go with you?

- Well, sure, I guess so.

- Swell!

Come on, Tommy!

- Two spoons full for this one.

- Hey!

There's Good 'Ol Mr. Wilson feeding the camellias

their lunch.

Hellooo, Mr. Wilson!

- (MUTTERS) Why do they have to bother me now?

Tch.

- Hi, Mr. Wilson.

Taking your nerve medicine?

- That's what it is, all right.

Smells awful, don't it?

- Yeah.

He makes that stuff himself.

Don't you, Mr. Wilson?

- [sighs]

- Hey, Mr. Wilson, you want to play football with us?

- Yes, I do love to play football with you, Dennis.

- Swell, catch!

[crash]

- Did you see him catch that ball, Tommy?

Boy, you'd make a swell All-American, Mr. Wilson.

- Dennis, let's keep this football

out of my yard entirely, you hear me?

Let's keep it over in your own yard.

HENRY (OFFSCREEN): Oop!

- Oh, my goodness!

What-- oh, what did I-- oh, my!

- Dennis!

Is this your football?

- Sure, Dad.

You gave it to me for Christmas.

Don't you remember?

- Well, if you can't watch where you're throwing,

I'm going to put it away.

You nearly knocked my head off!

Besides, you could have broken my glasses.

Anyone who throws a football without looking

where he's throwing it--

- Mitchell, I am terribly sorry, but Dennis did not throw that.

I did.

- You?

- I, I, I don't know what to say.

I know it was a very foolish thing to do.

- Boy, I'll say.

You could have knocked his head off!

- Yeah.

And you might have busted his glasses.

- Yes, I know.

I--

- No harm done, Mr. Wilson.

- You should never throw a football without looking,

Mr. Wilson, because you might-- - All right, Dennis.

That's enough.

Run out and play.

Mr. Wilson, I came over for some advice.

I'd-- say, these are beautiful camellias.

Are they new?

- Oh, uh, this is my experiment here, Mitchell.

This is a crossbreeding of the best camellias

I have raised in the last five years.

- You've raised a lot of them.

It must be a fascinating hobby.

- Oh, yes.

Yes, sir.

Some exciting things can happen sometimes

with this crossbreeding You'll never know. [chuckles]

Eh, but you said you needed advice.

- Oh, yes.

Um, one of the men our offices is retiring.

And we've all chipped in together

to buy him some garden equipment.

I thought maybe you could advice me.

What I-- - Shoo!

[bee buzzes] - This bee!

Pesky things are getting to be a nuisance around here.

Shoo! [bees buzzing]

- Darn bees!

- Please, Mr. Wilson, don't hit them.

They're Opie Swanson's bees.

- They're Opie Swanson's?

- Opie Swanson got some beehives.

- They're having a hard enough time

trying to find honey without people hitting them.

- All right, Dennis.

Never mind.

- Gee, when they get all the honey out

of Mr. Wilson's flowers, Opie's going to give me some.

- Well, if they're gathering honey for you, Dennis,

it's all right.

They can use my flowers.

- Gee, thanks, Mr. Wilson.

- Just have them keep their stingers to themselves,

will you?

- Hey, you know what Mr. Wilson just said, Tommy?

He said the bees could use his flowers all they want to.

Isn't he swell?

- He sure is.

- Let's go see if he's got any flowers in the house.

The bees will never get to them in there.

- That gives me some good idea.

- No, not that way.

We're going the kitchen way.

There's always some flowers on the kitchen table

and maybe in the dining room, too.

Come on!

- The best thing for us to do is get down to Merrivale's nursery

and look over the equipment.

- Well, I don't want to be any bother.

- Oh, ho, no bother.

Not at all.

- I just thought you might have some suggestions.

I can go down and pick it up myself.

- Oh, oh, if I let you go down there alone, Mitchell,

why, that greedy old coot would steal you blind. [chuckles]

I'll go down with you, and we'll steal him blind. [laughs]

- Fair enough.

- Boy, it sure is a good thing we looked in the house.

- I'll say what.

- There's enough flowers here for a bottle of honey.

- You don't think Mrs. Wilson will get mad, do you?

- Heck, no.

Mrs. Wilson loves kids and bees.

And besides, she's visiting her mother in Iowa.

- Oh.

- Mr. Wilson's sister is keeping house for him.

And she won't mind either.

And Mr. Wilson said we could use his flowers.

- That's what he said, all right.

- Besides, he's downtown, shopping.

[bees buzzing]

- Bees, duck!

