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GETTING OLD
May 20, 1949
“Getting Old” (aka “Liz Is Feeling Her Age”) is episode #44 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on May 20, 1949 on the CBS radio network.
Synopsis ~ Scanning her old high school yearbook, Liz decides she’s old, and everything George does to try to snap her out of it just makes things worse. George tries to convince Liz that she’s as glamourous as ever. His tactics misfire so George is forced to hire a psychiatrist.
Note: This episode partly inspired the “I Love Lucy” episode “The Inferiority Complex” (ILL S2;E18) aired on February 2, 1953, which also starred Gerard Mohr as a psychiatrist. In this case, however, the complex is replaced by fear of aging. There is another “My Favorite Husband” episode titled “Liz’s Inferiority Complex” (aka “Liz Develops an Inferiority Complex”) broadcast on February 3, 1951 which uses the notion of inferiority rather than aging. In that episode, the psychiatrist is played by Alan Reed.
“My Favorite Husband” was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942). “My Favorite Husband” was first broadcast as a one-time special on July 5, 1948. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch “My Favorite Husband” as a series. Bowman was not available Richard Denning was cast as George. On January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode Jell-O became its sponsor. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951. After about ten episodes had been written, writers Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer Jess Oppenheimer. In March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George’s boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benaderet was added as his wife, Iris. CBS brought “My Favorite Husband” to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Cooper. The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, running concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” It was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed (ironically) at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown.
MAIN CAST
Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.
Richard Denning (George Cooper) was born Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father’s garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the US Navy during World War II. He is best known for his roles in various science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Although he teamed with Lucille Ball on radio in “My Favorite Husband,” the two never acted together on screen. While “I Love Lucy” was on the air, he was seen on another CBS TV series, “Mr. & Mrs. North.” From 1968 to 1980 he played the Governor on “Hawaii 5-0″, his final role. He died in 1998 at age 84.
Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury) does not appear in this episode.
Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) was also later seen on “I Love Lucy.” She first played Mrs. Pomerantz (above right), a member of the surprise investigating committee for the Society Matrons League in “Pioneer Women” (ILL S1;E25), as one of the member of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (ILL S3;E3), and also played a nurse when “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16). She died in 1996 at the age of 96.
Bob LeMond (Announcer) also served as the announcer for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy”. When the long-lost pilot was finally discovered in 1990, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release.
GUEST CAST
Gerald Mohr Psychiatrist aka Charley ‘Chuck’ Stewart) also played psychiatrist Henry Molin, who masquerades as Ricky’s old friend Chuck Stewart in “The Inferiority Complex” (ILL S2;E18 ~ February 2, 1953), his only appearance on “I Love Lucy”. In return, Lucy and Desi appeared on his show “Sunday Showcase” that same year. He also made an appearance on “The Lucy Show” in “Lucy and Phil Harris” (TLS S6;E20 ~ February 5, 1968).
One of the few times an actor recreates his role in a television version of a radio script using the same name.
Bea Benadaret (Mrs. Annie Green) was considered the front-runner to be cast as Ethel Mertz but when “I Love Lucy” was ready to start production she was already playing a similar role on TV’s “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” so Vivian Vance was cast instead. On “I Love Lucy” she was cast as Lucy Ricardo’s spinster neighbor, Miss Lewis, in “Lucy Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15) in early 1952. Later, she was a success in her own show, “Petticoat Junction” as Shady Rest Hotel proprietress Kate Bradley. She starred in the series until her death in 1968.
This turn as an old lady may have given Lucille Ball the idea to cast her as elderly Miss Lewis on “I Love Lucy”.
EPISODE
ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers, Liz is over by the bookcase, with books spread out all around her.”
Liz tells George her club is having an old book sale. George warns her not to sell any of his book, especially ones he hasn’t finished yet. She finds one with a bookmark and he tells her to put it back on the shelf: some books are too heavy to finish in one sitting.
GEORGE: “What’s the name of it?”
LIZ: “’The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore’”
“The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore” was originally published in 1907, the third in a series of children’s books. There were 72 books in all, the first appearing in 1904 and the last in 1979. In 1953’s “The Camping Trip” (ILL S2;E29) Ethel referred to Lucy and Ricky as the Bobbsey Twins. In “No More Double Dates” (TLS S1;E21) they are mentioned again. They were authored by Laura Lee Hope, which was a pseudonym for a series of writers employed by the publisher.
Liz finds a book about how to play mahjong that George forgot to return to the library.
GEORGE: “When was it due?”
LIZ: “May 13th. 1936!”George wants to donate it to the sale, but Liz refuses to handle ‘hot’ merchandise. George sarcastically calls her Pear-Shape.
George is not referring to Liz’s figure, but to the character in the Dick Tracy comic strip named Pear-Shape Tone, who was part of the storyline from April to July 1949. He was a racketeer who would steal jewelry from his wealthier clients, then fence it to make a profit. One of his famous heists was referred to on “My Favorite Husband” in “Anniversary Presents” aired on May 13, 1949.
LIZ: “George, look! On the second shelf! ‘Little Men’ is leaning against ‘Little Women’! Oh, look, George! They’ve had a little pamphlet!”
“Little Women” (1868) and its sequel “Little Men” (1871) are books by Louisa May Alcott. A sequel was titled “Good Wives” (1869) but in America was combined with “Little Women” for publication. A third book (not a pamphlet) arrived in 1886 titled “Jo’s Boys.”
Liz finds the Arbutus, George’s old high school year book from 1929. George was a senior, Liz was a freshman. He reads some of the inscriptions from his friends. The book has a photo of Liz as a Freshman Princess – dimples in her knees.
LIZ: “I used to spend every evening kneeling on two collar buttons!”
Liz suddenly feels very old. She has turned from ‘a flower in the bloom of youth’ to ‘an old stink weed’. She starts to cry and decides to go to bed because old people need their rest.
In the morning Katie the Maid finds Liz gazing at herself in the mirror.
LIZ: “I haven’t felt so old since the day Shirley Temple got married.”
Former child star Shirley Temple married actor (and then Army Air Force Sergeant) John Agar on September 19, 1945, when she was just 17 years-old. At one time, Temple was one of Hollywood’s biggest box office stars. The marriage became troubled, and Temple divorced Agar on December 5, 1949. On December 16, 1950, Temple re-married to Charles Alden Black, a Navy intelligence officer and assistant to the President of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company.
