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GEORGE REEVES
January 5, 1914
George Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer in Woolstock, Iowa. He is best known for his role as Superman in the television program “Adventures of Superman” (1952-58). His birth date is often listed as April 5, 1914, but that was born only five months after his parents’ wedding and it was not until adulthood that he learned the truth. To further confuse matters, his mother made a mistake when having the urn containing his ashes inscribed and it reads January 6 instead of January 5.
Reeves began acting and singing in high school and continued performing on stage as a student at Pasadena Junior College.
Reeves’s film career took off in 1939 when he was cast as Stuart Tarleton (incorrectly listed in the film’s credits as Brent Tarleton), one of Scarlett O’Hara’s suitors (with Fred Crane, above left) in Gone with the Wind. Reeves dyed his hair red to portray one of the Tarleton twins. Lucille Ball read for the role of Scarlet O’Hara, one of hundreds of Hollywood starlets that vied for the role. References to the novel and iconic film can be found throughout her sitcoms. Had she gotten the part, she would have been in the film with her future “I Love Lucy” actors Olin Howland, Irving Bacon, Alberto Morin, Shep Houghton,
Ralph Brooks, and Hans Moebus. Sam McDaniel, brother of Mammy portrayer Hattie McDaniel, would be the first and only person of color to speak on “I Love Lucy” as the Porter in “The Great Train Robbery” (ILL S5;E5). Lucille Ball would one day own the back lot where the movie was filmed!
Although Gone With the Wind was his first credited role in a feature film, a Warner Brothers short film titled Ride, Cowboy, Ride and the feature Espionage Agent were actually released three months earlier.
While studying acting at the Pasadena Playhouse in 1940, Reeves married Ellanora Needles, granddaughter of circus magnate John Robinson. They had no children and divorced 10 years later.
Before his television fame as Superman, Reeves enlisted in the US Army and appeared on Broadway in Winged Victory (1943) by Moss Hart (center). The cast featured actual service members, including Sergeant George Reeves (above, behind Phyllis Avery). He also appeared in the film version.
Reeves made his television debut on September 29, 1949 in an episode (now lost) of the suspense anthology series “The Clock.” Three weeks later he appeared in a second episode.
His first episode of “Adventures of Superman” was “Superman on Earth” aired on September 19, 1952. Ross Elliott, who played Ricky Ricardo’s Press Agent on “I Love Lucy”, was cast as Jor-El, Superman’s father, but was replaced by Robert Rockwell, famous for playing Mr. Boynton on “Our Miss Brooks”. Strangely, Elliott still receives screen credit. This first “Superman” also features Dani Sue Nolan, who was the wife of “I Love Lucy” director William Asher. Ironically, Asher did not direct the episode of “I Love Lucy” starring Reeves, which was staged by James V. Kern.
Reeves appeared in all 104 episodes over 6 seasons of the ABC TV series.
Initially shot and aired in black and white, the series (like “The Lucy Show”) was filmed in color starting with season 3. The first 26 episodes were filmed in 1951, the same year “I Love Lucy” started airing, but did not appear on television until 1952, when Kellogg’s Cereals agreed to sponsor the show. Reeves was 44 years old during the filming of the sixth and final season, making him the oldest actor to have ever played Clark Kent / Superman in live-action. Although the Superman costume was padded to make it appear that Reeves had greater bulk, he did most of his own stunts. The first season of the series was shot on the 40 Acres back lot that was part of RKO / Desilu Studios.
On November 15, 1956, Reeves filmed the now-iconic “I Love Lucy” episode “Lucy and Superman” (ILL S6;E13), which premiered on January 14, 1957. The episode was colorized on May 17, 2015.
Keith Thibodeaux (Little Ricky) has said that this was his favorite episode of the series. He later talked about meeting Reeves…
Reeves is never mentioned by name in the dialogue or in the original credits. Lucie Arnaz later theorized that this was in order not to destroy the illusion that Superman was real to the many children who watched the show. In syndication, an announcer end credit was added for Reeve. The logic about the absent billing, however, is odd since Reeves was always credited on his own show.
The final episode of the series was also Reeves’ final screen appearance. “All That Glitters” was also directed by Reeves, as were the previous two episodes.
His death on June 16, 1959, from a gunshot remains a controversial subject; the official finding was suicide, but some believe that he was murdered or the victim of an accidental shooting. He was 45 years old.
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COVER GIRL ‘47
January 5, 1947
On January 5, 1947, film star Lucille Ball was the cover girl of the Picture Section of the Chicago Sunday Tribune.
During Lucille Ball’s pre-television career, she continued to say that she was born in Butte, Montana, instead of Jamestown, New York. In fact, her family did spend a short time living outside Butte as part of her father’s job as a lineman for Bell Telephone. That didn’t seem eye-catching enough for a young Lucy, who made Butte her hometown and insisted her father was a mining tycoon! Another fallacy in her early bios is that she ‘made a place for herself on Broadway.’ In fact, her Broadway bound play Hey Diddle Diddle closed out of town and never reached the Great White Way. Lucy wouldn’t conquer Broadway until 1960 with Wildcat.