[bees buzzing]

- Boy, the bees sure are glad about us

bringing those flowers out.

They're buzzing all around them.

- Hm.

You know what they're not buzzing around?

Those camellias.

Look at that.

They don't even go near them.

- Maybe they haven't got any honey in them.

- Oh, I'll bet these big, fat camellias

are just busting with honey.

Say, I bet I know why the bees don't try them.

They don't smell like anything.

- You're right.

They don't smell at all.

- If they smell good, like the honeysuckle and stuff,

I bet the bees would go for them, all right.

- Sure, they would.

- Hey, I got it, Tommy!

I know exactly what to do.

- Ew, smell this one.

- Ooh, that's no good.

Boy, when I get through with those camellias,

they'll smell sweller than any flower in town.

- Sure takes a lot of stuff to make your mom pretty.

- It does not.

My mom was born pretty.

She doesn't need all this stuff.

- Why did she buy it, then?

- She just likes to spend money, that's why.

My dad said so.

- My dad says that, too.

He says Mom's going to send him to the poorhouse some day.

- Well, when my dad goes to the poorhouse,

my mom would probably go with him, I bet.

They go every place together.

- Hey, this smells good.

Maybe the bees would like this.

- No.

That's not perfume anyhow.

That's called hair locker.

- Hair locker?

- Mommy uses it to lock her hair down so the wind won't blow it.

It's the only thing we got that'll hold this down.

- Want me to give it a squirt?

- Heck, no!

It makes my head feel puckery.

One thing I can't stand is a puckery head.

Hey, I know just the stuff, Tommy.

Uh!

Boost me up, will you, Tommy?

Mom says she's going to throw this stuff away,

but it smells real pretty.

I bet the bees will go for this, all right.

[spritzing]

- I would, if I was a bee.

- I bet they'll come zooming right up those camellias

when they smell this.

Bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz.

- Bzz.

- Bzz.

- Plenty of bees around here, all right.

- This ought to show them where the honey is.

- That smells good.

Smells kind of like my grandpa's apple trees.

- Tommy, you've got a very smart nose

because that's exactly what this perfume is.

Apple blossom.

- Bees like apple blossoms.

- Sure, they do.

[bee buzzing]

- Hey, look.

Here comes one now!

- Hey, there's lots of them.

We better get out of here and give them room

because we don't want to make them nervous.

- No, sir.

Because there's nothing worser than a nervous bee.

Come on!

- I certainly appreciate your help, Mr. Wilson.

You really hammered Merrivale's prices down for me.

[both laugh]

- Oh, I always drive a good bargain with old Merrivale.

He's tighter than a short shoe, but he never

makes a dime on me.

- Well, you're a tough dealer. [chuckles]

- Gee, your garden smells good.

- [sniffs]

Yes.

Hm, nature's own perfume.

- Lovely.

Well, thanks again. I'll be seeing you.

- Ah, see you later, Mitchell.

My golly!

It's glorious out here today!

Oh, oh, sis!

Oh, sis!

Are you home?

Aah.

- I just got home, George.

What is it?

- Oh, come on, smell the garden.

The flowers have never been better.

- They do smell sweet.

- Hmm.

What a variety of fragrance!

Smell like honeysuckle.

And those roses.

- But you know, the strongest odors

seems to come from these camellias over here.

- Uh?

Oh, ho, ho.

Oh, your nose is mixed up, sis. He-he.

Oh, camellias don't have any odor.

- Oh, that doesn't have any odor, huh?

- Oh, they may have a little springy smell, some of them,

but no special fragrance.

Uh, this is my own experiment here, these plants, you know.

I've been, uh, crossbreeding these.

And I-- [sniffs]

They do have a fragrance.

Beautiful fragrance, too.

Smell this. - Yes, George.

I'm the one who said they had an odor in them.

- Why, this is sensational!

Why, they smell like apple blossoms, don't they?

- You know, I think they do at that.

- Why, this is-- - Yes, they're very nice, George.

[chuckles]

- "Very nice"?

Why, you realize what I've got here?

There isn't another camellia in the world like this.

- George, that's wonderful!

- What a triumph!

Somehow I've crossed just the proper type

to breed a the fragrance into them.

George Wilson Fragrant Camellia.

- That's a good name for them!

- [gasps]

Lovely!

Why, every gardener in town will be excited about this.

They'll all want one.

And of course, I-- every gardener in town?

Why, every gardener in the country

will be excited about this!

Why, there's a fortune in it!

- But you haven't got that many.

