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| Image: The Ferris File |
Seen in FBDO
The Silver Beaver Award is best seen at 01:08:03 in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off just before Jeanie comes face-to-face with Mr. Rooney in the Bueller’s kitchen. The award can be seen hanging on the wall over Jeanie’s left shoulder, framed under a light green matte.
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| Image: Paramount Pictures |
Description
The Silver Beaver Award is a distinguished service award presented by local councils of the Boy Scouts of America. It is the highest honor a Scout council can bestow upon an adult volunteer leader.
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| Image: Scout Shop |
Recipients are recognized for their exceptional contributions to scouting and demonstration of noteworthy service that has positively impacted the lives of youth. This award highlights individuals who have gone above and beyond in their commitment to the scouting program within their council.
Finding This Item
Although the framed certificate is at an awkward angle in the shot of Jeanie tip-toeing to the kitchen, it is surprisingly clear as the scene unfolds. A quick manipulation of a screenshot puts Jeanie into comical proportions, but it also gives a fantastic view of the frame which confirms that this is a Silver Beaver Award hanging in the Bueller’s home.
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| Image: Paramount Pictures / The Ferris File |
Notes
That’s great, but whose award is it? Ferris? His dad? A closer look at the manipulated image above can start to answer that question.
As you see from comparing the framed certificate to the blank certificate, the areas left open for personalization on the award seen in FBDO have a few lines of darker print that have been filled in. The top line clearly shows a full name beginning with “James” and the second line includes the phrase “Long Beach Area Council.” For good measure, at the very top of the certificate, just right of center, the word “America” can be made out.
We know from the opening scene of the film, as Mrs. Bueller calls out to her husband, that Ferris’s father’s name is Tom.
So who is James?
A quick search for “Long Beach Area Council” takes us to a site for a specific council within the Boy Scouts of America – of course, located in Long Beach, California. A few more clicks into the site itself reveals a list of individuals awarded the Silver Beaver Award by the Long Beach Area Council. Scrolling down to 1984, we find a recipient whose name perfectly matches the one seen on the framed certificate – James H. Balkman.
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| Image: Long Beach BSA |
Super. But why is an award given to this seemingly arbitrary person hanging in the Bueller home?
It's widely known that the filming location used for the Bueller home is the house located at 4160 Country Club Drive in Long Beach. Thanks to the countless public records available online, it took no time at all to find that the owner of that property at the time FBDO was filmed was none other than … you guessed it … James H. Balkman.
The Silver Beaver Award was not an intentional prop but rather a real-life token of achievement proudly displayed in the home of the recipient. It was simply an object in the background at a filming location that most certainly no one ever thought would be identified from a dissected movie clip several decades later.