George is concerned about Liz, so he visits a psychiatrist (Gerard Mohr). He tells her to flatter her and make her feel young again.
PSYCHIATRIST: “A few days of attention and you won’t be able to leave her alone without a sitter!”
George comes home and finds Liz in a rocking chair. He has brought her roses and candy. She begins to cry and is immediately suspicious of his motivations for bringing her gifts. She decides to go to her room – alone. George immediately starts to dial Dr. Stewart, humming while he does:
GEORGE: “Little Old Lady young and fair, you’re in everyone’s hair…”
The song “Little Old Lady” was a 1937 hit written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stanley Adams. It was also heard on stage and screen.
Dr. Stewart tells George that it is natural for a wife not to believe her husband. He suggests an outsider flattering her would be more convincing and he has just the person – himself! George reluctantly agrees and decides to say that Dr. Stewart is an old college friend. He will drop by at eight o’clock that evening.
When the doorbell rings, George announces him as Charley Stewart, who immediately takes Liz for George’s daughter. After some flattery, they decide to listen to the radio. Liz says her favorite she is “Life Begins at 80″.
“Life Begins at 80″ was a panel quiz show that aired on radio from 1948 to 1949, before making the shift to television in 1950. In it, octogenarians answered questions sent in by listeners. Jack Barry hosted.
Chuck insists that they play music and invites Liz to dance the Samba. After three hours, Chuck compliments her dancing, but George is getting impatient.
LIZ: “Treatment, George. Treatment!”
GEORGE: “It looks more like a treat than a treatment.”Chuck starts whispering amorous compliments into Liz’s ear just out of ear shot of George. He demands to know what’s going on.
LIZ: “Treatment, George! Treatment!”
GEORGE: “What do you know about treatment?”
LIZ: “Nothing. But whenever he says it you leave us alone.”George finally can’t take anymore and tells Liz the truth about Chuck being a psychiatrist, telling him to leave at once. After Chuck leaves, George finds Liz back in her rocking chair lamenting her old age.
Next day the phone rings and Katie answers it. It is George, checking up on Liz, who Katie reports is making out her will.
KATIE: “She’s leaving you to me!”
George has a plan. He’s going to bring home a real old lady – seventy year-old Mrs. Green – to show Liz how young she really is. Katie finds Liz happily singing.
KATIE: “What’s happened to ya? Last night you were Grandma Moses and now you’re Junior Miss!”
Grandma Moses (1860-1961) was an American folk artist who began painting at the age of 78 and is often cited as an example of a person who successfully began a career at an advanced age. In “Nursery School” (ILL S5;E9) Lucy Ricardo is so proud of Little Ricky’s first drawing, she dubs him the next “Grandpa Moses.” The Ricardos had two framed prints by Grandma Moses next to their front door: “So Long” and “The Old Snow Roller.”
Junior Miss is a collection of semi-autobiographical stories by Sally Benson first published in The New Yorker. Between 1929 and the end of 1941, the prolific Benson published 99 stories. She had a bestseller when Doubleday published her Junior Miss collection in 1941. The stories inspired a Broadway play (1941), film (1945), radio series starring the aforementioned Shirley Temple (1942), and television show (1957).
Liz tells Katie that she got a call from the Psychiatrist asking her out on a date. Katie says that since she’s now in a more upbeat mood, she’d better call George and tell him not to go through with his plan. But Liz has other ideas. Since he tricked her by brining home a psychiatrist, Liz will trick him by pretending to be an old lady when she brings Mrs. Green home!
Liz dons a shawl, eyeglasses, a gray wig, and talks with a creaky voice. Mrs. Annie Green (Bea Benadaret) and ‘Lizzie’ sit down for a chat. Whatever question Mrs. Green asks, Liz answers “Penicillin”! Lizzie tells Annie that she can’t dance because she’s got the gout.
LIZZIE: “I can’t dance any unless I get oiled. In my joints, I mean.”
ANNIE: “I’ve been oiled in few joints myself!”
LIZZIE: “Oh, Annie! You’re a caution! Just cuz ya got snow on the roof don’t mean there’s no fire in the furnace.”Annie tells Lizzie about a hot Bingo game in back of the Blue Bird Tea Shop (which just a front).
ANNIE: “Get your green eye shade and let’s go!”
LIZZIE: “I’ll get my wheelchair! We can ride down.”
ANNIE: “What model you got?”
LIZZIE: “A real hopped-up job; I hooked it to a Mixmaster. I had some speed trials yesterday.”
ANNIE: “What did ya make?”
LIZZIE: “Fourteen miles an hour and a bunt cake!”
In 1930, the Sunbeam Company introduced the Mixmaster mixer, the first mechanical mixer with two detachable beaters whose blades interlocked. Several attachments were available for the Mixmaster, including a juice extractor, drink mixer, meat grinder–food chopper, and slicer–shredder. The Mixmaster became the company’s flagship product for the next forty years.
George has had enough and tells Liz to stop, so she gives up the old lady act. She tells him she’s feeling better, but George lets it slip that he told Chuck to call and ask her out on a date. She’s distraught again and Annie and Lizzie toddle off to Bingo!
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JOHN EMERY
May 20, 1905
John Emery was born in New York City to stage actors Edward Emery and Isabel Waldron. He was educated at Long Island’s La Salle Military Academy.
Emery was in 22 Broadway shows between 1934 and 1960, including playing Benvolio to Basil Rathbone’s Romeo, Leartes to John Gielgud’s Hamlet, Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra starring Tallulah Bankhead, and the John Barrymore-like Tony Cavendish in a 1951 revival of The Royal Family, where on opening night he stumbled coming down a stair, tore ligaments in his ankle, and still played the last two acts!
He made his screen debut in James Whale’s 1939 film The Road Back (above left). He made his television debut on a February 1951 episode of “Pulitzer Prize Playhouse” titled “Mary of Scotland” with Helen Hayes in the title role.
On “I Love Lucy” he played Harold (or Sam) the Tramp in “The Quiz Show” (ILL S1;E5), filmed on October 5, 1951, and first aired on November 12, 1951.
The tramp shows up looking for a handout, just as Lucy is expecting the man from the radio show pretending to be her long-lost husband. When Lucy assumes he’s been sent by Freddy Fillmore, the Tramp just plays along!
