Lucy’s Encounters with the Criminal Underworld ~ Part 2
Lucycoms introduced suburban crime to keep storylines interesting and contemporary. Here’s a look at the thieves, burglars, robbers, murderers, prowlers, second-story men, mobsters, forgers, counterfeitters, and con artists in the Lucyverse!
“The Bob Hope Show” (1962) ~ Lucille Ball plays the District Attorney and Bob Hope is a gangster named Bugsy. A spray of gunfire comes through the window, narrowly missing Lucy’s head. Lucy remarks “Just what I wanted, a Jackie Kennedy hairdo.” Considering the tragic assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963, the lines could never be re-aired.
“Lucy and Viv Learn Judo” (1963) ~ When a rash of burglaries in the neighborhood makes Lucy and Viv feel unsafe, they learn judo for self-protection. Martial arts became a popular spectator sport during the twentieth century. This included televised martial arts tournaments and even Westernized versions of Asian martial arts. This also marked the beginning of women participating in martial arts, although participation in martial arts.
“Lucy and the Safe Cracker” (1963) ~ Lucy accidentally locks Mr. Mooney back in the bank vault. To help break him out, Lucy recruits Mr. Bundy (Jay Novello), a reformed safe-cracker, now a candy store owner.
Opening the vault rekindles Mr. Bundy’s criminal desires so he grabs a bag of loot and takes Lucy and Viv hostage at his candy shop.
“Lucy and the Bank Scandal” (1963) ~ Lucy suspects Mr. Mooney may be embezzling from the bank, so she digs up his back yard to find the money. Naturally, Mr. Mooney is innocent and Lucy has accidentally punctured his new oil tank.
“Lucy and the Great Bank Robbery” (1964) ~ Lucy rents out Viv’s room to two gentlemen visiting for the World’s Fair. They turn out to be bank robbers who stash their loot in Viv’s mattress. Lloyd Corrigan (as Gordon Bentley) and John Williams (as Carter Harrison) play genteel bandits who quote Shakespeare. Harrison says he wants to stop robbing banks and rob art galleries instead:“Imagine pilfering a Picasso.” The two boarders also wonder about robbing drive-in banks: “Just toot for the loot and scoot.”
When she discovers the loot in Viv’s mattress, Lucy immediately assumes Viv stole the cash. Lucy compare her to Ma Barker. Kate Barker (1873–1935) was the mother of several criminals who ran the Barker gang. She traveled with her sons during their criminal careers. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover described her as “the most vicious, dangerous and resourceful criminal brain of the last decade.”
“Lucy Takes a Job at the Bank” (1964) ~ When Lucy’s gossip leads all of Danfield to think there’s a run on the bank, Lucy and Viv stage a robbery to scare off account-holders and save the bank – and her new job.
“Lucy Makes a Pinch” (1964) ~ Recruited to be part of a police stake-out, Lucy goes undercover to help appprehend Green Scarf Louie (John Harmon).
“Lucy the Gun Moll” (1966) ~ Lucy Carmichael takes the place of Rusty Martin, girlfriend of gangster Big Nick (Bruce Gordon) in this satire on Desilu’s crime series “The Untouchables”.
“Lucy and John Wayne” (1966) ~ Lucy is on the set for the filming of John Wayne’s latest western, in which he faces off with gunslinger Pierce (Morgan Woodward). In westerns, the villain was generally dressed in black, including a black cowboy hat.
“Lucy Puts Main Street on the Map” (1966) ~ Trying to think of a way to help bring the town of Bancroft’s story to the rest of America, Lucy and the town fathers stage a gun battle to get national news coverage. Lucy takes the role of criminal mastermind “Carrot Top Carmichael”.
“Lucy Meets the Law” (1966) ~ Lucy thinks she’s being arrested for littering when she is actually being mistaken for a red-haired jewel thief.
Lucy is tossed in a cell with Hard Head Hogan (Iris Adrian), a bouncer in a beer hall in jail for assault and battery.
“Lucy and Art Linkletter” (1966) ~ Lucy is plucked from the audience of “The Art Linkletter Show” to perform a stunt: stay silent for 24 hours to win $200. To test her, Linkletter sends her a variety of distractions her way, including an armed one-armed fugitive (Jack Searl). The man bursts into Lucy’s apartment waving a gun saying that a guy has been chasing him for three years. This is a reference to the hit ABC series “The Fugitive” (1963-67) on which David Janssen was on the trail of a one-armed man who killed his wife.
“Lucy Meets Sheldon Leonard” (1967) ~ Lucy is unaware that Mr. Mooney has given director Sheldon Leonard permission to film a bank robbery in the lobby, so Lucy and Mary Jane (not recognizing Leonard) are determined to foil the robbery.
“Lucy and the Stolen Stole” (1968) ~ Lucy gets embroiled in the schemes of Harry Barton (Buddy Hackett) a con-man dating a girlfriend of Mary Jane’s.
Mr. Mooney says they’ve been in more jails than Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie Parker (1910–34) and Clyde Barrow (1909–34) were criminals who traveled with their gang during the Great Depression, robbing people and killing when cornered or confronted. A popular film about their lives was released in August 1967, winning two Academy Awards.
“Lucy and the Lost Star” (1968) ~ Lucy thinks Joan Crawford is down on her luck, so she stages a 1920s musical for her to star in. Set in a speakeasy during Prohibition, Mr. Mooney plays a mobster named ‘Scarface’. Lucy is his gun moll Rusty.
“Lucy and Sid Caesar” (1968) ~ Frankie the Forger, who looks like Sid Caesar, is passing bad checks at the bank. Lucy and Mr. Mooney try to tell the real Sid Caesar from the forger.
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