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European Faces in the Crowd
Oh, the people you meet while traveling through Europe! Several faces in the crowd include Nancy Kulp as a Cockney chambermaid in “Lucy Meets The Queen” (S5;E15 ~ 1/30/56), who would later play Miss Jane Hathaway on The Beverly Hillbillies. In “Lucy Gets a Paris Gown” (S5;E20 ~ 3/19/56) a passing fashion model is played by Georgia Holt. If that name is unfamiliar to you, she is more commonly known as Cher’s mom! When “Lucy Gets Homesick in Italy” (S5;E22 ~ 4/9/56), she meets an enterprising Italian lad named Giuseppe played by Bart Bradley (“She’s-a my birthday, too!”) He would later change his last name to Braverman and star in TV’s “Vega$.” Despite playing ‘foreigners’, all were American born!
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Season 6 Stars
By 1956 (the final season), the show was ‘must see TV’ and Lucy and Desi had no trouble convincing their famous friends to make guest appearances. Despite appearing on a rival network, Bob Hope kicked off the new season in “Lucy and Bob Hope” (S6;E1). Hope and Lucy had already done two films together. In return, the Ricardos and the Mertzes turned up on Hope’s NBC variety show. CITIZEN KANE Oscar winner Orson Welles was under contract to Desilu to film a pilot, so while on the backlot he appeared in “Lucy Meets Orson Welles” (S6;E3). Although Elsa Lanchester was an Academy Award-nominee for THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, she was paid just $2000 for her appearance in “Off To Florida” (S6;E6).
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“Little Ricky’s School Pageant”
(S6;E10 ~ December 17, 1956) Directed by James V. Kern. Written by
Madelyn Martin, Bob Carroll, Jr., Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf. Filmed October 25, 1956 at Ren-Mar Studio. Rating: 43.4/63
Synopsis ~ Little Ricky is cast as the lead in his school play, with Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel also getting into the act.
The day this episode first aired, actor Eddie Acuff died at age 53. His best-known recurring role was that of Mr. Beasley, the postman, in the Blondie movie series. He did three films with Lucille Ball: Next Time I Marry (1938), Without Love (1945), and Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949).
After more than five years on television, actors who worked on “I Love Lucy” could be seen most everywhere, on any night of the week, on any channel!
The day this episode was filmed (October 25, 1956), Elizabeth Patterson (Mrs. Trumbull) appeared on CBS’s “Playhouse 90″ in an episode titled “Rendezvous in Black”. Patterson’s final appearance as Mrs. Trumbull had aired two months previously.
On the same night, on ABC, “Wire Service” featured Lawrence Dobkin (left) and Ross Elliot (right), each of whom had done three episodes of “I Love Lucy.”
Finally, that night on NBC, “Lux Video Theatre” featured one of TV’s busiest character actors, Herb Vigran, who made time to appear in four episodes of “I Love Lucy.”
This is the first episode after the Ricardos and Mertzes trip to Florida and Cuba. The trunk that Lucy got locked inside of during “The Passports” (S5;E11) makes an appearance. Apparently it made the trip South after its European travels.
The episode opens with Fred and Little Ricky playing cowboys and Indians (”the last time Fred had hair”) and Lucy on the telephone with Carolyn Appleby. About her trip, Lucy says that she took cha-cha-cha lessons at the hotel which cost just $30 (”$10 a cha”). Lucy likens the cha-cha to the rumba and even demonstrates a few steps. In 1956 the Cha-Cha dance craze had just hit the United States. It was developed in Cuba in the early 1950s by composer Enrique Jorrín.
In 1954, Desi’s pianist Marco Rizo and Kevin Morgan released a song called “Cha-Cha-Cha” (“Sha-Sha-Sha”) which was actually a slow mambo rather than a cha-cha.
Ethel asks Lucy if they want to play bridge, despite previously stating she’d never play with Lucy again. The reason?
ETHEL: “Our television set is broken!”
This line instantly recalls an episode with not one, not two, but three broken televisions: “The Courtroom” (S2;E7, above).
Lucy calls Ricky “a regular Cuban Dr. Spock.” This is another reference to Dr. Benjamin Spock, the best-selling author and pediatrician. In “Nursery School” (S5;E9) Ricky reads from his 1946 book “Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care.”
Oops! As Lucy helps take off Little Ricky’s jacket, the front door of the apartment is open. In the next shot, Fred enters the apartment by opening the door.
Little Ricky’s teacher is named Miss Pringle. Like Caroline Appleby, Clifford Terry, and Jimmy Wilson’s overweight mother, these characters remain off-screen.
Hearing that the school wants parental participation, Ricky hopes he doesn’t have to cook Spanish food for 800 people at a school bazaar again. Now that would have made an interesting episode!
While listening to his son talk about the pageant, Ricky Sr. peruses a copy of The Fisherman magazine. Coincidentally, three episodes earlier, Fred perused the same copy of the same magazine while in Miami Beach about to go… fishing!
FOR MORE ABOUT THE MAGAZINES FEATURED ON THE SERIES CLICK HERE!
At first, Ricky thinks he will be asked to direct and produce the pageant, but the PTA assigns the job to Clifford Terry because he runs an orange juice stand and will provide free refreshments at intermission. Orange juice (or orangeade) is a beverage traditionally served at theater and cinema concessions. While seeing "The Most Happy Fella” during “Lucy’s Night in Town” (S6;E22), Lucy tries to get Ricky to vacate his seat by sending him out to the lobby for orangeade. Selling oranges in the theater dates back to Elizabethan times, when ‘orange-girls’ (generally prostitutes) sold the fruit to spectators.
Although the episode was filmed in front of a live studio audience, most of the actual pageant was filmed after the audience had gone home due to the amount of children involved and the technical demands.
The 10-minute pageant is entitled “The Enchanted Forest.”
In it, Ricky plays a Hollow Tree,
Fred plays Hippity-Hoppity the Frog,
Lucy is the Wicked Witch, and Ethel is the Fairy Princess.
Ricky says that Ethel got the role by default because she fits the costume worn by Jimmy Wilson’s mother last year. Lucy intimates that Mrs. Wilson was a plus-sized princess.
Little Ricky plays the leading role of Billy Brown. He was promoted from the ensemble when another little boy got ill.
His ‘sister’ Suzy Brown was played by Candy Rogers Schoenberg.
In addition, the cast of “The Enchanted Forest” consists of 12 gnomes, 12 bunnies, 3 dancing owls…
…and a skunk!
The scenery and choreography for the pageant were designed by Desi’s fishing buddy and friend Pepito Perez (aka Pepito the Clown) and his wife Joanne, who ran a nearby Dance Academy. For years afterward, Joanne used the Enchanted Forest backdrops for their productions of “Hansel and Gretel.” Their school also provided the two dozen other students for the pageant. Candy Rogers was their prize pupil so was rewarded with the lead.
Above is a rare rehearsal photo with the actors in their street clothes and the camera in the foreground.
“The show took 3 days to film. I was pretty distracted by the antics of Lucy in the background. I was the tallest bunny.” ~ Bonnie Brown
“I had such a blast shooting this. I got to meet the actor who played Wyatt Earp [Hugh O’Brien] on his popular western show! I was the blonde bunny with the curls and you can tell which one I am by the string my mother had sewn between the bunny ears. I was also one of the taller bunnies.” ~ Bonnie "Bonita” George
The routine with the bunnies (and possibly the gnomes and owls, too) was used by Joanne in other recitals. Pepito had appeared in the (then) un-aired “I Love Lucy” pilot as well as “The Audition” (S1;E6), where he did his clown act to help pad out an episode that was running short.
The frog and owl costumes is now on display at the Lucy-Desi Museum in Jamestown, New York.
Offstage / screen piano accompaniment (rumored by some to have been provided by Joanne Perez herself) plays "Funeral March of a Marionette” to underscore the entrance of the gnomes. The piece was written by Charles Gounod around 1879, but is probably more familiar as the theme tune of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” (1955). The music has since become synonymous with director Alfred Hitchcock.
