Leave It to Beaver (TV Series) Beaver's Long Night (1962) User Reviews

Beav and Gilbert's Shenanigans

[MichaelMartinDeSapio · 9/10 · 2 November 2016]

I always think of this episode and "The Haunted House" as requisite LITB Halloween viewing, even though neither episode actually takes place on Halloween. Beaver and his pal Gilbert stay alone of an evening at Beaver's house while Wally, after basketball practice, plans to go to a masquerade party with his buddies Lumpy and Bill Scott. Beaver and Gilbert have been watching a scary movie on TV, and they become thoroughly spooked to the point where the arrival of a car with two "masked men" in it (in reality Lumpy and Bill on their way to the masquerade) prompts them to call the police!

This is an exciting and amusing episode with the usual LITB moral nuance: was Beav right to call the police, or were he and Gil overreacting? And was Beav right to impersonate Ward on the line? There is also a certain amount of pleasure in seeing Lumpy "get what he deserves."

Clarence brought to the station

[thbryn · 9/10 · 3 May 2020]

This was a all-around good ep. but it gets quite funny when Lumpy's father Fred Rutherford (Richard Deacon) makes an upset call to Ward (Hugh Beaumont).

Who's responsibility is it?

[deblc-91334 · 7/10 · 29 December 2021]

This episode doesn't go along with other moral parenting lessons on LITB. Beaver is left alone with Gilbert. He sees masked men dressed in strange garb lurking outside the house. The boys become frightened and call the police. He had no way of knowing it was Lumpy. He was wearing a mask and had recently painted his car. Neither Lumpy or Bill have id on them and the car was parked in the wrong side of the street, so the police take them in.

When Ward learns of the incident through an angry Fred Rutherford (who often annoys Ward and June), he jumps all over Beaver and Gilbert. His only concern seems to be that Fred is upset. He makes Beaver call a multitude of people to apologize. I guess if a truly suspicious vehicle is ever in front of the Cleaver house, it will be bad news because Beaver will never again call the police for fear of upsetting people.

Did Lumpy have to apologize to anyone for parking on the wrong side of the street or driving without a license?

Beaver scores two; Adults score zero.

[pensman · 8/10 · 2 May 2017]

June tells Ward they have to go out for an evening, that means Beaver will be home alone. After all, they did promise he was too old for babysitters. Wally will be out at Mary Ellen's masquerade party, so what to do? The answer walks in the door, Gilbert. Two sixth grade boys are safer than one, so Gilbert is invited to spend the night. The boys end up watching a gangster movie get about a guy who gets rubbed out. They both get a little scared; and it doesn't help when Lumpy and Bill Scott pull up to pick up Wally, and wouldn't you know, they are dressed like gangsters for the masquerade. Beaver calls the police.

The police arrive and off go Lumpy and Bill in a squad car. Beaver and Gilbert feel pretty good that they both acted in a grown-up way. Wally gets home looking for Lumpy and tells Beaver about the masquerade NOW. He then mentions Lumpy painted his car grey, and it now has bumpers. Beaver wouldn't even know it. Since Lumpy didn't make it, Wally calls Eddie for a ride, but Eddie wasn't invited. So, Wally calls it a night and goes to bed.

Poor Ward, he walks in and reads a note from Wally. Wally was too tired to go to the party so went to sleep. Beaver and Gilbert also went to sleep. Ward feels great, he can trust his boys to be responsible. Then the phone rings, it's an angry Fred Rutherford. Why did Ward have his son arrested? What? Ward doesn't have a clue as to what happen. Fred explains a Mr. Cleaver called the police. Cleaver, spelled C.L.E.A.V.E.R. It seems Lumpy was parked on the wrong side of the street. Neither Lumpy nor his friend had a driver's license or I.D. And Lumpy was wearing a hideous mask. But none of that is to the point. Fred is hurt friendship-wise. He is shocked his good friend would call the police just because he didn't want his son hanging around. Ward figures he'd better talk to his sons.

