Plot
Two and a half years after the first film, Dennis Mitchell (Justin Cooper) is worse than ever. At the beginning of the film, he goes over to the Wilsons' house to offer George (Don Rickles) some pets as gifts for his birthday. They include frogs, lizards, snakes, insects, tarantulas, scorpions, mice, exotic mammals, and even a baby alligator. This ordeal ends with George unintentionally riding down a flight of stairs in Dennis' red wagon and accidentally getting his birthday cake thrown on his face by his wife, Martha (Betty White).
Soon after this incident, Mr. Johnson, Dennis' grandfather, Alice's father, and Henry's father-in law (George Kennedy), shows up and announces that he is moving in with them. Dennis starts spending more time with him than George.
George, upset that he's getting older, gets tricked by two crooked con men, the Professor and his assistant, Sylvester (Brian Doyle-Murray and Carrot Top), who try to talk him into buying a "rare" root used to make tea to make people younger. He is about to pay them $10,000 when Dennis comes by. Dennis then reveals that he owns one of the same kind, which he says he found on a place where those abound.
Soon afterward, the Professor and Sylvester return and sell George a machine that allegedly makes people younger. Suddenly, the attitudes of him and Mr. Johnson reverse as the latter feels the former's pain of living in the same neighborhood as Dennis, while he starts to feel youthful and happy. While Dennis is trying to clean up a pile of garbage that he accidentally threw on Mr. Johnson's car while taking out the trash, he accidentally destroys George's machine with cotton candy mix that he mistook for soap. Dennis is sent to his room by his dad, then he gets spanked by his mom, As a result of this, George declares that he and Martha will be moving to be away from Dennis for good, whereupon Mr. Johnson decides to move into their house, although no one seems to really want to carry out this plan.
Overhearing everything, the Professor and Sylvester decide to use George's plan as an opportunity to get more money from him. Dennis helps the police (unintentionally) catch them (as they pretended to be several different workmen at the Wilsons' house when they were planning to move, attempting yet again to drain his bank account by stockpiling a hoard of his as yet uncashed checks by claiming that the house needed several repairs before it could be sold).
The police return the uncashed checks, and George decides not to move after Dennis begs him not to do so. Mr. Johnson, however, announces intentions to get his camper back, having promised to take Dennis to the Grand Canyon, also because of everything he has put him through.
The film ends as Dennis and Mr. Johnson are in his camper in the Grand Canyon and Dennis, wanting to take a rock home to George as a present, accidentally takes the one from under the camper, causing it to roll down the incline it is parked on top of with Mr. Johnson still inside. While enjoying the Christmas season, George and Martha find out what has happened on the news as Dennis explains to the camera and Mr. Johnson is being airlifted to safety. Dennis gives a shoutout to George, which leaves him so flabbergasted that he mutters to the viewers, "He's a menace!".
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of middle-aged couple Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive unwitting younger couple Nick and Honey as guests, and draw them into their bitter and frustrated relationship.
Dennis the Menace is a daily syndicated newspaper comic strip originally created, written, and illustrated by Hank Ketcham. The comic strip made its debut on March 12, 1951 in 16 newspapers and was originally distributed by Post-Hall Syndicate. It is now written and drawn by Ketcham's former assistants, Marcus Hamilton, Ron Ferdinand, and son Scott Ketcham, and distributed to at least 1,000 newspapers in 48 countries and in 19 languages by King Features Syndicate. The comic strip usually runs for a single panel on weekdays and a full strip on Sundays.
Donald Jay Rickles was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He became known primarily for his insult comedy. His film roles include Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), Enter Laughing (1967), Kelly's Heroes (1970), and Casino (1995). From 1976 to 1978, Rickles had a two-season starring role in the NBC television sitcom C.P.O. Sharkey, having previously starred in two eponymous half-hour programs, an ABC variety show titled The Don Rickles Show (1968) and a CBS sitcom identically titled The Don Rickles Show (1972).