Emery was also seen as a grouchy new tenant named Mr. Stewart in “Little Ricky Gets a Dog” (ILL S6;E14) filmed November 8, 1956 and first aired on January 21, 1957. He seems to be the only one standing in the way of Fred (the dog’s) happiness – making Fred (the landlord) pick between his godson and a rent check.
He also appeared as a doctor in Forever, Darling (1956), also starring Lucy and Desi.
In 1960 and 1961, he did episodes of Desilu’s “The Ann Sothern Show”, a series that also featured Lucille Ball playing Lucy Ricardo on one episode.
His final screen role was in 1964′s Youngblood Hawke.
From 1937 to 1941 he was married to tempestuous Tallulah Bankhead.
“In a way it was like the rise, decline and fall of the Roman Empire.” ~ John Emery, about his marriage to Bankhead
From 1961 until his death, Emery was romantically involved with actress Joan Bennett, who cared for him during his final illness. He died on November 16, 1964 at age 59.
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MILTON PARSONS
May 19, 1904
Ernest Milton Parsons was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1904. He appeared in more than 160 films and television shows between 1939 and 1978. He attended Boston University, where he participated in dramatics and me this future wife, Collette Humphrey. It was at Boston University where he also began writing, specializing in drama and journalism. Parsons appeared in four Broadway plays between 1930 and 1950, the last directed by Hume Cronyn.
He made his screen debut in 1939′s When Tomorrow Comes, playing (uncredited) Mr. Henderson, the organist. He was seen in four films with William Frawley (from 1941 to 1955), the most popular of which was 1942’s Roxie Hart starring Lucy’s pal Ginger Rogers. It was later the basis for the hit musical Chicago.
From 1948, Parsons and Lucille Ball shared something in common off screen: the community of Chatsworth, California, in the San Fernando Valley outside of Los Angeles. Around the same time the Anazes moved to Chatasworth, so did the Parsons’, who settled on Farralone Avenue in a home they wittily called “The Parsonage”. Parsons and his wife established a Chatsworth children’s theatre called the Cookie Jar Theatre. Parsons wrote and directed all their productions, even holding rehearsals (and sometimes performances) in his home. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were also residents, dubbing their home on Devonshire Drive “The Desilu Ranch.” The Cookie Jar Theatre closed around 1963, by which time Lucy and Desi had left Chatsworth for Beverly Hills. Parsons and his family remained as residents for the rest of his life.
Parsons made his television debut in April 1951 with an episode of “The Philco Television Playhouse” on NBC.
His very next project for television was playing Mr. Thurlow on “I Love Lucy” in “Ricky Thinks He’s Getting Bald” (ILL S1;E34) filmed on April 25, 1952, and first aired on June 2, 1952. “I’m not only the Hair Club president but I’m also a client!”
In 1957, he returned to Desilu for a day on their hit sitcom “December Bride” guest-starring Rudy Vallee.
A year later he was back for an episode of Desilu’s “Whirlybirds”.
In January 1960, he played a hotel clerk in an episode of Desilu’s “The Untouchables” titled “The St. Louis Story.”
In April 1961, he was seen on an episode of “The Jack Benny Program” which was filmed at Desilu.
In 1962, he made a brief appearance in the film version of The Music Man. Credited as ‘Farmer,’ it was his resemblance to the man in Grant Wood’s iconic painting “American Gothic” that got him the role. Robert Preston played the title character, and would play the male lead again when the musical film of Mame was made in 1974 starring Lucille Ball. The film also featured Ralph Hart (”The Lucy Show”), Charles Lane, Mary Wickes, Jesslyn Fax, Barbara Pepper, Ray Kellogg, and Max Showalter.
In September 1964, he appeared as a mysterious caretaker on an episode of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” which was filmed by Desilu.
His final screen appearance was in the 1977 TV movie “A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story.”
He died on May 15, 1980 at age 75.
In 2014, a short documentary of his life was created titled “The Face Is Familiar: Milton Parsons”.
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MURDER AT THE VANITIES
May 18, 1934
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Director: Mitchell Leisen
- Producer: E. Lloyd Sheldon for Paramount Pictures
- Writers: Carey Wilson and Joseph Gollomb, based on the play by Earl Carroll and Rufus King
Synopsis ~ Shortly before the curtain goes up at Earl Carroll’s Vanities, someone is attempting to injure leading lady Ann Ware, who wants to marry leading man Eric Lander. Stage manager Jack Ellery calls in his friend, policeman Bill Murdock, to help him investigate. They find the corpse of a murdered women. Bill suspects Eric of the crime, especially, after the second female lead Rita Ross told him she saw the women leaving from Eric’s room. Rita is shot onstage with Eric’s gun.
PRINCIPAL CAST
Carl Brissson (Eric Lander) was a Danish-born actor and singer making his only appearance with Lucille Ball. He would only make two more films before leaving film acting.
Victor McLaglen (Bill Murdock) would win an Oscar in 1936 for The Informer. He would be nominated again in 1953 for The Quiet Man. This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.
Jack Oakie (Jack Ellery) would be seen with Lucille Ball in That Girl From Paris (1936) as well as both Annabel films (1938).
Kitty Carlisle (Ann Ware) made her film debut in this movie. She later married playwright Moss Hart and became an arts advocate. She was also frequently seen on talk, quiz, and panel shows. This is her only appearance with Lucille Ball.
Dorothy Stickney (Norma Watson) was a stage and screen actress making her only appearance with Lucille Ball.
Gertrude Michael (Rita Ross) was also seen with Lucille Ball in Hold That Girl, released two months earlier.
Jessie Ralph (Mrs. Helene Smith) was also seen with Lucille Ball in the 1934 films The Affairs of Cellini and Nana. In 1936 they appeared together in Bunker Bean.
Charles Middleton (Homer Boothby) was also seen with Lucille Ball in The Bowery (1933), followed by Nana and Broadway Bill, both in 1934.
Gail Patrick (Sadie Evans) would also be seen with Lucille Ball in 1937′s Stage Door.
Donald Meek (Dr. Saunders) appeared with Lucille Ball in The Whole Town’s Talking and Old Man Rhythm (both in 1935), as well as Having Wonderful Time (1938), and Du Barry Was A Lady (1943).
Toby Wing (Nancy) makes her only appearance with Lucille Ball.
