“The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse” ~ December 25, 1959
Produced
by Bert Granet & Lucille Ball
Directed
by Claudio Guzman
Written
by Bob Schiller & Bob Weiskopf
Original
Music by Walter Kent & Walton Farrar
Synopsis: The Desilu Playhouse is hosting a Christmas Party and the action flashes back to the group’s first opening night, at which Lucy was a nervous wreck as their producer. In between songs and dance numbers, Lucy, Vivian, Bill, and Desi indulge in some classic “I Love Lucy” antics when Desi bans Lucy from backstage. Naturally, she finds a way in!
Starring…
Lucille
Ball
was
born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen
career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’
due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning,
she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which
eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television
situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband,
Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful,
allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming
it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known
as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s
marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy
returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted
six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s
Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr.,
as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show”
during season two. Before her death in April 1989, Lucy made one more
attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon,
which was not a success and was canceled after just 13 episodes. She died on April 26, 1989 at the age of 77.
Desi
Arnaz
was
born in Cuba in 1917 and immigrated to America as a youngster. He was
a musician who married Lucille Ball in 1940 after meeting her on the
set of 1939’s Too
Many Girls,
which he had done on stage in New York. In order to keep him ‘off
the road’ Ball convinced producers to cast him as her husband in a
new television project based on her radio show “My Favorite
Husband.” The network was convinced. In 1951, Arnaz and Ball began
playing Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, roles they would be identified with
for the rest of their lives. The couple had two children together,
Lucie and Desi Jr. In 1960, Ball and Arnaz divorced. Desi became a
producer, responsible for such hits as “The Mothers-in-Law”
(1967-69). He re-married in 1963. Desi Aranz died in 1986, just a few
years before Ball.
Desi
also narrates the program.
Special
Guest Star
Hedda
Hopper
was
born Elda Furry in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. She was one of
Hollywood’s most powerful and influential columnists. She appeared
on “I
Love Lucy”
and
“The
Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”
Among
her hundreds of films as an actress, she did two with Lucille Ball:
Bunker
Bean
(1936)
and That’s
Right – You’re Wrong
(1939).
Hopper was best known for her flamboyant hats. In films and television, Hopper has been
portrayed by such actors as Fiona Shaw (RKO
281),
Jane Alexander (Malice
in Wonderland),
Katherine
Helmond (Liz:
The Elizabeth Taylor Story),
Helen Mirren (Trumbo),
Tilda Swinton (Hail,
Caesar!), Judy Davis (“Feud”), and Holly Kaplan (”Hollywood”).
With…
William
Frawley
was already a Hollywood veteran when he was hired by Desi Arnaz to
play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy.” After the series concluded he
joined the cast of “My Three Sons” playing Bub Casey. His final
appearance before his death in March 1966 was as a stable groom on an
episode of “The Lucy Show,” also featuring Ann Sothern.
Vivian
Vance was
born Vivian Roberta Jones in Cherryvale, Kansas in 1909, although her
family quickly moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where she was raised.
She had extensive theatre experience, co-starring on Broadway with
Ethel Merman in “Anything Goes.” She was acting in a play in
Southern California when she was spotted by Desi Arnaz and hired to
play Ethel Mertz, Lucy Ricardo’s neighbor and best friend. The
pairing is credited with much of the success of “I Love Lucy.”
Vance was convinced to join the cast of “The Lucy Show” in 1962,
but stayed with the series only through season three, making
occasional guest appearances afterwards. She made a total of six
appearance on “Here’s Lucy.” She also joined Lucy for a TV
special “Lucy Calls the President” in 1977. Vance died two years
later.
Guests…
John
Bromfield
(Audience Member) was best known for playing the title role in the
Desilu / CBS series “U.S. Marshal.” He
retired from acting in 1960 to become a commercial fisherman.
In 1959, he was married to Larri Thomas, who appeared in “Lucy
Wants a Career” (1959) on “The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse.”
He died in 2005 at age 83.
Spring
Byington (below) received
an Academy Award nomination for her role as Penelope Sycamore in You
Can’t Take It with You
(1938).
She appeared in twenty Broadway plays between 1924 and 1935. She
made her film debut as Marmee March in 1933’s Little
Women.
