PICTURE PEOPLE: “PALM SPRINGS WEEK END”

1942

In 1942, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz appeared in an installment of PICTURE PEOPLE, a series produced by RKO to accompany screenings of RKO films in cinemas. 

Only 3 episodes are known to exist out of the 23 produced. This episode is Season 2, Number 8, released March 27, 1942.

Lucy and Desi appear in “Palm Springs Week End” directed by Clay Adams narrated by Arlene Francis. 

The couple is shown biking through the Palm Springs desert on a bicycle built for two. 

They stop to take photos, and naturally Lucy’s mugs for the camera. 

The pair are later scene poolside at the El Mirador Hotel watching comedy diving.  The hotel boasted an Olympic-size swimming pool with five diving boards, an underwater window on the pool for use by photographers, and a pool observation platform. The hotel was demolished in 1978. 

The film also includes:   

• Michèle

  Morgan and Paul Henried riding horses at Rogers Ranch. The pair starred in RKO’s Joan of Paris (1942). In “The Adagio” (S1;E12 ~ 1951) Ricky imitates Henried by smoking two cigarettes at once, just a Henried did in Warner Brothers’ Now Voyager (1942) with Bette Davis. 

• Neil Hamilton creating a fire break by cutting down brush. Hamilton appeared with Lucille Ball in 1941′s Look Who’s Laughing for RKO. 
• Gail Patrick is instructed how to shoot skeet by expert Carl Bradshaw. Ball and Patrick had done two films together at RKO. 
• At the Racquet Club, owner Charles Farrell gives lessons to his wife, the film actress formerly known as Virginia Valli. Mr. Farrell is best remembered for “My Little Margie”, a CBS sitcom sponsored by Philip Morris that served as a summer replacement for “I Love Lucy.” 
• Playing checkers courtside are Gene Lockhart and his daughter June. They wave to the Farrells. In 1947, Gene Lockhart was in Columbia’s Her Husband’s Affairs with Lucille Ball. The year before, June appeared in MGM’s Easy To Wed with Ball. 
• On another court, a shirtless Peter Lorre plays against tennis pro Budge Patty and Bob Falkenberg.  In 1942, Lorre appeared in Warner Brothers’ classic film Casablanca. Falkenberg’s movie star sister Jinx cheers him from the sidelines. She sits next to tennis champion Philip Reed. Charlie Farrell and Elyse Knox also watch the match. 
• Freeman Gosden (Amos and Andy) and tennis champ Joe Hunt are amused by a mugging contest between Farrell and heavyweight champion / actor Max Baer. In 1942, Baer was featured in RKO’s The Navy Comes Through.