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“Little Ricky Learns to Play the Drums”
(S6;E2 ~ October 8, 1956) Directed by James V. Kern. Written by
Madelyn Martin, Bob Carroll, Jr., Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf. Filmed June 28, 1956 at Ren-Mar Studios.
Rating: 47.8/65
Synopsis ~ Little Ricky’s non-stop drumming threatens the Ricardos’ and Mertzes’ friendship.
This was one of four episodes filmed at the end of season five, but held off to kick off season six. Oddly, this episode was filmed after “Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright,” likely due to the schedules of Bob Hope and Orson Welles, who kick off the sixth season with guest appearances.
This marks the final appearance of Elizabeth Patterson as Mrs. Matilda Trumbull. Starting in 1953, she played the character for ten episodes. The character was mentioned in future episodes as helping run the NYC apartment while the Mertzes are living in Connecticut.
This is the second episode to feature Keith Thibodeaux as Little Ricky, but the first to really focus on the character.
Keith Thibodeaux (above with Desi Sr., Desi Sr. and Dinah Shore) was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, on December 1, 1950. He was cast out of 200 other young hopefuls because of his resemblance to Desi and his remarkable talent on the drums. Lucille Ball asked Keith’s father if his son had studied acting. When she was told that he had not, Lucy impatiently asked, “Well, what does he do?”
Fearing no one would be able to pronounce his last name, his professional name became Richard Keith, though it was never listed in the credits. In “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hours” he was credited as Little Ricky! It is no wonder America had trouble differentiating between Desi Arnaz Jr. and Thibodeaux.
Thibodeaux played Little Ricky until 1960, when “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour” went off the air and the Arnaz marriage ended. Keith grew very close to Desi Jr. and Lucie Arnaz, but relations with the family became strained when Keith’s father had a disagreement with Lucille Ball. After playing Little Ricky, he continued his career as a child actor, appearing on “The Andy Griffith Show” as Opie’s pal, Johnny Paul Jason. As a teenager, he gave up acting for rock music which led to problems with alcohol and drugs, much like so many other former child stars. He eventually found religion and became the drummer for a Christian band called David and the Giants.
Today Thibodeaux is the executive director of Ballet Magnificat!, a Christian dance company in Jackson, Mississippi. His wife Kathy is the artistic director and founder of the company. Ironically, Desi Arnaz Jr.’s wife Amy was also a dancer and troupe leader. The couple have a daughter named Tara. In 1994, he published his autobiography, Life After Lucy. In March 2015 he made a rare TV appearance on “The 700 Club.” He is the last surviving principal performer from “I Love Lucy.”
Thibodeaux was actually the eighth and last person to play Ricky Ricardo Jr.
- James John Ganzer was little Ricky as a newborn in “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (S2;E16).
- Twins Richard and Ronald Lee Simmons played Little Ricky as a baby through the end of the season 2.
- Another set of twins, Joseph and Michael Mayer, played Little Ricky as a toddler through season 5.
- In “Ricky’s Old Girlfriend” (S3;E12) two more actors played the role in Lucy’s dream, one of them being Jerry Mathers of “Leave it to Beaver” fame. The other actor has not been identified.
The Ricardos and the Mertzes have tickets to the theatre Saturday night, so Ethel drops by to borrow Lucy’s black fox stole. The title of the play or musical is never specified.
Lucy would like to see her son grow up to be a doctor, while Ricky wouldn’t mind him becoming a drummer, like himself.
One morning, they notice him tapping out a beat with a teaspoon on his cereal bowl. Breaking their word to each other not to influence him on a possible career path, Lucy buys him a doctor kit and Ricky buys him a snare drum.
LUCY: “Do you want him to be a wealthy, distinguished doctor or a crummy, out-of-work drummer?”
But it is the drum that captures the boy’s attention, with the noise upsetting the entire apartment complex and causing a rift between the Ricardos and the Mertzes.
The episode opens with one of Lucille Ball’s favorite gags: catching the toast in mid-air as it pops up from the toaster.
This episode also features the ‘phantom breadbox’ with the door that opens by itself! It opens as Ricky walks to the breakfast table. Lucy closes it without fuss when she goes to the fridge for the eggs. After this, the box hatch was sealed shut to prevent further surprise reveals!
The stove in the Ricardo kitchen which was always electric. For this episode it is changed to a Roper Gas Range to accommodate Fred’s turning off the gas. A couple of episodes later it’s back to electric.
More changes in the kitchen include new dishes, although they continue to use the creamer and sugar bowl from the old Franciscan Ivy dishware set. The new set is Brock Pottery in the Country Lane pattern with brown borders. Accordingly, they no longer use their Franciscan ivy pattern table cloth.
Ricky orders the boy a drum and asks Fred to hide it, but Ethel discovers the package and innocently brings it upstairs. At first, Lucy thinks it is a hatbox.
ETHEL: “A hat from Schirmer’s Music Company?”
G. Schirmer, Inc. is a classical music publishing company based in New York City, founded in 1861. It is the oldest active music publisher in the United States. However, in real life they do not sell musical instruments, just sheet music.
Lucy Ricardo first mentioned the Easter Parade in 1952′s “The Saxophone” (S2;E2) while searching the attic for her high school sax.
The Easter Parade was not an actual formal parade, but rather an impromptu display of fashions, particularly ladies hats, on Easter Sunday on New York’s 5th Avenue. Starting as a spontaneous event in the 1870s, it became increasingly popular into the mid-20th century; in 1947 it was estimated to draw over a million people. Its popularity has declined significantly, drawing only 30,000 people in 2008. The event was memorialized in the 1948 musical film of the same name inspired by the Irving Berlin song, also titled “Easter Parade.”
After her over-eager delivery, Fred calls Ethel “Miss United Parcel.” United Parcel Service (UPS) is a package delivery company founded in 1907 as The American Messenger Company, adopting its current name in 1919. Today they are famous for their brown delivery vans.
Ricky calls Lucy’s incentive a “Junior Doctor Kildare Kit.” Little did the writers known then that such a toy would actually be sold in 1963 – seven years later!
Doctor Kildare is a fictional character originally created in the 1930s by Frederick Faust under the pen name Max Brand. The Kildare character was featured in films, a radio series, a 1960s television series, a comic book and comic strip, and a short-lived second TV series in the 1970s. Although today the character is best remembered from the 1961 TV series starring Richard Chamberlain, this 1956 reference is about the films and radio series, which continued in syndication for several years after its final episode in 1951. The 1961 series aired on NBC concurrently with “The Lucy Show” on CBS. In a 1966 episode, Lucy Carmichael mistakes a movie studio doctor for Richard Chamberlain, an inside joke about his very popular role as Dr. Kildare.Lucy and Ricky allow their son to play the drum non-stop for four days in order not to ‘inny-bit’ him. Listen closely! When Little Ricky first gets his drum, it sounds like a tom-tom drum but throughout the rest of the episode, the drum sounds like a snare. This is because the sound effect was recreated off-screen.
Besides showing how adorable Richard Keith is on camera, the episode features some of Lucy’s best comic timing as she makes breakfast to the repetitive beat of Little Ricky’s drum:
<bang>
<bang>
<bang bang bang>She squeezes the oranges, pours the juice, disposes of the rinds, and cracks the eggs – all to this rhythm. She even scrapes the burnt toast in rhythm!
Oops! When disposing of the orange rinds in the trash bin, one of the rinds rolls onto the floor. Knowing that the key to the comedy was the continued rhythm of her actions, Lucille Ball cannot take a moment to pick it up.
LUCY: “How many eggs, dear?”
RICKY: “Two.”
LUCY: “Two.”
RICKY: “Two two two.”
When Lucy is rhythmically tossing the eggshells into the trash bin, one of the shells falls on the floor – but the orange rind is gone! The scene was likely comprised of several takes to get the timing perfect. The scene also uses close-ups of the oranges, eggs, and trash bin, which had to be filmed separately.
Little Ricky’s rhythmic drumming is also affecting the Mertz household! Notice that in the long shot of the living room Ethel’s wall-to-wall carpet stops at the imaginary ‘fourth wall’!
Oops! Fred’s copy of the New York Herald Tribune (a real newspaper) was five months old at the time of the filming! The headlines indicate that President Eisenhower had submitted his name for the New Hampshire primary for a second term. It also reports that French president Mollet urges a solution to the Algerian issue. Both these events happened during February 1956.
When Lucy calls Fred later to complain about her lack of gas and electric, Fred is still trying to catch up on his reading with a November 1954 copy of Sports Illustrated. At the time of filming the issue was 19 months old! On the front cover is San Francisco 49′ers Quarterback Y.A. Tittle. This was the magazine’s first issue with a professional football player on the cover. In a January 1969 episode of “Here’s Lucy,” Kim Carter (Lucie Arnaz) takes one look at Craig (Desi Arnaz Jr.) in his high school football uniform and says her brother is the “Y.A. Tittle of the teenybopper set.” The back cover of the magazine is an ad for the Pedwin Scatback, a wing-tip style dress shoe that sells for $9.95!