The pageant (and the episode) ends with the entire cast singing a song called “The Witch Has Changed” while Lucy hovers haphazardly overhead on her broomstick.
“The Witch has changed from bad to good
And now she’s acting like she should.
She loves each child eternally
And she loves you and you and me!”
FAST FORWARD!
In 1989, Keith Thibodeaux (Little Ricky) told a reporter from the Chicago Tribune about this episode:
“I was in a school pageant and the script had me forgetting my lines,” Thibodeaux said. “But in real life I was distracted by all the other children on the set, especially the little girls, and I really couldn’t remember what I was supposed to say.” His TV parents, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, were not amused, on camera or off, when Little Ricky forgot how he was supposed to forget. That, Thibodeaux said, was typical of the uptight atmosphere on the set of “I Love Lucy.”
“Funeral March of a Marionette” is heard again “Lucy Meets the Mustache” (1960) when Lucy Ricardo wants to open a sealed letter Ricky has written to his Uncle Carlos in Cuba, so she tries a inserting a knitting needle under the flap, a method she says saw in an Alfred Hitchcock movie.
The music is used again – this time for comic effect – when in “Mr. and Mrs.” (a 1974 Lucille Ball Special), Lucy comes waddling in extremely pregnant. The underscoring emphasized her profile’s similarity to Alfred Hitchcock.
This is not the last time the group will get involved in a PTA show. In Westport, “Lucy Does the Tango” (S6;E20) for the PTA (hopefully without her pockets full of raw eggs).
On “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” Tallulah Bankhead is recruited to be part of the PTA show in the “The Celebrity Next Door” (1957).
Uncle Milty is convinced to be the headliner in the Western Frolics when “Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos” (1959).
On “The Lucy Show”, for a New Year’s Eve treat, Lucy and Viv revive the act they did for their kids PTA show: a silent movie sketch featuring Lucy as Charlie Chaplin.
INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S BOOK DAY – April 2nd
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“Lucy Gets Chummy with the Neighbors”
“Oh,
Lucy, you’re such a clown.” ~ Betty Ramsey(S6;E18 ~ February 18, 1957) Directed by William Asher. Written by
Madelyn Martin, Bob Carroll, Jr., Bob Schiller, and Bob Weiskopf. Filmed on January 10, 1957 at Ren-Mar Studios. Rating: 38.0/49
Synopsis ~ Lucy’s new neighbor, Betty Ramsey, talks her into buying all new furniture, and Ricky demands that she return it.
The episode introduces the Ricardo’s new Westport neighbors, the Ramseys, and indulges in one of Lucy’s favorite pastimes, redecorating! Series favorites Frank Nelson and Mary Jane Croft make their initial appearance as the Ramseys.
Betty Ramsey is played by Mary Jane Croft. Croft had appeared twice previously on the series, as socialite Cynthia Harcourt in “Lucy is Envious” (S3;E23) and as Evelyn Bigsby, the new mother sitting next to Lucy (and her cheese) on the plane in “Return Home from Europe” (S5;E26). She will play Betty Ramsey in a total of five episodes. She married producer Elliott Lewis in 1959. Croft went on to appear on both “The Lucy Show” and "Here’s Lucy,” both times using her own name as her character name. Her last appearance with Lucy was in the TV special "Lucy Calls the President” in 1977. Croft died in 1999.
We also meet Betty’s husband, Ralph, played by Frank Nelson, who had made numerous https://papermoonloveslucy.tumblr.com/post/627326646507175936/ray-ferrell on Lucille Ball’s radio show “My Favorite Husband.” He had also been in “Return Home from Europe” (S5;E26) with Croft, in addition to appearing in eight other episodes. Of those eight, three of them were as quiz master Freddie Fillmore, making Nelson the only actor to play two recurring roles on “I Love Lucy.” Ralph Ramsey worked at the Burton Warshman and Ramsey Agency, which was either a TV or ad agency. We also learn that Ralph is a member of the Westport Country Club and proposed the Ricardos’ name for membership. Nelson would play Ralph Ramsey in only one more episode, “Country Club Dance” (S6;E25), but would be featured as the Cruise Director of the RMS Caronia when “Lucy Takes a Cruise To Havana,” the very first episode of "The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour” in the fall of 1957. He would return for an episode of “The Lucy Show” in 1963. Later in life, he concentrated on voice work. He died in 1986.
Betty and Ralph have a son, Bruce, played by Ray Ferrell. The eight year-old would play Little Ricky’s neighbor and friend in two more episodes, one more than Frank Nelson, who played his dad. In 1959 he was a regular on the short-lived CBS sitcom satire “Peck’s Bad Girl.” He left show business in 1961 and died in 2006 at the age of 57.
The Ramsey home is exquisitely decorated with a framed print of Claude Monet’s “Cliff Walk at Pourville” (1882) on the wall in the foyer. The original painting currently resides at the Art Institute of Chicago.
In real-life Ramsey was the surname of writer Bob Weiskopf’s neighbors when he lived in Westport, although the first names were taken from Ralph and Betty Alswang, a Broadway designer and his wife who were integral in familiarizing writer Madelyn Pugh with Westport so that it could be realistically depicted on the small screen.
Coincidentally, in 1975 playwright / composer Richard O’Brien chose Ralph and Betty as the names of the newly married couple who appear at the start of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The new furniture that appeared in this and subsequent Connecticut-based shows (both "I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) was given to Desilu from the manufacturer. Many companies tried to get their products on the show because it was so popular. It was Desi’s idea to use two sofas back-to-back because of the fireplace. The short back-to-back sofas would soon be replaced with longer ones.
The wall clock frequently seen next to the door to the kitchen in the New York apartment turns up in the Connecticut furniture shop. It was an electric banjo clock made by the Trend Clock Company of Zeeland, Michigan.
This is the fifth set of new furniture the Ricardos had in the six years since the show started. The piano is the only piece of furniture to survive the entire series. Practically speaking, new furniture provided a visual face lift for a basically house-bound series assuring that viewers didn’t get bored with the ‘look’ of the show. This is not the last of Lucy’s penchant for buying new furniture: she continued her love for redecorating on a budget in both “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.”
When Lucy is told that what she thought were price tags are actually stock numbers, she has spent just $1,900 (including the little stool she buys for $24.50) after her 40% discount and trade-in allowance on her old furniture. After the scene fades out she continues to shop and runs her total up to $3,272.65, which would be like spending more than $30,000 in a furniture store today!
Oops! When Lucy finally tells Ricky that the total cost of the furniture is $3,272.65, Desi Arnaz makes a rare flub and repeats the total as $3,292.95, $20.30 more than Lucy had just said.
Parley Baer (Mr. Perry, the furniture store salesman), had previously played Mr. Reilly in “Ricky Needs an Agent” (S4;E29). He was seen in five episodes of ”The Lucy Show” and two of “Here’s Lucy.” He is perhaps best known for his recurring roles as Mayor Stoner on “The Andy Griffith Show” (filmed at Desilu) and Doc Appleby in "The Dukes of Hazzard.”
When trying to make an excuse for why the furniture has to be returned, Lucy tells Betty that she thinks Chinese modern would look better. This is a callback to “Lucy Tells the Truth” (S3;E6) when Lucy tells Carolyn Appleby her new Chinese modern furniture looks like “a bad dream you’d have after eating too much Chinese food.”
Calling the Mertzes, Lucy uses a handy flip-up telephone index. In the pre-digital era this ‘rolodex-type’ of mechanical index could be found on office desks and in the home next to the telephone.
Starting with this episode, Lucy wears her hair shorter. Her bun is not nearly as poofy or long. She liked the way her hair looked in this style, but the sponsors didn’t, so she quickly went back to her traditional bun.
