“Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos”

(LDCH S3;E1 ~ September 29, 1959) 

Directed by Desi Arnaz. Written by Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf.  Produced by Bert Granet. The script was finalized on March 6, 1959.

Synopsis ~ Lucy wants Milton Berle to perform in Little Ricky’s school play so she secretly offers her home for him to finish his latest book in peace. Ricky jumps to the conclusion that Lucy is having an affair!

This is the 11th of the hour-long “I Love Lucy” specials known in syndication as "The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.” During seasons 2 and 3 they were sponsored by Westinghouse and presented under the banner of the anthology series “The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse.” 

This episode opens the third and final season. Due to mounting off-screen pressures, this season was cut to three episodes from the previous five. 

Desi Arnaz is credited as director of all three remaining episodes. His directing style is marked by more elaborate camera placement than his predecessors. Like most previous episodes, this one features a celebrity guest star and original music. This episode was filmed mostly without a studio audience, although one was brought in for a few of Milton Berle’s scenes, as he was used to playing in front of a live audience on his variety show.

Milton Berle and Lucille Ball were supposed to share the small screen for the first time in 1949 on his “Texaco Star Theatre” two years before Ball first appeared on “I Love Lucy”.  However, at the time Berle was ill and was replaced by Walter O’Keefe, delaying the union of “Mr. Television” with the future “Queen of Comedy” for a full decade and this “Lucy-Desi” episode. 

Before filming this episode, Lucy and Desi had just returned from a European cruise, a last-ditch attempt to save their failing marriage.

Milton Berle was born Milton Berlinger in New York City on July 12, 1908. He started performing at the age of five. He perfected his comedy in vaudeville, early silent films, and then on radio, before taking his act to the small screen, where he would be proclaimed “Mr. Television” and later “Uncle Miltie.” He hosted "Texaco Star Theater” on NBC from 1948 to 1956. The variety show was re-titled "The Milton Berle Show” in 1954 when Texaco dropped their sponsorship. The program was briefly revived in 1958, but lasted only one season. Berle continued to perform live, in films, and on television specials for the remainder of his career. One of his classic bits was to dress in drag, something he does in this episode. Berle re-teamed with Lucille Ball on three episodes of "The Lucy Show” and two episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” On all but one, he again played himself. He died of colon cancer in 2002.

At the time of the episode, Berle had just published his first (and only) novel, Earthquake written with John Roeburt. He had previously written the joke books Laughingly Yours in 1938 and Out of My Trunk in 1948. He wrote his autobiography in 1974 with help from Haskel Frankel. His last book was a 1987 collection of sketches and reminiscences titled B.S. I Love You.

Lucy is new chair of the Westport PTA entertainment committee. This is not the first nor the last time the group will get involved in a PTA show. In New York, they performed with Little Ricky in “The Enchanted Forest” in “Little Ricky’s School Pageant” (ILL S6;E10). Once in Westport, “Lucy Does the Tango” (ILL S6;E20) for the PTA (hopefully without her pockets full of raw eggs) and Tallulah Bankhead was recruited to be part of the PTA play “The Queen’s Lament” in the second “Comedy Hour” “The Celebrity Next Door” (1957).

The scene in Milton Berle’s office opens on a poster-sized TV Guide cover from January 10, 1959. The cover art is by famed theater artist Al Hirschfeld. It is flanked by Berele’s two 1950 Emmy Awards; one for Most Outstanding Kinescope Personality and the other for Best Kinescope Show.

Elvia Allman (Miss Trent, Berle’s secretary) had performed in three episodes of “I Love Lucy,” but is probably best remembered as the Candy Factory forewoman in “Job Switching” (ILL S2;E1). Previously on the “Comedy Hour” she had played PTA mom and play director Ida Thompson. She also returned for two episodes of “The Lucy Show.”

A construction worker asks Milton Berle to autograph a photo, giving him a list of names for the inscription, the last being “Ruth.” This was the name of Milton Berle’s wife, who appeared with her husband on a 1967 episode of “The Lucy Show.”

Sid Melton (Shorty, a construction worker) had just appeared on the “Comedy Hour” as a bellboy in “Lucy Goes to Alaska” (1958) and as one of the jockeys in “Lucy Wins a Racehorse” (1958). He later played Charley Halper on "Make Room For Daddy” and Alf Monroe on "Green Acres.” 

