LUCY AND THE INDIAN CHIEF

S2;E3
~ October 6, 1969

Directed
by George Marshall ~ Written by Gene Thompson

Synopsis

When
their camper runs off the road, Lucy wanders off to find water and is
discovered by a Native American chief who makes her his bride. Her
wedding gift? The state of Utah!

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy
Carter), Gale
Gordon (Harrison
Otis Carter), Lucie
Arnaz (Kim
Carter), Desi
Arnaz Jr. (Craig
Carter)

Guest
Cast

Paul
Fix
(Sitting Buffalo, Navajo Chief) was a busy New York-born character
actor who played Marshal Micah Torrance on the TV series “The
Rifleman”
(1958).
Although he specialized in westerns, he rarely played in redface.
He was also seen in the film Winterset
(1936) with Lucille Ball.

The
Guide guesses Sitting Buffalo is 85 years old. Fix was actually 68
at the time.

Mickey
Manners
(Running Water, Navajo Guide) was born Solomon Shapiro in New York.
He was a great friend of Jerry Lewis and appeared with him on screen
several times. He was last seen in “Lucy Helps Danny Thomas” (TLS
S4;E7).

Iron
Eyes Cody
(Navajo
Medicine Man, right) made
a career of playing Native American characters despite the fact that
he was of Italian ancestry. He first worked with Lucy and Desi in
1940’s Too
Many Girls
and
1942’s Valley
of the Sun
(also directed by George Marshall) both as an Indian character. He
played an Eskimo in a 1959 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy
Hour,” but is probably best remembered as the Indian that sheds a
single tear in the ‘Keep America Beautiful’ ads that ran from 1971 to
the 1980s.

The
men and women at the reservation are played by actual Navajo tribe
members.

This
episode is the third of a four-part on-location story arc created
with the cooperation of the Navajo
Nation Council
and the state of Arizona. It was the first and only situation comedy
filmed on Navajo land using actual tribe members.

When
Desilu set construction recreated a Navajo hogan (hut), tribe members
involved in the shooting refused to enter it because the door was
facing the wrong direction. The crew rotated the hogan to face east
(to greet the rising sun) and comply with tradition. The
Nation Council approved of the reversal of the direction of a sacred
ceremonial dance, but only after Lucille Ball convinced them that it
would not bring bad luck and would look better on television!

As
was usual with films and TV shows of the time, the principal Native
American characters were played by Caucasians. The script also
indulges in humor derived from stereotypical speech patterns of
Native Americans.

Unlike
studio filming, only one camera was used on location, although
Lucille Ball was insistent on her studio lighting instruments,
despite their weight and bulk.

At
the start of the episode, Harry summarizes the reason they are on the
road, recapping the first episode of season 2. However, there is no
mention of the Air Force Academy they’ve just visited, just that they
are 2,000 miles off course (Harry’s exaggeration).

The
Carters travel in a Travco
motor home. The company’s RV’s were originally built on Dodge
chassis. Travco was in business from 1964 until the late 1980s.

The
episode integrates location footage with studio process shots for the
driving scenes.

Harry
gets a lap full of water due to the off-kilter slant of the camper,
proving the old “Here’s Lucy” tradition that if there’s water –
Gale Gordon will be wet!

Standing
on the edge of Lake Powell, Lucy recites a verse from Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow’s 1855 poem “The
Song of Hiawatha.”
This is the same portion of the poem she recited on “I Love Lucy.”

Fleeing
the reservation, Lucy utters Jackie Gleason’s famous line “And
away we go”
as well as his hitch-shouldered exit pose. Lucille Ball did this
frequently on “The Lucy Show.”

Lucy
finds a Navajo bride for Harry named Pocahontas, or, as Harry calls
her, “Pokey.”

This
is not the first time Lucille Ball has used Native Americans as the
source for storylines. In “The
Indian Show” (ILL S2;E24) Ricky’s
act was built around an Indian theme. As she does here, she recites
a verse of “The Song of Hiawatha.” In
“Lucy
and the Scout Trip” (TLS S2;E26 )
Lucy Carmichael dresses as a Native American to give her son an
authentic scouting experience.

In
“Lucy, the Rain Goddess” (TLS S4;E15), Mrs. Carmichael trails Mr. Mooney
to a dude ranch adjacent to a reservation, where she is hailed as a
rain goddess due to her resemblance to a totem pole.

Lucy
Carmichael also mixed with lots of sheep in “Lucy Buys a Sheep”
(TLS S1;E5) to keep her lawn trim.

The
camper has the same California license plate number (WMO-526) as
Lucy’s car seen in “Lucy Helps Craig Get a Driver’s License”
(S1;E24).