In 1957 Lucy still has to dial zero and speak to the operator to call the Mertzes, who (at this point) are still living in New York City. She asks to be connected to SKyler 4-8098. This is the third and final telephone number that the Mertzes will have on the series before they move to Connecticut to join the Ricardos. Their previous numbers were CIrcle 1-2099, CIrcle 7-2099, and PLaza 5-6098. The first two letters matched number on the telephone dial and were originally chosen to match the names of New York City neighborhoods. The Ricardos and the Mertzes telephone numbers were continually changed to keep from airing broadcasting privately held telephone numbers.
When the misunderstanding about the between Betty and Lucy spreads to the boys, Ralph rescinds his offer for Ricky to appear on one of his agency’s TV shows, saying “We’ll get Cugat!” For the entire run of the series, Cuban bandleader Xavier Cugat’s name has been used for comic effect, depicting him as Ricky’s arch-rival, when in fact he was a friendly colleague and former employer of Desi Arnaz.
Under the heading “Westport Has No Staying Power,” a February 1957 issue of Confidential Magazine reported that the game show “Twenty-One” had edged out “I Love Lucy” that week adding that “it was the first time that ‘Lucy’ had ever been topped by a competing half-hour show.”
FAST FORWARD!
While furniture shopping in 1966, Lucy Carmichael mistakes the price and can’t afford her purchases, just like “Lucy Gets Chummy With The Neighbors”.
Claude Monet, Connecticut, Desi Arnaz, Ethel Mertz, Frank Nelson, Fred Mertz, Furniture, I love lucy, Keith Thibodeaux, Little Ricky, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Lucy Gets Chummy With the Neighbors, Lucy Ricardo, Mary Jane Croft, Parley Baer, Ramsey, Ray Ferrell, Ricky Ricardo, Vivian Vance, Westport, William Frawley, Xavier Cugat -
“Lucy’s Night in Town”
(S6;E22 ~ March 25, 1957) Directed by William Asher. Written by Madelyn Martin, Bob Carroll, Jr., Bob Schiller, and Bob Weiskopf. Filmed on February 21, 1957 at Ren-Mar Studios. Rating: 38.4/51
Synopsis ~ Lucy has tickets to a big Broadway musical, but she mistakenly got seats for the matinee instead of the evening show.
This episode takes the foursome to the Broadway musical The Most Happy Fella. Because the Arnazes were investors in the show the original cast album and show poster were used in the filming. The show was simultaneously playing at New York’s Imperial Theatre, although except for an establishing shot of the theatre’s exterior, the episode was filmed entirely in California.
Coincidentally, the Imperial Theatre was where Desi Arnaz made his Broadway debut in Too Many Girls (1939). In 1979, his daughter Lucie Arnaz also made her Broadway debut at the Imperial in They’re Playing Our Song. Vivian Vance appeared there in 1941’s Let’s Face It! starring Eve Arden. The 1,443 seat theater opened in 1923 and is still in operation today.
The episode utilized the Frank Loesser songs “Standin’ on the Corner,” “Big D,” and “Don’t Cry” – all sung by the original cast: Susan Johnson, John Henson, Alan J. Gilbert, Shorty Long, Roy Lazarus, and Art Lund. Although Robert Weede is billed on the marquee, he is not heard in any of the songs, nor is leading lady Jo Sullivan, the composer’s wife, although both were nominated for 1956 Tony Awards. This is not the first Frank Loesser musical to be featured on “I Love Lucy.” A scene from the 1955 film Guys and Dolls was inserted into the MGM executives show in “Lucy and the Dummy” (S5;E3), but was cut for syndication and the DVD.
Some Theatre Geek Nit-Picking:
- As they only have two tickets, the foursome decide that the girls will see the first half of the show, and the boys the second. In reality, however, The Most Happy Fella is a three act musical.
- In the episode, the intermission comes immediately after the song “Standin’ on the Corner,” but in reality this song is actually performed in the middle of Act One.
- “Don’t Cry” ends the show’s first act, but in the episode it opens the second half.
Little Ricky (Keith Thibodeaux) is sent to Bruce Ramsey’s for a sleep-over while his parents and godparents are having a night in town. Since relocating to Westport, the Ramseys seem to have replaced Mrs. Trumbull as Little Ricky’s go-to babysitter.
Lucy is seen ironing her Calaprint tablecloth, an item featured in several previous episodes before the move to Connecticut.
At Meegham’s Chop House, Lucy and Ethel order roast beef (medium) with mashed potatoes and Lima beans. The gang previously dined out in “Lucy Changes Her Mind” (S2;E21), where Lucy also initially orders roast beef before considering steak, just as she does here.
One of the diners in the background has been identified as Kay Garrett (nee John), who was a background player from 1948 until his death in 1960.
Lucy’s nutrition advice (designed to stall for time):
Everyone should chew their food 25 times before swallowing, just like the animals do, because hot food is bad for the stomach. You also should peel Lima beans to get the most out of them because the nutrients lie underneath the upper epidermis.
Lucy leaves her seat to get Ricky some orangeade and search for Ethel’s lost purse. Although the beverage is no longer commonly served, it was was once an extremely popular drink at theatres and cinemas. In “Little Ricky’s School Pageant” (S6;E10) the show’s directing chores are given to Clifford Terry, who owns an orangeade stand and promises to serve the drink free at intermission.
The gang had previously attended the theatre to for “Ethel’s Birthday” (S4;E8, above) to see the fictional “Over the Teacups.” Just as it is here, the home viewer’s point-of-view is of the audience, with only audio of the unseen stage action.
A scene from The Most Happy Fella. Something the TV viewers DIDN’T see!
Fred spends his day in the city collecting the rent money which (he says) he put in Ethel’s purse. The amount is just $500, which wouldn’t even be a third of a monthly rent payment today, let alone for an entire New York City brownstone. Ricky notes that Fred took from 10:30am till 7:30pm to collect the rents, and that the curtain time is 8:30pm, leaving them just under an hour to eat dinner. During the 1950s shows typically started at 8:30pm or even 8:45pm.
Joseph Kearns (Theatre Manager) returns to the series after playing psychiatrist Dr. Tom Robinson in “The Kleptomaniac” (S1;E27). Kearns was perhaps best remembered for playing George Wilson on “Dennis the Menace.” When he passed away in 1962, “Lucy” alumnus Gale Gordon stepped in to play the character’s brother, Henry.
LUCY: “After intermission, we’ll just stroll back in with the crowd. We still have our programs in our hands; nobody will stop us.”
“There was a time when ‘second-acting’ – sneaking into a Broadway theater at intermission before the second act – was as common as the cigarette break in the middle of a musical. It was a time-honored rite of passage, practiced by generations of starving actors and students of the theater. It required a confident air, a visible copy of Playbill and the belief that somewhere there would be a free seat. But today, when security is ultra-vigilant and shows are under pressure to sell out night after night, the practice has all but gone dark.” ~ The New York Times
The latecomers sharing the theater box with the gang are John Eldredge, who had appeared in The Marines Fly High (1940) with Lucille Ball, and Doris Packer, who later returned to play Paul Douglas’ prim secretary in “Lucy Wants a Career,” a 1959 episode of The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.” She was also in a 1963 episode of “The Lucy Show,” although she is probably best remembered for her recurring roles on “Leave it to Beaver” (1957-63) and “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” (1960-63).
There is also a couple sitting in the rear box. Paul Power returns to the series after presenting Ricky a ‘Best Dressed’ award at the end of “Changing the Boys’ Wardrobe” (S3;E10). He also appeared in three episodes of “The Lucy Show.” Leoda Richards will return to attend “Country Club Dance” (S6;E25) that introduces Barbara Eden as Diana Jordan. Richards appeared with Vivian Vance on Broadway in Anything Goes (1934) and would be glimpsed over Christopher Plummer’s shoulder during the party scene in the film The Sound Of Music (1965). Richards re-teamed with Lucy on four episodes of “The Lucy Show,” as well as the film Yours, Mine & Ours (1968).