On the same date in another newspaper, Ball’s film Two Smart People (released June 1946) was trashed in a capsule review! Ouch!
Also making news on January 5, 1947, was a lawsuit filed by Lucille Ball against RCA Victor for prominently billing name on her husband’s record “Carnival in Rio”. Ball performed a short tongue-twister on the album, but insisted it did not reflect her true artistic abilities and sued for $100,000. She dropped the lawsuit in March 1947 after setting for ‘satisfactory’ compensation. Future releases of the record credited “Desi Arnaz and Friend.” 33 years later Ball would be under contract to NBC, a company owned by RCA.
Summing up 1946 and looking forward to 1947, columnist Jimmie Fidler saw Lucille Ball as Hollywood’s number one comedienne! This was a year before her radio show “My Favorite Husband” and more than four years prior to “I Love Lucy.” Fidler was spot on!
Less accurate, Erskine Johnson announced that Lucille Ball would be featured in the film version of The Hucksters. When the project started filming a few weeks later, Lucille Ball was not among the cast, which included Clark Gable and Ava Gardner, who played the role Erskine insisted would be taken by Ball. The MGM film was released in July 1947. Instead, Lucy filmed Her Husband’s Affairs for Columbia Pictures. It was released in November 1947.
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JESSLYN FAX
January 4, 1893
Jesslyn Fax was born in Toronto, Canada, on January 4, 1893. Her father, Jimmy Fax, was a noted Canadian actor and comedian. She began working with her father when she was 16, then left his troupe to work in vaudeville and traveling stock companies. She moved to Hollywood in 1949.
She is best known for playing the elderly Miss Hearing Aid in Rear Window (1954), Avis Grubb in The Music Man (1962), and Miss Hemphill in The Man Who Died Twice (1958).
She made her screen debut playing an uncredited role in the 1950 comedy Mrs. O’Malley and Mr. Malone. Next up, she made her television debut in a 1951 episode of “Hollywood Theatre Time” titled “Callahan’s Theatrical Boarding House” in which she played the maid.
LUCY: “Pardon, me. Where am I?”
FAX: “Where are you? What are you?”“I Love Lucy” fans will remember Fax as the woman on the Brooklyn subway platform in “The Loving Cup” (ILL S6;E12) aired on January 7, 1957 but filmed on November 1, 1956. This was her only appearance with Lucille Ball.
From 1953 to 1956 she played the recurring role of Angela Devon for 15 episodes of “Our Miss Brooks” starring Eve Arden and Gale Gordon, which was filmed at Desilu. She had also played the role on radio.
In May 1958, Fax did an episode of Desilu’s sitcom “December Bride” titled “The Capistrano Show.” In 1957, Executive Producer Desi Arnaz appeared as himself on an episode of the series.
In 1958, Fax did an episode of “The Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse” titled “The Time Element” which served as the inspiration for “The Twilight Zone.” The episode was hosted and Produced by Desi Arnaz.
In April 1960 she did an episode of Desilu’s “The Ann Sothern Show” titled “One for the Books” directed by James V. Kern, who had directed her on “I Love Lucy.” In 1959, Lucille Ball guest-starred on the series as Lucy Ricardo.
In September 1961 she did an episode of Desilu’s “The Real McCoys” titled “George’s Housekeeper” in which she played a character named Miss Trumbull (no relation to Elizabeth Patterson’s character on “I Love Lucy.”)
In February 1967, she played the role of Mrs. Nelson on an episode of “Gomer Pyle: USMC” titled “To Re-Enlist or Not To Re-Enlist”. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios.
A year earlier, Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors) made a cameo appearance on “The Lucy Show” (TLS S5;E9).
In November 1967, Fax was back on the Desilu lot to film an episode of “The Andy Griffith Show” titled “Andy’s Investment” in which Sheriff Taylor opens a laundromat.
Fax’s last screen appearance was in The Love God?, a 1969 film starring Don Knotts.
Fax died on February 16, 1975 at age 82.
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FIRST BIRD LEAVES THE NEST
January 4, 1970
On January 4, 1970, Associated Press syndicated columnist Cynthia Lowry published a story about Lucille Ball’s daughter, Lucie, leaving home, with updates on Ball’s career and her show. The article is reprinted below in its entirety, with quotes from Lucille Ball in bold italics. Footnotes (bold numbers in parentheses) have been added for historical perspective and photographs were selected for editorial enhancement.
~ by Cynthia Lowry (AP), Hollywood
The redhead with the showgirl’s figure was taking an afternoon dip in her pool and making a good effort at keeping a stiff upper lip: the first bird was about the leave the nest.
Lucie Desiree Arnaz, who was 18 last July, moved into her own apartment. Her bachelor-girl quarters are not far from home, but for Lucille Ball, as for any parent, it is an important milestone.
Little Lucie was born shortly before the premier of “I Love Lucy” in 1951 and grew up with the series. Now with 16 year-old Desi IV, who was almost born on the show, they are starting a second season co-starring on camera as Lucy’s children.