Duke Ellington (Himself) was a composer, orchestra leader, and one of music’s most legendary personalities. This is his only time performing with Lucille Ball.
UNCREDITED CAST
Lucille Ball (Earl Carroll Girl) makes her ninth film since coming to Hollywood in 1933. Although she started out as a Goldwyn Girl at RKO, here she is a Earl Carroll girl at Paramount.
Ann Sheridan (Lou, Earl Carroll Girl) went on to a successful acting career known for her roles in the films San Quentin, Angels with Dirty Faces, They Drive by Night, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Kings Row, Nora Prentiss, and I Was a Male War Bride.
Virginia Davis (Earl Carroll Girl), as a child actress, was Walt Disney’s original Alice in Wonderland in a series of silent shorts from 1923 to 1925.
Other Earl Carroll Girls: Ernestine Anderson, Lona Andre, Marion
Callahan, Nancy Caswell, Marguerite Caverley, Juanita Clay, Helen
Curtis, Virginia Davis, Dorothy Dawes, Winnie Flint, Barbara
Fritchie, Nora Gale, Zumetta Garnett, Gwenllian Gill, Ruth Hilliard (film debut),
Inez Howard, Billie Huber, Diane Hunter, Constance Jordan, Evelyn
Kelly, Patsy King, Iris Lancaster, Blanche McDonald, Leda Nicova,
Wanda Perry, Rita Rober, Laurie Shevlin, Gwynne
Shipman (film debut), Anya Taranda, Beryl Wallace (film debut), Dorothy White, Vivian Wilson,
Gladys YoungAlan Ladd (Chorus Boy) found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in Westerns, such as Shane and in films noir. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in films such as This Gun for Hire, The Glass Key, and The Blue Dahlia.
Shep Houghton (Chorus Boy) also appeared with Lucille Ball in such films as Too Many Girls (1940), Lured (1947), Easy Living (1949), and Critic’s Choice (1963). On TV he appeared on two episodes of “The Lucy Show” and one “Here’s Lucy.” He was one of the Winkie Guards in The Wizard of Oz and a Southern Dandy in Gone With The Wind, both in 1939.
Other Chorus Boys: Dave O’Brien, Dennis O’Keefe, Frank Sully
Dancers in Ebony Rhapsody: Lucille Battle, Mildred Boyd, Gladys
Henderson, Cleo Herndon, Ruth Scott, Carolynne SnowdenThe King’s Men (Lovely One Quartet)
OTHERS
- Colin Tapley (Stage Manager)
- Roy Crane (Assistant Stage Manager)
- William Arnold (Treasurer)
- Arthur Rankin (Assistant Treasurer)
- Betty Bethune (Charwoman)
- Howard M. Mitchell (Detective)
- Mike Donovan (Police Sergeant)
- Stanley Blystone (Policeman)
- Mary Gordon (Assistant Wardrobe Woman)
- Mildred Gover (Pearl)
- Hal Greene (Call Boy)
- Otto Hoffman (Walsh)
- Mitchell Leisen (Orchestra Leader)
- Charles McAvoy (Ben)
- Ted Oliver (Murdock’s Chauffeur)
- Teru Shimada (Koto)
- Cecil Weston (Miss Bernstein)
Many of the Earl Carroll Girls featured in the film were authentic cast members from Carroll’s stage show, which ran on Broadway from November 1933 to March 1934. These cast members were brought out to Hollywood from New York especially for this film, and many stayed to pursue film careers.
Earl Carrol Girls who appeared in the stage version of Murder at the Vanities, but not this film version, included Dudone Blumier, Eunice Coleman, Muriel Evans, Evalyn Knapp, Helene Madison, Lorna Rode and Marion Semle. Also in the cast was a Ruth Mann, who was probably Helen Mann.
The film was based on a Broadway production of the same name, but completely rewritten for the screen and with all new musical numbers.
In “The Audition” (ILL S1;E6) aired on November 19, 1951 Lucy says to Ricky: “I’ll bet if Ziegfeld or Earl Carroll had seen me, they’d sign me up like that!” She then puts a lampshade on her head and struts about the room in a moment recycled from the (then) unaired pilot.
This film contains a song and dance number called “Sweet Marijuana”. It got past the censors because at the time the film was made, the drug was not illegal. Today, many prints omit this production number all together.
The film also introduced the standard “Cocktails for Two” by Arthur Johnston and Sam Coslow.
Gimbels in New York did a promotion in connection with the film, selling Mojud Clari-phane stockings using images of some of the Earl Carroll Girls. Sadly, Lucille Ball is not among them!
The film was a box office disappointment for Paramount.
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LUCY IS RUTH-LESS!
May 18, 1946
On May 18, 1946, radio’s “Academy Award Theatre” presented a 30-minute version of My Sister Eileen, a 1942 film based on the 1940 play of the same title, which in turn was based on
a series of autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney originally published in The New Yorker.
The film was directed by Alexander Hall, one time fiancée of Lucille Ball and starred Rosalind Russell as Ruth Sherwood and Janet Blair as her sister Eileen. Russell and Blair both reprised their roles for this radio production.
As the program neared its conclusion, the announcer said that listeners could look forward to an all-new radio serialization of My Sister Eileen starring Lucille Ball as Ruth, with the script adapted by Arthur Kurlan. The newspapers (above) also picked up the item. Unfortunately, the show never materialized.
Instead, CBS created a similar series called My Friend Irma with Lucille Ball in mind for the lead. Writer Kurlan sued CBS for stealing his idea, citing the offer to Lucille Ball to play Irma as evidence. Ball was not cast and the role went to Marie Wilson. “Irma” premiered on radio in April 1947 and ran until August 1953, inspiring film and television adaptations. Instead, Lucille Ball created the role of Liz Cugat (later Liz Cooper) on the series “My Favorite Husband.”
1953 year was a busy year for Eileen, Lucy, and Irma. Kurlan finally settled his suit with CBS and My Sister Eileen was made into a Broadway musical, once again starring Roz Russell as Ruth, now re-titled Wonderful Town with music by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. The role won Russell a Tony Award and the cover of Time Magazine!
A year earlier CBS had moved “Irma” to TV, again starring Wilson, along with her radio co-star Gloria Gordon, who just happened to be the mother of Gale Gordon. If you’ve ever wondered why Mr. Mooney’s un-seen wife was named Irma, this is it! Wilson and Gloria Gordon had also starred in a 1949 film version of the show. “Irma” and “I Love Lucy” were both part of “Stars in the Eye” a November 1952 special celebrating the opening of CBS’s Television City facility.
