LUCY, THE WEALTHY WIDOW

S6;E4
~ October 1, 1973

Directed
by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Robert O’Brien

Synopsis

Harry
needs a loan to help keep the Unique Employment Agency open. Under
the impression that banks only lend money to those who don’t need it,
Lucy invites a loan officer (Ed McMahon) over and poses as a wealthy
widow, with Kim and Harry popping in and out as her domestic help.

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy
Carter)

Gale
Gordon (Harrison
Otis Carter / “Harrison, the Butler”/ “Luigi, the Chauffeur)

Lucie
Arnaz (Kim
Carter / “Chiquita, the Downstairs Maid” / “Mimi, the Upstairs
Maid”)

Guest
Cast

Ed
McMahon (Ed
McAllister) was
born in 1923 in Detroit, Michigan. He was a comedian, actor,
singer, game show host, and announcer. He is most famous for his
thirty year run as Johnny Carson’s sidekick, announcer, and second
banana on “The Tonight Show.” He acted with Lucille Ball on “Lucy
Calls the President” (1977) as well as “Lucy and Johnny Carson” (S2;E11) in which he
played himself. He died in 2009.

Ed
McAllister is Vice President of the Loan Department of West State
Bank.

Henry
Beckman (Truck
Driver) was a busy character actor who is probably best remembered as
Clancy on the TV series “Here Come the Brides” (1968-70). This
is his only time working with Lucille Ball.

Sid
Gould (Telephone
Man / “Rodney”) made
more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” all as background
characters. This is one of his nearly 50 episodes of “Here’s
Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin
by marriage to Gary Morton.

Tommy
Farrell
(TV Director) was
on Broadway in three plays between 1942 and 1947. He was seen on “The
Lucy Show” twice. This is the fourth of his six episodes of
“Here’s Lucy.”

Orwin
C. Harvey (Mike,
Bank Guard) was
an actor and stuntman who played one of the singing and dancing
teamsters in “Lucy
Helps Ken Berry” (TLS S6;E21).
This is one of his nine appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”

Ed
McAllister calls the character Mike, but the name is not listed in the
credits.

Jay
Fletcher (Bank
Teller) was a stage actor making first television appearance.

The
other bank customers, tellers, and TV crew are played by uncredited
background performers.

Ed
McMahon mentioned this episode on the August 1, 1973 installment of
“The Tonight Show.” One of Johnny Carson’s guests that night was
Ricardo Montalban, who was featured in “Lucy and Her Prince
Charming” (S5;E12) in 1972.

From 1968 to 1985, Lucille Ball was a guest on “The Tonight Show” 19 times, although not all with Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon as hosts. Some were with Joan Rivers, who will appear on “Here’s Lucy” a few weeks later. The above photo was from March 1974 to promote the release of Mame.

Ed
McMahon has the distinction of being the only man, aside from Desi
Arnaz, to ever play Lucy’s husband on television. It happened in the
1977 special “Lucy Calls the President” (above).

The
TV camera in the bank is labeled KBEX COLOR. KBEX were
the call letters for fictional TV and radio stations. They were used
in many TV shows and films, including in Desilu’s “Mannix” and
“Mission: Impossible.” They were first used on “Here’s Lucy”
in “Lucy Is Really in a Pickle” (S5;E15). Starting in 2005, the
FCC (Federal Communications Commission) started using KBEX for actual
broadcast stations.

The
script makes jokes about Ed McMahon’s drinking. He was spokesman for
Budweiser Beer (above) and was often known to take a drink himself. After
offering the Truck Driver a glass of water, he remarks “You
can’t trust a guy who drinks water.”
McAllister later says that he frowns on drinking except on special
occasions – like when someone asks him to have a drink!

Background
Music: As Harrison the Butler enters, the soundtrack briefly pays
“Rule
Britannia.”
When Lucy comes down the stairs in her expensive jewels and a long
cigarette holder, the music plays a few bars of “Too
Marvelous for Words” (1937)
by Johnny Mercer.

When Lucy suggests to Ed that they dance, the song
is “Brazil”
(“Aquarela
do Brasil”)
by written
by Ary
Barroso in
1939.

When the
Telephone Man (Sid Gould) comes to the door, Kim changes the music to
“The
Mexican Hat Dance” (“El
Jarabe Tapatio”).

“The Mexican Hat Dance” was previously heard on “I Love Lucy” in
“Breaking the Lease” (ILL S1;E18).

The
long cigarette holder is something Lucille Ball recently used in the
film Mame,
which Ball had just completed and was actively promoting. She incorporates some of Mame’s mannerisms in Lucy Carter’s “wealthy
widow” persona.

Lucy
compares Ed McAllister to Rex Harrison, who she calls “sexy Rexy.”
Rex Harrison was mentioned in “Won’t You Calm Down, Dan Dailey?”
(S4;E9) when Harry and Dailey recite the lyrics to one of Rex
Harrison’s songs from My
Fair Lady.

After
Ed McAllister downs a huge glass of brandy, Ed McMahon interjects his
familiar “Hiyoooo!” so often heard on “The Tonight Show.”

Ed
McAllister does an impression of W.C.
Fields
and calls Lucy “My
little chickadee” and
his
“precious petunia.” Ed McMahon loved W.C. Fields and did an impersonation of him in his Las Vegas act when opening for Frank Sinatra. He also wrote the introduction for the book Drat!, a collection of Fields’ wit and wisdom. McMahon’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is adjacent to Fields’.

Harry
lectures Lucy and Kim about banking procedures, which is reminiscent
of Gale Gordon’s role as banker Theodore J. Mooney on “The Lucy
Show.” Even the names of the banks are similar. Here it is the
West State Bank while on “The Lucy Show” it was the Westland Bank
(Los Angeles).

Lucy
wants a loan of $10,000 for “mad money.” When Ed questions the
large amount, Lucy replies “I have a terrible temper.” In “The
Kleptomaniac” (ILL S1;E27) Ricky finds a large sum of money in
Lucy’s purse and questions her about it. She claims it is her mad
money and says “I get awful mad.”

Character
Consistency!
Lucy’s posh accent goes in and out throughout the scene. It is
difficult to tell if it is because Lucy Carter is forgetting or
Lucille Ball is!

Where
the floor ends!
When the cameras pull back in the living room, the edge of the
wall-to-wall carpet can be seen in the foreground.

Stereo
Stereo! For
this episode, the dining table has been removed and there is a
console stereo next to the kitchen door. There is also a console
stereo just under the landing on the other side of the room.