LUCY, THE CEMENT WORKER

S2;E10
~ November 24, 1969

Directed
by George Marshall ~ Written by George Balzin and Sam Perrin

Synopsis

While
trying to earn some extra money, Lucy is asked by Harry to have a
valuable ring engraved. When Lucy trips into a troth of cement she realizes the ring is missing!

Regular
Cast

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

Guest
Cast

Mary
Jane Croft (Mary
Jane) makes her second series appearance as Mary Jane. Croft 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 on “The Lucy Show” but when Lucy
Carmichael moved to California, she played Mary Jane Lewis, the
actor’s married name and the same one she uses on all 31 of her
episodes of “Here’s Lucy. Her final acting credit was playing
Midge Bowser on “Lucy Calls the President” (1977). She died in
1999 at the age of 83.

Paul
Winchell
(Little Old Jeweler /

The Great Pierre Barmarche) previously
played himself in “Lucy
and Paul Winchell” (TLS S5;E4).
He
was born Paul Wilchinsky in 1922. Coming into the public eye in 1948,
he became one of the most famous ventriloquists since Edgar Bergen.
He hosted the enormously popular children’s television show
“Winchell-Mahoney Time” (1964-68) in which he shared the
spotlight with Jerry Mahoney, one of his most popular characters.
Winchell is fondly remembered as the voice of Winnie the Pooh’s pal
Tigger and (later) Papa Smurf. He played Doc Putnam in “Main
Street U.S.A.” (TLS S5;17)
and
“Lucy Puts Main Street on the Map” (TLS S5;E18).
This is the first of his two episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”
Surprisingly, Winchell was also an inventor who is credited with the
artificial heart, among other innovations. He died in 2005.

This
is the first time an actor has played two distinct characters

that weren’t twins or doppelgangers

in one “Lucy” episode. Winchell
innovated an animation process called Aprilmation (named after his
daughter) which Lucille Ball financed.

Harry
Hickox
(Police Officer) was
best known for playing anvil salesman Charlie Cowell in the 1962 film
The
Music Man.
He played a drill sergeant in “Lucy Gets Caught Up in the Draft”
(TLS S5;E9). This is the first of his three
episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

Sid
Gould
(First Workman, right) made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,”
all as background characters. This is one of his 40 episodes of
“Here’s Lucy,” his first in season two. Gould (born Sydney
Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton.

William
Tannen
(Second Workman, left) appeared in four films with Lucille Ball between
1943 and 1946. This is his only series appearance. He was born in
New York in 1911, just like Lucille Ball.

This
is the first episode written by Sam
Perrin, winner of two
Emmy Awards for writing for Jack Benny. This is his first of five
“Here’s Lucy” scripts, three of which were written with Ralph
Goodman.

The
final draft of the script was submitted June 25, 1969.

The
date this episode first aired (November 24, 1969) Lucille Ball made
her third appearance on “The Carol Burnett Show” on CBS at 10pm.
In return, Burnett will guest star on the final episode of season two
of “Here’s Lucy.”

Kim
says she was born in the kitchen. They joke that the refrigerator is
her godmother! In real life, Lucie Arnaz was born in a hospital as
Lucille Ball delivered her by Cesarean.

In
the office Lucy and Harry are looking for the Morton
contract. Morton is Lucy’s married name, having wed comedian Gary
Morton in 1961.
Harry has stapled the contract to his necktie! With a snip of her
scissors, Lucy handily converts the necktie to a bow tie.

Harry
says that as a young man he was often mistaken for one of the
Barrymores.
Lucy reminds him that one of them was Ethel! The Barrymore acting
family began with the marriage of Maurice
Barrymore (1849–1905)
to Georgiana
Drew (1856-1893).
They had three
children: Lionel, Ethel, and John – all of whom also were actors.
Harry is probably referring to John Barrymore (1882-1942, inset photo) who was
known for his classic profile. The dynasty is today represented by
Drew Barrymore (born 1975) who carries on both family names.

Easter
Egg: In
Pierre’s studio, there is a handbill on the bulletin board for Cherokee
Jim’s Rodeo and Wild West Show,
which is a direct reference from the 1945 film Incendiary
Blonde starring Betty Hutton as Texas Guinan. The film was directed by
George Marshall for Paramount, the same director and studio producing
this episode of “Here’s Lucy” 25 years later!

When
Lucy knocks over a vase on Harry’s desk, he gets wet, of course, one
of the running gags on “Here’s Lucy.” Harry once again calls her
‘Calamity Jane’, something he previously did in “The Great Airport
Chase” (S1;E18).
Martha
Jane Canary
(1852-1903),
better known as Calamity
Jane,
was an American frontierswoman and professional scout known for her
claims of being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok and fighting
against Indians.
What’s more, according to “Lucy and Harry’s Tonsils” (S2;E5),
Harry is allergic to roses!

When
Harry is frustrated by Lucy he says “I
wonder if I could send her to the moon?” Just
prior to this episode being shot, the US landed Buzz Aldrin and Neil
Armstrong on the moon, the culmination of many years of work by NASA.
The line also is reminiscent of Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason)
threatening his wife Alice: “Bang!
Zoom! Straight to the moon, Alice!”
on TV’s “The Honeymooners.” Lucille Ball (as Mame Dennis)
played the Lady in the Moon in Mame
(1974).

Role
reversal!
When the kids are asking Lucy for some extra money, the dialogue is
very similar to when Lucy Ricardo used to ask Ricky for money – and
his inevitable answer would be “no”! Later on, the roles are
reversed again when Lucy asks Harry for a raise – and his
inevitable answer is also “no”!

The
second act of the episode is similar to “Building a Bar-B-Q”
(ILL S6;E24) where Lucy Ricardo thinks
she has lost her wedding ring in the wet cement used to build the
backyard barbecue grill.

The
knife throwing routine is borrowed directly from “Lucy Tells the
Truth” (ILL S3;E6). In that episode the knife thrower was an
Italian named Professor Falconi (Mario Siletti) instead of a Frenchman named the Great Pierre.

Lucy
disguises herself as a male construction worker to escape the eye of
the cop on the beat. Lucille Ball went in male drag in “Ricky Has Labor Pains” (ILL S2;E14), “Lucy and the Little League” (TLS
S1;E28), and “Lucy the Coin Collector” (TLS S3;E13).

The
episode revolves around a slap of cement just like “Lucy Visits
Grauman’s” (ILL S5;E1). In that episode, Lucy Ricardo was also
eyeballed by a policemen on the beat and threatened with a fine for
her vandalism.

In
“Lucy and John Wayne” (ILL S5;E2) Little Ricky got his hands in
wet cement just like Lucy Carter does here. The same thing happened
to Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon) in “Lucy Goes to a Hollywood Premiere”
(TLS S4;E20).

Mary
Jane wears the exact same dress she wore on her first appearance on
the series in “A Date for Lucy” (S1;E19).

Family Faux Pas! Harry
has a female cousin in New York getting married. Harry wants a family
ring engraved with ‘WAML from UH’ (‘With all my love from Uncle
Harry’). Why would a cousin call him Uncle?

Overheard? Lucy
tells the Jeweler that if she doesn’t find the ring she’ll be taking
a “one-way
trip to the moon”
quoting Harry’s threat at the end of the previous scene. This
despite the fact that Lucy was not in the room when he said it. She
had gone off to wash her hands (an integral plot point for the
outcome of the episode)!

Butter Fingers! When
applying the grease mustache Lucille Ball tries to pocket her compact
mirror but it slips to the ground. The hose to the jack hammer then
gets momentarily snagged on the yellow ‘caution’ saw horses.