Her
career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star
of “December
Bride,” a Desilu / CBS production. The show followed “I Love Lucy” on the CBS Monday night line-up from Fall 1954 to Spring 1959. Desi Arnaz played himself on a 1956 episode of the series. She was a former MGM
contract
player who appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1960s.
She played the “Batman” character J. Pauline Spaghetti in 1966.
Byington made an appearance on the Desilu series “The Greatest
Show on Earth” in 1964. Her final roles were as Major Nelson’s
mother on “I Dream of Jeannie” in 1967 and as the Mother General
on “The Flying Nun” in 1968. She died in 1971 at age 84.
William Demarest (above) was best remembered as Uncle Charlie on “My Three Sons,” a role created after the death of William Frawley. This is one of two times Demarest and Frawley appeared together on screen. The other was in The Farmer’s Daughter (1940). He was nominated for an Academy Award in the biography, The Jolson Story (1946). Demarest did three films with Lucille Ball, including Sorrowful Jones (1949). He died in 1983 at age 91.
Lita
Baron (Audience
Member, below) was born
Isabelita Castro and played Ricky Ricardo’s former dance partner
Renita Perez in “Cuban Pals” (ILL S1;E28). She also appeared in
the films Club
Havana (1945)
and
Don
Ricardo Returns (1946).
Despite this, Baron was actually born in Spain, not Cuba. From 1948
to 1970 she was married to actor Rory Calhoun and had appeared on his
CBS / Desilu series “The Texan.”
Rory
Calhoun
(Audience Member, above) starred in many Westerns in the 1950s and ‘60s and
was famous for his black cowboy hat. As a young man he spent some
time in prison. Born
Francis Timothy McCown,
his screen name was given to him by David O. Selznick. In 1959 he
was appearing in the CBS / Desilu show “The Texan” (1958-60).
Bonita
Granville
(Audience Member) was nominated for an Oscar in 1937 for These
Three.
She was also known as Nancy Drew from the serials of the 1930s. In
1959, Granville became producer of the TV series “Lassie” and this is probably
the reason she is in the audience here.
Lassie
is
one of the most famous canine stars in Hollywood history. From 1954
to 1974, Lassie had her own series. The collie also starred in
numerous films. She was mentioned on “I Love Lucy.”
George
Murphy
(Audience Member) started singing and dancing on Broadway at age 25.
There he is credited with introducing Bob Hope to his wife Dolores.
In Hollywood, he became Screen Actors Guild (SAG) President and was
eventually elected US Senator. He was given a special Oscar in 1950.
Murphy was in four films with Lucille Ball between 1934 and 1941. He
starred with Desi Arnaz in The
Navy Comes Through (1942)
and Bataan
(1943).
In 1959, Murphy and Desi switched roles when Desi took a role in his
own anthology series “The Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse” and
Murphy acted as guest host. Murphy
interviewed Lucy and Desi for “MGM Parade” in February 1956. He
died in 1992 at age 89.
Ann
Sothern
appeared in the first “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” “Lucy
Takes a Cruise to Havana”
(1957)
as Susie MacNamara, the same character she played on her show
“Private Secretary” from 1953 to 1957. In return Lucille Ball
played Lucy Ricardo on her show in 1959. Sothern appeared with Ball
in five films between 1933 and 1943. On “The Lucy Show” Sothern
made three appearances as Rosie, the Countess Framboise. She was
nominated for an Oscar for her final screen appearance in The
Whales of August in
1987. She is buried near her home in Sun Valley, Idaho, a place also
dear to Lucy and Desi.
Danny
Thomas
was
born Amos Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz in 1912. His screen career began in
1947 but he was most famous for appearing on television in the
long-running show “Make Room for Daddy” (1953-64), which was
shot at Desilu Studios. When the series moved from ABC to CBS in
1957, Thomas and the cast starred in a rare TV cross-over with “The
Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” titled “Lucy
Makes Room for Danny”
(December 1958). In
return, Lucy and Desi turned up on Thomas’s show. Fifteen years
later, Lucy and Danny did yet another cross-over when Lucy Carter of
“Here’s Lucy” appeared on “Make Room for Granddaddy.” In
addition, Thomas also played an aging artist on a 1973 episode of
“Here’s Lucy.” He died in 1999.