Had this episode actually taken place on its air date – October 8, 1956 – Fred certainly would have been reading about the Yankees winning the World Series, with Don Larson pitching a perfect game. William Frawley was a die-hard Yankees fan and originally stipulated in his contract that he would not be required to work if the Yankees were in the World Series.
Ear muffs are Fred’s “hot as blazes” solution to his godson’s noise pollution! Fred also blotted out the sour notes of Lucy’s make-shift orchestra in 1954′s “Lucy’s Club Dance” (S3;E25).
On the Mertz coffee table are an array of magazines. Among them is a copy of Look Magazine. On Christmas Day 1956, just two months after this episode aired, Lucy and Desi were the cover story of Look, along with (coincidentally) Keith Thibodeaux playing a conga drum!
There seems to be a jump cut after Ethel’s line “Parents get awful touchy when you talk about their children” and “I’m sure that if you’re nice and diplomatic, they’ll be reasonable.” It is possible that there was more dialogue to the scene that had to be edited out for time. Another jump cut is at the top of the next scene in the Ricardo apartment.
Oops! When Fred and Ethel attempt to play down their annoyance at Little Ricky’s drumming, Lucy says “We’re glad it didn’t bother you” to which Ricky replies “Me too.” Lucy probably should have said “I’m glad it didn’t bother you.”
In at least two previous episodes, Lucy has burned the chicken she was preparing for dinner, here the gag is reversed and the chicken is raw thanks to landlord Fred turning off the gas. A close-up of the uncooked bird assures that the home viewers get the joke!
The last time we were privy to the Ricardo’s privy was in “Bonus Bucks” (S3;E21) aired on March 8, 1954. Since then, the bathroom of apartment 3D has undergone some architectural changes! Previously, the shower stall was separate from the tub (follow the musical notes) but now shower and tub have been combined. At least the wallpaper is familiar!
Lucille Ball would always remove her false eyelashes before doing any stunt involving water like getting sprayed by the shower head, but when she runs into the living room to play the “Nertz to the Mertz Mambo” (actually a frenzied “Babalu” without the lyrics) she instantly has eyelashes again! TV magic!
At this point the story seems to resemble the very first all-out feud between the Ricardos and the Mertzes, 1952′s “Breaking the Lease” (S1;E18), which also included Fred cutting off the water and the Ricardos creating a musical cacophony to disturb the Mertzes.
During Ricky and Lucy’s Kitchen Kabaret, viewers can catch a glimpse of a box of Post Toasties on the counter. Toasties were Post’s version of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. When first marketed in 1904, Post Toasties were called Elijah’s Manna but religious groups balked at the use of Elijah as a cereal mascot and the name was changed to Toasties in 1908. They were discontinued in 2016. Curiously, in the episode the box is merely set dressing and not a prop. Although Little Ricky opens the episode eating cereal, Lucy says it is oatmeal.
During their big fight, Ethel calls Ricky a “Havana Horace Heidt.” Horace Heidt (1901–86) was an American pianist, big band leader, and radio and television personality. His band, Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights, toured vaudeville and performed on radio and television throughout the 1930s and 40s. Coincidentally, Heidt was also the one responsible for discovering Keith Thibodeaux, giving him a job with his orchestra at the age of three.
Of course, the familiar fracas over breaking the lease is settled by episode’s end. Ethel promises to have ‘quieter fights’ in the future.
LUCY: “We’re not going to have any more fights, Ethel.”
True to her word, this was the last big fight between the Ricardos and the Mertzes on “I Love Lucy,” although they do briefly spat in “Lucy Does The Tango” (S6;E20).
FAST FORWARD
Keith Thibodeaux made a walk-on appearance in a 1964 episode of “The Lucy Show.”
Keith’s appearance lasts about one second. At the train station, Lucy Carmichael passes a young boy who walks in with his mother. He has no dialogue.
Lucy Carter’s son Craig (Desi Arnaz Jr.) was also a drummer. Here he learned to play the drums from percussion master Buddy Rich on a 1970 episode of “Here’s Lucy.”
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“Lucy Meets Charles Boyer”
(S5;E19 ~ March 5, 1956) Directed by James V. Kern. Written by
Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll, Jr., Bob Schiller, and Bob Weiskopf. Filmed on January 19, 1956 at Ren-Mar Studios. Rating: 50.4/68
Synopsis ~ Just because Lucy has left Hollywood, doesn’t mean that she won’t be wreaking havoc in the lives of celebrities. In the second of three episodes set in Paris, she thinks every man she sees ‘dans la rue’ is film star Charles Boyer. When she spots the real Boyer, Ricky first manages to convince him to pretend to be Maurice DuBois, a second rate actor who just happens to look like the star.
This episode was originally written with Maurice Chevalier in mind. The series had mentioned Chevalier several times in the past when the subject turned to France. Instead, Chevalier (somewhat incongruously) guest stars when “Lucy Goes to Mexico,” a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”
Charles Boyer (1899–1978) appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. French-born Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American movies during the 1930’s. His most memorable films include The Garden of Allah (1936), Algiers (1938), Love Affair (1939), and the 1944 mystery-thriller Gaslight. Overall, he received four Academy Award nominations for Best Actor.
During World War II, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt recruited Boyer, Desi Arnaz, and other stars to be part of her “Hollywood Victory Caravan.”
In this episode, Boyer mentions “Four Star Playhouse” (1952-56), an anthology series sponsored by Singer and Bristol Myers. The premise of the series was that Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven, and Dick Powell would take turns starring in episodes. By the time this episode of “I Love Lucy” aired, the series (also on CBS) was in its final months. Ida Lupino turned up as herself in “Lucy’s Summer Vacation” a 1959 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”
The day this “I Love Lucy” episode was filmed (January 19, 1956) the series aired “Tunnel of Fear” (S4;E14) starring David Niven and Sir Cedric Hardwicke.
That same night, just prior to “Tunnel of Fear” Desilu aired their CBS variety series “Shower of Stars” presenting “The Life of Jack Benny” (S2;E4) starring Benny, his good friend George Burns, Shirley MacLaine (”Gypsy In My Soul”), Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson, and William Lundigan (”K.O. Kitty”).
In 1970, Lucille Ball did her own version titled “Lucy and Jack Benny’s Biography” (HL S3;E11) with Lucy playing all the women in Jack’s life and a cameo by George Burns.
The day before this episode first aired (March 5, 1956), another famous Lucy got an earful about television in the Sunday funnies!
Charles Boyer was also in six Broadway plays, winning a special Tony in 1952 for Don Juan In Hell (no relation to Ricky Ricardo’s shelved MGM picture).
When Lucy thinks she’s seen Charles Boyer in the Paris streets, Ethel says she said the same thing with Clark Gable in Hollywood. This is the 8th mention of Gable on “I Love Lucy,” making him the ‘most mentioned’ celebrity who never appeared on the show – not counting Lucy’s Gable disguise for nearsighted Carloyn Appleby in “Lucy Meets Harpo Marx” (S4;E28, above).
When Fred denies placing the above item in the paper, Ricky attributes it to agent Don Sharpe. Described by Television Magazine as “Mr. Big” in 1953, talent agent Don Sharpe assisted in the formation of both Four Star Productions (producers of “Four Star Playhouse”) and Desilu. Sharpe was a key proponent of shooting “I Love Lucy” on film in Hollywood, instead of on kine-scope from New York City. His name reoccurs as the name of Danfield’s retiring salvage man in “Lucy Drives a Dumptruck” (TLS S1;E24) in 1963.
All three Paris-based episodes had café scenes, but all took place in different restaurants with different waiters. In this episode, the café is called the Café du Monde.
Of the many background performers in the café is Sam Harris, who did more than a dozen films with Lucille Ball, all as background characters.
Oops! Ricky tells Charles Boyer that Lucy’s messy encounter with Bill Holden at the Brown Derby happened during dinner time. It was actually during lunchtime. This is a callback to “Hollywood at Last!” (S4;E16). Ricky also reminds her about Van Johnson (”The Dancing Star” S4;27) and John Wayne (”Lucy and John Wayne” S5;E2) just by mentioning their names.
It features an actor known for playing waiters, Jack Chefe. Russian-born Chefe had recently played a bellhop in “Lucy and John Wayne” (S5;E2) and had also appeared in five films with Lucille Ball, including playing a waiter in the recently released Forever, Darling. In fact, of Chefe’s 358 film roles, 165 were waiters! He also did three films with Charles Boyer, including Around the World in 80 Days, which was released just a few months after this episode.
