Lucy the Stunt Man

S4;E5 ~ October 18, 1965

Synopsis

When
Lucy needs money to buy a fur coat, she takes a job as a Hollywood
stunt man.

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Gale Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney)

Mary
Jane Croft (Mary Jane Lewis) does not appear in this episode.

Guest
Cast

Joan
Blondell (Joan
Brenner) was born into a family of vaudevillians in 1906. She
made her New York theatre debut with the Ziegfeld Follies and
appeared in several Broadway productions. She made her film debut in
1930. She was nominated for an Oscar for 1951’s The
Blue Veil.
In 1978 she had a small role in the film Grease.
Although she was active in Hollywood concurrently with Lucille Ball,
this (and the previous episode) is the first time she has appeared with her on screen. This is
her final appearance on the series. She died of leukemia in 1979.

Don
Magowan (Chuck
Casey) worked on many westerns during his career, but was a regular
on “The Beachcomber” (1962) playing Captain Huckabee. He will do
one episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1970.

Lou
Krugman (Mr.
Wilson, Director) was
born in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1914. He made a memorable debut at
Desilu as the ever-patient film director in “Lucy
Gets Into Pictures” (ILL S4;18).
After that episode was filmed, Lucy sent him a telegram telling him
how impressed she was with his acting. She rewarded him with
appearances in “The
Great Train Robbery,” (ILL S5;E5)
and
the role of the Club Babalu’s Manager in “Lucy
and Bob Hope” (ILL S6;E1)
and
“Lucy
Meets Orson Welles” (ILL S6;E3).
He previously appeared in “Lucy in the Music World“ (S4;E4) and
“Lucy
Takes Up Chemistry” (S1;E26).
This is his last appearance
on the show.

Eddie
Quillan (Mr.
Briggs) was
born in Philadelphia in 1907. At the age of seven he was already
performing in vaudeville with his sister and three brothers in an act
called “The Rising Generation.” He made his screen debut in
1926 in a Mack Sennett short and went on to appear in such classic
films as Young
Mr. Lincoln
(1939),
The
Grapes of Wrath
(1940),
and Brigadoon
(1954).
He previously appeared in “Lucy Buys a Sheep” (S1;E5). In 1964 he
was seen in Advance
to the Rear
starring Joan Blondell. He also made two appearances on “Here’s
Lucy.”

Burt
Douglas (Slim
Jones, below left) appeared in more than sixty films and TV shows from 1956 to
1992. This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.

Chuck
Hicks
(Buzz Perkaby, above right) was a stunt man and actor who’s career began in 1953.
Hicks was a long-time stunt double for Brian Dennehy. He will appear
on “Here’s Lucy” in “Lucy and Wally Cox” (S2;E21).

Jack
Perkins (Saloon
Brawler) was often cast for his ability to play drunk. He also has
quite a few credits as a brawler and a bartender. He will appear in
two more episodes of “The Lucy Show.”

Dale
Van Sickel
(Saloon Brawler) was a Hollywood stunt man and actor whose career began in 1933. He
appeared with Lucille Ball in the films Roberta (1935) and There Goes
My Man (1937). He will also appear in both of the upcoming ‘Iron Man
Carmichael’ episodes of “The Lucy Show.”

A
few additional background performers take part in the saloon scene.

This
is the first episode written by Edmond Beloin and Harry Garson. The
two will pen five more episodes together. This
is the first of three ‘Iron Man Carmichael’ episodes, all
written by Beloin and Garson. The other two are "Lucy
and the Return of Iron Man” (S4;E11) and “Lucy and Bob
Crane”
(S4;E22).

The
date this episode first aired (October 18, 1965) actor Henry Travers
died. Best known as Clarence the Angel in It’s
a Wonderful Life (1946),
he co-starred with Lucille Ball in A
Girl, A Guy, and a Gob
(1941).

A
clip from this episode was part of the season four ‘kaleidoscope’
opening credit sequence.

“The
Lucy Show” stunt coordinator was Jesse Wayne who amassed over 500
credits as a stunt performer and actor. Due to his small stature he
started out as stunt double for Hollywood’s young actors. He wrote
an e-book titled Confessions of a Hollywood Stunt Man.

The
casting of Joan Blondell was another attempt to replace Vivian Vance
as Lucy’s ‘partner in crime.’ Ball and Blondell did not get along off
stage, resulting in heated arguments. After the final shot of this
episode, with the studio audience still present, Lucy made a
‘flushing’ motion in Blondell’s direction. Blondell shouted,

“Fuck
you, Lucille Ball.”

The two never reconciled. The very next episode Lucy brought back
Ann Southern as the Countess Framboise.

Lucy
brings up Danfield where she and Mr. Mooney used to live.

Lucille
Ball resurrects her famous toaster gag that was so often seen on “I
Love Lucy”: grabbing a piece of toast mid-air as it popped out of
the toaster. She also did it on “The Lucy Show” in “Lucy Takes
a Job at the Bank” (S2;E21), but with passbooks instead of bread!

Lucy
gets a laugh by saying the line “Jiggle
it a little, it’ll open”
very quickly. When Mr. Mooney said it there was no reaction from the
studio audience.

Lucy
Carmichael previously had trouble with her refrigerator back in
Danfield in the episode “Lucy the Disc Jockey” (S3;E26). It is
possible that this is the same set piece she ruined back east but
repainted apple green. Despite deliberately wrecking the fridge to
con Mr. Mooney into giving her money, the refrigerator is till in the
kitchen in the next episode.

Lucy
wants to spend $99.50 on a new leopard coat from Felix Franco the
Friendly Furrier.
Adjusting for inflation, this is more than $800 today. Back in Danfield, Lucy’s friendly Franco furrier was Madame
Fifi (Fifi D’Orsay).

‘Iron
Man Carmichael’ says he’s been out of the country working in Lawrence
of Arabia.
His gruff voice is attributed to being kicked in the throat by a
camel. Lawrence
of Arabia is
a 1962 historical film based on the life of T.E. Lawrence and taking
place mostly in the desert. It won seven Oscars including Best
Picture.
The film was previously mentioned in “Lucy the Disc Jockey”
(S3;E26).

Lou
Krugman (Mr. Wilson) also played a film director in “Lucy
Gets Into Pictures” (ILL S4;18),
his first job with Lucille Ball. It is fitting that he bookends his
Desilu experience by playing another one.

When
Gale Gordon addresses Lou Krugman as “Mr. Wilson” it is a bit of
deja vu since Gordon played Mr. Wilson on “Dennis the Menace”
just before he joined the cast of “The Lucy Show.”

As
a dance hall girl in the saloon scene, Joan Blondell wears the same
can-can style dress that Lucy wore in “Lucy and the Beauty Doctor”
(S3;E24).

Mr.
Mooney jokingly tells Joan that he’s testing for the male lead in Liz
Taylor’s next picture. Elizabeth
Taylor
will appear with her husband Richard Burton (playing themselves) in a
1970 episode of “Here’s Lucy.” Gale Gordon (Mr. Mooney) is also
in the episode.

Callbacks!

The
plot of this episode starts off very similar to “The Fur Coat”
(ILL S1;E9), including the scene where Lucy Ricardo does dishes while
wearing her cherished fur.

Lucy’s drag cowboy stuntman looks
nearly identical to the one she created in “Home Movies” (ILL
S3;E20) in 1954.