Although he is never called “Shorty” in the episode, Melton lived up to the name at just 5’4” tall. His presence in the office scene allows the introduction of the construction bucket that Lucy will use to gain access to Berle’s office in an extended physical comedy stunt sequence in the show’s second half.

When talking to the two acrobats in his office, Berle mentions the Friars Club. In 1947, Milton Berle founded the Friars Club of Beverly Hills at the old Savoy Hotel on Sunset Boulevard. The Friars is a private show business club famous for its celebrity members and roasts, where a member is mocked by his club friends in good fun.

In the office, there are framed magazine covers featuring Milton Berle. In 1949 he was on the cover of Time and Newsweek (in drag). 

On November 21, 1950 Berle and his daughter Vicki were on the cover of Look Magazine, which is also on the office wall. 

Frank Mitchell (Tumbler) had appeared with Milton Berle on a 1950 episode of “Texaco Star Theatre.” His short-lived teaming with Jack Durant in vaudeville and Broadway led to minor success in films. Walter Pietela (Tumbler) was an acrobat who made only one more screen appearance. The pair of tumblers are included in the office scene if only to allow Berle to identify them as “Somersault and Maugham,” a pun on the name of British writer W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965).

Oops!  When Lucy is holding Berle’s book in the first scene, it moves positions in her hand between cuts.  

When talking with his literary agent, Mr. Watson, Berle makes a joke about Ernest Hemingway fleeing to Cuba. Hemingway had first established a home in Cuba in 1939. A few months after this episode was filmed he returned to Havana for the last time. Fearing appropriation of his property by the Castro regime, he left Cuba in mid-1960 and never returned.

Later, Berle requests that Lucy get him cigars imported from Havana. When Ethel sees Lucy with the cigars, she requests that Lucy smoke one, which she does. This recalls the time when Lucy disguised herself as a cigar roller in Havana in “The Ricardos Visit Cuba” (ILL S6;E9).

Larry Keating (Mr. Watson) is probably best remembered on television as Roger Addison, the nosy neighbor on "Mr. Ed” from 1961 to 1963. The character’s name is Watson if only to allow Berle to use the punchline “Elementary, my dear Watson.” The quote is usually attributed to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes addressing his assistant, Dr. Watson. The exact wording, however, is not found in Doyle’s books, but does turn up in a 1929 film adaptation.

Forced to “get to work” by Lucy, Berle says “I wonder if Carl Sandburg started this way?” Earlier in 1959, the famous American poet Carl Sandburg became the first (and to date only) poet to address a joint session of Congress on the occasion of Abraham Lincoln’s 150th birthday, having already won a 1959 Grammy for his narration of “Lincoln Portrait” with music by Aaron Copeland. At the same time this episode aired, Bette Davis toured with her husband in an unsuccessful play titled The World of Carl Sandburg.

BERLE: “Lindy promised to name a sandwich after me if I gave up my table by the door.” 

Lindy’s is a Manhattan deli and restaurant first opened in 1921 by Leo “Lindy” Lindermann, who died in 1957. It is famous for it’s New York style cheesecake and sandwiches named in honor of celebrities. Berle was said to be there nightly when in New York City.  Ricky takes everyone to Lindy’s when he hears about getting the part in Don Juan during “Ricky’s Contract” (ILL S4;E10). 

When a furious Ricky thinks Lucy is seeing another man, she tells Berle to hide upstairs. In what sounds like an ad-lib, Ethel quickly adds “We hid a horse up there once!” This is a callback to “Lucy Wins a Racehorse,” a 1956 episode of “The Comedy Hour.”

When Ricky mistakenly punches Mr. Watson, thinking he is the man Lucy is fooling around with, former Golden Gloves champion of 1909 Fred Mertz compliments him saying “Nice punching, Rick!” Ricky and Fred spent many hours watching prize fighting on television and at Madison Square Garden.

When Berle dons his famous drag, he goes by the name Mildred Burke, which (perhaps not coincidentally) was also the name of a female professional wrestler who retired in 1956. During the 1950s televised wrestling matches were extremely popular.