Jody Warner (Usherette) was simultaneously playing the recurring role of Jean Jantzen on “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” (her screen debut) when she appeared in this episode. Paul Cristo was also seen in two episodes of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” and two of “The Lucy Show,” as well as the film Critic’s Choice (1963).
The woman who owns the purse Ethel mistakes for hers is played by Gladys Hurlbut, who had appeared with Lucy and Desi in their 1953 film The Long, Long Trailer.
Louis Nicoletti, a frequent “I Love Lucy” day player, plays the role of the Chop House Waiter.
1957, Broadway, CBS, Desi Arnaz, Doris Packer, Ethel, Frank Loesser, Fred, Gladys Hurlbut, I love lucy, Imperial Theatre, Jody Warner, John Eldredge, Joseph Kearns, Leoda RIchards, Louis Nicoletti, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Lucy’s Night in Town, Musical, Paul Cristo, Paul Power, Purse, Ricky, The Most Happy Fella, They’re Playing Our Song, Too Many Girls, tv, Vivian Vance, William Frawley -
“The Ricardos Dedicate a Statue”
(S6;E27 ~ May 6, 1957) Directed by William Asher. Written by
Madelyn Martin, Bob Carroll, Jr., Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf. Filmed April 4, 1957 at Ren-Mar Studio.
Rating: 35.6/56
Synopsis ~ Ricky has been chosen to dedicate a new Revolutionary War statue in the Westport Town Square. There’s a problem: Lucy has accidentally destroyed the one-of-a-kind sculpture!
After 179 episodes, “I Love Lucy” comes to an end, although the characters would continue to appear for three seasons in a series specials later known as "The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.”
Even through this was the last regular episode, it still ended with the announcer saying "Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz will be back next week.” It was, however, about six months before the the first “Comedy Hour” aired. Feeling they had taken the current format as far as they could, Desi Arnaz had pursued the idea of one hour specials with CBS for several seasons. Because the show was number one in the ratings, naturally they were reluctant. In the opening dialogue Lucy presciently says to Ethel that “Ricky’s getting mellow just as I’m running out of tricks.” Over 35 million viewers tuned in to watch this episode, not knowing it would be the end of an era.
This is the only time that Desi Arnaz, Jr. ever appeared on the show. In the final scene he stands in front of Vivian Vance, who asks him, “Are you having fun, honey?” Desi, Jr. went on to appear in the first few seasons of “Here’s Lucy” along with Lucie Arnaz. Despite persistent rumors, Lucie is not one of the little girls in the final scene. She never appeared on the series, unless you count the pilot episode, where Lucille Ball was several months pregnant!
Also in the crowd at the unveiling is actor Mike Lally, who appeared with Lucille Ball in 10 films between 1934 and 1963. He also was seen at the “Country Club Dance” (S6;E25) that featured Barbara Eden as Diana Jordan. Lally went on to appear in a 1965 episode of "The Lucy Show.” Arnaz family friend Suzie Meyer is also in the scene as are Lucy and Desi’s stand-ins Hazel Pierce and Bennett Green, both dressed in colonial costumes, as well as background player Art Howard.
Although this is the last episode of the half-hour series, Little Ricky (Keith Thibodeaux aka Richard Keith) will appear in all but one of the hour-long specials. In the above moment, Little Ricky has been getting into his daddy’s make-up kit!
This plot was inspired by the real Minuteman Statue that was dedicated in 1910 and still stands in Westport, Connecticut, today. When the Ricardos made the move to Connecticut, a reconnaissance mission reported back to Hollywood about real-life Westport locations that might be included in the storyline, and the Historical Society and the Minuteman Statue were among them. “After all,” writer Madelyn Pugh said, “if you have a real town, you don’t want to make a real boner.” The referenced Battle of Compo Hill was also taken from history, taking place on April 28, 1777.
The Yankee Doodle Day Celebration is staged by the Westport Historical Society on Jessup Green, just as it is in real-life (except that the actual location is spelled ‘Jesup’). In reality, the Minuteman Statue sits in the middle of an intersection two and a half miles away from Jesup Green, which is adjacent to the town library. The song "Yankee Doodle” was played by the ‘town band’ at the start of the unveiling ceremony.
Fred the dog finally gets a subplot! Ricky threatens to take Fred back to the pound “where we got him.” But Fred didn’t come from the pound. In “Little Ricky Gets a Dog” (S6;E14) we learn that he was one of the puppies from Billy Palmer’s litter.
Here Fred the dog gets extensive air time and is required to run up onto the sofa with Ricky’s chewed up speech in his mouth and hide his head under a cushion. He does the trick successfully, but after a quick cut to Lucy, the dog is suddenly on the other side of the sofa, indicating that there may have been a few attempts at getting the stunt right. Although the Ricardos continued to live in Westport for three more seasons of “Comedy Hours,” this is the last time we see Fred the dog. The canine character was played by Danny, a Cairn Terrier trained by Bob Blair and owned by Frank Inn.
When Fred the dog graduates from obedience school, Lucy warns Ricky that he’s learned obedience but that “he’s not ready for ‘The Ed Sullivan Show.’” Ed Sullivan hosted an immensely popular variety show on CBS from 1948 to 1971. Up until 1955 it was called “Toast of the Town.” In 1954, Sullivan’s show devoted an entire hour to “I Love Lucy.” Ed Sullivan was mentioned by Ricky in “The Ricardos Are Interviewed” (S5;E7).
The unseen sculptor is named Mr. Silvestri because Silvestri Studios of Los Angeles made the prop statues for the show. They specialize in making mannequins. The company is still in business today.
We learn that the Harry and Grace Munson live almost a mile away from the Ricardo house. There is a reference to next door neighbor Bruce Ramsey, whose parents Betty and Ralph live next door. Despite a public gathering of Westport citizens in the final scene, none of these characters show up! [It was more economical to hire background performers than featured actors!]
The last line of the series has Lucy paraphrasing a quote from John Greenleaf Whittier’s 1864 poem, “Barbara Frietschie,” about a Civil War Unionist who taunted Stonewall Jackson’s troops by waving the Union flag: “Shoot if you must this old gray head.” Lucy replaces the word “gray” with “red,” removing her tricorn hat and wig as she does so. Painted completely gray to resemble a statue, the reveal of Lucy’s flaming red locks (her trademark despite the hit series never being broadcast in color) gets a laugh from the studio audience.
Lucy Ricardo previously made herself into a sculpture – if only her head – in “Lucy Becomes a Sculptress” (S2;E15) back in 1953.
FAST FORWARD!
The Revolutionary War was fought again at the Colonial Inn, a new themed eatery in “Lucy and Viv Open a Restaurant” (TLS S2;E20). Lucy is George Washington, and Viv his wife Martha.
Genealogists say that the Father of Our Country is the 8th cousin 7 times removed to the Queen of Comedy!
Lucille Ball guest-starred on 1964′s “The Jack Benny Program” (S15;E2) as Mrs. Paul Revere. Benny played her husband.
In 1963′s “Lucy’s College Reunion” (TLS S2;E13) Lucy Carmichael and Viv steal a statue of the college’s founder during homecoming weekend.
In real life, Lucille Ball has been celebrated in statuary several times…
The new Lucille Ball statue (left) in Memorial Park, Celoron, New York, replaced the old one (right), a controversial installation dubbed “scary Lucy.”
Lucy waits patiently on a park bench located at 100 North Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California. Palm Springs was Lucille Ball’s second home.
Although first found at a Disney Theme Park, these statues of Lucy and Ricky can now be found at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame Plaza.