In 1955, Hollywood re-made My Sister Eileen – without Russell, who was replaced by Betty Garrett. This was to become a bone of contention with Russell, who like Lucy’s friend Ethel Merman, was overlooked when her stage hits were turned into films. When her stage and screen triumph Auntie Mame was musicalized in 1964, Angela Lansbury played the title role. But both Angela and Roz were suitably suited when Lucy played the role on film in 1974.
Roz was not through with the material just yet. In 1958, she starred in a live television production of Wonderful Town for CBS.
But CBS wasn’t finished with My Sister Eileen just yet either. In May 1960 – the very same month that Lucy Ricardo made her final appearance – Eileen was made into a series starring stage dynamo Elaine Stritch. Like Merman and Russell before her – Stritch found that she was hot on stage, but not on film.
Wonderful Town was revived in London in 1986 (starring Maureen Lipman) and on Broadway in 2003 (starring Donna Murphy, succeeded by Brook Shields). Although Lucille Ball never got to play Ruth Sherwood, her daughter Lucie did – in several Los Angeles productions of the musical in the 1990s.
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VOGUE: $54,000,000 BONANZA
May 18, 1968
Lucille Ball was photographed by Alexis Waldeck for the May 1968 issue of Vogue (vol. 51, no. 9, whole no. 2199). The two-page spread (with unique upside-down orientation) also included text about Ball’s wealth.
“Always the cause of catastrophe, Lucille Ball, the only 100-carat woman comedian, swings between disaster and destruction on some Lucy program at least once a day. The recipient of a billion laughs since 1951, she has been paid about $54,000,000 for them. Her hair the color of pale candied carrots, her figure a size eight, she knows every nuance of her trade and she goes about it, with a team, as though she were sticking on a Band-Aid, when actually every low-down pratfall is calculated as an aorta replacement. A beautiful woman, she thinks nothing of screwing up her hair, sticking on shapeless shoes, a cleaning woman’s slobbery clothes for a show. When she left Jamestown, New York, she began working as a model for Hattie Carnegie, got $35 a week. As a Goldwyn Girl, a top show girl in the Eddie Cantor movie Roman Scandals, she got five times as much; but when she moved to the RKO lot she got $50 and in six years rose to $3,500. Good but not spectacular.”
(On radio she worked and learned from every fine comedian.) Although her television take is enormous, she likes to think of herself as a wife and mother who works rather than a product or a tycoon. As a tycoon, she sold the first I Love Lucy for about $6,000,000, the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse specials for about $12,000,000, the Lucy Desi specials for about $1,000,000, The Lucy Show for $10,000,000, Desilu Productions and studios last summer for $17,000,000, and for a couple more million the television agony The Untouchables, in which she did not appear, added a few odd million here and there for a bonanza of $54,000,000. Now she has a new production, this time with her seventeen-year-old daughter, Lucie, and her fifteen-year-old son, Desi Arnaz, in another Lucy situation comedy; in this one the plot has the family traveling around the United States – not a travelogue – actually using a custom-built truck costing about $250,000. But who counts? (*)
* Apparently by May 1968 the concept for what was to become “Here’s Lucy” had not been fully realized. Ball opened season two of the show with episodes on location. Perhaps these were intended to be a blue print for the entire series?
Waldeck’s photographs are even more stunning in color.
Footage from the shoot was used for the opening credit sequence of “Here’s Lucy”.
The cover of this issue features Katharine Ross, star of The Graduate.
The day after this issue was dated, Lucille Ball won her fourth (and final) competitive Emmy Award on a show broadcast on NBC from The Hollywood Palladium. “The Lucy Show” lost to “Get Smart,” which also earned its star Don Adams an Emmy.
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TV GUIDE: SURPRISE!
May 18, 1968
Lucille Ball’s surprise reunion with Vivian Vance on “The Mike Douglas Show” was the subject of an inside article in TV Guide on May 18, 1968.
The cover featured Mike Connors, star of “Mannix.”
“Mannix” was an hour-long crime drama that was saved from the scrap heap by Lucille Ball when she was in charge of Desilu Studios. CBS planned to cancel the show after one season, but Ball used her influence to convince them to renew it with the assurance that changes would be made. In the second season, Joe Mannix was changed into a more hard-boiled independent private detective. The changes worked and the series became a big hit running for eight seasons. It was the last successful TV show to be produced by Desilu.
Lucy prevailed upon Connors to play Mannix on “Here’s Lucy” in “Lucy and Mannix Are Held Hostage” (HL S4;E4), aired on October 4, 1971.
The article is about an episode of “The Mike Douglas Show” that aired on March 29, 1968. In addition to Vivian surprising Lucy, it also had Ozzie & Harriet Nelson as Mike’s co-hosts), Neil Diamond, and the Pearce Sisters. Two weeks earlier, “The Lucy Show” ended after six seasons on the air. Ball was busy re-formatting her show as “Here’s Lucy” for the fall.
That week, on Sunday May 19, 1968, Lucille Ball was part of the Emmy Awards telecast. She walked away a winner!
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SCREEN DIRECTOR’S PLAYHOUSE: MISS GRANT TAKES RICHMOND
May 19, 1950
Screen Directors Playhouse was a radio anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949. The radio program broadcast adaptations of films, and original directors of the films were sometimes involved, although their participation was usually limited to introducing the radio adaptations, and a brief “curtain call” with the cast and host at the end of the program. The series later had a brief run on television.
The radio version ran for 122 episodes and aired on NBC from January 9, 1949 to September 28, 1951 under several different titles: NBC Theater, Screen Director’s Guild Assignment, Screen Director’s Assignment and, as of July 1, 1949, Screen Director’s Playhouse.
This radio adaptation of “Miss Grant Takes Richmond” stars Lucille Ball in her original film role of Ellen Grant. It was directed by Bill Cairn, produced by Howard Wiley. Composer and conductor was Robert Armbruster. The script was adapted by Richard Allen Simmons. It aired on NBC radio on May 19, 1950. On February 22, 1951, “The Screen Guild Theater” broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie with William Holden reprising his film role.
