DANCE LESSONS aka DANCING LESSONS

June 25, 1950

“Dance Lessons” aka “Dancing Lessons” aka “George Takes Dancing Lessons” is episode #94 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on June 25, 1950 on the CBS Radio Network. This is the final episode of season two. The third and final season begins on September 2, 1950. 

Lucille Ball had mentioned in an interview that she might use the 1950 summer hiatus to make a movie based on the life of Robert Capa in Europe with Desi in the lead, but those plans never materialized. Instead, she spent the summer doing promotion for Fancy Pants, her film with Bob Hope, which premiered on July 19, 1950.

Synopsis ~

Liz cons George in to taking her to a nightclub by telling him it is to celebrate their anniversary but it is actually to celebrate the anniversary of the last time they went out to a dinner dance. 

Note: This episode very loosely inspired the very first aired episode of “I Love Lucy” “The Girls Want To Go To A Nightclub” (ILL S1;E1) on October 15, 1951, although it was actually filmed second. The similarities are mostly thematic.

“My Favorite Husband” was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942). “My Favorite Husband” was first broadcast as a one-time special on July 5, 1948. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch “My Favorite Husband” as a series. Bowman was not available Richard Denning was cast as George. On January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode Jell-O became its sponsor. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951. After about ten episodes had been written, writers Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer Jess Oppenheimer. In March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George’s boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benaderet was added as his wife, Iris. CBS brought “My Favorite Husband” to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Cooper.  The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, running concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” It was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed (ironically) at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown.

REGULAR CAST

Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper) 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 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.

Richard Denning (George Cooper) was born as Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father’s garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the US Navy during World War II. He is best known for his  roles in various science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Although he teamed with Lucille Ball on radio in “My Favorite Husband,” the two never acted together on screen. While “I Love Lucy” was on the air, he was seen on another CBS TV series, “Mr. & Mrs. North.”  From 1968 to 1980 he played the Governor on “Hawaii 5-0″, his final role. He died in 1998 at age 84.

Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury) had worked with Lucille Ball on “The Wonder Show” on radio in 1938. One of the front-runners to play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy,” he eventually played Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana, during two episodes in 1952. After playing a Judge in an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1958, he would re-team with Lucy for all of her subsequent series’: as Theodore J. Mooney in ”The Lucy Show”; as Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy”; and as Curtis McGibbon on “Life with Lucy.” Gordon died in 1995 at the age of 89.

Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury) was considered the front-runner to be cast as Ethel Mertz but when “I Love Lucy” was ready to start production she was already playing a similar role on TV’s “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” so Vivian Vance was cast instead. On “I Love Lucy” she was cast as Lucy Ricarodo’s spinster neighbor, Miss Lewis, in “Lucy Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15) in early 1952. Later, she was a success in her own show, “Petticoat Junction” as Shady Rest Hotel proprietress Kate Bradley. She starred in the series until her death in 1968. 

Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) was also later seen on “I Love Lucy.” She first played Mrs. Pomerantz, a member of the surprise investigating committee for the Society Matrons League in “Pioneer Women” (ILL S1;E25), was one of the member of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (ILL S3;E3), and also played a nurse when “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16). She died in 1996 at the age of 96.

Bob LeMond (Announcer) also served as the announcer for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy”. When the long-lost pilot was finally discovered in 1990, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release.

GUEST CAST

Peter Leeds (Speedy Krause / Headwaiter)

was born in Bayonne, NJ, and was seen as the Reporter questioning the Maharincess of Franistan in “The Publicity Agent” (ILL S1;E31). He starred with Lucy in the films The Long, Long Trailer (1953) and The Facts of Life (1960) with Bob Hope. Coincidentally, he also appeared in “Lucy and Bob Hope” (ILL S6;E1) as well as an episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1971.

Hal March (Waiter) first appeared on the "I Love Lucy” in “Lucy Fakes Illness” (ILL S1;E16) using his own name to play an actor posing as the doctor who diagnoses Lucy with ‘golbloots.’ March got his first big break when he was cast as Harry Morton on “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” in 1950. He eventually lost the part to Fred Clark who producers felt was better paired with Bea Benaderet, who played Blanche, and here plays Iris Atterbury. He stayed with the show in other roles, the last airing just two weeks before his appearance as Eddie Grant in “Lucy is Matchmaker” (ILL S2;E27). In 1966 he was seen on “The Lucy Show.”

Veola Vonn (Starlight Girl / Miss Crawford / Secretary) played the Emcee of “Your Favorite Celebrity On TV”, the show Ricky goes on shackled to Lucy in “The Handcuffs” (ILL S2;E4). In real life, she was married to Frank Nelson, a character actor regularly appearing on “My Favorite Husband” and “I Love Lucy”. Before that, she was married to Hanley Stafford, whose final screen credit was as Principal Westcott on “The Lucy Show” in 1963. 

EPISODE

The episode opens with Liz and George dressing for an evening out at a nightclub. It is their anniversary – of the last time they went to a nightclub!  The Atterbury’s are joining them there. George has trouble fitting into his tux. Liz intimates that he has gotten fat. 