1957, Barbara Feietschie, Battle of Comp Hill, CBS, Desi Arnaz, Desi Arnaz Jr., Ed Sullivan, Ethel Mertz, Fred Mertz, Fred the dog, Hazel Pierce, I love lucy, Jesup Green, john greenleaf whittier, Lucie Arnaz, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Lucy Ricardo, Mike Lally, Minuteman Statue, Revolutionary War, Ricky Ricardo, Silvestri Studios, Suzie Meyer, tv, Vivian Vance, Westport Connecticut, Westport Historical Society, William Frawley, Yankee Doodle -
“The Séance”
(S1;E7 ~ November 26, 1951) Directed by Marc Daniels. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed October 19, 1951 at General Service Studios. Rating: 44.9/64
Synopsis ~ Lucy is obsessed with astrology and numerology just as Ricky is about to be interviewed by a producer who also believes heavily in the supernatural. To appease him, the gang hosts a séance to contact his dear departed Tilly.
This episode is based on an episode of Lucy’s radio show “My Favorite Husband” titled “Numerology,” which was first broadcast on Christmas Day 1948.
This episode went before the cameras just four days after the series premiered on Monday, October 15, 1951.
The day this episode was filmed the CBS Color System ended. The CBS field sequential color cameras broadcast 111 hours of live color over a 17 week period between June 24, 1951 and October 20, 1951. On October 19, less than a month after sales of the first CBS-made color receivers began, the Defense Production Administration asked CBS to suspend mass production of color receivers “to conserve material for defense” for the duration of the Korean emergency. They quickly complied, allowing RCA and NBC to get ahead on bringing color to television.
The date this episode first aired (November 26, 1951), Lucille and Desi had press photographs taken with their infant daughter at their San Fernando home.
The day after this episode was filmed, October 20, 1951, CBS debuted their ‘eye’ logo, which is still in use today.
Lucille Ball really dabbled in the supernatural and numerology as she does in this episode. Her great friend Carole Lombard’s mother once told her that he letter combination ‘AR’ was lucky for her because most of her fame came after being ‘ARnaz’ and ‘RicARdo.’ When the “I Love Lucy” characters’ surname was changed from ‘Lucy and Larry Lopez’ in the pilot (there was already a bandleader named Lopez) to ‘Lucy and Ricky Ricardo’ Lucy wanted the ‘AR’ combination somewhere in the name. After that, every character Lucille Ball played on TV had the lucky ‘AR’ in their last name: CARmichael in “The Lucy Show,” CARter in “Here’s Lucy,” and BARker in “Life With Lucy.” When Lucy was deciding whether or not to make the move from films to television, Lombard (who died in 1942) came to her in a dream and urged her to “give it a whirl.”
In numerology Lucy is a 3, Ricky is a 5, Ethel is a 7, and Mr. Merriweather is a 1 – all odd! We never learn what Fred’s number is (but we suspect he is also odd). Lucy calculates that Ricky’s numerology name really should be ‘Genevieve.’
Lucy catches the toast while making Ricky’s breakfast, but it is done without much fanfare.
While Lucy is looking up Ricky’s horoscope in the newspaper, a huge ad can be glimpsed for SUITS $28. The text above says “Misses / Half-Sizes” so these are not men’s suits, but women’s. Even so, that seems like a great sale – even for 1951!
This is the first episode in which a second cushion was added to Ricky’s side of the couch so Desi could appear taller than Lucy while sitting down.
Ricky’s line “Lucy! Don’t you like the way I vibrate?” (referring to psychic vibrations between himself and Lucy) is one of the more risqué lines in the series. Mr. Merriweather asking Lucy “Do you Ouija?” in hushed tones also carries enough double entendre to raise Ricky’s eyebrows.
Astrologically speaking, Lucy says she is a Taurus (April 20 to May 20), but in “Lucy’s Mother-in-Law” (S4;E7) she says she was born on August 6 (a Leo), Lucille Ball’s actual birthday. Ethel says that she’s a Leo just as Vivian Vance was in real life (born July 26), although the episode “Ethel’s Birthday” (S4;E8) was originally aired in late November (Scorpio). Ricky is said to be a Gemini (May 21 to June 21), although Desi Arnaz was actually a Pisces (born on March 2). Mr. Merriweather is a Scorpio.
On radio as on TV, Jay Novello guest starred as Mr. Merriweather, a theatrical producer (although we never hear what his is producing that Ricky is anxious to appear in). His office is decorated with busts of Shakespeare and Shaw and photographs of theatrical luminaries of days-gone-by. While this episode was written, filmed and aired, a revival of George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan was playing on Broadway. The Playbill also had a bust of Shaw on it!
Mr. Merriweather himself seems a relic from another era, mostly due to the old-fashioned way he dresses. In an early draft of the script his name was Mr. Simpson, although in the radio version he was known as Mr. Curry, the landlord.
Jay Novello (Mr. Merriweather) was born Michael Romano in Chicago in 1904 to Italian parents and was fluent in the language before learning English. He will return to the series to play the nervous Mr. Beecher in “The Sublease” (S3;E31), and Mario Orsatti, the “Visitor from Italy” (S6;E5). Novello made two appearances on “The Lucy Show,” once (unsurprisingly) as an Italian millionaire. Novello was married twice. Coincidentally, his second wife went by the nickname ‘Lucy’. In 1965 he played the recurring character Mayor Mario Lugatto on “McHale’s Navy.”
Oops! When Mr. Merriweather answers the phone in his office, you can see the shadow of the microphone on the wall behind him. When he hangs up, the mic shadow moves away in preparation for the Ricardos’ entrance.
In actuality, Ouija boards were used to communicate with the spirit world by moving a planchette around a board marked with letters of the alphabet. Today Ouija boards are sold by Hasbro, which holds a copyright on the name.
Ricky is not a believer in Lucy’s psychic pastimes, but he agrees to host the seance anyway.
LUCY: “You never can tell. Before the evening’s over we may see a spook!”
RICKY: “Don’t tell me you invited your mother.”
LUCY: “Well!”At this point in the series, this is just a typical mother-in-law joke. Mrs. McGillicuddy will not be introduced to the series until season four, just before the trip to Hollywood. She’s a dithering Mrs. Malaprop, but hardly spooky.
Ethel poses as ‘Medium Raya,’ if only for Fred’s joke “Well, done, Medium Raya!”
To escort Ethel as Medium Raya (aka Madam Mertzola), Fred wears a Tehran Shriner’s fez. The fraternal organization (a subset of the Masons) was founded in 1949 in Fresno, California.
LUCY: (introducing Ethel to Mr. Merriweather) “She’s psychopathic!”
This episode was rerun during Lucy’s maternity leave using a new flashback intro. Ethel tells Ricky that Lucy is down at the library looking up numerology because she thinks that according to numerology Little Ricky’s name should be ‘Mot Morenzi.’ Ricky says that no son of his will be named ‘Mot Morenzi.’ Ethel remarks that he should be glad, because when Lucy was added up the numbers incorrectly the name the name came out as ‘Xavier.’ This is an early reference to Desi Arnaz’s former employer (and Ricky Ricardo’s professional rival) Latin bandleader Xavier Cugat; one of many to come.
FAST FORWARD
In a 1960 episode of “Dennis the Menace,” the Ouija Board turned up again on CBS.
In a 1972 episode of “Here’s Lucy,” Lucy Carter hosted a seance for a medium played by Helen Hayes, who wanted to contact Napoleon and Josephine (Harry and Lucy).
In 2001, a Polish remake loosely based on “I Love Lucy” titled “Kocham Klara” (”I Love Clara”), presented “Showing” loosely based on this episode and co-written with the cooperation of the original “I Love Lucy” writers.
Clara has a fascination with numerology and spiritualism. Following the wrong horoscope, she ruins Cuba’s meeting with an important TV producer. Fortunately, the producer is also a fan of numerology. Clara organizes a séance, during which the producer contacts the spirit of someone very close to him.
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“Lucy Plays Cupid”
(S1;E15 ~ January 21, 1952) Directed by Marc Daniels. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed December 13, 1951 at General Service Studio. It was the 15th episode filmed. Rating: 51.8/73
Synopsis ~ The Ricardos’ spinster neighbor Miss Lewis thinks that eccentric grocer Mr. Ritter is the ‘bee’s knees,’ but when Lucy schemes to bring the two together, Mr. Ritter mistakenly thinks that Lucy only has eyes for him.
