Banks – For the Memories

 

In most classic TV series there will eventually be a scene in which someone goes to the bank. Like many such moments, it depicts an activity both immediately familiar and yet very different from how banking is conducted now. 

 

Back then, your bank was part of your neighborhood. Most were owned and operated locally and competed with other banks by offering incentives for your business (for some reason, the promotion usually included a free toaster). There were no ATMs, no online banking and no debit cards, so you got to know your tellers when you needed to put money in or take it out. You learned early on to fill out your withdrawal slip at home, because the pens chained to their desks rarely worked. 

 

Maybe you opened a Christmas Club account to help you save for the holidays. Maybe you remember as I do when you opened your first savings account, and received a passbook to keep track of your deposits. It was a rite of passage, like getting your first library card. 

 

What’s the first thought that pops into your head when you think about banks and classic TV? If I were to guess, I’d say you are now picturing either Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon) on The Lucy Show, or Mr. Drysdale (Raymond Bailey) on The Beverly Hillbillies. 

 

 

The characters were remarkably similar, and together characterized the profession for their era: they were loud, quick-tempered, money-obsessed but personally cheap, abusive to their secretaries, and willing to grovel and sacrifice their dignity to land a big account. 

 

I wonder how real branch managers and loan officers felt about being defined that way, while doctors and lawyers were glorified by the likes of Ben Casey and Perry Mason.  

 

We saw more of Mr. Drysdale’s home life, and perhaps that elicited some viewer sympathy, though not enough to overlook how awful he was to Miss Jane. 

 

 

His wife Margaret (Harriet MacGibbon) was a shallow snob, and his son (Louis Nye) was a spoiled, narcissistic loser. 

 

 

But if this is a Ginger or Mary Ann type competition, put me in the Theodore J. Mooney camp. On some level he did seem to care for Lucy, at least enough to keep her employed despite her obvious incompetence. Plus, he was usually on the receiving end of more abuse than he dished out, whether from his boss Mr. Cheever (Roy Roberts) or from getting caught up in Lucy’s various schemes. If she wasn’t locking him in the vault (“Lucy and the Safe Cracker’), she was accusing him of embezzlement (“Lucy and the Bank Scandal”). 

 

While banks were prominent settings throughout the runs of The Lucy Show and The Beverly Hillbillies, on other shows they seemed to exist for one of two reasons: either they were being robbed, or they were rejecting a loan request from one of our favorite TV characters. 

 

If someone enters a bank on a cop show or a western, usually you can begin counting the moments until it’s held up. Some, like the banks in Hazzard County on The Dukes of Hazzard and Gotham City on Batman, got hit so often you wonder why residents didn’t start keeping their cash under their mattresses. 

 

When I think of bank robbery stories there are two that emerge as especially memorable. From 1962, “A Case Study of Two Savages” was an episode of The Naked City about a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde played by Rip Torn and Tuesday Weld. 

 

 

The robbery itself takes place in the final five minutes; before that viewers have spent most of their time accompanying the amoral couple as they arrive in New York City and set out on a murderous rampage. They’re in love, they’re not very smart, and their story ends with a fate that’s entirely appropriate for sociopaths who steal and kill. 

 

 

A 1974 Police Story episode entitled “Glamour Boy” features Larry Hagman as Alan Robert Richardson, who robs banks without a gun. He uses his charisma and soft-spoken threats to convince victims that they’d better hand over the money…or else. When he’s picked up by Detectives Calabrese (Tony Lo Bianco) and Jameson (Don Meredith), they are taken aback by his carefree personality and impeccable manners. Jameson in particular takes a liking to his collar – and continues to admire him even after he escapes custody. 

 

This was still an era of television when criminals could not be portrayed as admirable, so the climax reveals how even Richardson’s modus operandi can claim an innocent victim. Still, you can’t help but be charmed by Hagman’s work here, and to see the first hints of J.R. Ewing, who was still four years into his future. 

 

 

Speaking of Hagman – he also figures in our second popular TV bank trope; as Major Nelson he was shot down for a loan by John McGiver in the I Dream of Jeannie episode “Jeannie Breaks the Bank.” And on The Brady Bunch, Bobby and Cindy didn’t fare any better with Mr. Goodbody (seriously?) when they tried to borrow $56.23 from the Winston Savings & Loan. But at least they left with a dime apiece, which is more than Major Nelson got. And we can all thank Mr. Goodbody for his rejection - without it the kids would not have tried to raise the money by appearing on The Pete Sterne Amateur Hour.

 

 

Perhaps they would have had better luck with Shirley Partridge, who worked at a bank before she joined the family band. Remember? 

 

 

I have one last bank scene to bring to your attention as, given my incurable impatience,  it’s my personal favorite. You’ll find it in an episode of The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet called “Rick’s 21^st Birthday.” Ozzie goes to the bank to pick up a $50 bill for his son’s birthday. When he arrives he does what we all do – try to pick out the shortest line. The result is a wonderfully choreographed little ballet of urban frustration, as he keeps switching lines only to find himself further back each time. Of course, as soon as you see a bank that has more than two tellers working at the same time, you know you’re watching a show that’s at least 50 years old.