Lucy Takes a Job at the Bank

S2;E21
~ February 24, 1964

Synopsis

When
Jerry wants to buy a second-hand tuba, cash-poor Lucy talks Mr.
Mooney into giving her a job at the bank. All she has to do is hand
out toasters to people opening new accounts, but she has no success.
Lucy talks Audrey Simmons into withdrawing her money and then
re-depositing it again to stimulate business; but Audrey’s gossip
spreads a rumor that the bank is failing and starts a run on the
financial institution!

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Vivian Vance (Vivian Bagley), Gale Gordon
(Theodore J. Mooney), Jimmy Garrett (Jerry Carmichael)

Candy
Moore (Chris Carmichael) and Ralph Hart (Sherman Bagley) do not
appear in this episode.

Guest
Cast

Kathleen
Freeman
(Kathleen) was
‘born in a trunk’ to a family of vaudevillians. She made her
stage debut at age two in her parents’ act. Equally at home on
screen and stage, Freeman was appearing on Broadway in The
Full Monty in
2001 when she died of lung cancer. This is the second of her five
appearances in various character roles on “The Lucy Show.”
Freeman appeared in the previous episode “Lucy and Viv Open A
Restaurant” (S2;E20) as Olga the cook.

Kathleen’s
husband’s name is Charley.

Mary
Jane Croft (Audrey
Simmons) played Betty Ramsey during season six of “I Love Lucy.”
She also played Cynthia Harcourt in “Lucy
is Envious” (ILL S3;E23)
and
Evelyn Bigsby in “Return
Home from Europe” (ILL S5;E26).
She played Audrey Simmons for eight episodes. When Lucy moves to
California, she will play Mary Jane Lewis (the actor’s married
name) until the series finale. Her husband Elliott Lewis was a
producer of “The Lucy Show” from 1962 to 1964. She also played a
character named Mary Jane Lewis on “Here’s Lucy” from 1969 to
1974. Her final appearance with Lucille Ball was in “Lucy Calls The President” (1977).

Carole
Cook (Thelma
Green) makes her penultimate appearance playing Thelma Green, although she
will play a variety of other characters in a dozen other episodes.
Lucille Ball took Cook as a protégé during the Desilu Playhouse
years. Although she was born as Mildred Cook, Ball suggested she take
the name Carole, in honor of Lucy’s great friend, Carole Lombard.
Cook also went on to appear in five episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

James
Gonzales
(Bank Teller) was
a popular Hollywood extra who first acted with Lucille Ball in the
1953 film The
Long, Long Trailer.
He was previously seen on the series as Stan Williams in “Lucy
Digs Up a Date” (S1;E2).
He was seen in more than 20 episodes of “The Lucy Show” and 3
episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” In this episode, he has a line when
ordering dinner.

William
Meader
(Bank Teller) had
appeared as an airport extra in “The
Ricardos Go to Japan,”a
1959 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” He made many
appearances on “The Lucy Show,” most times as a clerk in Mr.
Mooney’s bank.

Bobby
Gilbert
(Bank Customer)
was born Robert Wolf in
1898. A
vaudeville actor, he was one of the first performers to play the
South Pacific on USO tours during WWII.
He was an extra in such hit films as Some
Like It Hot
(1959), How
To Succeed in Business
(1967), Thoroughly
Modern Millie (1967)
and Bednobs
and Broomsticks
(1971). This is the first of his two appearances on “The Lucy
Show.”

Judith
Woodbury (Bank
Customer) makes the second of her eight (mostly) uncredited
appearances on “The Lucy Show.” She also appeared in one episode
of “Here’s Lucy.”

Tony Dante (Bank Customer, uncredited) made more than 20 uncredited appearances on Desilu’s “The Untouchables.” This is one of his two episodes of “The Lucy Show.” He also did one episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1970.

Victor Romito (Bank Customer, uncredited) was seen as the Bartender in “Lucy Meets John Wayne” (S5;E10). He also appeared in four episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Romito was an extra in the 1960 Lucille Ball / Bob Hope film Critic’s Choice and in Mame (1974).

The
Bank Security Guard (“George”) is played by an uncredited actor.
More than a dozen other uncredited background performers play the
bank’s customers (including a bridal party, dentist and patient, and
woman with a shopping cart) as well as the bank staff.

Although
Jerry has saved half from his allowance, a second hand tuba will cost
$60. This is the equivalent of more than $500 today.

The
Danfield Bank has assets of over 8 million dollars and was founded in
1899, 65 years longer than any other bank in town.

Viv
has had her money in the Murray Hill Bank in New York City for the
last 20 years.

When
everyone thinks there’s a run on the bank, Viv shouts: “It’s
1933 all over again!” United
States money supply decreased substantially between October 29, 1929
(Black
Tuesday, the stock market crash that began the great depression) and
March
1933, when
there were massive bank
runs across
the United States.

Although
Lucy’s job at the bank is part-time and ends with this episode, Lucy
Carmichael will eventually join the staff of Mr. Mooney’s bank as his
secretary. In “Here’s Lucy” Lucy Carter is also an employee of
Gale Gordon’s character, Harrison J. Carter.

A
clip of Lucy going up (and down) through the trap door was included
in the season three opening credit sequence.

Callbacks!

Lucille
Ball frequently used a ‘pop-up’ toaster for comic effect in many
episodes of “I Love Lucy.”

Blooper
Alerts!

Groundhog Day! The
edition of The Danfield Tribune that Lucy consults for her job search
has the same headline (“Hospital Fund Reaches Goal”) as the one
seen in “No More Double Dates” (S1;E21).

Spelling Bee! Mary
Jane Croft is incorrectly credited as “Mary Jean Croft” in the
closing credits. Carole Cook’s name is also mis-spelled as “Carol
Cook.”