“The Benefit”

(S1;E13 ~ January 7, 1952) Directed by Marc Daniels. Written by 

Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed November 30, 1951 at General Service Studios. This was the 13th episode filmed. Rating: 51.6/72

Synopsis ~ When Ethel’s club enlists Ricky as a headliner, Lucy wants to get into the act as well, despite the fact that she can’t sing very well. 

This plot of this episode is based on “Charity Revue,” episode #35 of Lucy’s radio show, “My Favorite Husband” which aired March 11, 1949.

This episode was filmed on Lucy and Desi’s 11th wedding anniversary. They were married in Connecticut in 1940 while Desi was performing with his band in NYC. 

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The show opens with the foursome playing bridge, but quickly moves to the piano.

This is the first episode where we learn of Lucy’s vocal short-comings. The trope of Lucy singing off-key comes from Lucy and Desi’s 1950 vaudeville tour act. In the tour and on radio, Lucy sang “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart” as if she couldn’t sing well and it was decided to extend that character trait into the series.

Lucy consults a book titled “How to Sing” by F. Alsetto, a play on the word ‘falsetto’ which is a singing method used by men to sing notes higher than their normal range.

Ethel’s club,

the Middle East 68th Street Women’s Club, is having the benefit. It  seems to be a precursor to the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League. Curiously, Lucy is not a member of this club.

ETHEL: My woman’s club wants Ricky.
LUCY: Well, I’d be very glad to help them out, Ethel, but I’m not through with him yet. 

Oops!  During the above lines the shadow of  moving camera / microphone equipment can be seen on the shutters over Lucy’s shoulder. 

When Ricky refuses, Lucy tells Ethel that MRS. Ricky Ricardo is still available. 

ETHEL: It’s like expecting Clark Gable and getting Hubert Grimset.
LUCY: Hubert Grimset? Never heard of him.
ETHEL: Exactly.

Three songs are featured in this episode. “Shine On, Harvest Moon” is credited to the married vaudeville team Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth. The song was debuted by Bayes and Norworth in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1908 to great acclaim. 

“Auf Wiedersehen, My Dear” was written in 1932 by Al Goodhart, Milton Ager, Al Hoffman and Ed G. Nelson. That same year it was sung by Bing Crosby in the film Hollywood on Parade.

LUCY (sarcastic): “Auf Wiedrsehen”?  That’s a nice Cuban melody.

Oops!  When Lucy and Ricky are learning the song, Desi nearly starts laughing at Lucy’s antics.  

When Ricky quits and Lucy needs to find a new act, she suggests she and Ethel dress as a pantomime horse. Naturally, Ethel brings up the rear! 

ETHEL (putting on the rear end of the horse costume): Oh, if my family in Albuquerque could see me, they’d die of shame. 
LUCY: Speaking of Albuquerque, is it true that your father drinks goat’s milk? 

This is the first time we hear about Ethel’s hometown of Albuquerque and her father. The show will visit the New Mexico town and meet Ethel’s father, Will Potter, during the gang’s cross-country road trip to Hollywood during season four, almost exactly three years later. The line about her father drinking goat’s milk sounds like Lucille Ball ad-libbing while Vivian struggles to get into the horse costume.  

Before Ethel introduces Lucy and Ricky at the benefit, she thanks someone off-camera / off-stage named “Mrs. Thompson”. The last name was probably selected to honor Maury Thompson, the show’s camera coordinator. 

“We’ll Build a Bungalow” is a popular song from the early 20th century, written in 1902 by Bob Cole. It is often sung by children at camp. Larry Green and his Orchestra recorded the tune in 1949.

This episode was one of three edited together for the unreleased “I Love Lucy” Movie. The other two were “Breaking the Lease” (S1;E18) and “The Ballet” (S1;E19). The film, complete with new wrap-around material and backstage footage, was discovered in storage in the summer of 2001 and portions can be viewed on YouTube.

The Arnazes loved the material in this episode so much that they started doing the “Songs and Witty Sayings” routine at various industry functions and charity events, including the first major City of Hope fundraiser in Palm Springs in February 1953. 

They recreated the entire “Songs and Witty Sayings” material (including the rehearsal scene with William Frawley) for the televised “Dinner with the President” event on November 25, 1953. Simulcast live over CBS, NBC, ABC and the old DuMont networks, “Dinner with the President” featured a dozen stars performing for President and Mrs. Eisenhower at a B’nai B’rith dinner in Washington DC. It was such a special event that Elois Jenssen, Lucy’s new wardrobe designer, had Lucy and Desi’s outfits remade.

In 2014, a touring show called “I Love Lucy Live On Stage” presented “The Benefit” as Act One of the show. 

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