While hanging from the construction bucket, Berle says “Let me pay now, I’ll fly later.”  This is a paraphrase of a popular airline marketing campaign “Fly Now, Pay Later.”  The slogan was also mentioned in “Lucy Goes To Alaska” (S2;E3). 

During the stunt on the construction bucket, Berle says that they can get a job on “The Ed Sullivan Show” as ‘The Flying Ricardos’. Ed Sullivan hosted an immensely popular variety show on CBS from 1948 to 1971. Until 1955 it was called “Toast of the Town.” In 1954, Sullivan’s show devoted an entire hour to "I Love Lucy.” Ed Sullivan was mentioned by Ricky in “The Ricardos are Interviewed” (ILL S5;E7) and “The Ricardos Dedicate a Statue” (ILL S6;E27).

A very elaborate stunt sequence involves Lucy, Berle, and Ricky hanging from a construction bucket 20 stories off the ground, although an insert shot of model cars moving along a street makes it look more like seven or eight stories high. 

Stunt doubles were used for Berle and Desi, although there were specially filmed close-ups of the actors inter-cut into the scene. 

Oops!  While Lucy and Berle are hanging from the bucket, the camera catches sight of the wire used to make the bucket sway back and forth.  In this scene Lucy is holding the legs of a stunt double. 

At one point a pigeon lands on Berle’s head, just like when Lucy was on the ledge in “Lucy and Superman” (ILL S6;E13).

The PTA show is called “Western Frolics” and (for the viewers) consists mostly of the musical number “Them There Days.” 

The song was composed by Arthur Hamilton especially for this show. The lyrics reference John Wayne, who guest starred in “Lucy and John Wayne” (ILL S5;E2).

Oops! A gag involving arrows was cut out of the final print, but the arrows still litter the floor in the subsequent shots. 

A few publicity stills survive of the arrow gag. 

In the number, Lucy plays an Indian squaw, something she previously did in “The Indian Show” (ILL S2;E24). 

The gang also staged a western show for their “Home Movies” (ILL S3;E20).

In the original script, there was a scene where the Ricardos and Milton are chasing down the pages from Berle’s manuscript that the wind blew all over Central Park. The scene was cut from the script due to time constraints.

FAST FORWARD! 

The Arnazes reciprocated Berle’s appearance on their show by appearing on “The Milton Berle Special,” which aired November 1, 1959 on NBC.  The special was set in Las Vegas. 

Pretending to be his own drunken brother as research for a role, Lucy Carmichael meets Milton Berle for the first time in “Lucy Saves Milton Berle” (TLS S4;E13) in 1965.

In 1965 Lucy Carmichael dated a construction foreman (Clint Walker) and also spent some precarious moments on a building under construction. 

In 1966, Lucille Ball appeared on the premiere of Berle’s new show.

Despite much hype, this new ABC-TV show only lasted seven episodes.

Berle makes a wordless cameo in “Lucy and John Wayne” (TLS S5;E10) in 1966.

Two seasons later, Lucy Carmichael again met Milton Berle (this time with his real-life wife Ruth) in "Lucy Meets the Berles” (TLS S6;E1).    

This episode inspired a similar story on a 1968 “Here’s Lucy” starring Eva Gabor as a writer that Lucy invites to her home to finish a book in peace and quiet – only to be embroiled in chaos. Coincidentally, Milton Berle’s name is mentioned in the dialogue! 

A bald Berle sold Lucy Carter and her kids a lemon as Cheerful Charlie in “Lucy and the Used Car Dealer” (HL S2;E9) in 1969. This is the only time Berle played a character, rather than himself, on a Lucy-com. 

Both Lucille Ball and Milton Berle appeared on “Zenith Presents: A Salute to Television’s 25th Anniversary” (1972).

In December 1973, Lucille Ball joined the Friars Club to celebrate Milton Berle’s 60 years in show business.

“Milton Berle Is the Life of the Party” (HL S6;E19) in a 1974 episode of “Here’s Lucy.” 

On 1975′s “The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Lucille Ball” Lucy was roasted by Milton Berle, who said, “Lucille Ball has emerged as the sex symbol for men who no longer care.”

In 1976, Milton Berle tributed Lucille Ball standing in front of The Hollywood Brown Derby in “CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years”. 

In 1984, Berle and Ball were among the first to be inducted to the Television Academy Hall of Fame.