Lucy convinces DuBois / Boyer to drop by her suite at the Hotel Royale in order to make Ricky jealous. She even gives him lessons on romance, telling him to deepen his voice and make a face like he smells cauliflower cooking!
Boyer, however, is in on the plan with Ricky and gives Lucy a dose of her own medicine!
The Ricardo’s hotel room in Paris is decorated with the same owl bookends previously seen in the Ricardo’s living room and later in the Mertz’s living room (when they got Lucy’s old furniture). The book appears to be titled An Introduction to French.
In the end, everything that can go wrong, does, and Boyer leaves with a sat-upon hat, an ink-stained shirt, a torn overcoat, and a nasty lump on his forehead.
Because a real fountain pen wouldn’t squirt as much ink as the scene required, props master Jerry Miggins went to Bert Wheeler’s Magic Shop on Hollywood Boulevard to buy a trick pen that squirted ink. Charles Boyer was reportedly so vain about his appearance that he refused to wear his own clothes for the scene. (It was Desilu practice not to supply wardrobe for guest-stars.) Boyer also didn’t want to wear clothing from Desilu’s wardrobe department, which he deemed inferior. Desi had to give Boyer one of his own overcoats and wanted disappearing ink had to be used instead of real ink. Before Boyer agreed to do the scene, Miggins actually had to try out the disappearing ink on his own shirt to prove it would not stain.
Detail-oriented Miggins made arrangements to fly in the Paris edition of the Herald Tribune for Boyer to read during the opening café scene. He also expertly dressed the newsstand were Ethel uses the telephone with copies of Paris Match and Jours de France.
This episode bears more than a passing resemblance to “Don Juan is Shelved” (S4;E21) in which Hollywood producer Dore Schary also pretends to be an out-of-work actor instead of himself. Like Boyer, Lucy hires him to pretend to be the person he really is! Unfortunately, the real Dore Schary backed out at the last moment, leaving the role to Phil Ober and marring the meta nature of the story.
LUCY: Au revoir!
BOYER: No, don’t say au revoir. Say goodbye!
LUCY: “Who needs Boyer?!?”
FAST FORWARD
This episode inspired 1964′s “Lucy Teaches Ethel Merman To Sing” (TLS S2;E18). Like Charles Boyer, superstar Ethel Merman tells Lucy Carmichael she’s really an ordinary person (Agnes Schmidlap) in order to stay away from the press and her adoring fans. The chemistry between Ball and Merman was so good the episode expanded to a second show.
In 1967′s “Lucy Gets Mooney Fired” (TLS S6;E9), Lucy Carmichael and Mary Jane (Mary Jane Croft) watch Gaslight (1944) on TV. Lucy sums up the plot for Mary Jane: “Charles Boyer tries to convince Ingrid Bergman that she is seeing things that aren’t there.” This is the inspiration for Lucy making Mr. Cheever think he’s hallucinating and then hopefully re-hiring Mr. Mooney.
A scene from this episode was included in “I Love Lucy’s 50th Anniversary Special” in 2001.
1956, Cafe, CBS, Charles Boyer, Desi Arnaz, Don Sharpe, Dore Schary, Ethel, Ethel Merman, Ethel Mertz, Europe, Four Star Playhouse, France, Gaslight, Here’s Lucy, Hollywood Victory Caravan, I love lucy, Jack Chefe, Jerry Miggens, Lucille Ball, Lucy, owl bookends, Paris, Ricky Ricardo, Squirting Pen, The Lucy Show, tv, TV Guide, Vivian Vance, Waiters -
“Second Honeymoon”
(S5;E14 ~ January 23, 1956) Directed by James V. Kern. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll, Jr., Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf. Filmed December 8, 1955 at Ren-Mar Studios. It was the 141st episode filmed. Rating: 51.5/66
Synopsis ~ Aboard the S.S. Constitution headed to Europe, Lucy is hoping for a second honeymoon, but unfortunately Ricky is busy working to pay their fare.
The episode opens with Lucy contentedly singing “Sailing Sailing Over The Bounding Main” a song written in 1880 by Godfrey Marks, a pseudonym of British organist and composer James Frederick Swift (1847–1931). The Desi Arnaz Orchestra incorporated the tune into the underscoring of this and the previous episode, “Bon Voyage” (S5;E13).
The S.S. Constitution (29,500 tons; 683 feet; speed 26.1 knots; capacity 1,000 passengers) was a real ocean liner owned and operated by American Export Lines. Christened in 1951, it had a nearly identical sister ship, the S.S. Independence.
Four months after this episode aired, Grace Kelly sailed aboard the Constitution from New York to Monaco for her wedding to Prince Rainier.
The ship was also featured in the 1957 film An Affair to Remember starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.
In 1959, the ship was enlarged to handle an additional 484 passengers. The Constitution was retired in 1995 and while being towed to the scrapyard sank off the Hawaiian Islands on November 17, 1997. American Export Lines reportedly paid Desilu Productions $12,000 to be a part of the episodes. The actual ship, however, was only used for establishing shots. The rest of the scenes on board were filmed on a sound stage in Hollywood.
A postcard for the ships describes it thus:
“Modern American living at sea is yours aboard the S.S. Independence and her sister ship, S.S. Constitution. First completely air-conditioned trans-Atlantic luxury liners, these great ships provide frequent, rapid service to all Europe via the Mediterranean. Sailing the pleasant Sun-Lane Route to Europe with 87% rain-free days. American designs, American fabrics, even an American soda fountain and true American hospitality characterize the friendly informality and fine service on the S.S. Independence and the Constitution. The stunning Sea Island Club, charming Independence (or Constitution) Lounge, the gay Boat ‘n Bottle Bar, set the scene for many good times.”
Since his busy schedule has him playing at the Boat ‘n Bottle (right), we can rightly say that Ricky Ricardo and his Orchestra played at a “gay” bar!
The romance of the sea has even affected the Mertzes, who use the voyage as a chance to rekindle their romance, as unlikely as that seems.
While Lucy wants to do all the activities she’s read about in the ship’s newspaper “The Sun Lane News,” Ricky has an itinerary of his own.
RICKY: Come on. Smile.
Naturally, Lucy has a plan to get Ricky all to herself, but her plan gets stuck – literally!
The first couple to sign up for activities is Mrs. and Mrs. Theodore Osterlander III, played by unidentified extras. The reason their name is announced is to set up Lucy’s next joke.
LUCY: Ethel, what’s the name of this boat?
ETHEL: The S.S. Constitution, why?
LUCY: From the way everybody’s paired up, I thought maybe it was the S.S. Noah’s Ark!
The plot of this episode very closely follows the adventures of Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe) in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Lorelei’s dinner companion turns out to be a seven year-old boy, just like Lucy’s ping pong partner turns out to be young Kenneth Hamilton played by nine year-old Harvey Grant*. Grant had played the youngest son in CBS TV’s “Life With Father” from 1953 to 1955.
Lucy gets stuck in a porthole just as Lorelei did, also draping a blanket around her shoulders so passersby wouldn’t know what was really going on.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes the motion picture premiered on July 1, 1953, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and was based on the long-running Broadway musical of the same name starring Carol Channing. The show closed just one month before “I Love Lucy” premiered in October 1951. It is probably best remembered for the song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” by Jule Styne. In common with this episode and the film is extra Monty O’Grady, who played a passenger on both vessels! When watching the film, also look for “I Love Lucy” actors Norma Varden (Mrs. Benson in “The Ricardos Change Apartments”), Elliott Reid (Edward Warren from “Face To Face”), and Bennett Green (Desi’s stand-in and veteran background player).
This is the second time Lucy wears this Elois Jennsen blue chiffon dress. She’d also wear it when she visits the English countryside and in Havana, Cuba.
In the Boat ‘n’ Bottle Bar, while Lucy dances with Kenneth Hamilton, Ricky sings “Cielito Lindo”, a Spanish folk song written by Quirino Mendoza y Cortes. This version is done with a Samba tempo. Ricky previously sang it in “The Freezer” (S1;E29) and “The Publicity Agent” (S1;E31).
Ethel calls Fred “King of the Samba” and he replies “Arthur Murray look out!” This is one of many mentions of dancer and dance studio owner Arthur Murray on the series. He had a television program from 1950 to 1960 called “The Arthur Murray Dance Party.”
At the end, Ricky is discovered on the ship’s deck singing Lucy a romantic ballad:
My love is true, amor tierno,
I promise you amor eterno,
So cling to me, dear,
And say you’ll never let me go.
Because I love you so,
Querida mia.The camera pulls back to show viewers that Lucy has no feet – she is still stuck in the porthole and welders are trying to cut her free.
When Ethel and Fred come up and Ricky is trying to explain that Lucy is stuck, first Ricky says “She’s stuck!” Then Ethel says “She’s stuck?”. Right before Fred delivers his line, you hear someone in the studio audience say “Yeah, she’s stuck!”
