“The Indian Show”

(S2;E24 ~ May 4, 1953) Directed by William Asher. Written by

Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed April 3, 1953 at Ren-Mar Studios. Rating: 63.8/90

Synopsis ~ Ricky is producing an American Indian-themed show at the club and naturally Lucy wants to get into the act! 

[Ed. Note: During the 1950s Native Americans were frequently depicted on stage and screen in comic songs and situations – such as the character of Tiger Lily in the film and stage musical of Peter Pan. This episode is no exception. It acknowledges the stereotypes but sets them in a comedic scenario.]

Native American relations in the Arizona Territory circa 1868 was the subject of Lucille Ball’s 1942 film Valley of the Sun. Above, Christine Larson (Ball) tries to reason with Geronimo (Tom Tyler). 

Coincidentally, this episode was filmed on the 46th birthday of Iron Eyes Cody (nee Espera DeCorti), one of the most famous actors to ever play a Native American, despite actually being an Italian American. He first worked with Lucy and Desi in 1940’s Too Many Girls and 1942’s Valley of the Sun, a 1959 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour,” in which he played a different kind of Native American, an Eskimo. He played a Medicine Man

in “Lucy and the Indian Chief” (HL S2;E3). He is probably best remembered as the Indian that sheds a single tear in the ‘Keep America Beautiful’ ads that ran from 1971 to the 1980s. 

Also celebrating a birthday on April 3, 1953 is Wayne Newton, who was just 11. He would go on to be one of Lucille Ball’s favorite guest-stars on both “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.”  

Also on the date this episode was filmed (April 3, 1954), the very first national edition of TV Guide was published with newborn Desi Arnaz Jr. and Lucille Ball on the cover. 

---

The episode opens with an orchestra underscoring that is reminiscent of American Indian themes, but the theme of the ‘Indian Show’ isn’t introduced until the second scene, making it a bit incongruous. 

While Ricky is reading in the living room, Lucy brings him to the bedroom to watch her make the baby laugh. Instead of simply cutting from the living room to the bedroom, the camera awkwardly tracks left, showing the end of the cut-away wall of the set. Early episodes often experimented with this new, three camera system. 

In the bedroom, Lucy tries to get newborn Little Ricky to laugh for the first time by making funny faces, something Lucille Ball was quite adept at. She does her ‘Pekingese dog’ face here for the first time. She will do it again in “Ricky’s Contract” (S4;E9) to try to make her distracted husband laugh. 

She also does a grimace that is best described as ‘putting her face on melt.’ 

This is the second appearance of Richard and Ronald Lee Simmons as infant Little Ricky. During the insert shots of the baby in the crib, the bolster is embroidered with the stick figure logos of Lucy and Desi that opened the show in its initial broadcasts. In the final shot of the baby, however, the logo is absent.

Oops!  As Lucy and Ricky leave the bedroom, the baby doll that stood in for the Simmons Twins in the master shot is clearly visible.  

Ricky’s poor English says the Indian stories make his blood “cuddle”. Fred says he means like in the song “Curdle Up a Little Closer.” “Cuddle Up A Little Closer, Lovey Mine” is a popular song written by Karl Hoschna, the lyrics by Otto Harbach published in 1908. It was from the Broadway musical The Three Twins.

When ex-vaudevillian Fred hears Ricky is casting, he ducks into the kitchen and returns in a make-shift Indian outfit using a feather duster for a headdress and a gingham table cloth over his shoulders.  

FRED: “How you like ‘um?”
RICKY: “Stink ‘um.”

Ricky explains to Fred that they have to be REAL Indians.  

Lucy, too wants to get into the act, but Ricky is quick to remind Lucy that she is a mother now and that she gave her farewell performance in “Lucy’s Show-Biz Swan Song” (S2;E12).  

LUCY: “It’s time for that swan to hit the come-back trail.”
FRED: “That swan’s got a little ham in it.” 

When the two men show up at Lucy’s door, they are clearly NOT real Indians: one speaks with a Brooklyn accent, the other is named Herman. He then hires Fred and Ethel to dress up like Indians and sing anyway!  So much for hiring “real Indians.”  

Oops! During the rehearsal scene, the moving shadow of the boom microphone can be seen over the Mertzes’ heads. 

