“Lucy Hunts Uranium”

(LDCH S1;E3 ~ January 3, 1958) Directed by Jerry Thorpe. Written by Madelyn Davis, Bob Carroll Jr., and Bob Schiller. Studio portions filmed November 15, 1957 at Ren-Mar Studios. 

This is the third episode of the first season of “The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show” (aka “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour” in syndication) and the first to venture outside the studio for location shooting. This is the very first time Lucy and Desi have gone on location as the Ricardos, although the Bill and Vivian were sent to a local railroad station during season six of “I Love Lucy” to film location segments on the Union Pacific Domeliner for “The Great Train Robbery” (ILL S5;E5). The footage was eventually discarded. Previously, Lucy and Desi used actor doubles when the characters appeared to be on location.

The special guest stars (playing themselves) are Fred MacMurray and June Haver. The location is Las Vegas and the Mojave Desert.  This episode does not feature any special musical moments. 

By January 1958, “Lucy” was late to the Uranium craze, which was the theme of many films and television shows, including a few produced by Desilu: 

• Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm ~ feature film (June 1951)
• “Sky King” ~ “Wings of Justice” (November 1952)
• “Foreign Intrigue” ~ “The Uranium Mine” (December 1952) 
• “The Life of Riley” ~ “Riley’s Uranium Mine” (January 1954)
• “The Amos ‘n’ Andy Show” ~ “Uranium Mine” (1955)
• “December Bride” ~ “The Uranium Show” (January 1955)
• “My Little Margie” ~ “Mr. Uranium” (March 1955)
• “Topper” ~ “Topper’s Uranium Pile” (April 1955)
• Canyon Crossroads ~ feature film (April 1955)
• “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” ~ “The Uranium Caper” (May 1955)
• Uranium Fever ~ short film (July 1955)
• “Tales of the Texas Rangers” ~ “Uranium Pete” (October 1955)

• “The Jack Benny Program” ~ “Jack Hunts for Uranium” (December 1955)

• Dig That Uranium ~ Bowery Boys film (December 1955)
• “Sky King” ~ “The Crystal Trap” (January 1956)
• Uranium Blues ~ short film (February 1956)
• “The Phil Silvers Show” ~ “The Big Uranium Strike” (March 1956)
• Uranium Boom ~ feature film (1956)
• “Crusader Rabbit” ~ “The Great Uranium Hunt” (1957)
• “State Trooper” ~ “Trail of the Dead” (January 1957)
• Hot Angel ~ feature film (December 1958)

• “Bozo: The World’s Most Famous Clown” ~ “Yoo-Hoo Uranium” (1959)

• “Popeye The Sailor” ~ “Uranium on the Cranium” (1960)
• “Felix the Cat” ~ “The Uranium Discovery” (1961)
• “King Leonardo and His Short Subjects” ~ “Uranium Cranium” (June 1961)
• “The Munsters” ~ “Knock Wood, Here Comes Charlie” (November 1964)

As with the previous two episodes, Desi (this time joined by Lucille) steps in front of the curtain to welcome the audience and remind them that the show is sponsored by Ford. He does the same at the show’s conclusion. While these scenes were cut for syndication to make room for more commercials, they have been restored for the DVD release. 

One of the Ford commercials aired during the original broadcast of this episode featured three-time "I Love Lucy” guest star Tennessee Ernie Ford (no relation to Henry).

The episode opens in a train car headed to Las Vegas, where Ricky’s band is booked to perform at the Sands Hotel and Casino. The gang previously traveled by train in Italy during “Lucy’s Italian Movie” (ILL S5;E23) and on the way home from Hollywood in “The Great Train Robbery” (ILL S5;E5).  Like that trip, this is also by Union Pacific Rail.  In reality, getting to Las Vegas by train from Connecticut would have meant many transfers and route changes.  

Lucy relaxes in her hotel room ‘pretending’ to read the September 2, 1957 edition of Newsweek. On the cover is J. Edgar Hoover, who wrote Lucille Ball a ‘fan’ letter after hearing his name mentioned in

“The Great Train Robbery” (ILL S5;E5).

Lucille Ball was on the cover of the news magazine in 1953.  

Lucille Ball changed her hairstyle beginning with this episode to something called a ‘layered artichoke look,’ similar to what she would wear for the rest of her TV career. In fact, in one scene, when Lucy Ricardo reaches for a hatbox (in which she’s hidden her Geiger counter) Ethel mistakenly guesses: “Oh, you’ve bought a new hat to go with your new hairdo?”

Going off to rehearsal, Ricky doubles back for his conga drum and catches Lucy with her Geiger counter.  He then leaves the room again – still without his drum!

A map of the gang’s trip to Hollywood included a stop in Las Vegas, although this (like several other stops) was not seen on screen. Ricky told Orson Welles that he caught his act while he was in Las Vegas, but that, too, was not dramatized. 

