LUCY CUTS VINCENT’S PRICE

S3;E9
~ November 9, 1970

Directed
by Herbert Kenwith ~ Written by Martin Ragaway

Synopsis

Lucy
mistakenly buys a painting at an auction and brings it to art
connoisseur actor Vincent Price to be appraised. Price thinks Lucy
is an actress coming to audition for his new horror movie and
terrorizes Lucy in his study turned laboratory.

Regular
Cast

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

Guest
Cast

Vincent
Price (Himself)
was born in May 1911, just nine weeks before Lucille Ball. He
made his screen debut in 1938, and after many minor roles, he began
to perform in low-budget horror movies, where he would make his mark
on the horror genre. Three days before this episode first aired,
Price guest-starred on ABC’s “Love American Style” in a
Halloween-themed episode titled “Love and the Haunted House.”
His final feature film appearance was in 1990’s Edward
Scissorhands.

Besides acting, his other passions were art and cooking. This is his
only time acting opposite Lucille Ball. He died in 1993 at age 82.

Mary
Jane Croft (Mary
Jane) makes
her sixth 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.

Tol
Avery
(Auctioneer) was
a Texas-born character actor making his only series appearance. He
previously played the toy company owner in “Lucy and the Efficiency
Expert” (TLS S5;E13).

Avery the actor is not a skilled auctioneer, so he comically garbles the sped-up
bidding process.

Jack
Collins (Curt)
appeared
on the final two episodes of “The Lucy Show” in 1968. He
played Russel Slater on “Dallas” from 1982 to 1987. This is the
third of his six appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”

Curt
is Vincent Price’s movie producer.

Jack
Berle (Man
at Auction, uncredited) was
the older brother of Milton Berle. This is one of his eleven
uncredited appearances on the series. He previously did two
episodes of “The Lucy Show.”

Chester
Jones (Man
at Auction, uncredited) makes
the second of his four background appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”

The other auction attendees are played by uncredited background performers.

When
the Auctioneer offers a four
poster bed frame
from Washington DC, he claims that it was slept in by the Washingtons
and the Madisons. Craig jokingly thinks they slept in it at the same
time: “George & Martha & James & Dolley.” Embarrassed, Lucy says it will be the first auction rated X. Craig is making a
joke based on the 1969 comedy Bob
& Carol & Ted & Alice,
which was filmed at Sunset Gower Studios, the former home of Desilu.
The poster for the film depicted all four title characters in the
same bed together. Lucille Ball did a satire on the film on “The Carol Burnett Show” in 1969.

Lucy
says she previously talked on the phone to Mrs. Vincent Price when
arranging entertainment for a big party the Price’s threw. In 1970,
Vincent Price was married to costume designer Mary
Grant (inset photo),
although her name is never mentioned here. Making small talk on the
telephone, Lucy asks about Little Vicki. This is a reference to the
Price’s 8 year-old daughter, Victoria. Although Lucy visits their
home, both characters remain off-screen.

Syndicated
versions of this episode generally cut the entire scene with Kim and
Craig fretting over their mother’s visit to Price’s home. In the
scene, Craig is doing a book report on Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
by Robert Louis Stevenson. This makes them think that Vincent Price
may be a bit of a split personality due to all the horror films he
makes. The scene was restored to the DVD release.

Price
is filming a new horror film titled Who’s
Afraid of Virginia’s Wolfman?
He says it has the best title since he starred in The
Giant Chihuahua That Ate Chicago. Who’s
Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
was
a play by Edward Albee that was filmed in 1966 starring Elizabeth
Taylor and Richard Burton. The acting couple guest starred in “Lucy Meets the Burtons” (S3;E1) which was actually filmed after this episode, but aired before it.

Price
thinks Lucy is an actress who has come to his home studio to audition
for the role of a victim in his new film. He locks her in the study
and straps her to an examining table. Lucy’s terrified reaction
makes Price wonder aloud if she uses the Stanislavski method.
Konstantin
Stanislavski
(1863-1938) was a Russian actor, teacher, and director who developed
a method of acting training that is still used today.

When
Vincent Price says the painting under the painting could be a Peter
Paul Rubens Lucy asks what a Peter Paul and
Rubens is worth. Lucy is thinking of the folk music trio Peter
Paul & Mary,
which was made up of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey, and Mary Travers.
Between 1962 and 1969 they had three number one hits on the charts
including “Puff the Magic Dragon” and “Leavin’ on a Jet Plane.” Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was a Flemish artist from the Netherlands. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition.

Harry
says he could sell the painting to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for
a tidy profit. Located in New York City, the Metropolitan
Museum of Art
is the largest art institution in the United States. It was
established in 1870 and still welcomes guests today.

At
the end of the episode, Price says he charges $250 for art
appraisals: “That’s
Vincent’s price!”

In
“Paris at Last” (ILL S5;E18) much of the action revolves around a worthless painting bought by Lucy Ricardo on the streets of Paris.

Lucy
only goes to the art auction because of the free food and
entertainment. This is the same reason Lucy Carmichael attends
fashion shows in “Lucy and Pat Collins” (TLS S5;E11).

“The
Lucy Show” did a monster-themed episode titled “Lucy and the
Monsters” (TLS S3;E18) but instead of airing at Halloween it aired
in mid-January.

Props! In a close-up (possibly an
insert shot) of the painting in the office, the file card boxes that
it sits atop have been arranged in the wrong order: Q-R, S-Z, L-P.

Batter Up! To
save her mother from Price’s clutches, Kim hits him over the head
with a baseball bat that shatters into pieces. A break-away baseball
bat? In a living room laboratory? Kim instinctively knows where the
bat is and immediately goes to get it.

Title
Trouble! The episode’s
title does not exactly come to pass since Lucy pays Vincent Price’s
exact fee for art appraisals and does not “cut” his price. The
title probably should be “Lucy Pays Vincent’s Price”.