The passengers and crew were played by:
- Bennett Green* (voice of the Welder), Marco Rizzo (Pianist), and Louis Nicoletti* are series regular extras.
- Tyler McVey* (Activities Director) makes the third of four appearances on the series.
- Monty O’Grady was only on the series once, but returned for 14 episodes of “The Lucy Show” and 6 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”
- Harold Miller had been in the audience of “Over the Teacups,” the play the foursome see on “Ethel’s Birthday” (S4:E8). Coincidentally, he was also in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Eerily, Miller played one of the passengers who went down with the Titanic in the 1953 film. Of his more than 630 film and TV appearances, eight of them were alongside Lucille Ball.
- Joseph La Cava (bartender) returned to work with Lucy in an episode of “Here’s Lucy” and was seen as a restaurant patron in Mame (1974).
- Paula Winslowe* was one of two actors to play Gale Gordon’s wife, Mrs. Martha Conklin, on the Desilu series “Our Miss Brooks.” She was later seen in an episode of “The Lucy Show.”
- Herbert Lytton* (Man in Deck Chair) later sailed the high seas again, as Admiral Reynolds on “McHale’s Navy.”
- Steve Carruthers was also in the Lucille Ball / Bob Hope film The Facts of Life and was seen in two episodes of “The Lucy Show.”
- George Bruggeman was also in the The Facts of Life and “The Lucy Show” as well as joining Lucy and Desi for a 1959 Milton Berle TV special.
- Flower Parry was also glimpsed in “The Dancing Star” (S4;E27) and “The Homecoming” (S5;E6). In real life, she was the first wife of Jackie Coogan.
- Virginia Barbour* had played the mind reader’s assistant in “Lucy’s Mother-in-Law” (S4;E8) and a waitress in “Lucy Goes To Vegas” (TLS S3;E17).
- Joan Carey (Boat ‘n’ Bottle Bar patron) was a frequent series background player. She would later become Lucille Ball’s stand-in on “The Lucy Show.”
- Rocky the Bloodhound
- French Poodle who leads Rocky astray
The name of the Captain is Jacobson, although we never meet him.
* = verbally credited by announcer Johnny Jacobs over the final credits.
The episode was sponsored by Sanka and Lilt.
1956, American Export Lines, An Affair To Remember, Bloodhound, Cary Grant, CBS, Cruise Ship, Deborah Kerr, Desi Arnaz, Ethel, Europe, Fred Mertz, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Grace Kelly, Harvey Grant, I love lucy, Lorelei Lee, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Marilyn Monroe, ocean liner, ping pong, Ricky Ricardo, Second Honeymoon, SS Constitution, SS Independence, Transatlantic, tv, Vivian Vance, William Frawley -
“Face to Face” aka “The Ricardos are Interviewed”
(S5;E7 ~ November 14, 1955) Directed by James V. Kern. Written by
Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll, Jr., Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf. Filmed October 20, 1955 at Ren-Mar Studios. Rating: 44.3/61
Synopsis ~ Lucy and Ricky are scheduled to appear on a TV interview show from their home. But his new agent says the apartment is a dump, and urges them to move into ritzier quarters.
Ricky’s new agent Johnny Clark visits to tell Ricky that ‘Dick and Oscar’ are very interested in him for their new show, and that Ed Sullivan also wants him as a guest. This is yet another reference to Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II (above), who were not only composers of some of Broadway’s biggest hit musicals, but also producers of television and film.
Clark tells Lucy and Ricky that he just came from a meeting with Bing.
A huge multimedia star from 1934 to 1954, Bing Crosby (above) was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses. He was frequently seen with Bob Hope, who also frequently teamed with Lucille Ball. Crosby was mentioned on at least five other episodes, but never appeared on the show.
Clark also tells Ricky that he thinks he’s got him “planted on the Sullivan show next month”. “The Ed Sullivan Show” (aka “Toast of the Town”) was a Sunday night staple on CBS. In addition to hosting performers on the stage of their New York theatre (above), celebrities would also be in the audience, and get introduced by Sullivan to get camera time. This is what is meant by “planted” on the Sullivan show. A year earlier, the show devoted an entire hour to “I Love Lucy” featuring all four of its stars. Lucille Ball appeared on the show a dozen times during her career and Desi Arnaz made eight appearances.
The new agent is from Associated Artists and is played by John Gallandet. The character also appears in the following episode, “Lucy Goes to the Rodeo.” The actor was one of William Frawley’s best friends. Between 1937 and 1948 the two appeared in seven films together. Gallandet and Lucy were in Twelve Crowded Hours together in 1939. Along with Desi Arnaz, he was one of the pallbearers at Frawley’s funeral in 1966.
Clark bluntly says that now that Ricky is a movie star, he should move our of this ‘dump’ to a fancier apartment. He calls the building a ‘crummy joint’.
FRED: “They don’t build ‘em like this anymore!”
CLARK: “They haven’t built them like this in more than a hundred years.”
When Lucy hears her apartment will be on TV, she immediately starts picking up Little Ricky’s toys that are strewn around the room. The nagging question is since Lucy knew Ricky had an important business associate coming over, why didn’t she clean up the toys earlier?
Practically speaking, leaving toys around the apartment reminds viewers that the Ricardos had a child – even when he is not seen or referred to! Lucy holds a ‘ray gun’, stacking rings, a sand pail, a jack-in-the-box and a toy trolley. The toy trolley was seen previously in “The Ricardos Change Apartments” (S2;E26) and will reappear in “Lucy and Superman” (S6;E13).
On the coffee table is the November 15, 1955 copy of LOOK Magazine. Although the cover story is on Africa, inside is a story on Lucille Ball that promotes the film Forever Darling.
“Darling, I love you but give me Park Avenue!” ~ Lisa Douglas
Clark leaves some real estate brochures for Lucy to peruse. Although the name of the company is redacted by tape on the cover of the brochure, it is not on the back cover. There is also a two-page view of Manhattan as seen from a Park Avenue penthouse.
Just for fun, the next day Lucy goes to look at one she later describes as “an $11,000 humdinger” – that’s like 107,000 ‘dingers’ in today’s economy! She is shown the apartment by a Mrs. Skyler. Sadly, viewers never see the apartment or Mrs. Skyler.
Fred and Ethel concoct a plan to pick a fight with the Ricardos so that they will move – for the good of Ricky’s career, of course. This same tactic will be tried once again in season six when Lucy and Ricky consider moving to the country.
When Ethel insults Lucy, something amazing happens. Lucille Ball slams her fist down on the card table so hard that the score book that was lying flat flies up in the air and lands standing on its edge! What are the odds?
Confusion sets in when (unbeknownst to the Ricardos) Fred fields interest in their apartment and it gets back to the Lucy and Ricky.
While on the phone with Aunt Martha, Ethel calls herself “Little Ethel” which causes William Frawley to look down at Vance’s posterior and smirk. When Ethel hangs up the phone, it does not sit in the cradle correctly. Comforted by Fred, Ethel dissolves into tears at the thought of losing her best friend and the scene cross fades to Ricky comforting Lucy in tears about losing HER best friend!
Later, Lucy gets a phone call from Aunt Martha checking to see if Uncle Elmo will fit in their bathtub. We learn that Ricky is five foot eleven and a half inches tall. Coincidentally, Lucy also has an Aunt Martha, whom she names a salad dressing after in “The Million Dollar Idea” (S3;E13).
The fight culminates during their appearance on a live TV interview show called “Face to Face” hosted by Edward Warren. During the interview, actor Elliott Reid could not see the other actors. The effect seen here was added in later.
Warren is a parody of Edward R. Murrow (right), who hosted “Person to Person” from 1953 to 1959. Elliott Reid, the actor who played Warren, had appeared on Broadway in Julius Caesar with Orson Welles but was also a master imitator who studied tapes of Murrow to perfect the characterization. During the Kennedy administration his impersonation of JFK got him invited to the White House to perform for the President himself. Lucy must have also approved of his work, as Reid later guested on two episodes of “The Lucy Show” and two episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”
Any resemblance between “Face to Face” and last season’s “Breakfast with Ricky and Lucy” is completely understandable!
- Both shows are broadcast live from the Ricardo apartment
- Both shows feature the Ricardos and the Mertzes
- Both use the same TV camera
- Both feature a table set with Lucy’s finest
Quaker Lace
tablecloth
- Both shows start off well and go horribly wrong!
As in “Mr. and Mrs. TV Show” (S4;E5) the television camera has had the RCA logo removed from the side. RCA was the parent company of NBC, CBS’s rival.