The Atterburys greet them at the club (”George boy! Liz girl”). The girls are excited, while the boys would rather play canasta. As usual, Liz has trouble catching the attention of the waiter. When she does (by screaming), she causes him to drop a tray. She then makes fun of his French accent. When the waiter is chastised by his boss, his accent suddenly disappears!  

After dinner, the boys complain that the tables in the club are too close together. 

IRIS: “They are pretty close, Liz. I got my elbows buttered three times.”

The music starts, but the boys are reluctant to dance, despite sarcastic hints by the girls. 

LIZ (to George): “What about you, Najinsky?” 

Vaslav Najinsky (1890-1950) was a Polish ballet dancer often cited as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century. Born in Kiev to Polish parents, Nijinsky grew up in Imperial Russia but considered himself to be Polish. He was celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth of his characterizations. He could dance en pointe, a rare skill among male dancers at the time, and was admired for his seemingly gravity-defying leaps. Najinsky died just 2 and a half months prior to this broadcast, so his name would have been in the news when the script was written. 

Liz laments that they don’t go dancing as often since they got married.

LIZ: “Ever since we said ‘I do’ there are so many things we don’t!”

This classic line of dialogue was repeated verbatim in the first episode of “I Love Lucy” “The Girls Want To Go To A Nightclub” (ILL S1;E1). It was considered by producer Jess Oppenheimer to be the funniest line of the entire series. Perhaps both series’! 

Speedy Krause, the club MC, interrupts the arguing with some bad jokes from the bandstand.

 SPEEDY: “There are celebrities here tonight. Oh, pardon me, madam. I thought you were Boris Karloff.” 

Boris Karloff (1887-1969) was born William Henry Pratt in Surrey, England. He is primarily known for his roles in horror films. He portrayed Frankenstein’s monster in Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939). He also appeared as The Mummy (1932). In 1947, he starred with Lucille Ball in the film Lured.

In 1950, he worked exclusively on television.

The boys quickly become bored with Speedy’s unfunny routine. 

RUDOLPH: “This act would even be bad on television.” 

In 1950, television was still in its infancy, and quality programming was scarce. 

Five million TV sets were sold as the price dropped from $500 in 1949, to a more manageable $200. In 1950, just under 20 percent of American homes had a television set. 

The floor show starts with the scantily clad Starlight Cuties, which causes the boys to drool and the girls to look for the exit. The Cuties head out onto the club floor to find dance partners. The boys suddenly turn into Najinsky!  

The moment feels very much like “The Country Club Dance” (ILL S6;E25) where the husbands all vie for the attention of sexy Diana Jordan (Barbara Eden). 

The Starlight Cutie that approaches George and Rudolph even has a southern drawl  like Diana’s. While the boys are ogling the Cutie, the girls flee the club and the act ends. 

Next morning at the bank, George and Rudolph talk about their debacle of an evening at the nightclub. The girls suddenly drop by the office to forgive their husbands – under two conditions:  

1. They take them dining and dancing monthly.
2. They take dancing lessons – starting this afternoon!

Mr. Atterbury is excited at the prospect:

RUDOLPH: “I’ve seen those girls who teach at Arthur Murray’s.” 

Arthur Murray (1895-1991) was a ballroom dancer and businessman, whose name is most often associated with the chain of dance studios that bear his name.  

A month after this episode aired, Murray premiered the television show “The Arthur Murray Party” which was basically one long advertisement for their studios. It aired until 1960. In 1962, Lucille Ball and Arthur Murray were two of the many guests celebrating the 14th anniversary of “The Ed Sullivan Show.”  

In “The Young Fans” (ILL S1;E20), Lucy tries to give love-struck Arthur Morton dance lessons, but confesses to Ricky that “Arthur Morton is no Arthur Murray.”  Murray’s name is also mentioned in Desi Arnaz’s popular song, “Cuban Pete”: “And Cuban Pete doesn’t teach you in a hurry like Arthur Murray.”

However, Liz isn’t sending them to Arthur Murray, but to Professor Crawford’s School of the Dance, where she went as a child. Instead of being greeted by  a befuddled old Professor, they meet his daughter, a breathless sexpot who immediately agrees to be their instructress. 

Time passes. At the Cooper home, Katie the maid opens the door to Iris who has been shopping for their monthly nightclub outings. The boys have been attending lessons faithfully. Just then, Miss Crawford phones to leave a message for “Bright Eyes” Cooper!  The jig (literally) is up!  Liz and Iris realize why their husbands have been so regularly attending dance class. Liz and Iris dash to the dance studio to surprise the boys and let them know they have found out who they dancing with!

In 

“The Girls Want To Go To A Nightclub” (ILL S1;E1)

Lucy and Ethel disguise themselves as country bumpkins in order to teach their husbands a lesson for looking for dates. Oddly, the radio version is more realistic, but less laugh-out-loud funny. The physical comedy of the television version is the reason it was chosen as the series premiere over “Lucy Thinks Ricky is Trying to Murder Her” which was filmed before, but aired fourth. 

As punishment, Liz and Iris instruct the boys to dance with each other! 

LIZ: “Don’t they make a lovely couple!”  

End of Episode