Bess
Flowers
(Audience Member, uncredited) was
dubbed ‘Queen of the Extras’ in Hollywood and is credited with
more than 700 film and TV appearances from 1923 to 1964. She was seen
in the audience of Over
the Teacups
in
“Ethel’s
Birthday” (ILL S4;E8)
and
The
Most Happy Fella during
“Lucy’s
Night in Town” (ILL S6;E22).
Flowers also made five uncredited appearances on “The Lucy Show.”
Not surprisingly, she was a founding member of SEG, the Screen Extras
Guild (now part of SAG) in 1945. She appeared in more films with Lucille Ball than any other performer.
Cast of the Desilu Workshop…
Robert Osborne
was
the host on Turner Classic Movies from its inception in 1994, in
large part due to his knowledge of film. It was Lucille Ball who
suggested that Osborne combine his interest in classic film and
training in journalism, and write instead of act. Osborne took this
advice and produced “Academy Awards Illustrated” a book
which then begat his years at The Hollywood Reporter. He also became
the official historian of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences. He also acted in “Chain of Command” for the
“Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse,” also in 1959, and also with Hugh
O’Brien. Osborne died in 2017 at age 84.
Billed
as “Bob Osborne” in the opening number.
Roger
Perry
also appeared in “Ballad of a Bad Man” for “Westinghouse Desilu
Playhouse” in 1959 written by Desi Arnaz. He later starred in
Desilu’s “Mannix” and “Star Trek.” He died in July 2018 at
age 85.
Howard
Storm
married fellow Playhouse cast member Marilyn Lovell in 1959. He
started directing in 1975. In 1959 he appeared in the CBS series
“Hennessy” and the following year made an appearance on the
Desilu series “The Untouchables.”
Billed
as “Howie Storm” in the opening number.
Jerry
Antes graduated
from Hollywood Professional School in 1944.
In “Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood” Lucille Ball calls him by name in
their brief promotion of the Desilu Playhouse. Prior to this, Antes
was a dancer who made three appearances on “The Alan Young Show”
(1950).
Majel
Barrett
was
later cast as Nurse Chapel on Desilu’s new space adventure series,
“Star Trek.” During this time she had a relationship with the
show’s creator Gene Roddenberry, marrying him in 1969, the same
year the series was canceled. She was part of most all iterations of
“Star Trek” until her death in 2008. In 1962 she played a
secretary in “Lucy is Kangaroo for a Day” (TLS S1;E7).
Billed
as “Majel Barret” in the opening number.
Mark
Tobin appeared
on the TV series “Lock-Up” in 1959. He made two appearances on
the original “Star Trek,” one as a Klignon. He also played a
Klignon on “Star Trek: Voyager” in 1999.
Robert
Barron
made the ‘B’ movie Tank
Commandos
in 1959. He only has one other credit of record, a 1964 appearance
in the film The
Ballad of a Gunfighter.
He died in 2002 at age 78. This may be due to the misspelling of his surname.
Billed
as “Rob Barran” in the opening number.
Fran
Martin
Billed
as “Frances Martin” in the opening number.
Gary
Menteer
started his career as a dancer, but later transitioned to being a
writer, director, and casting agent, earning two Emmy nods for “Punky
Brewster” (1984-88). He died in 2016 at age 76.
Janice
Carroll
started playing background characters and uncredited roles in 1951.
In 1959 she appeared in the Desilu series “U.S. Marshal.” Her
final screen appearance was in 1987. She died in 1993 at age 61.
Carole
Cook
made
four appearances playing Thelma Green on “The Lucy Show,” although she also played Mrs. Valance in three episodes and a
variety of other characters in eleven others. Although she was born
as Mildred Cook, Ball suggested she take the name Carole, in honor of
Lucy’s great friend, Carole Lombard. Cook also went on to appear in
five episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”
Georgine
Darcy
was most famous as Miss Torso in the Hitchcock thriller Rear
Window
(1954), her screen debut. In 1958 she made a single appearance on
“Make Room for Daddy” filmed by Desilu. Her final appearance was
on Desilu’s “Mannix” in 1971. As part of the Desilu Playhouse,
she was also seen in “Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood.” She died in
2004 at age 73.
Dick
Kallman was
next cast as a bellboy in the final “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” “Lucy
Meets the Mustache” (1960). Kallman replaced Tommy Steele on
Broadway in the musical Half
a Sixpence. The
actor was killed during a robbery in 1980.