During Ed Warren’s introduction, he says that they are calling Ricky “a second Valentino”. Ricky was compared to Latin heartthrob Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926) by Mrs. Trumbull in the previous episode. In Hollywood, we learned that Valentino was Mrs. McGillicuddy’s favorite movie star.
Despite all the talk about Ricky’s film debut, the picture he made is never named. And it never will be!
Fred can’t resist staring into the camera and sending ‘shout-outs’ to his pals in Steubenville, Ohio as well as the guys down at Joe and Bill’s Barbershop, including someone named Lefty! This leaves the question – why is
‘follicularly challenged’
Fred Mertz hanging out in a barbershop? Is Lefty one of Fred’s boxing pals? One imagines that Ethel keeps a pretty tight leash on Fred, not allowing him near places that sell alcohol or that allow gambling.
The phone number that Fred advertises on the back of his shirt is PLaza 5-6098, one of the many phone numbers the Mertzes have over the years. Others include CIrcle I-2099, CIrcle 7-2099, and SKyler 4-8098.
Ethel’s Aunt Martha’s phone number is GRamercy 3-8098 (473-8098).
The episode also features a rousing chorus of “Rancho Grande,” a Mexican song written in the 1920s. The previously mentioned Bing Crosby recorded the song in 1939 and it reached the #6 spot on the charts. Crosby recorded the song again in 1954.
Lucy and Ethel once again encounter some troublesome chocolates, just as they famously did in “Job Switching” (S2;E1). The television lights have caused the sweets to melt. She finds them “difficult to swallow.”
Monty Masters (aka Mongomery Banta)
plays the “Face to Face” director. Masters was also on “Dragnet” during this period and was active behind the cameras, coincidentally as an AD (assistant director). Desi’s camera and lighting stand-in Bennett Green plays the cameraman.
Little Ricky is mentioned, but not seen in the episode. Other unseen characters are Mrs. Skyler, Lefty, Aunt Martha, and Uncle Elmo.
The gang makes up with each other and, just like Murrow, Warren signs off by bidding the audience “Good night, and good luck!” The well-known catch-phrase was later the title of a 2005 film that featured David Strathairn as Murrow.
Four days after this episode first aired in November 1955, “Person to Person” visited the West Orange, New Jersey, home of burlesque king Harold Minsky. Two years later Murrow made the cover of Time Magazine.
1955, Agent, Apartment, Brownstone, Chocolates, Desi Arnaz, Ed Sullivan, Edward R. Murrow, Elliott Reid, Ethel, Face To Face, Fred Mertz, Good Night and Good Luck, Harold Minsky, I love lucy, Interview, John Gallandet, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Park Avenue, Penthouse, Person To Person, Ricky Ricardo, Rodgers and Hammerstein, The Ricardos are Interviewed, tv, Twelve Crowded Hours, Vivian Vance, West Orange NJ, William Frawley -
“Lucy Gives Eddie Albert the Old Song and Dance”
HERE’S LUCY: S6;E6 ~ October 15, 1973
(Lucy, Mary Jane and Vanda are talking about Eddie Albert.)
LUCY: Eddie Albert has a beautiful home. I saw it when I went on a tour of the movie stars’ homes.
MARY JANE: Is that the same tour when you sneaked into Rock Hudson’s back yard and tried to peel an orange?
VANDA: Is that the same tour when you saw Dean Martin in his bathroom scootin’ over to the trashcan with some empty bottles?
LUCY: Yes, how often do you think I take a tour of the movie stars’ homes? -
“Lucy Gives Eddie Albert the Old Song and Dance”
HERE’S LUCY: S6;E6 ~ October 15, 1973
(Lucy, Mary Jane and Vanda are trying to think of a singer / dancer for their show.)
LUCY: Hey, Frank Sinatra is coming out of retirement!
MARY JANE: Well, he’s a good singer, but he’s not a very good dancer.
LUCY: Too bad, Frank, you just blew it! -
“Lucy and the Dummy”
(S5;E3 ~ October 17, 1955) Directed by James V. Kern. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll, Jr., Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf. Filmed September 22, 1955 at Ren-Mar Studios. Rating: 46.5/66
Synopsis ~ Ricky brings home a wax head of himself made by the studio for trick shots. MGM Studios calls and asks him to perform for studio executives, but Ricky declines, saying he wouldn’t miss his ‘dipsy’ [‘deep-sea] fishing trip for the world. Lucy decides she will do the show alone – or is she?
The same date this episode was filmed, September 22, 1955, commercial television (ITV) premiered in Great Britain, joining the venerable BBC. Naturally, Lucille Ball was on the cover of one of the very first TV guides in England. “I Love Lucy” would air on Sunday nights, as opposed to Mondays in the USA. Their first day of programming consisted of:
-
19:15 Opening Ceremony at Guildhall
- 20:00 Variety
- 20:40 Drama – excerpts from The Importance Of Being Earnest, Baker’s Dozen, and Private Lives
- 21:10 Professional Boxing – Murphy v Lazar, Southern Area Middleweight Championship from Town Hall, Shoreditch
- 22:00 News and Newsreel
- 22:15 Gala Night at the Mayfair
- 22:30 Star Cabaret Music by Billy Ternant and Orchestra
- 22:50 Preview of forthcoming programmes on ITV [”I Love Lucy”?]
- 23:00 Epilogue
During rehearsals, this episode was running three minutes short, so a sneak preview of MGM’s Guys and Dolls was inserted. The musical number added was Frank Sinatra singing “Adelaide,” a song written by Frank Loesser especially for the film. The number was not included in syndicated episodes or on the DVD release, most likely due to copyright issues. However, the DVD does restore the spoken introduction to the clip, with the screen going to black and picking up with Lucy and ‘Ricky’s’ introduction.
Coincidentally, Frank Loesser also wrote The Most Happy Fella, a Broadway musical that the gang went to see in 1957 and that Lucy and Desi invested in.
The morning after the episode aired, many people called Sinatra and said they’d seen him on “I Love Lucy.” Apparently, ‘old blue eyes’ knew nothing about it. This is the only Desi / Lucy / Frank interaction until Sinatra confronted Desi about the Mafia stereotypes on Desilu’s “The Untouchables” (1959-63), although one biography of Lucille Ball said that she asked Sinatra to star in a musical situation comedy for Desilu. In 1984, when Variety Clubs International honored Lucille Ball with a televised “All-Star Party” Sinatra sang “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” to Lucy.
Ethel mentions how easily Fred gets seasick, “He gets queasy if I have too many waves in my hair.” This is the perfect set-up for later in the season when Lucy helps Fred get over mal de mer in “Staten Island Ferry” (S5;E12).
When Fred and Ethel drop by, Ricky and Lucy are still arguing about his going fishing.
ETHEL: “They’re always showing the same old movie on this channel.”
In the mid-1950s television began to show feature films to fill programming hours. Because the film industry was wary of television and considered them rivals, their catalog of films did not feature much of a selection. Therefore, seeing the same film repeated on a TV station was an all-too-common occurrence.
Lucy decides to use the disembodied head to create a dummy of Ricky and appear in the show herself singing and dancing to “I Get Ideas.” The song was first sung by Ricky in “The Publicity Agent” (S1;E31) but was continually interrupted by Lucy’s swooning while disguised as the Maharincess of Franistan! The best-known version of the song was by Tony Martin, but it was also covered by Louis Armstrong and Miss Peggy Lee, all in 1951.
Lucy previously cut comic capers with a dummy (mannequin) in a fur store window in “Lucy Changes Her Mind” (S2;E21).
Lucy plans to pretend to have Ricky become ‘suddenly ill’ during the performance so that she can carry on solo, but ‘Raggedy Ricky’ falls apart and soon Lucy’s plan does, too!
Oops! When ‘Raggedy Ricky’s’ head pops off, his neckerchief also comes off, too. I stays on the stage after Lucy has kicked the head into the wings. When she is taking her bows, it twice gets underfoot and threatens to trip up our redhead.
To her surprise, everyone loves her comedy performance, and MGM offers her a year-long contract. But Lucy gets sad thinking about how much she’ll miss her family, and after a tortured night imagining her Hollywood success (six Oscars! No, twelve!), she ends up turning down her dreams of stardom.
Although both Lucy’s Mother (Kathryn Card) and Little Ricky (The Mayer Twins) are mentioned, neither appear in the episode. However, Little Ricky is heard crying in the next room.
The evening’s emcee Chip Jackson (played by Lee Millar Jr.) introduced the clip, as well as Lucy and rag doll Ricky. Millar was best known as the voice of Jim Dear (Lady’s master) in Walt Disney’s classic Lady and the Tramp. He was following in the footsteps of his parents, Verna Felton and Lee Millar Sr. She had played Mrs. Porter in “Lucy Hires a Maid” (S2;E23) but was best known for an array of Disney voices, including Jim Dear’s Aunt Sarah. His father was one of the actors who supplied the ‘voice’ of Disney’s Pluto. This was Millar’s fourth and last appearance on “I Love Lucy,” although he would do an episode of “The Lucy Show” in 1964.