A few exterior shots were filmed at the Sands, which opened in 1952 with a performance by Danny Thomas. Thomas would appear in a season two episode of the “Comedy Hour” as Danny Williams, the character he played on the Desilu sitcom “Make Room for Daddy” aka "The Danny Thomas Show.” 

Although Las Vegas is famous for its casinos, none of the action of the episode takes place in a casino. Lucy and Ethel gambled their way into a fortune while visiting a casino in Monte Carlo during season 5. 

For the filming, the Sands supplied various items to Desilu, including bedspreads featuring their logo.

The Ricardos are staying in Room 236.

Ricky mentions rehearsing in their Copa Room, named after New York’s Copacabana, which is the nightclub Lucy and Ethel want to visit in the very first aired episode of “I Love Lucy” in 1951. The tie-in was not doubt due to the Sands’ General Manager Jack Entratter (1914-71), who was previously the manager of the Copacabana. Known as “Mr. Entertainment,” his name is mentioned by Ricky in the dialogue and is also on the marquee outside the hotel. 

The marquee announces Ricky Ricardo’s appearance, as well as the Kingpins, the Frankie Moore Four, Ernie Ross, and Tommy Doyle. A Sands billboard in the desert also announces Jerry Lewis.

Lewis, Thomas, and Lucille Ball were in attendance at the Sands fourth anniversary party in December 1956.

Ricky ‘runs into himself’ in the lobby of the Sands. Although there was exterior footage of the actual hotel, the interiors were shot on the Desilu soundstage in Hollywood. 

The prop newspapers (which in this case were actually supposed to be fakes), were likely supplied by Hayes Press, Hollywood’s go-to supplier of screen newspapers and printed props.

RICKY: “Is that a Geiger counter?”
LUCY: “Have you ever seen a Geiger counter?”
RICKY: “No.”
LUCY: “Well, this is an electronic Popsicle.”

The main tool in prospecting for uranium was the Geiger counter, which emitted a loud clicking noise when in proximity of the element. Lucy demonstrates one in the episode’s opening scene. Radium dials on wristwatches could also trigger the clicking noise of the Geiger Counter, which results in some comic moments when Fred MacMurray goes to tie his shoe near where Lucy has hidden her Geiger counter from Ricky.

Geiger counter kits also sometimes came with a sample to test the Geiger counter.  Both facts play a pivotal part in the plot of “Lucy Hunts Uranium.” 

As early as 1949, Popular Science Magazine started highlighting uranium prospecting as a hobby. Uranium is a very heavy metal found in most rocks. It can be used as a source of concentrated energy. It was first identified in 1789 and named after the planet Uranus, which had been discovered eight years earlier. During the 1950s the U.S. Atomic Energy Agency would analyze rock samples for uranium free of charge. As is mentioned in this episode, the government paid $10,000 bonuses for uranium discoveries. During 1955 alone over $2,000,000 was paid out. No special license or permit was needed to prospect for uranium on public or private lands. 

Time Warp?  In the lobby before the Uranium rush caused by Lucy’s fake newspaper, she says it is after 8:15pm. In the next scene set in the desert 40 miles away, Ricky says they have cancelled his show and it will be getting dark soon. Even on the longest day of the year, the sun sets in Las Vegas by 8pm.  

Fred MacMurray (1908-91) appeared in over 100 films in his career. He is perhaps best remembered for the film Double Indemnity (1944), which Lucy references in this episode. He also played single dad Steve Douglas on the long-running sitcom "My Three Sons” (1960-1972). After his run as Fred Mertz, William Frawley played MacMurray’s father-in-law on “My Three Sons.” MacMurray’s name was first mentioned by Ethel in 1953 in “The Black Eye” (ILL S2;E20) when flowers arrive for Lucy mistakenly signed “Eternally yours, Fred.” 

Lucille Ball later said that MacMurray was “fine enough” in this episode, but she really had to work with him on his comic timing, especially in the telephone booth scene. Ball and MacMurray clearly had different styles.

During the location footage and the extensive automobile chase scenes in the episode’s second half, the Ricardos drive a Custom Cab Ford pickup truck and Fred MacMurray drives a 1957 Ford Thunderbird.  The show was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company. 

Fred and Ethel are still driving the same 1922 Cadillac roadster that Fred bought for the trip to California in 1955. However, in “Lucy Learns to Drive” (ILL S4;E11), Ricky states that he used it as a trade in to buy the new Pontiac. 

Also in that episode, Ethel claims that she never learned how to drive, and she still apparently hasn’t – she stops the car by crashing it into a cactus. Interestingly, she was quite capable of driving during “The Camping Trip” (ILL S2;E29).

During the exterior prospecting scene, the actors actually fall asleep on a Hollywood sound stage and wake up on location in the Nevada desert! 

Although they were present for the scene work, stunt doubles did most of the car chase and action sequences. Except for one…

While shooting in the Mojave Desert, the crew had difficulty making one of the cars come to a skidding stop to complete the scene. Frustrated, Desi Arnaz finally got into the car himself and performed the stunt perfectly. After receiving applause from the cast and crew, it was discovered that the camera had no film in it! Desi went ballistic while the rest of the crew got hysterical.