To impress Ricky, Lucy recites Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1855 poem “The Song of Hiawatha.” Lucy claims to have played Hiawatha in a school pageant once. 

In the act, the Mertzes join Ricky in singing “Pass That Peace Pipe,” a song by Ralph Blaine, Hugh Martin, and Roger Edens from Good News (1947). It was nominated for the 1948 Academy Award for Best Song. The song was not in the original stage version of Good News, which served as the inspiration for the fictional musical “The Professor and the Co-Ed,” the 1920s musical that Bill Parker is producing in “Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined” (S3;E11). 

“By the Waters of the Minnetonka: An Indian Love Song” was written by Thurlow Lieurance. Around 1909, Lieurance acquired a portable recording device and carried it with him whenever he went to visit Native American performers. In October 1911, he recorded a Crow singer, Sitting Eagle, also known as Mortimer Dreamer. From this recording he took the melody for "By the Waters of the Minnetonka.” It was published in 1913 with words by J.M. Cavanass, becoming an instant success and going through several editions; it was also frequently recorded before 1950. In the episode, the song is first sung by Juanita and Ricky, and then again by Lucy and Ricky.

Carol Richards (Juanita) made her screen debut with this episode. In 1976 she was seen as Mary Ryan on “Ryan’s Hope.” She is best remembered for her recording with with Bing Crosby of the classic Christmas song “Silver Bells” (1952).

Richard Reeves (the taller Indian) makes his fifth of eight appearances on the series. During the first season he was seen as Bill Foster in “The Gossip” (S1;24) and “The Publicity Agent” (S1;E31). He later played a policeman on a 1963 episode of “The Lucy Show.”

Frank Gerstle (Herman, the shorter Indian) would return to the show to play the helicopter pilot who flies Lucy out to the S.S. Constitution in “Bon Voyage” (S5;E13). He also played a gas station attendant in The Long, Long Trailer (1953).

Little Ricky’s cry is provided by Jerry Hausner, who usually plays Jerry the Agent. Interestingly, Ricky has a phone conversation with Jerry in this episode, but we only see and hear Ricky’s side of the conversation. 

---

FAST FORWARD

In season four, when Ethel visits her hometown of Albuquerque, she dons a traditional headdress for a photo shoot. 

In season six, babysitter Fred wears a toy Indian headdress in the opening scene of “Little Ricky’s School Pageant” (S6;E10). Ethel remarks that it’s the most hair he’s had in years!

Lucy plays an Indian Squaw in the Westport PTA’s “Western Frolics” as part of “Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos” (1959).

Finally, Ricky puts on the headdress for a publicity still that was used on the cover of ‘I Love Lucy’ comics. Judging by the outerwear, the photo was taken in Sun Valley, Utah, during the location shoot for “Lucy Goes To Sun Valley” (1958).  

Lucy Carmichael took her son on a scout camping trip where Lucille Ball wears the exact same costume she wore in 1953. 

Viv (Vivian Vance) gets into the act as well. The costumes are greeted by a spontaneous round of applause by the studio audience. 

In 1963, ‘The Lucy Show’ comics got into the act. “Heap Big Fun”?  

In “Lucy, the Rain Goddess” (TLS S4;E15), Lucy Carmichael bears an uncanny resemblance to the rain goddess depicted on a Native American totem pole.  

When bank employee Lucy Carmichael builds Jack Benny a heavily-guarded bank vault underground, it is guarded by a tribe of wild Indians – actually actors demanding overtime!

In “Lucy and the Efficiency Expert” (TLS S5;E13), the shelves of the Grantland Toy Factory in which Lucy Carmichael works the assembly line, featured boxes of this mechanical toy, one which would definitely not be sold today!

In “Lucy and the Indian Chief” (HL S2;E3), standing on the edge of Lake Powell, Lucy Carter recites the same verse from Longfellow’s 1855 poem that Lucy Ricardo” spoke on “I Love Lucy.” The episode was shot on location on Navajo land using Navajo background players, the first television show to do so. The principal Native American characters, however, are played by white actors. 

Indian Wells, California, a city in Riverside County, was where Desi Arnaz opened what is now known as The Indian Wells Resort in 1957. The area was home to thriving Indian tribes as early as 1820. In 1876, The Wells Fargo Company revitalized the area with railroad service. The city was incorporated in 1967 to avoid being annexed by nearby Palm Springs.