The episode ends with Lucy being offered a contract for her comedy dancing but turning it down to be a wife. This was also the ending of “The Audition” (S1;E6), and “The Mustache” (S1;E23).
Over the final credits, the announcer says: “Theremin effects by Dr. Samuel Hoffman.“ During Lucy’s imaginings of Hollywood fame, a Theremin was heard, giving the sequence a dream-like, surreal quality. At the time, Hoffman was the ‘go-to’ man for this sort of thing. A virtuoso violinist, at 14 he became the youngest musician to play at Loew’s New York Roof Garden, and later formed his own orchestra (using the stage name Hal Hope). He also studied podiatry and became a foot doctor by day and band leader by night. In the 1940’s, Hoffman transferred his medical practice to Los Angeles. When Miklos Rosza was looking for a Thereminist to play for Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound, Hoffman was hired on the spot. He went on to play Theremin in dozens of Hollywood films, including (oddly) Lucy and Bob Hope’s 1950 comedy Fancy Pants. Sadly his career on the instrument ended with the invention of an electronic Theremin in 1959.
There is a brief deleted scene in this episode that has been restored on the DVD. We get to see more of Lucy backstage with Fred and Ethel before she goes on with the dummy. The scene directly followed the Guys and Dolls clip.
FAST FORWARD!
In 1956 the gang travel to Miami Beach, where Ricky also goes “Deep-Sea Fishing” (S6;E7). Being from Cuba, it was one of Desi’s favorite leisure-time activities.
In a 1966 episode of “The Lucy Show,” Lucy Carmichael is the dummy in the act when Paul Winchell’s Tessie Mahoney dummy doesn’t get to the theatre on time!
When a department store dummy in the window ‘loses his head’ Lucy Carmichael lends him hers in this 1965 episode of “The Lucy Show.”
This training dummy plummets to his ‘death’ at the hands of Lucy Carmichael and Viv Bagley when they enroll to become Danfield volunteer fire fighters in a 1963 episode of “The Lucy Show.”
In a 1970 episode of “Here’s Lucy”, Lucy Carter steals a wax dummy of Lawrence Welk for her dinner party!
Mame Dennis (Lucille Ball) also has an encounter with a department store dummy in 1974′s Mame.
1955, Adelaide, Desi Arnaz, Ethel, Fancy Pants, Frank Sinatra, Fred Mertz, Guys and Dolls, Hitchcock, Hollywood, I Get Ideas, I love lucy, Lady and the Tramp, Lee Millar, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Mantilla, MGM, Ricky Ricardo, Samuel Hoffman, Spanish Dance, Spellbound, The Dummy, The Untouchables, Theremin, tv, Verna Felton, Vivian Vance, Walt Disney, William Frawley -
-
“The Tour”
(S4;E30 ~ May 30, 1955) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed April 14, 1955 at Ren-Mar Studio. Rating: 31.8/53
Synopsis ~ Lucy and Ethel take a bus tour of movie stars’ homes in Beverly Hills, and Lucy winds up picking grapefruit in Richard Widmark’s backyard, where she gets trapped.
This episode has the unfortunate distinction of being the lowest rated half hour in the history of the series.
This episode was aired on the birthday of Douglas Fowley (Singin’ in the Rain), who was born the same year as Lucille Ball. He was seen with Ball in 1935′s Old Man Rhythm and would play an Indian Chief in “Lucy The Rain Goddess” (TLS S4;E15).
It was also the 28th birthday of Clint Walker (”Cheyenne”) who would date Lucy Carmichael in two episodes of “The Lucy Show.”
This is the final episode of season four. When the show resumes in fall 1955, there will be only five more Hollywood episodes remaining before the gang returns to New York City.
When it came time for filming, Desi couldn’t properly pronounce “badger” when he had to say that Lucy ‘badgers him’. Lucy teased him about the bad pronunciation, repeatedly mimicking his pronunciation: “buy-er”.
The episode opens with Lucy begging Ricky to let her accompany him to Romanoff’s for lunch with movie star Richard Widmark. Romanoff’s became known for their chocolate soufflés, strawberries Romanoff (strawberries in Grand Marnier blended into whipped cream and ice cream) and Noodles Romanoff which first appeared on the menu around the same time this episode aired. The landmark eatery closed for good on New Year’s Eve 1962, although the famous Noodles can still be found in your frozen food case thanks to Stouffers!
Ricky is adamant that she cannot accompany him, citing her mishaps with previous celebrities. People on the street ask him:
RICKY: “Is it true that she threw a pie at Bill Holden in the Brown Derby?”
A reference to “Hollywood at Last!” (S4;E16). Later, when Lucy says she doesn’t want to just see the outside of celebrity homes, Fred adds: “Yeah, you wanna be within pie-throwing range.”
RICKY: “Is it true that she sneaked into Cornel Wilde’s hotel room disguised as a bellhop?”
A reference to “The Star Upstairs” (S4;E25).
RICKY: “And that commotion that that orange that she had Robert Taylor autograph at the Farmer’s Market.”
Curiously, there is no episode that features Taylor at the Farmer’s Market! It’s possible it was planned but never filmed due to Taylor being unavailable. The orange is mentioned later again later in this episode and in two subsequent episodes. Taylor had starred with Desi Arnaz on the 1943 film Bataan.
Richard Widmark (1914-2008) made his mark on Hollywood with his debut in the 1947 film Kiss of Death (1947) which earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. During his career he made more than 75 motion pictures and appeared in five Broadway plays. He was married to writer Jean Hazelwood, and was briefly the father-in-law of baseball legend Sandy Koufax. After Hazelwood’s death, he married Susan Blanchard, thus becoming son-in-law of Oscar Hammerstein II, a name frequently mentioned on “I Love Lucy.” Although in this episode he is depicted as a big game hunter – even pointing a gun at Lucy – by 1975 he had changes his views:
“I know I’ve made kind of a half-assed career out of violence, but I abhor violence. I am an ardent supporter of gun control.”
Forbidden from showing up at lunch, Lucy and Ethel take a Hollywood Bus Tour instead. Little do they know the tour would pass the Widmark home.
The tour route goes from the Hollywood Freeway to Downtown, up Wilshire Boulevard the Pacific Palisades, and through Brentwood, Bel Air, Holmby Hills, and (finally) Beverly Hills. The tour includes a look at the Pacific Ocean and LaBrea Tar Pits.
Lucy and Ethel board a Tanner Gray Line Motor Tour, which was an actual guided tour at the time. The Gray Line still operates sightseeing tours to this day.
Writers Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. actually took a Hollywood bus tour just to see what it was like. According to Madelyn, “The big event of the trip was seeing Pat O’Brien come out in his bathrobe to get the mail.”
This was Benny Rubin’s (the driver) only series appearance, although he was briefly seen on two episodes of “The Lucy Show” as well as the Desi Arnaz-produced sitcom “The Mothers-in-Law.”
Passengers on the bus include frequent extra Barbara Pepper and Audrey Bentz (the large woman who sits on Lucy). Bentz returned as an extra in the at the bullfights when “Lucy Goes To Mexico” in 1958. Pepper, a personal friend of Ball’s, has one of the funniest lines of the episode.
Stand-ins Renita Reachi and Bennett Green (both top left corner) are also aboard.
During the seat switching on the bus, Lucy darts back to her previously occupied location to find Pepper sitting there:
LUCY: “Pardon me, this seat is taken.”
PEPPER (not moving): “It sure is, honey.”Sitting directly behind Pepper is Joan Carey, a frequent background player who would later take over as Lucille Ball’s stand-in on “The Lucy Show.”
The tour bus driver (Benny Rubin) points out the homes of:
- Alan Ladd and Sue Carol were mentioned in “The Fashion Show.” Although Don Loper says she will be in the show, she does not actually appear. Their home is described by the driver as a “beautiful Colonial mansion.”
- Bob Hope, Lucille Ball’s film co-star who would guest-star in a season six episode of “I Love Lucy.”
- Clark Gable was the most-mentioned (but never seen) celebrity on the series.
- Shirley Temple’s old home. Lucy mentions she is now married to Mr. Black. The driver points out that the mailbox is a replica of one of Temple’s childhood dollhouses.
- Ava Gardner. Lucy adds that Gardner is recently back from Rome [filming The Barefoot Contessa] and that she only wears black lace lingerie.
- Joan Crawford. The driver describes her home as “Old English”. Crawford guest-starred on a 1978 episode of “The Lucy Show.”
- Betty Grable and Harry James would guest star on “Lucy Wins a Racehorse,” a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” The driver describes their home as a ‘ranch-type.’