Wanted Children In Show
Lucille climbed out of the pool, into a terrycloth robe, and began reflecting about bringing up children in a show business family. “I wanted mine in the show because I thought it would teach them something, help them to decide what they wanted to do,” she said. “And I think it has."
Lucille Ball is a fine comedienne but it must never be forgotten that she is also a business woman who as president of Desilu learned about the practical side of television.
"From the beginning I wanted to keep them in the show for three years – that’s enough for experience and enough to build up enough shows for syndication later. I wanted them in the series for the same reason I want them out of it after three years. Then they can decide what comes next.” (1)
Hopes For College
She hopes it will be college for both if they want it. (2) Lucie, soft drink can In hand, joined her mother to report glowingly the results of a session with the wallpaper man at the new apartment.
“She’s just about stripped this place and her father’s house at Del Mar to furnish it,” said her mother proudly. “She’s handling the whole thing herself."
The comedienne brushed off almost carelessly questions about the roughest competition in her TV career from "Laugh-In.” Her own show, however, has stayed high on the Nielsen charts. This coming season Lucy and company will move out of the studio to make shows in distant spots.
Show New Look
“It gives the show a new look and does something for the performers,” Miss Bail said. “We did two shows at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. The weather was murderous – rain, snow, hail, sleet – you could see hail stones bouncing off people’s heads. We just kept on working through it for five hours. It doesn’t show on the screen as much as we thought.” (3)
The Ball base is the Beverly Hills home in which the children grew up, and the studio she once owned. Lucy and second husband Gary Morton have a week-end retreat in Palm Springs and are looking for a mountain home.
Wants A Lodge
“Gary and the children are always asking me what I want, and the other day I told them,” said Lucy. “I want a lodge, on a mountain, in the trees. I want a place with privacy, deep woods, rough beams and where you can chop wood."
Miss Ball wants to chop wood?
"No, Gary and Desi,” she said.
Gary, sitting close by, did not look enthusiastic, but smiled gamely. Lucy may like the rustic life but he prefers golf and tinkering with antique autos.
~FOOTNOTES~
(1) Lucie Arnaz stayed with “Here’s Lucy” for all six of its seasons, 1968-74. There was an attempt to spin-off her character (Kim Carter) into her own series, but the pilot did not sell and Arnaz returned to “Here’s Lucy”. Desi Arnaz Jr., however, left the show after season 3, 1968-71, to pursue his musical career. He returned for one episode in season 5.
(2) Neither Lucie nor Desi graduated from college. They both pursued entertainment careers after high school.
(3) “Here’s Lucy” went on location for the first four episodes of season 2. Episodes were set at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado, on the raging rapids of the Colorado River, and on a Native American reservation.
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WHICH HUSBAND DO YOU MEAN?
January 3, 1962
Lucille Ball gave an interview to Dick Kleiner of Newspaper Enterprise Association that was printed in newspapers on or about January 2, 1962. The article is reprinted verbatim below with added footnotes in parentheses for historical perspective and photos for editorial enhancement. Quotes by Lucille Ball are in bold italics.
Richard Arthur Kleiner (1921-2002) was an American columnist whose question-and-answer column “Ask Dick Kleiner” appeared in hundreds of newspapers across the country. Kleiner wrote about Broadway for fifteen years, then switched to covering Hollywood in 1964. He was syndicated by Newspaper Enterprise Association, interviewing thousands of stars.
Lucille Ball’s blush clashed frightfully with her orange and lavender stretch slacks.
But it was hard for her to keep from blushing after her remark, which is known, technically, as a “boo-boo."
The question had been, "Do you plan to do any work with your husband?"
Lucy sailed right into her answer. "I don’t think so,” she said. “You see, nowadays he’s more interested in producing and directing and isn’t acting as much as he—"
Then she stopped and there was a slightly sick look on her beautiful face.
"Did you mean Desi or Gary?” she asked.
“Gary."
"Oh."
The blush started. "I was sure you meant Desi."
* * * * *
The blush spread. It clashed with her coral lipstick, too. But she recovered beautifully. In fact, she burst out into that wild, ringing laugh which her fans know so well.
"You know,” she said, “these things have been happening to me. Three days after Gary and I were married, l was in the elevator here in the apartment. And the operator said. ‘How is Mrs. Morton today?’ I said, ‘Well, you know I don’t get to meet many people in the building.’ And then realized he meant me. So I said, ‘Oh, I’m fine, thank you’. He gave me the oddest look.” (1)
* * * * *
The blush began to recede. The tall redhead seemed to be part of the interior decoration of her apartment. She was the splash of color the room needed; her walls, carpet, furniture, are all in shades of pale green, and against that wan background her color and costume stood out like a well thumb.
She was eating a bowl of prunes. "I’m on a diet, just grapefruit, prunes, meat and coffee; it makes me tired, but I feel great."
And she was full of plans for her future. She ticked off the movies and TV specials she wants to do, starting with "The Good Years” on CBS-TV January 12. (2)
“I’ve had so many offers,” she said. “I can do almost anything I want to do and that s a nice feeling. Any TV series or spectacular I want to do. But I don’t think I’ll do a TV series again. It s too much work.” (3)
She says she likes to keep busy, because she’s the kind who just can’t sit around on her pale green furniture and wither.
