“Too Many Crooks”

(S3;E9

~

November 30, 1953) Directed by William Asher.  Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed October 29, 1953 at Ren-Mar Studios. Rating: 60.1/85

Synopsis ~ The police are looking for Madame X, a mysterious female cat burglar. Lucy is suspected by the Mertzes, and Ethel is suspected by the Ricardos.

On November 30, 1953, Desi Arnaz threw a surprise 13th wedding anniversary party for Lucille Ball at Hollywood’s glamorous Mocambo nightclub. After a towering cake was served, a TV set was wheeled in and guests watched (what else) “I Love Lucy”! It was Monday night, after all. The evening later partly inspired the episode “Hollywood Anniversary” (S4;E23).  But on November 30, 1953, the episode the party guests viewed was “Too Many Crooks”.

November 30, 1953, also saw the publication of this issue of Tempo Magazine, which featured Lucy and Desi on the cover and an inside story on “Bringing Up Baby” (aka Desi Jr.). 

At the time this episode was filmed there were five movies titled Madame X and an equal number titled Too Many Crooks…

…but the plot of this episode bears no resemblance to any of them!

Ethel says that the burglar has robbed "the Ackerman apartment across the street.” In real life Harry Ackerman was a CBS executive who helped create “I Love Lucy” even appearing in a cameo in “The Audition (S1;E6). 

Lucy and Ethel compare coverage of the Madame X case in the newspapers: the News and the Mirror.  These are real-life New York dailies. The Mirror ceased publication in 1963 while the Daily News continues to this day.

While out on the fire escape spying on Lucy, Fred calls Ethel “Sherlock”.  This is a reference to one of fiction’s most famous private detectives, Sherlock Holmes, who was created by writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887 and was the subject of numerous books, films, radio shows, and television programs.  

This is the only episode to mention Fred’s birthday!  When Ethel insists Fred replace all the tenant’s door locks, Fred sings “The Birthday Song” with new lyrics: “New door locks for Fred. New door locks for Fred.”

Madame X is played by Alice Wills. This was her second and final acting credit. Wills was really a make-up artist and the wife and mother of stuntmen. 

She must have learned a trick or two at home because she does a spot-on tumble over the sofa in the final scene. 

Naturally the police are called, and when a policeman was needed on “I Love Lucy,” he was usually played by Allen Jenkins. He first wore blue for Desilu in “New Neighbors” (S1;E21) and then again in “Ricky and Fred are TV Fans” (S2;E30), just five months prior to this episode. 

David Allen Curtis Jenkins was born in New York in 1900. He studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. In his first stage appearance, he danced next to James Cagney in the chorus line of an off-Broadway musical. Between 1923 and 1944 he appeared in eight Broadway plays including The Front Page (1928). His big break came when he replaced Spencer Tracy for three weeks in The Last Mile. He originated the character of Frankie Wells in the Broadway production of Blessed Event and reprised the role in the 1932 film adaptation. He made a career out of playing policemen and tough guys in numerous films of the 1930s and 1940s. Allen Jenkins was labeled “the greatest scene-stealer of the 1930s” by the The New York Times. He was in 42nd Street (1933), Five Came Back (1939, with Lucille Ball), Pillow Talk (1959), and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). 

He later voiced the character of Officer Charlie Dibble on the cartoon “Top Cat” (1961–62). Jenkins went public with his alcoholism and was the first actor to speak in the House of Representatives and the Senate about the subject. He helped start the first AA program in California prisons for women and was the seventh member of the Screen Actors Guild. Eleven days before his death at the age of 74, he made his final appearance in Billy Wilder’s remake of The Front Page (1974), which was released posthumously.

In his first scene, he is accompanied by other tenants of 623 East 68th Street, all in their nightgowns and pajamas, including Mrs. Trumbull (Elizabeth Patterson). Lucy and Desi’s camera and lighting stand-ins Hazel Pierce (second from right) and Bennett Green are also there, along with Vivian Vance’s camera and lighting stand-in Renita Reachi (3rd from right). They all turn up again the episode’s final moments.

Little Ricky is played by one of the Mayer Twins, Joseph or Michael. 

This is the second of six times Lucy will wear this Elois Jennsen pant suit, which is dressed up with a blousy, French-cut shirt.  It was sometimes worn with large cufflinks and a watch fob, too!  A bronze statue of Lucy Ricardo in front of the Television Academy in Hollywood wears a variation of this outfit. 

Oops!  While looking for the cigarette case Lucy at first says ‘silfer’, then in the next breath corrects herself with ‘silver’. 

This episode does something that is rare – it ‘dates’ itself.  Ricky’s silver cigarette case was a gift from his orchestra and is inscribed: “Merry Christmas to the boss from the boys. 1952″.  Although reruns and future marketability of television programs was not a concern in 1953, it would later become important  to keep shows feeling new and current by not rooting them in a specific time.  For example, a December 1962 “The Lucy Show” will do an entire New Year’s Eve episode without ever mentioning the year(s)!  

Oops! By this point in the series, the Ricardos had moved from the 4th floor down to the third floor, to apartment 3B (which was later changed to 3D), which was next door to the Mertzes. Yet Ethel, upon leaving the Ricardos’ apartment with Fred, said they “might come up later." 

Ethel wears the chenille bathrobe she wears in many other episodes.  The robe turns up again on “Here’s Lucy” worn by Lucy Carter and guest-star Ann-Margret!

We learn that Lucy’s good silver was given to her by Ricky’s mother.  

The original script had Madame X get away at the end, taking both Ricky and Fred’s suits along with her!  In the filmed ending, justice is served!