- All right, I'll grow them or have them grow acres of them.

Oh, this thing has unlimited possibilities.

- Goodness, I didn't realize!

- Wait till old Merrivale hears about this.

Say, maybe I'll let him handle them for me

if he can come up with enough money.

If not, they'll go to the highest bidder.

Oho, June!

Why, this is going to make horticultural history!

The Fragrant Camellia by George Wilson.

Well, Merrivale, Are you satisfied now?

- By golly, Wilson, I can't believe it.

Fragrant Camellia.

It's a-- it's--

- Sensational?

- Well, uh, let's just say it's a bit unusual.

- Oh, no.

Let's say sensational.

Worth more money that way.

- Well, I probably could make a few dollars with them

if you handle them right.

See, it's not easy to--

- Why, Merrivale, you old fraud!

Why, I could get $100 apiece for these plants right now,

and you know it.

- Oh, well now, Wilson, you don't--

- If you are ready to talk real turkey, we'll go in and talk.

If not--

- I hope you're not going to be too

hard to deal with now, Wilson.

We've been friends a long time.

- Friends?

Oh, say, if I didn't keep my mouth

closed tight every time I deal with you,

you'd have had my back teeth long ago.

- No, you don't heckle me, Wilson.

I've had a bad day.

- [chuckles]

Good for you.

- To top it all off, that neighbor kid of yours

was in twice today, just pestering me to death.

- Dennis?

Well, what did he want?

- Oh, something about the flowers and honey and-- would I

leave the hothouse windows open so the bees could come in

at night? [grunts]

Confounded kids!

- [laughs]

You just relax, Merrivale.

Now, you sit there and figure out

your best deal on those camellias, then double it.

I'll go get us a cold drink.

- There he is, Tommy.

Hi, Mr. Merrivale.

We saw your truck outside.

Were you looking for us?

- I certainly wasn't.

- Have you changed your mind yet?

- Are you going to leave the windows open

so the bees can get to your swell flowers in the nursery?

- Oh, of course not.

That's ridiculous.

Now, you boys run along.

Mr. Wilson and I are talking business.

- Boy, you must have to talk pretty loud.

Mr. Wilson's not even here.

- He's in the kitchen.

- Will you leave one window open?

The bees can get in one window.

- No, I will not leave one window open.

I-- oh.

- Hey!

Would you like a banana?

Mr. Wilson wouldn't mind.

- No, thanks.

- Don't you like bananas, Mr. Merrivale?

- Yes, but I can't eat them today.

I've got a nervous stomach.

- You have?

Tommy's cat is the same way.

- Yeah, if you scratch his stomach, he bites.

- Mr. Merrivale, if somebody scratches your stomach,

do you bite?

- Dennis, for heaven's sake!

- Don't you want me to talk about it?

- No.

- Don't ever tell anybody about Mr. Merrivale's stomach, Tommy.

- Oh, that's enough, boys.

You get out of here.

Go and bother somebody else.

- OK.

- All right, Merrivale, time for another one.

There.

There now, you feeling better?

- Yeah, thanks, Wilson.

Much better.

Now, see here.

Look at that hand.

That nerve medicine took the shake right out of it.

- [chuckles]

- Oh, those kids.

- Oh, I know.

Yes, they used to bother me, too.

But this is my secret weapon.

- That sure does the work, all right.

- Mm-hm.

- Where do you buy it?

- Oh, this stuff can't be bought.

I make it myself.

- Make it yourself, huh?

- Oh, by the gallon.

An old Indian guy gave me the recipe many years ago.

Well, here, take it along with you.

Be my guest.

- Well, fine, fine.

Thanks, heh.

Well, uh, Wilson, now, uh, about, uh, those camellias.

The, uh--

- And I tell you, I'm as excited as a kid about this.

Why, there's no telling how much money we can make, heh.

- Oh, my.

That is exciting.

- That's wonderful, Mr. Wilson.

- [chuckles]

Of course, it's too big for Merrivale to handle by himself.

But he's got this retired millionaire who he thinks

might finance us.

- Outside banking then.

Good.

- Of course, uh, Merrivale says he's a crotchety old codger.

But he's loaded with money.

And he's willing to invest in anything

that he can make more money with.

- My goodness.

One of these days, you may turn into a regular Luther--

- Burbank dear.

- Burbank. [chuckles] - That's right, you know.

It-- it won't be long while before I'll be able to say,

I knew Wilson when a camellia just smelled like a camellia.

- I left the camellia with him last night.