"I don’t have any plans or desire to retire,” she says: “I’m going to die when I’m 69 of a cerebral hemorrhage and I’ll be working right up to then.” (4)
One thing she doesn’t want to do is go outside her own field. She’s had several chances to try straight dramatic parts, but she’s turned them all down.
* * * * *
“I have no desire to do a dramatic part.” she says. “That would spoil the magic, and I don’t want, to do that.” (5)
By “spoiling the magic,” she meant that she has a place in the hearts of the public with her comedy. It’s a place she richly deserves and has long wanted to occupy.
“Even as a kid,” she says. “I liked to be funny. At the time, I thought it was because I liked to be funny. But now, after reading all these autobiographies of show people, I realize it was because I was insecure and wanted to be liked. So I tried to make people laugh. It’s amazing what a great psychologist I was as a kid."
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FOOTNOTES
(1) It is apparent that Lucille Ball is giving this interview in her New York City apartment. She resided at the Imperial House, located at 150 East 69th Street.
(2) “The Good Years” was an adaptation of the book of the same name by Walter Lord about the first two decades of the 20th century. Ball co-starred with Henry Fonda. Billed as her return to network television, it aired on January 12, 1962.
(3) As history knows, Ball was soon convinced to return to series television just a few months after this interview was published. The show would be titled “The Lucy Show” and aired until 1968. Although the workload never lessened, Ball immediately followed up with “Here’s Lucy.” Undaunted, in 1986, she made a third and final attempt at a sitcom titled “Life With Lucy,” which only ran for three months.
(4) After her exhaustion while on Broadway doing Wildcat, Lucille Ball was keenly aware that her health was precarious. At the age of 50 in 1962, Ball here predicts her death at age 69, just 19 years later (1981). In fact, she lived until 1989, dying at age 77. The cause of Ball’s death was listed as a ruptured abdominal aorta. A cerebral hemorrhage is most often associated with strokes.
(5) Lucille Ball was dubbed the Queen of Comedy, but she did tackle dramatic roles occasionally. Her biggest success in a drama was The Big Street (1942). Despite her eloquent reasoning here, she succumbed to the allure of stretching her talents by acting in the dramatic telefilm Stone Pillow in 1985. Once again, Lucille Ball’s health was pressed to the limit by the rigorous location shooting. Ball should have stuck by her initial instincts. The critics were unkind, expecting the same comic Lucy they had grown used to from 30 years of television.
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LUCILLE BALL LOVES HER HECTIC TV LIFE
January 2, 1965
On Saturday, January 2, 1965, syndicated columnist Peter Dacre of the London Expressed published an article about Lucille Ball…a busy woman. As with most syndicated columns, publication dates and headlines varied by newspaper. Quotes from Lucille Ball are in bold italics. Photographs have been added for editorial enhancement.
Peter Dacre (1925-2003)
was a journalist with the Sunday Express whose work included show business features. He was a former chairman of the London Press Club.
Lucille Ball’s three-wheeled runabout was parked outside the bungalow with the red door in the Hollywood studios of Desilu Productions Inc. It was symbolic of the hectic life of its owner, a woman who is not only one of the world’s top television stars but is also president of the studio where she works — and an active wife and mother.
For 14 years the vivacious, raspy-voiced red-haired woman has been making countless millions of viewers laugh first in “I Love Lucy” (with her former husband Desi Arnaz) and now with “The Lucy Show,” which is seen in 44 countries.
Inside the bungalow the bound scripts of her shows fill a shelf and a half — the end ones being propped up by a volume of Shakespeare, a copy of “Moby Dick,” and the New Testament.
MISS BALL herself seemed equally to be a mixture of contrasts. In blue slacks and a pin-striped shirt, she looked highly unlike the president and 51 per cent owner of a company which regularly grosses some 25 million dollars.
Talking to studio executives before I met her, however, I discovered she is no mere figurehead. Scrawled messages on yellow paper fly around the offices, and conferences take place frequently before, during, and after her appearances on the set.
All this is a remarkable achievement for someone who started in show business as one of the famous Goldwyn Girls of the early Hollywood musicals and was once a small-part actress in the studio she now controls.
What kind of woman is she? How at 52 does she combine her three careers? Miss Ball sat at a cluttered round table before her yellow memo-pad and explained:
“I’m no business tycoon by nature. It was sort of thrust upon me. Desi and I bought the studio for $6,500,000 in 1958 and when he and I parted he said he wanted to leave the business. This faced me with the choice of continuing or saying ‘Goodbye’ to a group of people I loved working with.”
“I had no desire to retire, but it was a difficult decision. I was warned it would take a double expenditure of time and energy but I finally decided to do it — and took over my ex-husband’s shares in the company.”
“It took me two years to find the right men to help me run the company — and they were two tough years.”
“I had conferences in curlers and in my runabout and between shots on the set. When I arrived in the morning, every office door would open and people would pop out saying: Have you a minute?”’
HOW, as a woman boss, has she managed in a mainly masculine world?
