LUCY AND CANDID CAMERA

S4;E14
~ December 13, 1971

Directed
by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Milt Josefsberg and Al Schwartz

Synopsis

Alan
Funt has a criminal impostor who recruits Lucy, Harry and Kim to
commit robberies under the pretense that they are doing stunts for his
“Candid Camera” television show.

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy
Carter), Gale
Gordon (Harrison
Otis Carter), Lucie
Arnaz (Kim
Carter)

Guest
Cast

Allen
Funt (Himself
/ Impostor) was
born in 1914 in New York City. He is best known as the producer,
director, and host of the hidden camera show “Candid Camera.” He
produced
“Candid Microphone” on radio before moving the format to
television in 1948. He died in 1999. After his passing,
the “Candid Camera” franchise was taken over by his son, Peter
Funt.

Although
Allen Funt plays two characters here, the impostor is never given a
name.

James
Millhollin
(Mr. Ponsonby) appeared on Broadway between 1955 and 1960 including
in 1955’s No
Time for Sergeants,
which he also filmed in 1958. This is his only appearance with
Lucille Ball.

Robert
Carson
(Police Sergeant Lou Holmes) was
a busy Canadian-born character actor who appeared on six episodes of
“The Lucy Show.” This is the fourth of his five appearances on
“Here’s Lucy.”

Although
his name is not spoken in the dialogue or listed in the credits, it
is written on his office door!

Fred
Festinger
(Bank Guard) makes one of his only six screen appearances here.

Vanda
Barra
(Bank Teller) was Lucille Ball’s cousin-in-law and married to frequent day player Sid Gould. This is just one of her over two dozen appearances on “Here’s Lucy” as well as appearing in Ball’s two 1975 TV movies “Lucy Gets Lucky” (with Dean Martin) and “Three for Two” (with Jackie Gleason). She was seen in half a dozen episodes of “The Lucy Show.”

Maurice
Kelly
(Bank Teller, left) was
an English-born actor who played a student in “Lucy
and Viv Take Up Chemistry” (TLS S1;E26).
This is his third and last appearance on “Here’s Lucy.”
He died at the age of 46 in 1974.

Peter
Leeds (First
Cop) was
born in Bayonne, NJ and starred with Lucille Ball in the films The
Long, Long Trailer (1953)
and The
Facts of Life (1960). He also appeared in “Lucy
and Bob Hope” (ILL S6;E1) as
well as playing a reporter in “The
Publicity Agent” (ILL S1;E31). This is his only appearance on
“Here’s Lucy.”

Paul
Sorensen
(Second Cop) played policemen on many television shows during his
long career. He appeared with Lucille Ball in 1967’s The
Guide for the Married Man.
This is his only appearance on “Here’s Lucy.”

Shirley
Anthony (Bank
Customer, uncredited) makes
the second of her 13 (mostly uncredited) appearances on “Here’s
Lucy.”

Jack
Berle (Bank
Customer, 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.”

Walter
Smith
(Bank Customer, uncredited) made
14 mostly uncredited appearances on the series. He also did one
episode of “The
Lucy Show.”

The
other policeman and the other bank customers are played by uncredited
background performers.

“Candid
Camera” began
on radio as “Candid Microphone” and moved to television in 1948.
Although aired on all three major networks and in syndication, the
radio program was originally aired on CBS and sponsored by Philip
Morris, just like “I Love Lucy.”

Allen
Funt grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Funt wanted to be a writer and his friend and next door neighbor wanted to be an
actor. It turned out that Funt’s friend was Milt Josefsberg, the
script writer for this episode!

This
episode was originally sponsored by Lever Brothers. The DVD includes
commercials for Wisk, the 1971 Lady Remington shaver, and Lux,
including one starring Sandy Duncan and Christopher Hewett (“Mr.
Belvedere”).

On
the series DVD, the episode is introduced by Jim Bates, who
choreographed the musical comedy bank robbery.

Lucy
initially mistakes Allen Funt for Ralph Edwards. Ralph
Edwards
(1913-2005) was primarily known for hosting “This is Your Life”
(1953-1992).

Thinking
they are pulling off a Candid Camera stunt, Lucy, Harry, and Kim rob
the Supreme Fur Salon, posing as posh shoppers named Sherwood (Harry),
Penelope (Kim), and Mumsy (Lucy).

Thinking
they are pulling off a second Candid Camera stunt, Lucy, Harry and
Kim rob the City Bank. This time their crime is done using a
song and dance medley especially written for this episode:

“Stealin’
the Jack” aka “Ballin’
the Jack”
was written in 1913 by Jim Burris and Chris Smith.
“Hello,
Dollar!” aka “Hello,
Dolly!”
is the
title song of the 1964 musical of
the same name written by Jerry Herman.
“Whatever
Lucy Wants” aka “Whatever
Lola Wants”
is by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross from the 1954 musical Damn
Yankees.
“We
Got the Money” aka “We’re
in the Money
or
The Gold Diggers Song”
was written by Al Dubin and Harry Warren for the film The
Gold Diggers of 1933.
It is now part of the stage musical 42nd Street.
“The
Impossible Dream or
The Quest” was
written by Joe Darien and Mitch Leigh for the 1964 musical
Man of La Mancha.
“Please
Don’t Talk About Us When We Go” aka “Please
Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone”
was written by Sidney Clare and Sam H. Stept in 1930.
“Hey
Look Me Over” written
in 1960 by Cy Coleman for the Broadway musical Wildcat
and
introduced by Lucille Ball.

The
police officer (Peter Leeds) tells Allen Funt “I don’t care if
you’re Spiro Agnew, get your hands up!” Spiro Agnew (1918-96) was
the Vice President of the United States under Richard Nixon. Agnew
was previously mentioned in “Lucy’s Wedding Party” (S3;E8).

Lucy
Carmichael also got involved in a hidden camera television show in
“Lucy and the Beauty Doctor” (TLS S3;E24). In that show, the TV
program was called “The Boiling Point.”

Van
Johnson also had a criminal doppelganger in the episode “Guess Who
Owes Lucy $23.50?” (S1;E11).

Harry
(as Sherwood) mentions using one of the fur coats for a bath mat. In
“Lucy Cries Wolf” (ILL S4;E1) Fred Mertz jokingly says that he
might use Lucy Ricardo’s lynx stole as a bath mat.

While “Here’s Lucy” has the Supreme Fur Salon, Lucy Ricardo visited Henderson’s Furs in in “Lucy
Changes Her Mind” (ILL S2;E21).

In Danfield, Lucy Carmichael shopped at Madam Fifi’s in “Lucy Gets Amnesia” (TLS S3;E4).

Lucy
Carmichael and Vivian Bagley pretend to be bank robbers in “Lucy
Takes a Job at the Bank” (TLS S2;E21).

In “Lucy and the Great
Bank Robbery” (TLS S3;E5), Lucy and Viv took in two gentlemen boarders who turned out
to be crooks looking to rob the same bank.

Where the Floor Ends! Once again, the camera pulls back too far and the viewers can see where the office carpet meets the cement soundstage floor.