Miss Grant Takes Richmond is a 1949 comedy film starring Lucille Ball and William Holden, directed by Lloyd Bacon and released by Columbia Pictures. It was released under the title Innocence is Bliss in the UK.
Rita Hayworth was going to star in the movie, but Hayworth requested script revisions, and went on suspension to avoid making it.
Synopsis ~ An inept secretary goes to work for a bogus real estate firm thinking it’s for real.
Note: The title is a pun on the historical fact that General Ulysses S. Grant ‘took back’ the city of Richmond, Virginia, from the Confederacy, who used it as their capital during the Civil War (April 1865).
CAST
Lucille Ball (Ellen Grant) previously appeared on Screen Directors Playhouse in “Her Husband’s Affairs” (May 22, 1949), a film she had also appeared in on screen. She will return for “A Foreign Affair” (March 1, 1951) in the role originated by Jean Arthur, and “Bachelor Mother” (March 8, 1951), taking the role originated by her friend Ginger Rogers. Miss Grant (1949) was Ball’s 72nd motion picture.
Lucille Ball repeats her film role of Ellen Grant.
Steve Dunne (Dick Richmond) replaced Howard Duff as the voice of the famous private eye in “The Adventures of Sam Spade,” the 1946-1951 radio series.
Dunne was in the film version, but he played the minor role of Ralph Winton.
Arthur Q. Bryan (Judge Ben Grant, Ellen’s Uncle) had appeared with Lucille Ball in Look Who’s Laughing (1941). He is best remembered as the original voice of Elmer Fudd in the Warner Brothers cartoons. He played Mr. Chambers, new owner of the Tropicana in “Ricky Loses His Voice” (ILL S2;E9) in 1952.
On screen, the role was played by George Cleveland.
Frank Nelson (Mr. Woodruff) was born on May 6, 1911 (three months before Lucille Ball) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He started working as a radio announcer at the age of 15. He later appeared on such popular radio shows as “The Great Gildersleeve,” “Burns and Allen,” “Fibber McGee & Molly”. and a dozen episodes of Lucille Ball’s “My Favorite Husband.” On “I Love Lucy” he holds the distinction of being the only actor to play two recurring roles: Freddie Fillmore and Ralph Ramsey, as well as six one-off characters, including the frazzled train conductor in “The Great Train Robbery” (ILL S5;E5), a character he repeated on “The Lucy Show.” Aside from Lucille Ball, Nelson is perhaps most associated with Jack Benny and was a fifteen-year regular on his radio and television programs, often playing store clerks like this one.
On screen, the role was played by Charles Lane, one of the few character actors that appeared as frequently as Nelson with Lucille Ball.
Herb Vigran (Mr. Kilcoyne) occasionally turned up on Lucille Ball’s radio show, “My Favorite Husband” (1948-50) in various roles. He appeared on “I Love Lucy” as Jule, Ricky’s music agent, in “The Saxophone” (ILL S2;E2) and “The Anniversary Present” (ILL S2;E3). He also played Mrs. Trumbull’s nephew Joe in “Never Do Business With Friends” (ILL S2;E31) and Al Sparks in “Lucy is Envious” (ILL S3;E23). He went on to appear on select episodes of “The Lucy Show” and Here’s Lucy.”
On screen, the role was played by Frank McHugh.
Jean Bates (Peggy Donato) was a model before becoming an actress, doing radio, TV and film. She worked from 1943 to 2001.
Norman Field was one of at least six actors to play Judge Hunter on the NBC-Radio soap, “One Man’s Family” (1932-50). He played Charlie’s school principal on “The Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show” (1939-56), Josh Chandler on “Dear John” (1940-44), Uncle George on “Meet Corliss Archer”, Inspector Danton on “Mystery Is My Hobby” (1947-49), and Judge Babson on “The Amazing Mr. Tutt” (1948).
Jimmy Wallington (Announcer)
Lloyd Bacon (Original Film Director Guest) was also a guest when three of his films were featured on “Screen Director’s Playhouse”: “You Were Meant For Me” (March 3, 1949), “Don’t Trust Your Husband” (September 23, 1949), and “It Happens Every Spring” (April 14, 1950).
EPISODE
From a busy typing pool headed by Mr. Woodruff (Frank Nelson), real estate employer Dick Richmond picks the inept Ellen Grant (Lucille Ball). He takes her back to the office and introduces her to Mr. Kilcoyne (Herb Vigran). Dick confides in Mr. Kilcoyne that he deliberately picked Miss Grant because she looks good but is pretty dim – the perfect cover for their bookie operation! Kilcoyne dictates to Ellen about some low cost housing. She tells him that no one can ever dictate too fast for her. If she misses a word, she just puts in a ‘doofer’ – something that’ll ‘do for’ now.
Ellen calls her Uncle Ben, a judge, to tell him about her new job. While she’s on the phone Peggy Donato barges in to see Dick. In the conference room, it is clear Peggy and Dick are in a relationship. Peggy is immediately suspicious of the new secretary. She is unhappy when she is rebuffed by Dick. Before leaving, she tells Ellen to give a message to Dick: Five thousand on the Flywell property at Belmont. Dick comes out of the conference room and tells Ellen that the low-cost housing project is off.
Ellen comes into the office with her Uncle Ben. She has arranged it so that Dick can buy the low-cost housing at a discount price. Judge Ben has even brought the papers. With no way out – Dick and Mr. Kilcoyne sign and the judge leaves. She suddenly remembers the message Peggy left for him. Alarmed, they check the papers and realize they owe Peggy fifty grand!
In the conference room, Dick and Mr. Kilcoyne conspire to make Ellen quit before they go bankrupt. To put the plan in action, Dick kisses Ellen. Indignant at his liberty, she promptly quits. She no sooner returns and says that she will stay on to see through the low-cost housing project – but no further hanky panky will be tolerated! The two men adjourn to the conference room!
End of Act One
A live commercial is for RCA television sets. The pitch involves getting a set that fits the consumer’s home.
In the second part, Ellen still doesn’t realize her employers are NOT in the real estate business. Dick has a plan to go ahead and build the houses – and skim the profits off the top to pay their debt to Peggy. Knowing her mental acumen is not great, Dick pitches a promotion to Ellen – heading up the housing project.
As boss, Ellen starts making silly decisions that frustrate her contractors. Ellen is getting frustrated when the project starts to fall apart – physically and financially. The project grinds to a halt.