“Well, I was working in show business as opposed to selling buttons or refrigerators, and in show business I have been accorded some respect, so that was a big help.”
“It could have been a problem if I had thrown my weight around in areas I know nothing about.” I wondered if she felt that running a Hollywood studio had toughened her as a woman. She pondered and then asked an aide: “Do you think I’ve become tougher?” He thought not.
Finally she said: “If a woman has a tough fiber it comes out in these circumstances, but faced with a problem my first inclination is to cry.”
“Sure I’ve been painted as a bossy type but I’ve never felt like that. It’s been said that I bark out orders but I bark out the recipe for a chocolate cake if I’m in a hurry.”
Today apart from running the company and appearing in her own series Lucille Ball has a radio interview program occasionally crops up in other television shows and is planning a film.
SHE IS NOW married to comedian and radio producer Gary Morton, has two children from her marriage with Arnaz (’Little’ Lucy, 13, and Desi, 11) and two homes, one in Beverly Hills, the other 140 miles away in Palm Springs.
How does she manage to run her home and family? “I budget my time and organize our family life,” she explained.
“I used to have a conflict between my career and my home life. When children are small you miss so much of their growing-up — so many wonderful moments. Now they are grown up they don’t need me so much.”
“But I am a proper mother and housewife. I plan the menus and the housework. I leave notes in profusion — in the car, in the kitchen, or on my dressing-table mirror. You know the sort of thing:”
“’Check dental appointment’: ‘See music practice is done ‘Do homework’ ‘Don’t forget baseball practice’ and ‘Tell the kids to eat early because I’ll be late — then they can watch TV’.”
“Oh yes, we have troubles like any other family. The other night Lucy spoke to me rudely and I sent her to her room until she apologized.”
“A little later, while I was on the phone, she came down and stood in the doorway with her birdcage in one hand and a suitcase in the other. I just kept on talking and after a while she went away.”
“I watched her go slowly down the path, slowly along the road, and slowly round the corner. After half an hour she came back and burst into the room. ‘Aren’t you ever going to try to stop me?’ She cried.”
WILL Lucille Ball ever be able to stop herself and break away from her remorseless routine?
She did not hesitate over her answer. “At the moment, I haven’t decided whether I will continue ‘The Lucy Show’ but I can’t visualize retiring. I’ll never get out of this. The pace doesn’t bother me, I’m well organized.”
That, I reflected, was as good a summing-up of Lucille Ball as you will ever get.
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LUCY BUSY WITH PLAY, TV, FAMILY
January 1, 1961
On the first day of 1961 the Associated Press (AP) published a story about Lucille Ball, and her transition from TV star in California, to Broadway star in New York City. In the below article – reprinted verbatim – footnotes have been added for historical perspective. This story appeared in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on New Year’s Day 1961, but may have been published elsewhere on other dates.
NEW YORK (AP) Television fans who believed the 3,000 miles and legal action now separating Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz meant a wind-up to the adventures of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo can in take heart.
Plans are in the works to film a semi-biographical “Lucy Goes to Broadway” right after New Year’s Day. (1)
The setting will be New York and all the “I Love Lucy” regulars are to be present and accounted for.
Meanwhile, Lucille Ball spent a sabbatical rehearsing for her first Broadway show, “Wildcat.“ (2)
Concurrently, Lucy was involved in exploitation plans for the movie, "The Facts of Life,” which she recently made with Bob Hope (3); regular sessions with a voice coach; in making occasional guest appearances on television (4); in getting her family settled in a new East Side Manhattan apartment; and in getting the children settled in school.
HAPPILY OVERWORKED
“I’m over-working and I’m over-booked. I don’t have time even to see friends,” she said, looking slim, happy and healthy. “But I love to work and I love to try new things. It’s good for me."
The comedienne, her two children and her mother have moved into a handsome apartment in a building so new that most of the lower floors still are uninhabitable and mechanics still are installing elevators. (5)
The apartment, done in light cool colors and the walls hung with colorful oil paintings every one done by friends of Lucy, is still in the process of being furnished.
A big terrace overlooks the city, and Lucy says the two children, Lucie, 9. and Desi, 7, like this best.
"Desi has been watching the fireman, and he’s decided he’ll be one,” she said, gesturing toward the building where men were being hauled on ropes up and down the side of the building.
“And Lucie’s going to be a nurse she’s got a pair of binoculars and she knows every time one of the children in the hospital cries,“ she said pointing east to a children’s hospital. (6)
Recently, Lucille collaborated with a professional writer on a magazine piece in which she explained the circumstances surrounding her divorce from Desi after almost 20 years of marriage.
She wrote the piece, she says, because she wanted to explain the situation once and for all. Now she will not go into the marital matter again, although references to Desi are casually and affectionately scattered through her conversation, and pictures of him are prominent in her bedroom, the living room, and of course in the children’s rooms.
~FOOTNOTES~
(1) “Lucy Goes To Broadway” was a scripted TV special about Lucille Ball performing on Broadway. Although the script was written, it was never produced.