Dennis the Menace is an American sitcom based on the Hank Ketcham comic strip of the same name. It preceded The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday evenings on CBS from October 4, 1959, to July 7, 1963. The series stars Jay North as Dennis Mitchell; Herbert Anderson as his father, Henry; Gloria Henry as his mother, Alice; Joseph Kearns as George Wilson; Gale Gordon as George's brother, John Wilson; Sylvia Field as George's wife, Martha Wilson; and Sara Seegar as John's wife, Eloise Wilson.
Henry King Ketcham was an American cartoonist who created the Dennis the Menace comic strip, writing and drawing it from 1951 to 1994, when he retired from drawing the daily cartoon and took up painting full-time in his home studio. In 1953, he received the Reuben Award for the strip, which continues today in the hands of other cartoonists.
The Jack Benny Program, starring Jack Benny, is a radio and television comedy series. The show ran for over three decades, from 1932 to 1955 on radio, and from 1950 to 1965 on television. It won numerous awards, including the 1959 Emmy for Best Comedy Show, and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century American comedy.
Clotel; or, The President's Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States is an 1853 novel by United States author and playwright William Wells Brown about Clotel and her sister, fictional slave daughters of Thomas Jefferson. Brown, who escaped from slavery in 1834 at the age of 20, published the book in London. He was staying after a lecture tour to evade possible recapture due to the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. Set in the early nineteenth century, it is considered the first novel published by an African American and is set in the United States. Three additional versions were published through 1867.
John Elmer Carson, known as Jack Carson, was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including The Strawberry Blonde (1941) with James Cagney and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) with Cary Grant. He appeared in such dramas as Mildred Pierce (1945), A Star is Born (1954), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). He worked for RKO and MGM, but most of his notable work was for Warner Bros.
Joseph Sherrard Kearns was an American actor, who is best remembered for his role as George Wilson on the CBS television series Dennis the Menace from 1959 until his death in 1962. He was also a prolific radio actor, and provided the voice of the Doorknob in the 1951 animated Disney film, Alice in Wonderland.
Dennis the Menace is a 1993 American family comedy film based on the Hank Ketcham comic strip of the same name, directed by Nick Castle, written and coproduced by John Hughes and distributed by Warner Bros. under its Family Entertainment label.
Vivacious Lady is a 1938 American black-and-white romantic comedy film directed by George Stevens and starring Ginger Rogers and James Stewart. It was released by RKO Radio Pictures. The screenplay was written by P.J. Wolfson and Ernest Pagano and adapted from a short story by I. A. R. Wylie. The music score was by Roy Webb and the cinematography by Robert De Grasse.
Herbert Anderson was an American character actor from Oakland, California, probably best remembered for his role as Henry Mitchell, the father, on the CBS television sitcom Dennis the Menace.
Dennis the Menace is a 1986–1988 animated series produced by DIC Audiovisuel, based on the comic strip by Hank Ketcham.
The All-New Dennis the Menace is an animated series based on the comic strip by Hank Ketcham that aired from September 18 to December 11, 1993 on CBS.
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project is a 2007 documentary film about stand-up comedian Don Rickles, which was first screened at the 2007 New York Film Festival and then shown on HBO.
Gloria Henry was an American actress, best known for her role as Alice Mitchell, Dennis' mother, from 1959 to 1963 on the CBS family sitcom Dennis the Menace.
The Best House in London is a 1969 British comedy film directed by Philip Saville and starring David Hemmings, Joanna Pettet, George Sanders, Warren Mitchell, John Bird, Maurice Denham and Bill Fraser. It was written by Dennis Norden.
Mama Steps Out is a 1937 American comedy film directed by George B. Seitz and written by Anita Loos. The film stars Guy Kibbee, Alice Brady, Betty Furness, Dennis Morgan, Gene Lockhart and Edward Norris. The film was released on February 5, 1937, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Dennis the Menace in Mayday for Mother is a 1981 animated television special based on Hank Ketcham's 1951 comic strip of the same name. Produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, the special first aired May 8, 1981 on NBC. This was the first time Dennis the Menace was animated. The storyline was written by Ketcham.
California Straight Ahead is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by Harry A. Pollard and starring Reginald Denny, Gertrude Olmstead, and Tom Wilson.
