S4;E4 ~
October 4, 1971
Directed
by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Bob Carroll and Madelyn Davis
Synopsis
Lucy
happens to see three crimes in one day. Convinced thugs are after
Lucy, Harry contacts his old friend, private eye Joe Mannix. While
trying to rescue Lucy from the bank robbers, Mannix and Lucy are kidnapped
and held hostage.
Regular
Cast
Lucille
Ball (Lucy
Carter), Gale
Gordon (Harrison
Otis Carter), Lucie
Arnaz (Kim
Carter)
Guest
Cast
Mike
Connors
(Joe Mannix) began his screen career in 1952, but is probably best
remembered as Joe Mannix, the role he plays here. He starred in the private detective series “Mannix” from 1967 to 1975, which ran on CBS concurrently with “Here’s Lucy.”
He was nominated for 5 Emmys and six Golden Globes and
won a Golden Globe for the role in 1970. Connors reprised the role of Joe Mannix
in a 1997 episode of “Diagnosis Murder” and in the 2003 film
comedy Nobody
Knows Anything! He died in January 2017.
Mary
Jane Croft
(Mary Jane) 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.
Marc
Lawrence
(Ruby, right) appeared
on Broadway in three plays with the Group Theatre. On screen,
Lawrence specialized in playing gangster roles. He previously played
a mob boss in “Lucy and Ma Parker” (S3;E15). Coincidentally,
between 1969 and 1974 Lawrence appeared in three episodes of
“Mannix.”
John
Doucette (Vernon,
left) first appeared with Lucille Ball in The
Fuller Brush Girl
(1950). In 1973 he did one episode of “Mannix” with Mike
Connors.
Robert
Foulk (Policeman)
played
the policeman on the Brooklyn subway platform in “Lucy
and the Loving Cup” (ILL S6;E12) and
a Los Angeles Detective in “Lucy
Goes To A Hollywood Premiere” (TLS S4;E20).
This is the fourth of his six characters, but his first of two
policemen on “Here’s Lucy.”
Vince
Howard
(Policeman) was
much more at home in hour-long crime dramas than in sitcoms. Many of
his 125 TV and film credits were as law enforcement officials.
Howard also played a policeman on “Lucy and the Ex-Con”
(S1;E15). He did three episodes of “Mannix” with Mike Connors,
one of which first aired three weeks after this episode of “Here’s
Lucy.”
The
voice of the telephone operator was done by an uncredited performer.
“Mannix”
was an hour-long crime drama that was saved from the scrap heap by Lucille Ball when
she was in charge of Desilu Studios. CBS planned to cancel the show
after one season, but Ball
used her influence to convince them to renew it with the
assurance that changes would be made. In the second season, Joe
Mannix was changed into a more hard-boiled independent private
detective. The changes worked and the series became a big hit running
for eight seasons.
It was the last successful TV show to be produced by Desilu. Lucille Ball’s
sitcoms shared many cast members with “Mannix”:
Monty O’Grady,
Paul Picerni, Peggy Rea, Jay Novello, Ruth McDevitt, Elsa Lanchester,
Maurice Marsac, Milton Berle, Howard Duff, Claude Akins, Rich Little,
Natalie Schafer, Ruta Lee, Parley Baer, Army Archerd, Lurene Tuttle,
Herbie Faye, Gail Bonney, Vivi Janiss, Stafford Repp, Boyd ‘Red’
Morgan, George DeNormand, Hans Moebus, Murray Pollack, Sig Frohlich,
Shep Houghton, Jonathan Hole, Leoda Richards, Jack Berle, and Hayden
Rorke.
This
was the first episode filmed at Universal Studios after Lucille Ball
Productions (LBP) left Paramount (formerly Desilu and RKO). Because
“Mannix” was property of Paramount Television, not LBP, the
series stayed at Paramount Studios for the duration of its run.
Harry
gives Lucy’s address as 4863 Valley Lawn Drive. She gives her Zip
Code as 91041, which puts it in Sunland, California. She describes
her home description as the second house from the corner, pink with
blue shutters, with a big tree (named Irving) in the front yard.
Harry
tells the crooks that he is claustrophobic. In real life, however, it
was Lucille Ball who had claustrophobia, although she conquered it if
she thought the comedy would benefit.
In
this episode, Lucy becomes a plant lover who talks to her plants.
Their names are Ruthie, Hugo, and Priscilla. Ruthie meets an
untimely end in an attempt to stop a robbery.
In
the episode’s first half, Lucy, Harry, and Mary Jane talk about a
policeman named Officer Maginetti. It is never stated if either one
of the policemen in the final scene is named Officer Maginetti or
not.
A
distracted Lucy misses watering her plant and pours water into
Harry’s hat instead. When Harry puts it on, naturally he ends up
soaking wet! Harry being wet is a staple of the “Here’s Lucy”
series.
Lucy
mentions an Aunt Isabel. Mary Wickes played Isabel (above), another
secretary in Lucy’s building, in two previous episodes, but she was
not Lucy’s aunt. Wickes also played Lucy Carmichael’s Aunt Agatha on
“The Lucy Show,” but no character named Aunt Isabel has been seen
(as of yet).
While
tied up by the crooks, Lucy mentions the gangster films Little
Caesar
starring Edward G. Robinson and Angels
with Dirty Faces starring
Jimmy Cagney. Cagney was mentioned in “Lucy and Carol Burnett”
(S3;E22, left) and Edward G. Robinson made a cameo appearance in “Lucy
Goes To a Hollywood Premiere” (TLS S4;E20, right).
Lucy
and Mannix are held hostage in a tan stucco house at the corner of
Shelby and Fountain.
Crime
has been the source of many “Lucy” sitcom episodes in the past:
“The Great Train
Robbery” (ILL S5;E2)
“Lucy and the Great Bank Robbery” (TLS
S3;E5)
“Lucy Makes a Pinch” (TLS S3;E8)
“Lucy’s Impossible
Mission” (S1;E6)
“Lucy and the Ex-Con” (S1;E15)
“Lucy and
Viv Visit Tijuana” (S2;E19)
“Lucy’s Burglar Alarm” (S2;E7)
and
even the previous episode, “Lucy and Harry’s Italian Bombshell” (S4;E3), had Lucy and
Kim encountering a burglar!
Doors!
Doors! Doors! The
door behind Lucy’s desk at the office has changed from leading to
another room to a closet. The door behind Harry’s desk was
originally a closet but was later transformed to a bathroom.
Wallpapered!
Since the last time we saw the Carter home in “Lucy and Aladdin’s
Lamp” (S3;E21), there is new bright green wallpaper on the
staircase. This may have been changed during the move from Paramount
to Universal.
Where
Do I Live?
In “Lucy and Harry’s Tonsils” (S2;E25) Harry gave his address as
4863 Valley Lawn Drive. This is the same address he gives the crooks
when they ask where Lucy lives.
“Lucy and Mannix are Held Hostage” rates 4 Paper Hearts out of 5
The
most unusual thing about this episode is that Mannix, a television
character, lives in the same fictional world with the Carters instead
of being Mike Connors, an actor and celebrity. Connors handles the
physical comedy really well, and Lucy is a good match for him in the
acting department. This is the second time “Here’s Lucy” has
used one of its own shows as the basis for an episode. They first
tackled “Mission: Impossible” but changed all the character names
from the series. It’s too bad they never go around to doing a “Star
Trek” parody!
Papermoon Loves Lucy 
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