(2) The Philadelphia tryout of “Wildcat” opened on October 29, 1960. The scheduled Broadway opening had to be postponed when trucks hauling the sets and costumes to New York were stranded on the New Jersey Turnpike for several days by a major blizzard. After two previews, the show opened on December 16 at the Alvin Theatre. The cast included Paula Stewart and Swen Swenson, with Valerie Harper among the chorus members. Hampered by lukewarm reviews and Ball’s lingering illness, it ran for only 171 performances, closing on June 3, 1961.
(3) “The Facts of Life” was a comedy from United Artists that opened on November 14, 1960, starring Lucille Ball and Bob Hope. It won an Academy Award for costume design and Lucille Ball was nominated for a Golden Globe.
(4) During Fall 1960 until the end of the year, Ball appeared on television on “The Garry Moore Show” (September 27), “Eleanor Roosevelt’s Diamond Jubilee Plus One” (October 7), and “The Jack Paar Tonight Show” (December 29). Coincidentally, on the same day this AP story was published (January 1, 1961) Lucille Ball appeared as a mystery guest on “What’s My Line?” Ball used a low, hushed voice to answer questions posed by blindfolded panelists. Faye Emerson correctly guesses Lucy’s identity by saying “Are you a red-headed wildcat?” Lucy says she’s lost twelve pounds doing the musical. She says how much she owes to “I Love Lucy.” Emerson reminds everyone that Lucy and Bob Hope have a new film coming out, The Facts of Life. Emerson suggests it could be up for an award.
(5) Lucille Ball’s Manhattan address was 150 East 69th Street, in the Imperial House, just a short distance from the fictional location of “I Love Lucy” 623 East 68th Street. The Imperial House is a white brick building designed by Emery Roth & Sons and built in 1960. It is situated on 69th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues with a large circular driveway leading to the covered entrance. The 30-story building has 378 apartments. Originally a rental building, it was converted to a cooperative in 1971. The building’s lobby was designed by William Raiser of Raymond Loewy William Snaith.
(6) Needless to say, Desi Jr. and Lucie (above in 1961) both followed in their parents footsteps and went into show business. He did not pursue firefighting and she did not become a nurse.
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LIZ HAS THE FLIMJABS
December 30, 1950
“Liz Has the Flimjabs” (aka “A Severe Case of Flimjabs”) is episode #112 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on December 30, 1950.
This was the 14th episode of the third season of MY FAVORITE HUSBAND. There were 31 new episodes, with the season ending on March 31, 1951.
Synopsis ~ Liz wants a mink coat from George, so she pretends to be sick in order to get his sympathy – and the coat! George is on to her tactics, and decides to give her the scare of her life – literally!
Note: This program served as the basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “Lucy Fakes Illness” (ILL S1;E16) filmed on December 18, 1951 and first aired on January 28, 1952. The role of the Doctor was taken by Hal March, who was actually playing an actor friend of Ricky’s named Hal March pretending to be a doctor. On television, Lucy also adopts a psychological illness in addition to her physical ailments. There was no mention of Christmas or New Years on the television show.
“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.
Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury) 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.
Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) was also later seen on “I Love Lucy.” She first played Mrs. Pomerantz, 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.
Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury) does not appear in this episode.
GUEST CAST
Frank Nelson (Dr. Stevenson) 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,” and “Fibber McGee & Molly”. Aside from Lucille Ball, Nelson is perhaps most associated with Jack Benny and was a fifteen-year regular on his radio and television programs. His trademark was playing clerks and other working stiffs, suddenly turning to Benny with a drawn out “Yeeeeeeeeees?” Nelson appeared in 11 episodes of “I Love Lucy”, including three as quiz master Freddy Fillmore, and two as Ralph Ramsey, plus appearance on “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” – making him the only actor to play two different recurring roles on “I Love Lucy.” Nelson returned to the role of the frazzled Train Conductor for an episode of “The Lucy Show” in 1963. This marks his final appearance on a Lucille Ball sitcom.
The doctor’s surname may be a reference to noted costume designer Edward Stevenson, who designed gowns for Lucille Ball in more than a dozen RKO films and would eventually become costume designer of “I Love Lucy” after the departure of Elois Jenssen in 1955.
EPISODE
ANNOUNCER: “And now, let’s look in on the Coopers. It’s evening, and Liz and George are sitting in the living room admiring their Christmas tree.“
George wonders if it is time to take the Christmas tree down but Liz doesn’t want to. They agree to put away their presents instead and start to talk about the gifts they didn’t give or get.
Liz nearly bought George a set of matching golf clubs. George says he nearly bought her a mink jacket. He says he saw it in the window at Millers, but realized he couldn’t afford it. Liz sadly reminds him that she has never had a fur coat and wonders if they could afford it if they all their Christmas gifts to the store. George says it still wouldn’t be enough, but Liz wants to wear something special to the Atterbury’s New Year’s Eve party.
Next morning, in the kitchen, Katie the Maid asks Liz why she is so sad. Liz tells her about her mink jacket dreams. Liz solicits Katie’s opinion on how she can’t best get George to get her a mink jacket in time for the party. Liz decides to play sick since George always gets her what she wants when she’s ill.