From 1954, Fred MacMurray was married to actress June Haver, who makes an uncredited guest appearance in this episode. It was the second marriage for both. They were introduced by another “I Love Lucy” celebrity guest star, John Wayne. She was nicknamed the ‘Pocket Betty Grable’ after appearing with the star in The Dolly Sisters (1945). This episode of the “Comedy Hour” was her final screen appearance. She died in 2005 at the age of 79.

Keith Thibodeaux (aka Richard Keith) plays Little Ricky. He appeared in all but one of the “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hours”.  As usual, the pint-sized actor is simply billed as “Little Ricky.” Here he gets his turn on the donkey during the photo shoot with Lucille and June Haver.

In the opening scene on the train, Little Ricky says he ran into a classmate named Scotty Lawrence, a character we never see. To get the boy ‘out of the way’ for the main plot, the writers have Scotty Lawrence’s mother take him with them to see Boulder Dam.  

William Fawcett (Prospector) was an especially busy character actor who specialized in Westerns. He had appeared with Lucille Ball in the 1951 film The Magic Carpet. He would make one more appearance on the “Comedy Hour” in 1959. 

Everyone’s favorite bellboy Bob Jellison returns to Desilu to play yet another hotel bell hop, this time named Henry. As Bobby the Bellboy, he was a recurring character during the Hollywood episodes of “I Love Lucy,” but made his series debut as the milkman in “The Gossip” (ILL S1;E24). 

Maxine Semon (the Maid) had played Honeybee Gillis in the 1950 Jackie Gleason version of "The Life of Riley.” Her role was taken by Gloria Blondell (Grace Foster in “The Anniversary Present” ILL S2;E3) in the 1953 re-boot starring William Bendix. Semon made two appearances on "I Love Lucy.”

Charles Lane returns to play the Claims Office Clerk. This is his fifth interaction with the Ricardos and the Mertzes, and he would return to play a customs officer in when “Lucy Goes to Mexico” in a 1958 “Comedy Hour.” 

Norman Leavitt (Service Station Attendant) never appeared on “I Love Lucy” but did appear with Lucille Ball in the films A Woman of Distinction (1950) and The Long, Long Trailer (1953). This is one of three appearances on the “Comedy Hour” after which he was in The Facts of Life (1960) and two episodes of "The Lucy Show.” 

Hanging outside the Wagon Wheel service station is a sign for Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer. The brand name, however, is just outside of the top edge of the frame. 

The episode garnered huge ratings again, topping “The Celebrity Next Door” (starring Tallulah Bankhead) aired the previous month. It was the second highest rated show of that week, only behind "Gunsmoke.”

Extra! Extra! 

• Stuntman / extra Rick Warwick played the Sands Desk Clerk, but it is possible he also did some of the stunts in the desert chase sequences.  
• Paul Powers played the Maitre ‘d. 
• Richard King plays the Busboy. 
• Series regular Louis Nicoletti played Prospector #2.
• Lucille Ball’s camera and lighting stand-in Hazel Pierce plays one of the patrons of the Sands. She enters the lobby just behind Lucy reading a magazine. 
• The cast includes several live donkeys and horses!

FAST FORWARD!

This was the first, but not the last time Lucy and Ricky Ricardo were in Las Vegas. On November 1, 1959, they joined Milton Berle at the El Rancho Vegas as part of an NBC “Sunday Showcase: Milton Berle Special”.  

1961 Dell Comic Book.  

Lucy Carmichael and Viv Bagley went to Las Vegas in a 1965 episode of “The Lucy Show.”

In 1970, the exterior of the Sands was glimpsed again in a montage that opens “Lucy and Wayne Newton” (HL S2;E22). The Sands would be razed in 1996 to make way for the The Venetian Resort and Casino. 

Prospecting – although for Gold, not Uranium – was also the subject of a 1968 episode of “Here’s Lucy”…

…and then again in 1973!

Although it did not premiere until five years after this episode first aired, viewers have remarked upon its similarities to the film It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). The cast was comprised of virtually every comedy performer in Hollywood (except Lucille Ball, who was busy with “The Lucy Show”): Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, Phil Silvers, Edie Adams, Jim Bakus, Ben Blue, Joe E. Brown, Barrie Chase, Selma Diamond, Edward Everett Horton, Buster Keaton, Don Knotts, Charles Lane (who is also in “Lucy Hunts Uranium”), Marvin Kaplan, Roy Roberts, Jesse White, Jimmy Durante, Phil Arnold, Jack Benny, Allen Jenkins, Tyler McVey, Jerry Lewis (whose name is on the Sands marquee with Ricky’s), Monty O’Grady, Barbara Pepper, and Elliott Reid.  ALL of whom had worked or would work with Lucille Ball!