More than any other, this episode features extensive outdoor (second unit) footage of Hollywood, and includes doubles for Lucy and Ethel. We see them boarding the bus (#134) and later walking towards what is supposed to be Richard Widmark’s house.
Richard Widmark didn’t feel comfortable using the exterior of his house for the second unit footage, so the home shown on screen is actually the Arnaz’s brand new Beverly Hills mansion at 1000 North Roxbury Drive. Although there really was a high wall around a portion of the property, the shots of Lucy scaling the wall and the home’s interior were filmed at the Desilu sound stage. For years after, Lucy and second husband Gary Morton had trouble with tourists climbing the wall to recreate this episode! Although the house still stands today, its exterior has been extensively remodeled.
Lucy scales the wall because she wants to get a Richard Widmark grapefruit to go along with the Robert Taylor-autographed orange.
Once inside, Lucy has to hide from the maid, played by Juney Ellis. Ellis had just appeared as a waitress in The Long, Long Trailer.
The room is decorated with big game trophies, which startle Lucy!
Lucy also has to contend with Widmark’s huge St. Bernard, Cap. It was widely known that the star had two weaknesses: kids and animals.
Naturally, Ricky and Widmark show up and Lucy has to hide, disguising herself as several of his big game trophies, including a rather animated bearskin rug!
While chatting with Ricky, Widmark gets in a plug for his new film A Prize of Gold, which was released a few months after this episode aired.
Naturally, the episode ends in true vaudeville-style, with Fred and Ethel bursting in dressed as attendants from the loony bin and throwing a net over Lucy!
By the way, the wild boar head on Widmark’s wall was first seen decorating the East 68th Street Athletic and Recreation Society where Ricky’s daddy shower takes place in “Ricky Has Labor Pains” (S2;E14).
FAST FORWARD!
In 2013, the TV show “Mike & Molly” did an episode titled “Poker
in the Front, Looker in the Back” (S4;E5) which had Molly (Melissa McCarthy) helping her mother (Swoosie Kurtz) scale the neighbor’s fence and being greeted by a dog on the other side.
Although the two storylines bear no resemblance to one another, the comic moment of scaling the fence instantly recalls Lucy and Ethel.
In a 1966 episode of “The Lucy Show” movie-mad Lucy Carmichael sold maps to the movie stars homes.
In the second episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1968, Lucy Carter and family are staying with Jack Benny in Palm Springs when a tour bus driven by one of TV’s most famous bus drivers (Ralph Kramden played by Jackie Gleason), pulls in for a picnic supper!
In 1980, Lucille Ball left CBS and went to work for NBC. The special designed to celebrate the new partnership, “Lucy Moves To NBC,” began with a tour bus driving through the very same neighborhood as in “The Tour” – the Arnaz home is once again used as the background.
In 1975, Lucy Collins took the bus to see one particular star – Dean Martin – at his Las Vegas home the MGM Grand, in “Lucy Gets Lucy.”
In 1978, Lucille Ball and Richard Widmark both appeared on the dais to tribute Henry Fonda in an AFI Salute. Other tributes were given by Lucy’s former co-stars Richard Burton, Kirk Douglas, Fred MacMurray, and James Stewart.
In Lucille Ball’s final film, Stone Pillow (1985), homeless Florabelle (Lucille Ball) is mistakenly herded onto a bus to a Brooklyn shelter and an overweight woman accidentally sits on her. This moment is reminiscent of what happened to Lucy Ricardo on the Hollywood tour bus.
In the 2001 film Rat Race, Cuba Gooding Jr. drives a tour bus full of Lucy look-a-likes!
In a scene deleted from the film (but included on the DVD extras), the bus-load of Lucys encounter a tour bus full of Rickys!
A bus tour of the stars homes can be found in Jamestown, New York (aka LucyTown Tours). In this case the only star is Lucille Ball and the only sights are her childhood homes. Lucy lived in a Celoron house (now on Lucy Lane) and in a Jamestown apartment building.
This Toronto tour bus got all wrapped up in “I Love Lucy”! [photo by Ben Roffelsen Photography]
A chip of brick from the wall of Lucille Ball’s home on Roxbury Drive. The wall was torn down in 1996, but the house remains.
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“Lucy Gets Into Pictures”
(S4;E19 ~ February 21, 1955) Directed by William Asher. Written by
Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed December 16, 1954 at Ren-Mar Studios. Rating: 51.7/68
Synopsis ~ Lucy finally gets her chance – she lands a part as a murdered showgirl in a Hollywood movie! But can she navigate the headpiece and her need for publicity?
As the episode opens, Lucy is mailing postcards home to brag about her (non-existent) film career.
Oops! In a rare blooper by Desi Arnaz, Ricky mentions Lillian Appleby rather than Carolyn Appleby. The character was named Lillian in her first appearance but re-named Carolyn thereafter.
The error was carried out on the prop postcard used on the show, which recently came up for bid on Ebay. It sold for over $1,200! Interestingly, the postcard credits “Color by Geo. E. Watson”. George Watson was also the name of the unseen barber shop quartet singer that Lucy replaces in “Lucy’s Show-Biz Swan Song” (S2;E12).
Ricky tries to talk Lucy out of wanting to be in movies by telling her to take adavantage of all that California has to offer. Somehow it works! Lucy remembers that she wanted to see Catalina, Pismo Beach, and Palm Springs.
RICKY: “Palm Springs! Even the President vacations there!”
President Dwight D. Eisenhower purchased a home there in February 1954 for the same reason that Desi Arnaz did – to play golf. They both played at Thunderbird Country Club, where Arnaz had a home near the 17th fairway. On the series, the gang are “In Palm Springs” just six weeks later where they meet movie star Rock Hudson.
Thanks to a chance meeting with former vaudeville partner Jimmy O’Connor, even the Mertzes are now making movies – a gay ‘90s picture.
The last straw for Lucy is when Bobby the Bellboy (Bob Jellison) announces he’s got a line in a picture, too!
To console her, Bobby reminds Lucy that country singer Champ Butler was discovered parking cars and Dorothy Lamour was once a department store elevator operator (both true). When she hears that Lana Turner was discovered sitting on a stool at nearby Schwab’s drugstore, Lucy decides to head down there and find fame!
She doesn’t get discovered, but she does end up eating three chocolate malts, two hot-fudge sundaes, a pineapple soda, and a banana split. Sadly, there is no actual scene set at Schwab’s, we just hear about it upon her return.
Schwab’s Pharmacy was a drug store located on Sunset Boulevard and was a popular hangout for movie actors and industry deal makers from the 1930’s through the 1950’s. Schwab’s also had a soda fountain serving ice cream and light meals. Unfortunately, it is just Hollywood legend that actress Lana Turner was discovered at Schwab’s. It was actually at another Sunset Boulevard establishment, the Top Hat Café. Schwab’s closed its doors in October 1983 and five years later, it was demolished to make way for a shopping center and movie theater.
At the start of scene two, Ricky is reading Variety when Fred and Ethel return from the studio. The headline is:
LOVE THOSE U.S. PIX ABROAD
In ‘Varietyese’ this translates that American movies are financially successful internationally.
Fred tells Ricky that while they were trying on their gay ‘90s wardrobe, Ethel was accused of stealing a bustle! This is a joke about the size of Ethel’s hips. A similar joke about Ethel and bustles was used in “Pioneer Women” (S1;E25).
Feeling sorry for Lucy, Ricky prevails upon Frank Williams, a director friend of his, to give Lucy a bit part as a show girl who is gunned down during a Ziegfeld-like routine choreographed to “A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody." The song was written by Irving Berlin in 1919 and became the theme song of Broadway’s Ziegfeld Follies.
However, the song was not included in the 1946 MGM film Ziegfeld Follies, which starred Lucille Ball wearing a similar pink-feathered costume. Instead, it ended up in Paramount’s Blue Skies starring Fred Astaire, also in 1946.
Lucy had previously cavorted around in a lampshade humming the tune in both the unaired pilot and “The Audition” (S1;E6).
Frank Williams, the director, was played by Lou Krugman, who was born in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1914. After this episode was filmed, Lucy sent him a telegram telling him how impressed she was with his acting. She rewarded him with appearances in “The Great Train Robbery,” “Lucy and Bob Hope,” and “Lucy Meets Orson Welles” as well as three episodes of "The Lucy Show.”
Ricky tells the director “She thinks she’s playing Camille. She’s been practicing dying all day long!” Ricky is referring to the tragic heroine of Camille, a 1936 MGM film based on the 1848 novel and 1852 play La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The film starred Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, and Lionel Barrymore. In “The Dancing Star” (S4;E27) during the song "How About You?” Van Johnson sings about “Greta Garbo’s looks” to which Lucy ad libs “Did you see ‘Camille’?”
