Lucy and the Return of Iron Man

S4;E11~
November 29, 1965

Synopsis

Lucy
and Mary Jane spend a day at the track. When they place a bet for
Mr. Mooney, they mistakenly rip up his bet slip, so Lucy must go back
to work doing stunts as Iron Man Carmichael in order to pay Mr.
Mooney his winnings.

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Gale Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney), Mary Jane
Croft (Mary Jane Lewis)

Guest
Cast

Saul
Gorss
(Rusty) was a Hollywood actor and stunt man whose career began in
1931 with The
Front Page.
This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.

Ross
Elliott
(Director) also played the director of Lucy’s famous Vitameatavegamin
commercial in 1952. He played Ross, Ricky’s publicity agent in three
other episodes. From 1961 to 1964 he played another TV director on
“The Jack Benny Program.” He will do one episode of “Here’s
Lucy.”

Sid
Gould
(Waiter) made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” all as
background characters. He also did 40 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”
Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin by
marriage to Gary Morton. Gould was married to Vanda Barra, who also
appeared on “The Lucy Show” starting in 1967, as well as on
“Here’s Lucy.”

The
Racetrack Patrons are played by:

Monty
O’Grady
was first seen with Lucille Ball in The
Long, Long Trailer (1953)
and played a passenger on the S.S. Constitution in “Second
Honeymoon” (ILL S5;E14).
He was a traveler at the airport when “The
Ricardos Go to Japan” (1959).
He made a dozen appearances on the series and a half dozen more on
“Here’s Lucy.”
George
Hoagland was
an uncredited extra in hundreds of movies and TV shows, including
Lucy and Desi’s film The
Long, Long Trailer
in 1953.
Kenner
G. Kemp
appeared in seven films with Lucille Ball between 1936 and 1960.
Mike
Lally was
seen in two episodes of “I Love Lucy” and eight films starring
Lucille Ball.
Arthur
Tovey
was seen in the Lucille Ball film Critic’s
Choice
in 1960 and the TV special “Swing Out, Sweet Land” in 1970 in which Lucille Ball is the Statue of LIberty.

Other uncredited background performers play the racetrack patrons and the pirates.

This
is the second of three Iron Man Carmichael episodes where Lucy gets
to do stunts, this time in a pirate movie. The first (S4;E5) was a
western and the last (S4;E22) will be a war picture. All three
episodes were written by Edmond Beloin and Harry Garson and were
directed by Maury Thompson. Jesse Wayne was “The Lucy Show”
stunt coordinator. In this one and the first, the Directors were
played by actors who had also played directors on “I Love Lucy.”

We
learn that Mr. Mooney and his (never seen) wife Irma have been
married for 25 years.

At
the track, Mr. Mooney bets on Banker’s Dream, with odds of 25 to 1.
Lucy and Mary Jane bet on Redhead Mary.

Mr.
Mooney says that a banker at the racetrack is as conspicuous as Yul
Brynner standing among The Beatles. Actor Yul Brynner was known for
being bald while The Beatles were a rock group known for their long,
shaggy hair. The Beatles were mentioned in several episodes of “The
Lucy Show.” On “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” follicle-challenged Fred Mertz (William Frawley) often compared himself to Yul
Brynner.

Mary
Jane has taken a job as a script girl at the studio.

The
beach party movie being filmed on an adjacent sound stage is titled Who’s
the Dirty Meanie Who Stole Grandmother’s Bikini?

Before
Iron Man Lucy is shot out of the canon, she says “It’s
the only way to fly.”
This was the advertising slogan of Western Airlines a
US carrier that was in operation from 1926 to 1987, before merging
with Delta Airlines. In 1965 R&B singer Jewel Akens (“The Birds
and the Bees”) released a song titled “It’s the Only Way to
Fly.” The slogan was previously uttered in “Lucy Gets the Bird”
(S3;E12).

Callbacks!

Lucy
Ricardo spent a good deal of time at the horse track – as a jockey
– in “Lucy Wins A Racehorse”, a 1958 episode of “The
Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”

Blooper
Alerts!

Blooper? After Lucy / Iron Man is shot out of the canon, the camera pans over too far and a stage lighting instrument is in the frame! Because we know that a movie is being shot, it is not really a blooper.

Door is Ajar! Once
again, Mr. Mooney enters Lucy’s apartment but fails to shut the front
door.