This episode is partly based on an episode of Lucy’s radio show “My Favorite Husband” titled “Valentine’s Day,” which aired on February 11, 1949. On radio, Mr. Ritter was a butcher named Mr. Dabney and the Miss Lewis character was Katie the maid. This was before Bea Benadaret joined the cast as Iris Atterbury.
This was the first of three episodes to be filmed within a two-week period so that the cast and crew could take a week off for Christmas.
Bea Benaderet (Miss Lewis) was considered the front-runner to be cast as Ethel Mertz, having already played Lucy’s best friend Iris Atterbury on “My Favorite Husband.” 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. Although Miss Lewis is supposed to be an elderly spinster, Benaderet was only 46 at the time, just five years older than Lucille Ball. In 1960 she voiced Betty Rubble on “The Flintstones” and two years later created the role of Pearl on "The Beverly Hillbillies.” The show proved so popular that CBS ordered a spin-off focused on Pearl herself. Those plans were later revised and the show became "Petticoat Junction” with Benaderet starring as Shady Rest Hotel proprietress Kate Bradley. She starred in the series until her death in 1968.
Like William Frawley, Edward Everett Horton (Mr. Ritter) got his start in vaudeville. He made his Broadway debut in 1910 and started doing films in Hollywood in 1922, eventually appearing in three movies with Lucille Ball including 1935’s Top Hat.He made his small screen debut in 1949, playing Sheridan Whiteside in a TV version of Broadway’s "The Man Who Came to Dinner.” In 1965 he played the recurring role of Chief Roaring Chicken on "F Troop” and the following year played Chief Screaming Chicken on "Batman.” He is probably best remembered as the narrator of Rocky and Bullwinkle’s "Fractured Fairy Tales” (1959-61). Horton’s final screen appearance was posthumously in the film Cold Turkey in 1971.
Mr. Ritter is a butcher.
William Frawley and Vivian Vance do not appear in this episode, nor are they even mentioned. Ricky does, however, mention Jerry, his agent. The only other episode in which both Fred and Ethel are absent is in “The Young Fans” (S1;E20 above), which has a similar theme. In that episode, the secondary characters are young, instead of old, but also mistakenly believe the Ricardos have a romantic interest in them.
This is yet another breakfast scene in which Lucy catches toast launched from the toaster.
Oops! In this scene, Desi Arnaz mistakenly calls ‘Miss’ Lewis ‘Mrs.’ Lewis.
MISS LEWIS: “Look, elderberry wine. I made it myself. It’s been fermenting since I was 21 years old.”
LUCY: “Twenty-one! Must have quite a tang by now.”
MISS LEWIS: “I thought Mr. Ritter and I could have a couple of belts before dinner.”One of Horton’s most famous roles is as Mr. Witherspoon in Arsenic and Old Lace (1944, above). In that film, Horton is offered poisoned elderberry wine by the amiable but murderous Brewster sisters, themselves elderly spinsters.
On "I Love Lucy,” Lucy messes with other people’s love life again in “Lucy is Matchmaker” (S2;E27) and “The Matchmaker” (S4;E4). She probably should have taken Ricky’s advice to “mess out.”
During Ricky’s payphone call (presumably from a local drug store), he stands next to a large cut-out of sponsor Philip Morris’ living mascot, Johnny the Bellhop (Johnny Roventini). Interestingly, the cutout holds an actual cigarette which Ricky non-nonchalantly plucks from the display and smokes during the short scene.
During season one, it was common to do specially-lit medium and close-up shots of Lucy and Desi. Above is a good example. This practice was discontinued because it was time-consuming and somewhat intrusive.
This is one of several episodes where Ricky spanks Lucy like a naughty child. He also ‘forbids’ her from passing along Miss Lewis’ dinner invitation to Mr. Ritter. Although such things seem unthinkable today, it helps to remember that this episode was filmed in 1951 and was based on an even earlier radio show. By the series conclusion in 1957, Lucy will be the one backing Ricky into a corner to do some ‘splainin’ in “Lucy Raises Tulips” (S6;E26).
Knowing Mr. Ritter “demands immaculate housekeeping” and likes good cooking, Lucy arranges the dinner date from hell. Dressed in a ratty cardigan and headband, she sloppily sets the card table with newspapers for a table cloth and wooden orange crates for chairs.
Oops! Publicity photos of the episode reveal that one of the crates says “Product of California” on it. A similar goof would occur during season five in “Paris at Last!” (S5;E18) when the props department puts a bottle of California wine on the table of a French café.
As an appetizer, Lucy serves tomato juice, still in the tin can with the sharp-edged lid hanging off. Lucy says she added a dash of Tobasco, although Mr. Ritter’s reaction confirms that she probably added more than a dash. Tabasco is the brand name of a hot sauce made from Tabasco peppers, vinegar, and salt. It is was first produced by the McIlhenny Company of Louisiana in 1898 and is still sold today.
Knowing Mr. Ritter doesn’t like children, Lucy trots out a stream of youngsters as her offspring. Mr. Ritter counts 25, although Lucy says six are missing. In reality, ten uncredited child performers were featured in the episode, one even dressed as a “little” Ricky playing a conga drum!
This was a year before Lucy gave birth to their son, who would eventually also play the conga drum.
Oops! When Miss Lewis and Lucy are talking, a cymbal is heard. A band member accidentally hit the cymbal. The nightclub set was adjacent to the apartment set and in early episodes, played music during scene changes and into commercial breaks.
Although this was the only appearance of Miss Lewis, she was occasionally mentioned as a tenant of 623 East 68th Street (#8 – “the Lewis apartment”). In one episode, Ricky borrows some ice cream from her. Mr. Ritter, however, will never be referred to or seen again. Supposedly, he and Miss Lewis strolled arm and arm into a happy ending! Can you name the other tenants seen in the above illustration?
Sitcom Logic Alert! Throughout her TV career, spinsters and little old ladies in “Lucy” sitcoms were generally depicted wearing dated clothing, presenting characters that were more stereotypical than realistic.
CollectCritter created this limited edition bear to commemorate the episode. Obviously, the Valentine’s Day theme has been played up, despite being absent from the episode.
Over the closing credits, announcer Johnny Jacobs gives Edward Everett Horton a special credit:
“We’d like to give our special thanks to Mr.
Edward Everett Horton for appearing with us tonight.”Bea Benadaret, meanwhile, gets a more straightforward mention:
“The part of Miss Lewis was played by Bea Benadaret.”
Although Benadaret was a busy radio personality – often going from one show to another in the same day – her experience in film was mostly limited to voicing characters for the Warner Brothers cartoons. Horton, on the other hand, had done over 100 feature films by 1951, three with Lucille Ball. His casting was quite a coup for the series. Thanks to television, it is Benadaret who is more familiar to modern audiences.
On this date (January 21) in 1971, Lucy will encounter another old man with dishonorable intentions when she guest stars on Danny Thomas’ “Make Room For Granddaddy” in an episode titled “Lucy and the Lecher” (S1;E16). To dissuade what she thinks are his amorous unwanted advances, Lucy Carter (in a cross-over from “Here’s Lucy”) decides to be less feminine, much as Lucy Ricardo does in 1952.
Editor’s Note: When asked if I have a ‘least favorite’ episode of the series – this would be it. Mr. Ritter’s lecherous advances, Ricky’s spanking of Lucy, and casting a youthful Bea Benadaret as a spinster, all are uncomfortable to watch, especially in the “Me Too” generation. On the plus side, this is the only time Horton and Benadaret will be seen with Lucille Ball on television – so it is good that this episode exists to document their work.