Bob
Travis had only one previous screen credit, appearing on “The Jack Paar Tonight Show” in September 1958.
Billed
as “Bob Trevis” in the opening number.
Marilyn
Lovell
was a singer who appeared in Hollywood and New York. Her first
husband was Desilu Playhouse member Howie Storm. Her second husband
was Carol Burnett’s musical director Peter Matz. In 1959 she made an
appearance on CBS’s “Tightrope.” She died in 2012 at age 80.
Billed
as “Marilynn Lovell” in the opening number.
John O’Neill was primarily a singer, who sang the title tune of the Western series “Wagon Train” (1958-59). He appeared in Young Jesse James (1960), and is rumored to have been one of the whistlers for the theme of The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly (1966).
Billed as “Johnny O’Neill” in the opening number.
About
“The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse”
After
the end of the half-hour “I Love Lucy” episodes, Desi Arnaz
convinced CBS to purchase an anthology series titled “Desilu
Playhouse” which would feature different hour-long dramas every
week along with monthly stories of the Ricardos and the Mertzes.
Thirteen hour-long “I Love Lucy”
adventures were eventually made and sold to syndication as “The
Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour,” ten of which were produced under Westinghouse sponsorship. The appliance company paid a then-record 12
million dollars to sponsor the show, which resulted in the
cancellation of their prestigious “Studio One” anthology show.
Desi Arnaz hosted the show and introduced the stories from in front
of a show curtain (ostensibly at the Desilu Playhouse).
Desi, Lucy,
Vivian Vance, and William Frawley, were often involved in the lengthy
studio-filmed Westinghouse commercials and promotions, with Betty Furness spokesperson for the
Westinghouse products.
Although it wasn’t around long, the series gave birth
to pilots for “The Untouchables” and “The Twilight Zone.” In
fact, many entries proved to be pilots for series, not all of which
were produced.
In
the summer of 1958, in anticipation of the partnership, the cast of
“I Love Lucy” played themselves in aun industrial film that toured the Desilu
Studios, promoted “Lucy Goes to Mexico” and highlighted
Westinghouse appliances. The film was never broadcast, but only made
to show Westinghouse dealers and corporate clients. Years later it was colorized for video.
The
Desilu Playhouse was an actual little theatre on the Desilu backlot
which hosted classes for actors and put shows for agents and industry
insiders.
When Lucille Ball joined RKO in the 1930s, the program was
headed by Ginger Rogers’ mother, Lela. Lucille wanted to continue the
tradition.
About
“The Desilu Revue”
In
late 1959, sixteen of the workshop actors joined the “I Love Lucy” cast in creating a
holiday special. The show aired on Christmas Day 1959 and featured
gossip columnist Hedda Hopper as well as many other stars then working on the Desilu lot.
Hopper also took the opportunity to shoot
footage for her own TV special, “Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood”, with
Lucy cross-promoting her special.
This
is essentially a musical variety show starring the members of the
Desilu workshop, actors Desilu was grooming to appear in series’ or
launch their careers in films. Among the most famous to participate
were Robert Osborne (future host of Turner Classic Movies) and Carole
Cook, who went on to play character roles on Lucy’s sitcoms and on
Broadway. Majel Barrett would become known as “the mother of Star
Trek” (a Desilu series) and wife to Gene Rodenberry, the show’s creator.
This
program was aired only once. It is one of just a handful of holiday
programs produced by Lucille Ball. A Christmas ‘tag’ was added to
episodes of “I Love Lucy” until it was fleshed out into a
full-length flashback show during season six. “The Lucy Show”
produced two Christmas themed episodes, and one for New Year’s Eve.
The
show opens with Lucille Ball driving a golf cart through the studio
streets laden down with a stack of Christmas presents and a decorated
Christmas tree. Desi Arnaz narrates. Inside the Desilu Playhouse, the
cast are decorating the theatre and singing “Jingle Bells.” Hedda
Hopper
arrives and compliments the tree:
Hedda Hopper:
“It
would make a stunning hat!”
Hopper
is going to do a column on the ‘kids’ of the workshop. As Lucy
dashes off to check on the catering from the commissary, Desi tells
Hedda how nervous Lucy was during the opening night of their first
workshop production. Flashback to opening night – and Lucy is
backstage busily checking in with all of the ‘kids’ in the workshop.
