“Ricky’s Hawaiian Vacation”

(S3;E22 ~ March 22, 1954) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed February 11, 1954 at Ren-Mar Studios.  

Synopsis ~ A millionaire wants to take Ricky and his band to Hawaii with some other entertainers to play at a dance. Naturally, Lucy has a scheme to get into the act!

Lucy starts the episode wearing the now-iconic blue and white polka dot dress first worn in “Sales Resistance” (S2;E17). This dress is the outfit of choice for Lucy impersonators today. As the show opens, Lucy is watching “Be a Good Neighbor” on TV and we hear Freddie Fillmore congratulate a Mrs. Weston, who is getting a new house thanks to her ‘good neighbor’ Cleo Morgan. Cleo Morgan is the name of Lucille Ball’s cousin, who was later a producer on “Here’s Lucy.”

Ricky gets a letter from Mr. Jenssen of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu. Although we never see the hotel, it is a real-life landmark first opened in 1927. Its lobby was featured in the 1952 film Big Jim McLain starring future “I Love Lucy” guest star John Wayne. The name Jenssen may be an homage to the show’s costume designer Elois Jenssen. 

To convince Ricky to take her to Hawaii as one of the ‘other entertainers,’ Lucy turns the apartment into the set of a Hawaiian revue, complete with a tropical backdrop, a huge rock, and cut-out palm trees. Fred and Ethel join Lucy to regale Ricky with their rendition of “King Kamehameha” and “A Hawaiian War Chant,” both written by Johnny Noble, a composer who was a native Hawaiian.

This is the third and final appearance of quiz master Freddie Fillmore (Frank Nelson) who has finally made the leap from radio to television to host “Be a Good Neighbor.” Fillmore previously presided over the radio quiz / game shows “Females Are Fabulous” in “The Quiz Show” (S1;E5) and “Mr. and Mrs. Quiz” in “Lucy Gets Ricky on the Radio” (S1;E32). Nelson will continue with the series to play a variety of eccentric characters, including the recurring role of Ralph Ramsey in season six. He holds the distinction of being the only actor to play two recurring characters in the series.

When Lucy and the Mertzes put on their ‘poor act’ for Freddie Fillmore, they claim to have seen his show by watching through the appliance store window, which is how many people were introduced to the new medium in the late 1940s and early 50s. 

When Fillmore wants to meet Mrs. Ricardo and Ma (aka Lucy) at the same time, Lucy launches into a quick change act that nearly proves her undoing. Lucy previously played ‘old’ in “The Young Fans” (S1;E20) and “The Girls Go Into Business” (S3;E1). 

Ethel also played Lucy’s dowdy Ma in the very first episode aired “The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub” (S1;E1).

As she always did before filming a stunt where her face got messy, Lucy removed her false eyelashes. The stunts involves Ricky singing lyrics from famous songs to cue various assaults on Lucy:

• "I Get the Blues When It Rains” [water] – was written by Marcy Klauber and Harry Stoddard for the 1929 Laurel and Hardy film Angora Love. 
• "I’m Putting All My Eggs in One Basket” [eggs / basket] – was written by Irving Berlin for the 1936 film Follow the Fleet (also starring Lucille Ball) and performed by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. 
• “(I’m In Love With You) Honey” [honey] – first appeared in 1938 written by Richard Whiting, Seymour Simons, and Haven Gillespie. It was sung by June Allyson in the film Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945). 
• "Let’s Have Another Cup of Coffee” [coffee / pie] – was written by Irving Berlin for the 1932 stage play Face the Music.

Although Lucy and the Mertzes don’t win the trip, we never learn if Ricky actually went to Hawaii or not. This is similar to the ending of season three, when Ricky gets a summer job in Del Mar, California. Both trips are never mentioned again. Hawaii and Del Mar were cherished get-away spots for the Arnaz family – places to escape from the pressures of Hollywood. 

In 2007, Lucie Arnaz remembered their trips to Hawaii fondly: 

"It was before my parents were divorced and the time when they were at their happiest. No arguing, no work to take them away, and they just loved being there and with each other.”

In 1954 Hawaii was still just a US territory. It became the 50th state on March 18, 1959. In “The Quiz Show” (1951) Lucy has trouble remembering whether Alaska and Hawaii are states or not. Just one month after Alaska was granted statehood in January 1959, the foursome traveled to Nome with Red Skelton to scout some property they’d purchased in an episode of "The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.”

ETHEL (about going on “Be A Good Neighbor”): “I’d get a pie in my face. She’d get an all-expense cruise.”

Ethel was prescient! Lucy and Vivian eventually go on a cruise to Hawaii in a 1971 episode of “Here’s Lucy.” The two-parter was titled “Lucy Goes Hawaiian” and featured Gale Gordon, Desi Arnaz, Jr., and Lucie Arnaz. In both 1954 and 1971 Lucy gets to sing and dance the hula and “A Hawaiian War Chant” is heard. Coming full circle, the “Here’s Lucy” episodes were produced by Cleo Morgan, who was mentioned in the opening dialogue of “Ricky’s Hawaiian Vacation” 17 years earlier!