1952, Bea Benaderet, Casting, Desi Arnaz, Edward Everett Horton, Ethel Mertz, Fred Mertz, Gale Gordon, George Burns, Here’s Lucy, I love lucy, Johnny Roventini, Johnny the Bellboy, Lucille Ball, My Favorite Husband, Neighbors, Philip Morris, The Lucy Show, Tobasco, Tobasco Sauce, tv, Vivian Vance, William Frawley -
“The Young Fans”
(S1;E20 ~ February 25, 1952) Directed by Marc Daniels. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed January 18, 1952, at General Service Studios. It was the 20th episode filmed. Rating: 56.5/76
Synopsis ~ Two teenagers get crushes on Ricky and Lucy until the Ricardos help them see the grim realities of May / December courtships.
This episode is based on Lucy’s radio show “My Favorite Husband” #19, “George Attends a Teenage Dance” as well as #76 “Liz Teaches the Samba” broadcast in 1948 which also starred Richard Crenna.
The date this episode was filmed (1/18/52) Curly Howard (left) of The Three Stooges died. Lucille Ball (as a blonde) did their 1934 film Three Little Pigskins.
Like the similarly themed “Lucy Plays Cupid” (S1;E15) where an older couple takes a romantic interest in the Ricardos, the Mertzes do not appear in this episode. These are the only two episodes in which both Fred and Ethel do not appear and are not mentioned.
For 40 years this episode was attributed to the wrong director! Greg Oppenheimer author of Laughs, Luck and Lucy recently got this fixed.
Janet Waldo (Peggy Dawson) was actually pregnant during the episode. She went on to fame as the voice of daughter Judy on the animated series “The Jetsons” but she also voiced dozens of other cartoon characters including Penelope Pitstop and Granny Sweet.
She played Lucy’s sister on a 1963 episode of "The Lucy Show.” She died in 2016.
Richard Crenna (Arthur Morton) makes his television debut with this episode. The character is virtually a carbon copy of Walter Denton, the role he played for four years on radio’s “Our Miss Brooks” starring Eve Arden. In 1952, Desilu brought the show to television where Crenna recreated his role. He later starred in Desilu’s “The Real McCoys.” He would become one of Hollywood’s busiest actors, starring in "Vega$” and Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo films. He died in 2003.
In reality, Janet Waldo was 31 (just 3 years younger than Desi Arnaz) and Richard Crenna was 24 when they played the ‘teenagers.’ Peggy guesses that Ricky is pushing 23 (what she calls middle-aged), and Lucy replies “Yeah, he’s pushed it all the way to 35.” In real life, Desi Arnaz would turn 35 just five days after the episode first aired. It was also one day before William Frawley’s 65th birthday.
The episode opens with Lucy reading the New York Times. The projectile toaster launches toast in the air. Desi catches it, but it bounces off his right hand, brushes his face and lands in his left hand! It was generally Ricky who read the paper while Lucy caught the toast – and never missed!
When Ricky picks up the coffee pot a bit too quickly, it must have been full, since a spurt of coffee flies out of the spout!
Oops! Ricky accidentally spilled coffee on himself after Peggy startled him, but when Ricky runs back into the living room to find Lucy, his suit is dry.
Peggy describes Arthur as having curly hair, big sad eyes, and floppy ears and looking like Gregory Peck. Lucy says he sounds more like Lassie! At the time this episode was filmed both were huge box office stars: Peck had already been nominated for four Academy Awards and Lassie had made seven films.
Lucy attempts to give Arthur dance lessons but he ends up stepping on her toes, just as Lucy did to Fred when he was teaching her to Apache dance in “The Adagio” (S1;E12). Also in that episode, Jean-Valjean Raymond mistakes Lucy’s choreographic attentions for affection, just as Arthur does here.
After the dance lesson, Lucy (soaking her feet) tells Ricky that Arthur Morton is no Arthur Murray. Murray taught dance and franchised his dancing schools starting in 1925. He even had a television program from 1950 to 1960 called "The Arthur Murray Party.” The song “Cuban Pete,” which Ricky sang in “The Diet” (S1;E4), includes the line "And Cuban Pete don’t teach you in a hurry, like Arthur Murray.”
To scare off the tenacious teens, the Ricardos dress up as senior citizens in what would be a spooky hint at their future. By series end, Desi actually did have to put shoe black in his hair to hide the gray and Lucy wore a wig for most of her later career.
Another coincidence is that Arthur shares a surname with Lucy’s real-life second husband, Gary. Lucy really did end up as Mrs. Morton, after all!
As an old man, Ricky croaks out a few notes of “Babalu,” the second time the song has been heard on the series.
LUCY: He’s ba-ba’d his last lu.
Lucy instructs Peggy to jiggle Ricky’s legs to help his poor circulation due to rheumatism. Ricky remarks “You’re a much better jiggler than Lucy.” Even in 1952 the line carried more than a hint of sexual innuendo.
Seeing each other in old age make-up for the first time, Lucy says “I used to think I’d enjoy growing old with you but after this preview, you’d better grow old alone.” Although the Arnaz marriage would end in 1960, Lucy and Desi managed to remain friends and did indeed grow old together.
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“The Marriage License”
(S1;E26 ~ April 7, 1952) Directed by Marc Daniels. Written by
Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed February 28, 1952 at General Service Studio. Rating: 70.4/90
“The Marriage License” was the first episode of any television show to be viewed by 10 million homes!
Synopsis ~ After taking another look at her marriage license, Lucy is not sure that she and Ricky are man and wife.
This episode is based on episodes of Lucy’s radio show “My Favorite Husband” titled “Marriage License Error” aired January 21, 1949 and “Anniversary” aired April 16, 1950.
On the Ricardos’ marriage license Ricky is accidentally listed as Ricky Bicardi. In real life Desi Arnaz’s grandfather was one of the founding partners of the Bacardi Rum Company. Lucy wonders aloud if she might be married to a rum factory. (The writers spell the name slightly different than the company.) Legally, the marriage license probably should have listed Ricky’s full name Ricardo Alberto Fernando Ricardo y de Acha, not just Ricky Ricardo (or Ricky Bicardi).
Lucille Ball believed in keeping close to reality so the writers mention the Byram River Beagle Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, where the real-life couple had eloped on November 30, 1940. At the time, Desi was in New York appearing at various nightclubs, and Lucy was busy promoting a film. Just the same way Ricky has to get back for rehearsal, Desi had to perform that night so they went back to the NYC where he carried Lucy over the threshold of his dressing room. He brought Lucy out on stage with him, and the audience threw rice. Lucy and Desi would later have a second wedding ceremony on June 19, 1949 at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church in California.
When telephoning City Hall about the error on her license, the operator first directs Lucy to the Tailwaggers, thinking she is inquiring about a dog license. The Tailwaggers Club was an animal welfare organization founded in 1929. Bette Davis was the first president of its Southern California branch. In 1972 it became The Tailwaggers Foundation, which still operates today.
After finding out that their marriage license has been revoked (thanks to Fred’s friend at City Hall), Lucy goes on a twelve hour walk to East Orange, New Jersey. “How I ever got through the Holland Tunnel, I don’t know.” East Orange and the Holland Tunnel will be mentioned again three years later in “Lucy Learns to Drive” (S4;E11). Reportedly, she tried to make a u-turn in the Holland Tunnel resulting in traffic being tied up to East Orange, New Jersey.
When Ricky mutters in Spanish after Lucy heads downtown, this is the first and only time that subtitles broadly translate what he is saying. The rather large-sized text says “She’s nuts!” but the actual translation is: “Oh, this woman is completely crazy. Married for ten years and every year it gets worse and worse and worse.”
BERT WILLOUGHBY: “We licked ‘em in ’98 and we can do it again!”
Later in the episode, Mr. Willoughby hears Ricky’s Spanish tirade and calls him a spy, thinking he is speaking Russian! Spy paranoia was also the subject of “New Neighbors” (S1;E21) just a few weeks earlier. When Lucy corrects Mr. Willoughby that Ricky is speaking Spanish, not Russian, he says that “We licked ’em in ’98 and we can do it again!” He is referring to the Spanish–American War of 1898. Six years later in “Lucy Wins a Racehorse” (1958), Fred will make a similar reference when he compares Ricky’s explosive temper to the 1898 explosion of the Battleship Maine, the event that kicked off the war.
