Figure 1.--Clifton Webb is seen here in a scene from "Mister Scoutmaster". I'm not sure who the boy is.

One 1953 U.S. film dealing with Scouting is Mister Scoutmaster. It stars Clifton Webb as Robert Jordan, the host of a TV show which is in trouble with its sponsor for poor ratings. Mr. Jordan decides his show must appeal to younger viewers, who happen to be the sponsor's best customers. When asked to become scoutmaster of a troop of Boy Scouts, Mr. Jordan thinks this is just the chance he's needed to discover what interests young people and possibly save his TV show. A Cub Scout, portrayed by George "Foghorn" Winslow, befriends both the scout troop and Mr. Jordan.

Filmography

Mister Scoutmaster was released in 1953.

Actors

The film stars Clifton Webb as Robert Jordan. The Cub Scout is portrayed by George "Foghorn" Winslow. He was about 7-years old at the time. One of HBC's movie experts reports that "Foghorn George was indeed a scene stealer".

Story Line

Clifton Webb plays a television star. Webb likes things orderly, on time and properly executed. In his world children are to be seen, not heard. So why would he want to become the master of a rambunctious band of Boy Scouts? The answer of course is ratings. Robert Jordon, the host of a TV show, is in trouble with its sponsor for poor ratings. Mr. Jordan decides his show must appeal to younger viewers, who happen to be the sponsor's best customers. His staff figures that if learns how to interact with the youth, they will be more inclined to watch his show. When asked to become scoutmaster of a troop of Boy Scouts, Mr. Jordan thinks this is just the chance he's needed to discover what interests young people and possibly save his TV show. Of course watching him cope comprises most of the fun. A Cub Scout befriends both the scout troop and Mr. Jordan. The Cub Scout follows Mr. Jordan and his troop on a campout, and rescues the Scoutmaster along the way. It turns out that the Cub scout is an orphan staying with a rather seedy foster family, and the childless Mr.and Mrs. Jordan adopt him. At the conclusion of the film, the Cub Scout receives an award on Mr. Jordan's TV show for rescuing Mr. Jordan, now his dad and scoutmaster.

Costuming

For troop meetings the boys wore Boy Sout forage caps, neckerchiefs, and long sleeve shirt and long trousers uniforms with leggings around their shoes. For their campout, the scouts wore shirt sleeve shirt and short pants uniforms with knee socks, and their forage caps. They wear short pants and kneesocks when camping. This is consistent with what Scout uniforming conventions described in Historic Boys' Uniforms (HBU). The American short pants Scout uniform was widely worm even in the 1950s for warm weather hiking and camping at Scout camps. For everyday wear at home the boys wore long trousers and long sleeve shirts, and maybe sweater vests or jackets, except for one boy, the sponsor's son, who wore a long trousers suit and a tie, befitting his family's upperclass status. Throughout the film, "Mister Scoutmaster", he wore his Cub Scout uniform, long sleeved shirt and long trousers, with a peaked cap. He was never out of uniform.

Assessment

This film is a good, family comedy/drama from the early 1950's featuring several young actors who appeared in many TV series of the 1950's and early '60's: Lee Aaker, who played on Rin Tin Tin and Sammy Ogg and Jimmy Hawkins, who had a number of bit parts on TV shows.

Reader Comments

An Aistralian reader tells us, "I remember the film 'Mister Scoutmaster' I 've seen it as a young boy whilst growing in the 1960s and 1970s occasionally on ABC television here in Australia and more recently on TCM and other Foxtel cable movie channels like Showtime Hallmark Encore and Fox Classics. My best memories were of wanting to be a Cub because of fine little films like this because all the Scouts seemed to live a very good life of freedom and mateship which is sadly missing in todays climate."

Created: November 13, 2000
Last updated: December 12, 2002