Summary[]
Barney gets thrown out of his apartment after cooking homemade chili on a hotplate.
Plot[]
Barney has returned to his room at The Mendelbright Park Apartments and has managed to bring home some groceries with him. Bread in his Pockets, & A Milk bottle somehow stuck in the back of his Uniform, because one of the rules of the House is ‘No Cooking’. Meanwhile, in the parlor, Mrs. Mendelbright is entertaining a stranger in town named Mr. Fields, who is interested in renting a room from her. Although she insists that there are plenty of rooms to rent all over town, he seems to think that this is the place for him. It is very obvious that he is trying to sweet-talk her, but his intentions are unclear at this time because he tells her that she is the very reason that he wants to stay here.
When Barney attempts to sneak upstairs, Mrs. Mendlebright catches him, but she doesn’t seem to notice the milk jug hiding beneath his shirt. She quickly introduces the two men together, but Barney is in no mood to meet anyone, and when he reaches around behind him to adjust the milk jug, she shows a motherly love towards our favorite deputy.
After safely making it to his room, Barney unloads all his food and starts to cook his homemade chili. After getting the hot-plate plugged in and warmed up, Barney sits down while his chili is cooking. Andy brings him his check and as Barney is showing his room to Andy, they forget about the chili. Smoke soon fills the room. After being caught violating her rules regarding cooking and high wattage bulbs, Barney moves in temporarily to the back room of the courthouse. When Barney returns to ask for his room, he learns that Mrs. Mendlebright is about to sell her home in order to pool assets with her new boyfriend, Mr. Fields, whom she plans to marry. Something about the whole deal doesn't smell right to Barney. Andy finds out Mr. Fields is a con-man, and he and Barney save Mrs. Mendelbright from financial ruin; even while he's under the influence of hard cider.
Trivia/Notes[]
- Enid Markey (Ms. Mendlebright) was a famous silent film actress known for her portrayal of sweet, attractive, but innocent young girls. However, she will be forever remembered as the first actress to portray Jane in the 1918 silent classic Tarzan of the Apes - filmed and released only 4 years after Edgar Rice Burrough's published the novel.
- After her time as a silent film actress, Enid Markey became a stage actress in New York. Her first part was in a play by Wilson Collison and Otto A. Harbach named "Up in Mabel's Room." She would later play Ms. Mendlebright in this episode, "Up in Barney's Room," which presumably derives its name from this play.
- This is the only episode we get to meet Mrs. Mendelbright, Barney's landlady.
- J. Pat O'Malley is best known for his voice on several Disney animated films.
- Opie and Andy take in a Gregory Peck movie. (Although not mentioned, the movie was probably Captain Newman, M.D. They also mention a previous film in which Peck spoke with a southern accent, probably To Kill A Mockingbird)
- Barney has a picture of J. Edgar Hoover on his wall next to the door before being thrown out. After Barney moves back in, the picture has not been returned to the wall.
- Mrs. Mendlebright has $3,604 in her purse, which is about the same as $27,837. as of 2015.
- Aliases used by Mr. Fields according to the lieutenant Andy spoke to on the phone are Oscar Fields, Otto Feldman, and Norman Felsifor. Mr. Fields had previously been charged with bigamy and extortion.
- This episode is one of the few in the series that shows Barney's boarding room. The season 5 episode The Rehabilitation of Otis briefly shows Barney's room. The season 5 episode If I Had a Quarter Million shows Barney and a bank robber in a bedroom that is likely either a hotel room or Barney's boarding room.
Goofs[]
- In The Horse Trader, Andy mentions that Barney owns a house, but he is shown in this episode to merely rent an apartment.
Music[]
While he is plugging in the Hot Plate, Barney is singing Santa Lucia.
Quotes[]
Mrs. Mendlebright: Mr. Fife, I shall have to ask you to leave my house. There is someone who's a real gentleman who can use this room. So, kindly leave my house. (she leaves the room)
Barney: (calls after her) With pleasure! Whoever heard of a room you couldn't cook in anyways? Six dollars a week and what do I get? Heartaches! Nothin' but heartaches!
Barney (drunk): "Why don't they call?!" (ring) "what a time for the phone to ring!"
Mrs. Mendlebright: (seeing the dresser smoking from Barney's cooking; horrified) Oh, Good Heavens! My mother's dresser! This dresser came here by bus all the way from Fort Lauterdale!
Barney: (drunkenly fuming over Mr. Fields' seducing Mrs. Mendlebright) That no good swindler! I don't trust him Andy... and you wanna know why? A - A guy moves into town. 2 - He has no job. and C - he wants to marry Mrs. Bendlemright.
Andy: (sees that Barney is drunk) Barney, you're gassed!
(Andy takes Barney's cup of apple cider and reacts to the smell)
Andy: This cider's turned hard!
Barney: (crying drunkenly) Bless her heart... Bless her heart!
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