Lucy
has prevailed upon nearly everyone at Desilu to pitch in. William
Demarest and
Spring Byington
are working on costumes. Lassie
delivers opening night flowers to Lucy. Vivian
Vance
is doing make-up. William
Frawley
is the stage doorman.
Lucy
reprimands Janice
Carroll
for peeking through a hole in the curtain to see her mother – it is
bad luck. Lucy asks Desi to conduct the orchestra instead of their
usual conductor. Ann
Sothern
(wearing a tiara and fur stole) takes tickets – in between signing her autograph for fans.
Danny
Thomas
is outside operating the huge searchlight. He tells Lucy that he
started in show business as an usher in the movies with a tiny
flashlight – and look at him now!
Desi
enters the auditorium with his baton to start the show, but cannot
find the entrance to the orchestra pit. After a few words with audience member George Murphy, he jumps the railing.
Lucy
barrels through the stage door to deliver her last minute notes to
the cast but is stopped by Bill Frawley, remembering Desi’s orders to
keep Lucy away from the cast. His behavior surprises Lucy.
Lucy:
“Bill
Frawley how can you be so mean?”
Frawley:
“Don’t
think of me as Bill Frawley. Think of me as Fred Mertz.” [evil
laugh]
The
16 workshop members sing the opening number “We Wanna Be By You” written for the show by Walter Kent and Walton Farrar.
Next
up is a jazz dance routine featuring Georgine
Darcy, Jerry Antes, and
Gary
Menteer.
Vivian
discovers Lucy trying to sneak backstage through a dressing room
window. Lucy threatens to tell the audience Vivian’s real age if she
doesn’t let her in! Bill Frawley discovers Lucy giving notes to the cast.
His scowl scares Lucy into leaving the same way she came in!
Johnny
O’Neill sings
“Fast Freight” by Terry Gilkyson while accompanying himself on
the guitar. The song was a 1958 hit for The Kingston Trio.
Dick
Kallman
(sporting a goatee) and Carole
Cook
do a beatnik number called “Hip To The Blues” by Baker, Young,
Raskin, and Burger.
Marilyn
Lovell
sings the torch song “I Still Remember.”
During
the intermission, Lucy and Vivian bury themselves in fur coats up to
their eyeballs to listen to the producers’ chatter about the first
act. The only thing they overhear is that Ann Sothern has lost her
gloves!
Act
Two opens on a busy Parisian street with an American sailor on leave.
The sailor sings “I’m in Love With Paris.” An Army officer sitting at
a café table sings “Alone In Gay Paris.”
In
the dressing room, Bob
Osborne
reads a note from Lucy written on the mirror in lipstick. It
references using a hand mike in “the bandstand number.” Curiously, no such song is in the show. Perhaps it was cut or (more
likely) never existed.
Carole
Cook sings a comedy song called “Whistler’s Mother” by Mike
Stewart and Shelley Mowell. In it, Cook is seen as a tableau vivant
of the famous painting come to life. She steps out of the frame and transforms into a vamp.
A
barbershop-style song “Summertime is Summertime” by Walter Kent
and Kim Gannon is sung by four of the men in candy striped suits and
straw boaters. It opens up into a gay nineties dance number. It
finishes with a cake walk to “Hey Do Ya Love Me Honey” led by
Roger
Perry
singing and playing the piano.
The
program returns to the present and the Desilu Playhouse Christmas Party with Desi telling Hedda Hopper what happened on opening night. The
workshop members sing “Let’s Pretend It’s Christmas Eve” while
Lucy, Desi, Bill, Vivian, and Hedda look on adoringly.
Overcome with
emotion, Vivian Vance impulsively gives Bill Frawley an affectionate kiss on
the cheek and whispers “Merry Christmas” to him. Surprisingly, he returns the
favor. Considering the well-known friction between the two, this is either very convincing acting or the pair had mended fences
knowing their decade working together was finally drawing to an end. Vance had just nixed an “I Love Lucy” sequel about the Mertzes, despite the fact
that Frawley was open to the idea.
Not a camera trick! Make-up by Fred Phillips!
Papermoon Loves Lucy 
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