After dinner, Liz and George contemplate what to do. Liz suggests going to the movies to see Harvey starring Jimmy Stewart, which is playing at the Strand.
Harvey is a comedy about a man whose best friend is a six-foot tall imaginary rabbit. It premiered just ten days earlier before this broadcast and starred James Stewart. The film won an Oscar for Josephine Hull. The screenplay was based on the 1944 Broadway play of the same name by Mary Chase which won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Before Liz can tell George the second feature, she starts to writhe in pain! Amid moans and groans, Liz details the pain for George. She says she used to have these attacks as a child. When she says the only thing that sometimes helps is little gifts to make her happy, George gets suspicious. He quickly leaves the room to make a phone call, which Liz thinks is to buy her a mink jacket, but he has actually called the doctor!
End of Part One
Bob LeMond presents a live Jell-O commercial, giving a basic recipe for preparation of all delicious six flavors!
ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers once again, Liz is pretending to be sick and George, who is worried about her, has called the doctor.”
The doorbell rings and George admits Dr. Stevenson (Frank Nelson). Before seeing Liz, George tips him off that Liz may have a rare disease and that the only cure is a mink coat! George asks him to give her a good scare and the Doctor agrees to play along.
Entering the bedroom, Liz immediately tells the Doctor she feels much better. But after a quick exam, the Doctor diagnoses Liz with a rare tropical disease from the West Indies called the ‘Flimjabs’. The only cure is to operate and remove her ‘torkle’ but warns her that she will never be able to ‘yammle’ again. The Doctor explains that ‘yammling’ is an involuntary peristalsis of the transverse clavis.
GEORGE: “Doctor, do you have to remove the whole torkle?”
DOCTOR: “Maybe we’ll be lucky and can save half of it. After all, half a torkle is better than none.”
LIZ: “Well, I should say so! I’d hate to think of never yammeling again!”The Doctor says that they must now wait 24 hours and see if she turns green.
DOCTOR: “If you turn green, three hours later (snaps his fingers) gone.”
LIZ: (snaps) “Gone?”
DOCTOR: (snaps) “Gone.”
For the television script, the ‘Flimjabs’ was renamed the ‘Gobloots’ – a rare tropical disease that carried into America on the hind legs of the ‘boo-shoo bird.’ It can necessitate a person having to undergo a ‘zorchectomy’ – total or partial removal of the ‘zorch’. Even if doctors are able to save half a person’s ‘zorch,’ the patient will never be able to ‘trummle’ again. ‘Trummling’ is a mysterious involuntary internal process. Finally, if you turn green while suffering from the ‘gobloots’ you will be dead in 30 minutes!
Iris Atterbury drops by to see Liz on her way to the Bridge Club meeting. Liz tells her that she has been diagnosed with the Flimjabs.
IRIS: “Oh, how exciting! This will make Betty Ricky’s gallstones look sick! She’ll be absolutely green.”
LIZ: “She’s not the only one. That’s one of the danger signs. I may turn green.”
IRIS: “With a green face and red hair, you’ll be out of this world.”
LIZ: “Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of.”Iris is overcome with emotion at the thought of losing Liz. She doesn’t want to leave, but the ice cream for the Bridge Club meeting is in the car and it’s melting!
That night, Doctor Stevenson returns to check on Liz. Answering the door, George confesses that he’s put a green light bulb in Liz’s bedroom light. As soon as George turns on the lights, Liz shrieks seeing her green hands! Her face and hair have turned green, too! Liz thinks the men have Flimjabs too, because they are also green, but then the truth sets in.
LIZ: “Oh, no! This is the end! I’m looking at the world through green colored eyeballs!”
Liz dramatically declares that she’s dying. George accuses her of being over-dramatic.
LIZ: “I’m sorry, George. But I don’t die every day and it’s new to me.”
Before her imminent demise, Liz confesses to all the car accidents she’s had and hidden by having the car fixed without telling him.
LIZ: “In fact, the only thing left of the original car you bought is the ashtray in the back seat!”
Then Liz bravely confesses to pretending to be sick to get him to buy her a mink coat. George also needs to make a confession: it was all a trick. There is no such thing as ‘Flimjabs’ and the light is from a green light bulb!
The phone rings and it is Iris, tearfully calling from the Bridge Club meeting. The girls have just had a memorial ceremony for Liz by turning her chair to the wall and smashing her teacup in the fireplace. Before Liz can tell Iris that it was a joke, she learns that they all chipped in and bought her a goodbye present: a mink coat! Liz hangs up in tears. George is confused.
GEORGE: “Isn’t that what you wanted?”
LIZ: “Yeah, but I have to die to get it!”END OF EPISODE
In the live Jell-O commercial, Lucille Ball and Bob LeMond play a couple of nomads lost in the desert. Lucy uses her ‘Isabella Clump’ voice as ‘Smith’. Bob is looking for his camp, near a big dune.
LUCY / ‘SMITH’: “A dune? What’s a dune?”
BOB: “What’s a dune????”
LUCY / ‘SMITH’: “I dunno. What’s a-dune with you?”Smith sees a mirage – a big bowl of Jell-O! After describing the six delicious flavors, Bob suggests they go home.