Dick makes the ultimate sacrifice, he humbles himself to Peggy and take her back – personally and professionally. It isn’t long before the scheme works and the company is flush again. The conference room phone rings and it is someone looking to bet on a horse. She realizes she has been conned. Dick returns and Ellen quits, humiliated at being duped. Kilcoyne takes her aside and tells Ellen that Dick cares for her and is looking to go straight – but can’t get out of his relationship with Peggy.
Ellen bursts in on Peggy and Dick – gun pointed at her. She tells Peggy that she is mother of Dick’s children – and fires a warning shot. Peggy quickly gives him up and Dick and Ellen leave together.
In the car, Dick and Ellen. She makes it clear that she’s in charge from now on. Miss Grant just took Richmond!
End of Act Two
Lucille Ball and Jimmy Wallington do an RCA Victor commercial. She says she milks the cows at Chatsworth listening to her RCA record collection.
Lucille introduces the evening’s director Lloyd Bacon. Bacon says he started in movies 1915. Ball extolls his talents in directing. They bid the audience good night.
Wallington returns to say that next week will feature “Flamingo Road” starring Joan Crawford recreating her original role.
CREDITS
Thanks to Columbia Pictures, currently represented by No Sad Songs for Me
Lucille Ball can be heard on her own radio show and soon in the film The Fuller Brush Girl
Lloyd Bacon appears courtesy of 20th Century Fox, producers of Ticket To Tomahawk
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TV WEEK: THE INDESTRUCTIBLES
May 16, 1964
Lucille Ball, Andy Griffith, and Danny Thomas were depicted as the three musketeers on the cover of the May 16, 1964 Chicago Tribune’s TV Week supplement. The caricature was done by Tribune artist William Sajovic.
Interestingly, both Thomas and Griffith had hit shows that were filmed at or by Desilu Studios: “The Andy Griffith Show” and “The Danny Thomas Show” (aka “Make Room for Daddy”), so Ball was actually their landlord!
When Thomas’s show moved to CBS (and the old “I Love Lucy” time slot), the Ricardos and the Williams families did cross-over episodes on both their shows.
The Desilu world gets more incestuous when you realize that “The Andy Griffith Show” was actually a spin-off of “The Danny Thomas Show”!
During the “Here’s Lucy” years (1968-74), both Danny Thomas and Andy Griffith appeared as characters for their former landlady, but not the ones they created on their respective series.
Although not directly attributed, Sajovic’s artwork is definitely inspired by The Three Musketeers,
an 1844 historical novel by Alexandre Dumas.
A 1935 film version featured Lucille Ball in a small, uncredited role. Lucy got into full Musketeers regalia in “Lucy and Flip Go Legit” (HL S4;E1) in 1971.
ON THE COVER
‘The Indestructibles’ of Television
Finding three stars who have survived a combined total of three decades in television – older than the industry itself – is as rare as a royal flush in stud poker.
Nevertheless, in the case of Lucille Ball, Danny Thomas, and Andy Griffith, who occupy a two-hour bloc on CBS-TV Monday nights, it’s happened.
Deep within the recesses of the television industry, where tycoons run rampant and sons of millionaires run messages, this frolicsome three are referred to as “The Indestructibles.” And indestructible they have proven to be.
Their unique position inspired William Sajovic of The Tribune’s art staff to paint them for today’s TV Week cover. Lucille Ball [at 7:30 p.m.], as TVs queen of the merry widows, has been wearing her crown for 14 years.
The Lebanese wonder, Danny Thomas [at 8 p. m.], has a total of 12 years playing nightclub entertainer Danny Williams on the tube.
The neophyte member of this gregarious group is Andy Griffith [8:30 p.m.], who has brought more laughs than, law enforcement to the small community of May-berry during his four seasons as sheriff. We originally had Garry Moore, with his 12-year reign, in the cover group, but as of this writing be has decided not to return next year. That takes him out of the “indestructible” class.
Add them all [except Garry] together and what do you have? Thirty years of television talent continually concentrated for two consecutive hours every Monday night.
On Monday, May 18, 1964, viewers enjoyed a rerun of “Lucy Goes Duck Hunting” (HL S2;E6) first aired on November 4, 1963. The episode featured Keith Andes (above), who had also starred with Lucille Ball on Broadway in Wildcat (1960).
On May 19, 1964, Chicago area viewers saw Lucille Ball’s 55th film (and her personal favorite) The Big Street (1942).
The supplement is promoted above the masthead and the day’s headline. TV Week was added to the Saturday paper instead to boost weekend circulation.
Lucile Ball was a popular cover girl for the Chicago Trib’s TV Week. She was also on the cover just a month earlier to promote her TV special “Mr. and Mrs.” with Bob Hope. Other covers include: September 1956, November 1956, November 1957, October 1963, January 1965, March 1966, December 1967, May 1970, and June 1976.
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TOP OF MY HEAD: WAX OF BALL
May 16, 1964
Last summer I was engaged to write a one-hour special comedy program starring this glamorous bouquet of names: Jack Benny, Danny
Thomas, Garry Moore, Lucille Ball,
Andy Griffith, and Phil Silvers. (1)I am not going to single out any certain name, but one of these stars gave
me plenty of trouble. If I play my cards
right, I may never have to write for her
again.These six television personalities are
all under the sponsorship of one advertiser and appear weekly for separate
products in their own respective half hour niches. To herald the opening of a
new season a week before their first
shows appeared. General Foods gathered them all together into one huge
bowl to serve up a mighty chef’s salad.
It was only natural that some ham should
have slithered in.It was at once discernible to the writers that to accommodate this array of
disparate talent the script concept would
have to include two important factors.