As Ricky leaves Lucy on the set, he says that he is going to a meeting with Mr. Minnelli, an obvious reference to Vincente Minelli (Liza’s dad), who had just directed Lucy and Desi in 1953’s The Long, Long Trailer for MGM. But the episode is probably best remembered for Lucy’s haphazard navigation of an overly-large headdress.
Nick, the stagehand who brings Lucy the huge headdress is played by Louis Nicoletti, who appeared in many episodes, and also worked on the other side of the camera.
After several unsuccessful takes, the director decides to begin the scene after the show girl is shot and the body is covered and taken away on a stretcher.
When Lucy slides down the banister to come face to face with Mr. Richards, the stunt is helped by Lucille Ball riding a piece of fabric down the well-polished banister.
LUCY (to Director): “I tripped on my train. It was sort of a train trip.”
One of the other showgirls is named Maggie and has been reported to have been played by Onna Connor.
LUCY: “Wouldn’t you like to see me die?”
DIRECTOR: “Don’t tempt me.”One of the two orderlies who wheel out Lucy on the stretcher is played by Bennett Green, Desi’s camera and lighting stand-in and frequent day player.
Clever Lucy assures that her friends will still know it is her by writing her name on the underside of her shoes! When Mattel made a Barbie doll for this episode, they even remembered to include this funny little detail!
FAST FORWARD!
On December 2, 2016, CBS aired a colorized version of the episode, pairing it with “The ‘I Love Lucy’ Christmas Show.”
In Fall 1962, Lucille Ball and Lou Krugman reprised the scene of Lucy coming down the staircase with a large headdress in a CBS Opening Night Special.
Ten years later, Lucy Carmichael tried unsuccessfully to manage an extremely large headdress in “Lucy Helps Danny Thomas” (TLS S4;E7).
Just as in this episode, Lucy’s naïve ambition is her undoing!
Lucy would later do an impromptu fashion show to the song “A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody” on an episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1968.
PURCHASING ‘PICTURES’!
The dress Lucy wears in this opening scene was later recreated by The Franklin Mint for one of their porcelain dolls. Lucy is seen wearing this dress many times throughout seasons 3 and 4.
A Pretty Girl is Like A Melody, Barbie Doll, Bob Jellison, Carolyn Appleby, Champ Butler, Desi Arnaz, Dorothy Lamour, Ethel Mertz, Franklin Mint, Fred Mertz, Headdress, Hollywood, I love lucy, Irving Berlin, Lana Turner, Lou Krugman, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Ricky Ricardo, Schwab’s, showgirl, tv, Ziegfeld Follies -
“Ethel’s Hometown”
(S4;E16 ~ January 31, 1955) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed November 25, 1954 (the day before Thanksgiving) at Ren-Mar Studios. It was the 113th episode filmed. Rating: 53.1/69
[Despite the above photo, this episode has never been fully colorized.]
Synopsis ~ The last stop before Hollywood is Ethel’s hometown, where she is given the star treatment instead of Ricky. But Lucy has a plan to upstage her big moment in front of the whole town.
Before arriving in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the foursome have an overnight at the Texas Ann Motel in Amarillo where they hear Little Ricky’s first words via a (very expensive) long-distance phone call. Although we hear Little Ricky’s voice through the telephone, there are no insert shots of the character. The Texas Ann was a real-life motel located on the old Route 66. A second unit crew was sent out to film the Ricardo Pontiac driving the route and at the hotel. These scenes are generally cut or shortened in syndication.
Oops! Lucy must have decided to do the maid a favor. As the gang prepares to leave the motel both beds are made.
When they get to Albuquerque, they meet Ethel’s father, Will Potter and we learn that she was voted “Miss Albuquerque” (though Ethel stops him before he specifies the year) and that her former beaus were Hank Spear, Deke Arledge and Billy Hackett (Chick Chandler), who writes for the town paper, the Chronicle.
Although there is no mention of Ethel’s mother, she is mentioned in earlier episodes. Here, Ethel’s father even says “WE haven’t touched your room since you left.” He may be referring to her unseen mother or perhaps a housekeeper.
Irving Bacon (1893-1965) was a character actor who appeared in hundreds of films, mostly as bewildered small-town blue collar workers. He appeared in three Best Picture Oscar winners: It Happened One Night (1934), You Can’t Take It With You (1938), and Gone With The Wind (1939). In 1939 alone he made 35 films. On “I Love Lucy” he had already appeared as Mr. Willoughby in “The Marriage License” (S1;E26). He was in a total of seven films with Lucille Ball: The Bowery (1933), Broadway Bill (1934), I’ll Love You Always (1935), There Goes My Girl (1937), You Can’t Fool Your Wife (1940), A Girl, a Guy and a Gob (1941), and Look Who’s Laughing (1941). He died three weeks before his last appearance aired – an episode of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” on February 24, 1965.
Although he was playing Ethel’s father, Bacon was only eight years older than Vivian Vance! William Frawley (Fred Mertz) was six years older than Bacon!
This was Chick Chandler’s only series appearance, but he had done Blood Money (1933) with Lucille Ball and 16 feature films with co-star Irving Bacon between 1937 and 1954.
Oops! Ethel’s hands are clasped together when the group photo is taken but pressed flat together in the photo that’s actually printed in the newspaper.
When Fred is pounding out “Chopsticks” on his father-in-law’s upright piano, Lucy sarcastically calls him Liberace. The virtuoso pianist was previously mentioned in “The Diner” (S3;E27). He will be mentioned again in “The Hedda Hopper Story” (S4;E20). At the time of filming, he had his own variety show on NBC. Lucille Ball finally worked with Liberace on a 1970 episode of “Here’s Lucy.”
Everyone thinks it is Ethel who is going to California to become a star, not Ricky, and Ethel herself does nothing to dissuade them! The marquee of the Albuquerque Little Theatre reads:
“Ethel Mae Potter – We Never Forgot Her.”
However, in a earlier episode, Fred calls her Ethel Louise (Bill Frawley’s ex-wife), and another time she is called Ethel Roberta (Vivian’s actual middle name) by Lucy. After this, however, she remains Ethel Mae for the rest of the series. Not coincidentally, Vivian Vance’s mother’s name was Mae.
In this episode Ethel dons a Native American headdress. She previously dressed like a squaw when singing “Pass That Peace Pipe” with Ricky and Fred in “The Indian Show” (S2′E24).
Although Vivian Roberta Jones was born in Cherryvale, Kansas, she was raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and was introduced to acting at the Albuquerque Little Theatre, which is still in operation today. A founding member of the troupe, she played a vamp in This Thing Called Love and a nun in The Cradle Song. When she realized she wanted to pursue acting as a career, the group helped pay her way to New York City to study under Eva Le Gallienne. She took the stage name Vance in honor of her most supportive teacher. She had trouble finding stage work until she began a two-year stint in Oscar Hammerstein’s Music in the Air. She next understudied Ethel Merman in Anything Goes.
While appearing in The Voice of the Turtle at La Jolla Playhouse she was seen by Desi Arnaz who decided she was perfect for the role of Ethel Mertz.
In the episode, Ethel puts on a sort of ‘command performance’ at the Albuquerque Little Theatre, but Lucy, Ricky and Fred have plans to upstage her solo concert.
She first sings “Shortnin’ Bread” which is often thought of as a traditional plantation song but was actually written by poet James Whitcomb Riley in 1900. Next she launches into “My Hero” from the 1908 Straus operetta The Chocolate Soldier, based on the Shaw play Arms and the Man. It was famously sung by Nelson Eddy and Risë Stevens in the 1941 film adaptation.
In a 1968 episode of “Here’s Lucy” (guest-starring Shelley Winters) Gale Gordon also croons “Shortnin’ Bread.”
While Ethel sings downstage, unbeknownst to her an array of vaudeville gags is going on behind her back.
Danger! Man-eating tiger! “Hail, Tiger!”
Fred takes a bough!
Lucy’s costume was re-fashioned from her Marilyn Monroe dress just a few episodes back. She would wear it once again when she performs for the Queen of England – a real ‘command performance.’
Blooper Alert! When Fred is hauling the tallest and last of the trees across the stage behind Ethel, a leafy branch falls off at her feet! Vivian Vance pretends not to notice. When Billy Hackett brings Ricky, Fred, and Lucy onstage for a photograph, Lucy steps on it. She then gives it a quick but swift kick sending it across the stage out of view. You can see the branch in the above photo in front of Vivian Vance’s right foot.
In 1960, Desilu produced “Guestward, Ho!” for ABC TV which was set on a dude ranch in New Mexico. Originally designed as a series for Vivian Vance, it was reformatted and starred Joanne Dru in the role.
Much later on, the hit series “Breaking Bad” and its prequel “Better Call Saul” were set in and around Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The publicity photo on the right is an actual color photo, not colorized or retouched!
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