He said he'd be here for lunch at 1 o'clock today.

- Well, it's almost 1:00 now.

- Ahh, he'll be here.

Now, look, Wilson.

I have told you, Stacy is a peculiar old duffer

with a very snappish temper.

So you better let me do the talking.

- Oh, fiddle-faddle. He doesn't intimidate me.

- Well, he was in a foul humor last night

when I got out there.

Mad at the chauffeur or somebody.

Fact is, I wound up leaving that bottle

of nerve medicine of yours.

Say, um, where are the rest of the camellias?

You had more than this.

- Oh, I put them out there behind the house.

I wanted to see if the sun has any effect on their fragrance.

[inaudible]

- These are OK, Tommy.

They still smell swell. - Yep.

The bees are finding them, all right.

See?

[bees buzzing] - Yeah.

Sure is a good thing I came over here

early this morning, though.

These flowers didn't have one single smell on them.

- Not any of them?

- No, sir.

So I just drowned them with perfume right before breakfast.

- Ah, so there will be no misunderstanding, Wilson,

let's pour over our agreement again before Stacy gets here.

- Oh, good heavens, Merrivale. I know it by heart.

If Stacy wants to put up the money,

we give him 40% of the deal.

That leaves 60%.

[spritzing]

- 40 for me, 20 for you.

- Well, I think it ought to be even stevens with you

and me, Wilson.

Well, OK, 40-20.

- Well, naturally, I'll be president of the company.

- Excuse me, Mr. Wilson.

Could you move your chair a little bit?

- Oh, my chair?

Oh yes, of course.

And, uh, I suppose, uh, Stacy will probably

want to be treasurer, so you can--

Dennis, what are you doing?

What do you boys want anyhow?

- We don't want anything, thank you.

We're just putting some perfume on the camellias again.

- Oh, they're just-- you (SHOUTS) what?

- You must have missed this one this morning, Dennis.

It doesn't smell like anything.

- Dennis, um, you, I mean, the, tha-that fragrance, I mean,

did you--

- Sure, we put perfume on all of them

so the bees would find them and get the honey.

- Wha-- I, I thought, I thought, I, I've, euh, oh, no!

- You and your fragrant camellias.

Ha!

The only thing about this whole deal that doesn't smell

is your camellias.

- Mr. Wilson?

Mr. Wilson?

Camellias don't smell like anything

if you don't put perfume on them.

- We know that.

- Dennis, home. Home!

- George, your visitor is here.

Well, come on out, sir.

- Thank you.

Mr. Wilson, I'm Mark Stacy.

- Oh, how are you?

- How are you, sir?

How are you, Merrivale?

- Stacy.

- Well, I won't waste time, Mr. Wilson.

You've got a great thing here. I'd like to talk business.

- Oh, Mr. Stacy, there, uh, there's

been a terrible mistake.

You see, we, uh, the, uh, uh, uh, oh.

(MUTTERS) Great Scott! Merrivale, say something.

- Oh, oh, well, uh, uh, Wilson claimed the,

I mean, the, um-- sorry, we bothered you.

- Bothered me?

- Well, uh, I don't-- I don't know how to say this.

But you see, the, uh, the, the camellias aren't true,

Mr. Stacy.

I mean, they just aren't so.

I mean, they don't--

- Camellia?

That thing!

That confounded potted plant caused my wife an allergy.

I haven't seen her sneeze like that in years!

- But I, uh, I thought you wanted to talk business?

- I do!

I want to talk about this wonderful nerve medicine.

- Nerve medicine?

- Yes, sir.

I took some of that last night.

And my nerves haven't been calmer in 20 years.

You sell me that formula on a royalty basis,

and we're in business, Mr. Wilson.

- Well, I'll be-- darn, my own nerve medicine!

- Yes, sir. There's a lot of money in that.

What do you say?

- Well, I say, shake, partner.

Oh, by golly, gentlemen, this calls for a toast.

DENNIS (OFFSCREEN): Oh, Mr. Wilson?

Can we have some, too?

- Oh, Dennis, young boys don't need nerve medicine.

- Oh, it's not for us, Mr. Wilson.

It's only for the bees.

They're getting awful nervous.

- Well, all right, Dennis.

If it hadn't been for you boys, this good fortune

wouldn't have happened.

I'll give you a whole bottle.

- A whole bottle?

- [chuckles]

Well, gentlemen, our toast.

Here's to Mr. Wilson's nerve medicine.

- Good for what ails man and beast, uh, and bees.

Ahh!

[theme music]