Wally is woken up from a just sleep, he knows nothing. Suspicion falls on Beaver and Gilbert. Beaver relates the incidents but forgets to mention he knew nothing about the masquerade party or that Lumpy was supposed to come by to get Wally. A really important piece of information (to me). So, when two guys park in an unknown car and are wearing masks, Beaver thought it best to call the police, and did so using the name Mr. Cleaver. Ward suggests the boys should get the facts before calling the police, but really? I know very few adults who would approach two guys wearing masks sitting in an unknown car in the night to ask what was going on. I do a number who would shoot first and then claim stand your ground as a defense. And in a situation like the one here, they would likely be cleared leaving behind a dead Lumpy and Bill. Beaver did the smart thing given what he didn't know and had no way of knowing. Ward should be proud of Beaver.

Beaver was made to call and apologize to Mr. Rutherford and Mr. Scott. Beaver's chief concern is that he won't be trusted to stay home alone again. Wally thinks in twenty years or so everyone will look back and laugh about this night. I think they will look back and say Beaver was right. What was Lumpy thinking. He might have gotten himself shot.

IF I WANTED TO GET IN THIS MUCH TROUBLE, I'DVE STAYED HOME!

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 8 October 2023]

This is one of those episodes all of us kids could relate to --independence. You're at the age where you're too old to need a babysitter, but too young to be on your own... HOWEVER... the latter usually wins out. Especially if your parents want to do something, right?

So Beave gets to stay up late night with "I'll somehow get you into trouble" Gilbert. Gilbert replaced Larry Mondello in the total chaos department. We all had "friends" like that, maybe still do. This time, the guys are watching a creepy movie --just as a mysterious black car with a couple of guys park in front of the house.

Whooooose that???

Of course, Gilbert goes nuts and prompts Beaver to call the cops, BOTH unaware it's goofy Lumpy in the car, just hangin' around.

I agree with the last reviewer; at this stage in the series, Beave is a bit too old to get that scared, which could have easily been settled had he just opened the front door and took a look.

Somehow, someway it's still fun, sort of a comedy of errors, well directed by Hugh Beaumont who gets the cast either scared out of their wits or mad as heck, especially Mr. Rutherford (Richard Deacon) who demands an explanation. In fact, this is the first time Fred Rutherford ever got that mad. He's ready for a backyard brawler! That is a first in the series.

One to see for old times sake, especially for those late nights replete with creature feature movies. 10 stars. From SEASON 5 EPISODE 18 remastered.

Beaver too old for story

[vitoscotti · 7/10 · 16 July 2021]

Despite Beaver too old for the story not a bad episode. The writers have dumbed down Beaver to have a limited mentality. There's a definite oddness to this syle. They're really struggling what to do with a maturing star actor.

Times sure have changed

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 12 May 2024]

Ward and June are going to be away for the evening, and so is Wally. Previously Ward and June have said Beaver is old enough to stay home alone without a babysitter, so they feel somewhat obligated to give Beaver a try on his own. Plus Gilbert is coming over. What could go wrong?

Beaver and Gilbert sit down to a night of watching gangster movies. But it does take its toll, even on kids as old as them. Uknown to them, Wally has told Lumpy and Bill to come to his house and they'll drive over to a masquerade party together. As luck would have it, Lumpy and Bill are dressed as gangsters, and Lumpy even has on a grotesque looking mask. They are in an unfamiliar car, so Beaver doesn't recognize it. And they are just parked there, doing nothing. This begins to scare Gilbert and Beaver, thinking that maybe these are hoodlums who have come to the wrong house and are going to "rub them out" by mistake. They call the police - the right thing to do if you are scared of strangers parked in front of your house. And since neither Bill nor Lumpy have any ID on them and are illegally parked, the police haul them into the station. This does cause problems for Ward with his colleague and Lumpy's dad, Fred Rutherford.

In 1962, Beaver is somewhat chastised for overreacting. Today, the first thing you do with a kid that's staying home alone is to go over what to do in case of menacing strangers who show up and don't belong. If they called the police and did not open the door to investigate themselves they'd generally get a pat on the back.

Beaver's Long, Boring Night

[StrictlyConfidential · 5/10 · 18 December 2020]

(*June to Ward quote*) - "Why do we make promises like that?"

Wally, June and Ward are all gonna be away for the evening. So, instead of getting Beaver a babysitter, Gilbert Bates (another one of Beaver's lousy friends) stays for the night.

As it turns out - Gilbert and Beaver get totally spooked after watching a creepy gangster movie on TV. And when they see someone in a mask lurking around outside of the house this prompts Beaver to call the police for assistance. (Little do they know, until later, who this person really is)