One, a plot in which they would all be
concerned. Two, jokes distributed in
equal portions among the six performers. Give one comedian, working with a
group of other comedians, fewer lines
than the others and you have an actor
on your hands who, as rehearsals go
along, sinks lower than the second f in
Schrafft’s. (2)The plot we came up with was a simple and workable one. Five of our stars
see a news item in Variety that General
Foods has just hired Phil Silvers to do
a new half-hour show.“It is rumored,” says our Variety story,
“that General Foods may drop one of
the other five.” If that sounds contrived,
it was. We put a piece of paper into the
typewriter and contrived it. I don’t quite
know what critics mean when they write
that a story line was contrived. I like to
think it was conceived. We certainly
went through enough labor to bring it
into the world.In due course an outline in some depth
was written and presented to the advertising agency, and there was joy in all the
cubicles up at Benton and Bowles. They
phoned to say they had engaged as producer a man from the theater with a
long list of distinguished plays he had
nurtured through their out-of-town
tryouts to Broadway successes—Leland
Hayward. Mr. Hayward and I were to
make the trip to the West Coast and
articulate our outline to the stars. Which
we did, to unanimous approval. The
agency men were quite pleased, and at
lunch Ed Ebel, vice-president of General Foods, insisted I have a second
dessert.Then back we came and the script was
written. You know that line about everything being fine at the theater until the
curtain went up? In the purified vernacular of television, all heck broke
loose. Miss Ball found it highly incompatible with her public image to pretend
that she would worry about losing her job to Phil Silvers because everybody
knows she is president of Desilu Productions. She wanted a slight change—the
script to state explicitly that she is president of Desilu and she wasn’t worried.Well, this played hell with our premise
—excuse it, I’m getting steamed up now.
We watered the plot down to “although
Miss Ball was president of Desilu and
was not worried about losing her job she
would pretend to have some concern for
the other stars who might lose their jobs
and she would help get rid of Mr. Silvers.” Some of the enchantment of doing the show was now slipping away.
But it got worse. My good friend Jack
Benny, when he saw the changes, reminded us that everybody knows he’s
quite wealthy and he wouldn’t be worried about losing his job either. To keep
it from spreading through the cast, Mr.
Hayward explained that they were playing the parts of people about to lose
their jobs—a crisis with which viewers
can all identify.The point was finally made and the
script went into rehearsal. Word came
back to us from the Coast that Miss Ball,
who evidently wasn’t finding it very rewarding laugh-wise to be the public
image of president of Desilu, had ordered other changes into the script—
among them a scene with Mr. Silvers
known in burlesque as “Again I Turn” (3) —ending with the pie-in-the-face bit, in
which the president of Desilu pretended
to be an old scrubwoman.After the show went on the air I
heard to my sorrow that some viewers
found this scene quite hilarious. This I
can attribute to only one unfortunate
thing—Miss Ball happens to be one of
the country’s most talented and prolific
comediennes.The other Sunday night Miss Ball appeared in an hour show with Bob Hope. (4) She played, of all things, the president of
Desilu. Also, she was an actress for
Desilu. She appeared in one scene as
the actress trying on a top hat, white tie,
and tails.“This is what I wear in the magic act,
isn’t it?” she asked the tailor. “Where
are the tricks?""In the suit,” he replied, as the public
image of the Desilu president went off
gaily to a board of directors’ meeting.Well, if there was a message in a
television program, this was it. No sooner had she arrived at the meeting than
she removed the top hat, and there,
nestling in the hutch of all that red hair,
was a rabbit. Desilu stockholders will
please not assume that this is her public
image.Also, the very next night the president
of Desilu appeared in her usual weekly show. (5) The premise: “Lucy takes a job
as a summons server to earn vacation
money."~ GOODMAN ACE
Goodman Ace (1899-1982) was born as Goodman Aiskowitz, aka "Goody” (as he was known to friends) had a low-key, literate drollery and softly tart way of tweaking trends and pretenses made him one of the most sought after writers in radio and television from the 1930s through the 1960s. In 1957 and 1959 he was Emmy nominated for writing “The Perry Como Show.” He and his wife Jane had a long-lasting radio breakfast show called “Easy Aces” that transferred to television in 1949 – where it lasted just six months. As per his desires, “General Foods Opening Night” was the first and last time he collaborated with Lucille Ball.
This article appeared in the May 16, 1964 issue of Saturday Review, a weekly literary magazine published from 1920 to 1986.
Norman Cousins was the editor from 1940 to 1971. It was described as “a compendium of reportage, essays and criticism about current events, education, science, travel, the arts and other topics.”
FOOTNOTES TO HISTORY
(1) The TV special that Goodman Ace was employed to write was titled “Opening Night” airing September 23, 1963 on CBS starring Phil Silvers (“The New Phil Silvers Show”), Lucille Ball (“The Lucy Show”), Jack Benny (“The Jack Benny Program”), Andy Griffith (“The Andy Griffith Show”), Danny Thomas (“Make Room for Daddy”), and Garry Moore (”I’ve Got A Secret”).
(2) Schrafft’s was a chain of moderately priced New York restaurants which often attracted ladies who were out for shopping trips. It was one of the first restaurants to allow un-escorted females on a routine basis. In 1981, the Boston-based candy company that owned the chain ceased operations, leaving just a few remaining restaurants in private hands. Schrafft’s was mentioned in “Lucy Does the Tango” (ILL S6;E20) and ““Housewarming” (ILL S6;E23).
Ace writes “sinks lower than the second f in Schrafft’s”. This is a reference to the company’s distinctive logo.
(3) The vaudeville routine is most commonly known as “Slowly I Turned” or “Slowly I Turn” or even “Martha”, but not “Again I Turn,” as Goodman writes. Perhaps this mistake is intentional to show his displeasure of the age-old vaudeville routine being inserted into his script – or perhaps not. Lucille Ball had performed “Slowly I Turned” as Lucy Ricardo on “The Ballet” (ILL S1;E9) opposite Buffo the Clown (Frank J. Scannell) in 1952. This time, Lucy takes the role of the clown, and Phil Silvers is the one with the kind face. For plot purposes, Lucille is dressed as a charwoman.
(4) The show Goodman Ace is referring to was titled “Mr. and Mrs.” aka “The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour” and was aired on April 19, 1964. As he points out, the premise has Lucille Ball playing ‘Herself’ as the head of a studio named Consolidated Pictures (not Desilu). Like the real-life Ball, she also has a popular TV show in which she plays a wacky redhead named Bonnie Blakely (not Lucy Carmichael).
(5) Ace is referring to “Lucy is a Process Server” (TLS S2;E27) aired on April 20, 1964, in which Ball plays Lucy Carmichael, a single mother of two who takes a second job as a process server to make enough money to go on vacation with her best friend and roommate Viv (Vivian Vance). Her first summons must be served to Mr. Mooney.
Original 1964 article by Goodman Ace, transcribed verbatim. Footnotes by Michael T. Mooney.
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