Ricky says it is a 125 mile drive to Greenwich, but we never learn where the car they drive comes from. Much is made of their buying a car to drive cross country in season four, but it is not likely that city dwellers like the Ricardos owned a car in season one. Whether it was rented or owned, it later cost just $3.25 to fully gas up the mystery vehicle.
Why didn’t Lucy and Desi get married in New York, where they both lived and worked?
Connecticut then had a shorter waiting time to get married and even that period was waived by the officiant. Greenwich is right over the New York border and the first town you hit driving from NYC. The Byram River Beagle Club was also a favorite hang out spot of Babe Ruth. History has this place as a speakeasy during prohibition days. Other than that it was used originally as a hunt and kennel club and hosted many horse shows. The last few decades it was used as a single family home before being razed. Little did the Ricardos know when they married in Connecticut they would move to the state in 1956.
Unlike Lucille and Desi, on “I Love Lucy” Lucy and Ricky never reach the Byram River Beagle Club because Ricky forgets to put gas in the car! Also, Lucy purposely left Ricky’s wallet at home to mirror their first wedding. So there are no scenes set at the Club, just at a bench in a wooded area and at the Eagle Hotel.
Oops! Actually, it’s roughly 30 miles from East 68th Street in Manhattan to the site of the Byram River Beagle Club, not 125. In addition, the location reverted to its original use as a private home around 1950, so by 1952 Lucy and Ricky would be trespassing! Lucy says they could “stay overnight” at the Club, when in actuality, it was not an Inn.
This is the first time the series gets out of New York City and we actually see trees and grass – even if they are just scenery on a Hollywood sound stage. Except for a short scene in Central Park during “Lucy’s Last Birthday” (S2;E25), we don’t see nature again until “The Camping Trip” (S2;E29).
When Ricky bungles his second marriage proposal, Lucy wounds him by saying she wouldn’t marry him if he were Xavier Cugat. Although the real-life Latin-American bandleader had employed Desi Arnaz in real life, on the series he was Ricky’s professional rival.
When Ricky rushes to follow an angry Lucy, the picnic basket opens, spilling the contents onto the ground, just the way Lucy’s suitcase does when Ricky is rushing his pregnant wife out of the apartment in “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (S2;E16).
When Ricky rushes to follow an angry Lucy, the picnic basket opens, spilling the contents onto the ground, just the way Lucy’s suitcase does when Ricky is rushing his pregnant wife out of the apartment in “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (S2;E16).
Lucy and Ricky stay at the slightly run-down Eagle Hotel managed by Mr. Bert Willoughby. The hotel and its eccentric proprietor are vaguely reminiscent of One Oak, the even more run-down hotel managed by the even more eccentric Mr. Skinner in “First Stop” (S4;E13). Rooms at the Eagle costs $4 a night while cabins at One Oak cost $8 per couple. Although the Eagle Hotel is likely a writers invention, there is an exclusive private school in Greenwich called the Eagle Hill School.
FOR A LOOK AT ALL THE HOTELS THE GANG STAYED AT, CLICK HERE!
The calendar behind the Eagle’s front desk says 1952, but the month has been purposely taped over. The episode was filmed on the last day of February, and not not aired until the beginning of April. Because Saturday the 1st only happened twice in 1952, it is likely that the month is March. Another redaction at the bottom center of the calendar is likely the logo of the business that distributed it. A photo tacked to the wall has been occasionally reported as a real photo of Lucy and Desi during World War II, but the resemblance to Lucy and Desi is not very strong and it does not match any other known photos of the celebrity couple.
A not-so-subtle plug for sponsor Philip Morris is worked in when Mr. Willoughby dons his bellboy cap. He shouts out the familiar call of their living mascot Johnny Roventini, but stops short of the full slogan: “Call for Philip — Gosh, I’ve heard that a thousand times but I just can’t remember what that fellow’s last name is.”
LUCY: “The real business in this town is selling hats!”
Irving Bacon (Bert Willoughby) was a minor 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. Additionally, he was in a total of seven films with Lucille Ball. He returned to the series as Ethel’s father, Will Potter, in “Ethel’s Hometown” (S4;E15), despite being only eight years older than Vivian Vance. He died three weeks before his last TV appearance – an episode of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” on February 24, 1965.
MRS. WILLOUGHBY: “I’m the mayor!”
Elizabeth Patterson (Mrs. Willoughby aka “Mother”) returned to the series a year later in the recurring role of Mrs. Trumbull, the Ricardos’ next-door neighbor and Little Ricky’s baby-sitter. The daughter of a Confederate soldier, ‘Patty’ (as she was known) started making films in 1926 with The Boy Friend, in which she re-created the role she played on Broadway the year before when it was called The Book of Charm. From 1913 to 1954 she appeared in 26 Broadway plays. She appeared in the 1941 film Tobacco Road, which also featured her co-star in this episode, Irving Bacon. She died in 1966 at the age of 90.
"I Love You Truly” was written by Carrie Jacobs-Bond and first published in 1901. It was sung in the film It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) and was frequently heard on TV (often satirically). It was one of the earliest songs composed by a woman to sell over one million copies.
FAST FORWARD TO THE VOWS!
Lucy Ricardo pretended to marry Milton Berle to elude Las Vegas jewel thieves in a 1959 Milton Berle special, one of the few times Lucille Ball played Lucy Ricardo outside of “I Love Lucy.”
In the movie theatres, Lucy got hitched several times. Here are Nicky and Tacy Collini in the film The Long, Long Trailer (1953).
They were also newlyweds in the 1956 film Forever Darling.
Lucille Ball was also a bride in the 1968 film Yours, Mine and Ours, but this time she was married to Van Johnson and wore blue!
Mame Dennis wed Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside (Robert Preston) in 1974′s musical Mame. The marriage didn’t last long. He was killed in an avalanche on their honeymoon!
As Mother Willoughby, Elizabeth Patterson shouts “Weeee!” as she throws rice at Lucy after her wedding ceremony.
In 1953′s “Lucy’s Last Birthday” (S2;E25) Elizabeth Patterson (now playing Mrs. Trumbull) shouts “Weeee!” as she threw confetti at Lucy during her birthday party.
Viv Bagley (Vivian Vance) sings a few bars of “I Love You Truly” when Lucy’s daughter “Chris Goes Steady” (TLS S2;E16) and it looks like a proposal may be imminent.
Lucy Carmichael throws a wedding for her sister Marge (Janet Waldo) in a 1963 episode of “The Lucy Show.”
Lucy Barker and her sister Audrey (Audrey Meadows) help her daughter Margo and son-in-law Ted renew their vows in a 1986 episode of “Life With Lucy.”
To make a few extra dollars, Lucy Carter becomes a wedding arranger to throw a big fat Greek wedding in a 1970 episode of “Here’s Lucy.”
The Franklin Mint commemorated this episode with a 16" vinyl Portrait Doll with articulated arms.
The Republic of Mali commemorated the episode with a sheet of colorized postage stamps.
In 2001, a Polish remake loosely based on “I Love Lucy” titled “Kocham Klara” (”I Love Clara”), presented “Marriage Revision” loosely based on this episode and co-written with the cooperation of the original “I Love Lucy” writers.
While cleaning her desk, Clara finds their wedding record and discovers with horror a mistake in her husband’s name. Together with Hanna, he wonders if their marriage is important, since, according to the birth certificate, she is not Cuba Zalapski’s wife, but Cuba Zapalski’s wife. So he goes to the Registry Office to find out. Cuba, who plays down the mistake in his name, decides to make a joke to Clara and calls his friend Jan, who works in the office. Desperate Clara returns home with information that their marriage is not valid. She decides that they must get married again, but before that, Cuba must propose to her again in the same place as before.
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