BOB: “Go home? We’re lost in the desert!”
LUCY / ‘SMITH’: “Why don’t we each take one of those cars.”
BOB: “What cars?”
LUCY / ‘SMITH’: “The ones over there. That’s a two-car mirage!”
The same date this episode was broadcast, columnist Sid Shalit in the New York Daily News reported that a television situation comedy was being prepared starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in the mold of “My Favorite Husband”. Clearly, the radio series was winding down. This was the final episode of 1950 with only 16 episodes left.
Meanwhile, in addition to radio and television, Ball was on the nation’s movie screens in two 1950 films: The Fuller Brush Girl and Fancy Pants.
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LIZ & GEORGE ARE HANDCUFFED
December 30, 1949
“Liz and George Are Handcuffed” (aka “Handcuffed for a Day”) is episode #69 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on December 30, 1949.
Synopsis ~ Liz is playing ‘cops and robbers’ with little Tommy Wood from next door, and lets him handcuff her and George with what turn out to be real handcuffs! During the time the Coopers are linked George finds himself under the hair dryer and Liz later has to stand by at the barber’s while her husband gets a shave.
This was the 18th episode of the second season of MY FAVORITE HUSBAND. There were 43 new episodes, with the season ending on June 25, 1950.
Note: This program was the basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “The Handcuffs” (ILL S2;E4), filmed on November 23, 1951 and aired on October 6, 1952.
“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) had worked with Lucille Ball on “The Wonder Show” on radio in 1938. One of the front-runners to play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy,” he eventually played Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana, during two episodes in 1952. After playing a Judge in an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1958, he would re-team with Lucy for all of her subsequent series’: as Theodore J. Mooney in ”The Lucy Show”; as Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy”; and as Curtis McGibbon on “Life with Lucy.” Gordon died in 1995 at the age of 89.
Bea Benadaret (Sally, the Beautician) 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.
Bea Benadaret generally plays Iris Atterbury, but the character does not appear in this episode.
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.
Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) does not appear in this episode, but her character is mentioned.
GUEST CAST
Hans Conried (Mr. Hussy, the Locksmith) first co-starred with Lucille Ball in The Big Street (1942). He then appeared on “I Love Lucy” as used furniture man Dan Jenkins in “Redecorating” (ILL S2;E8) and later that same season as Percy Livermore in “Lucy Hires an English Tutor” (ILL S2;E13) – both in 1952. The following year he began an association with Disney by voicing Captain Hook in Peter Pan. On “The Lucy Show” he played Professor Gitterman in “Lucy’s Barbershop Quartet” (TLS S1;E19) and in “Lucy Plays Cleopatra” (TLS S2;E1). He was probably best known as Uncle Tonoose on “Make Room for Daddy” starring Danny Thomas, which was filmed on the Desilu lot. He joined Thomas on a season 6 episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1973. He died in 1982 at age 64.
Hal March (Mr. Curtis) first appeared on the "I Love Lucy” in “Lucy Fakes Illness” (ILL S1;E16) using his own name to play an actor posing as the doctor who diagnoses Lucy with ‘golbloots.’ March got his first big break when he was cast as Harry Morton on “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” in 1950. He eventually lost the part to Fred Clark who producers felt was better paired with Bea Benaderet, who played Blanche, and here plays Iris Atterbury. He stayed with the show in other roles, the last airing just two weeks before his appearance as Eddie Grant in “Lucy is Matchmaker” (ILL S2;E27). In 1966 he was seen on “The Lucy Show.”
Johnny McGovern (Tommy Wood) was just 13 years old when he did this episode. During this time he also played Little Beaver on the radio series “Red Ryder”. He was eventually replaced by Sammy Ogg, who played one of the Hudson Twins on “I Love Lucy.” On television, he played Will Thornberry in four episodes of “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” from 1953 to 1955.
Tommy is the smallest of Mr. Wood’s eleven children.
EPISODE
ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers tonight we find them settled down for a quiet evening in the living room. George is at the desk working on some bank papers and Liz is busily scribbling in a notebook.”
George is telling Liz about a potential client named Mr. Curtis, who has a plastics company account that he is trying to get for the bank. Liz is working on George’s New Year’s Resolutions:
1. I promise to stop smoking cigars.
2. After I break number one, I will not drop ashes on the living room floor.
3. After I break number two, I will clean the ashes up myself.
4. I will read the morning paper at the breakfast table.
5. I will let Liz open charge accounts at every store in town – sign here, George.Liz can’t come up with any resolutions for herself to keep, but George has! He asks her to keep on budget – and to not hang her stockings in the bathroom!
The phone rings and George overhears Liz playing out a scene from Dick Tracy with little Tommy Wood from next door, who got a Dick Tracy outfit for Christmas and has been playing cops and robbers with him ever since. Liz says his sisters won’t play Tess Truehart to his Dick Tracy. George corrects her that she is now known as Tess Tracy, since Dick and Tess recently got married.
LIZ: “You mean I’ve been playing around with a married man?”
Dick Tracy is an American comic strip featuring a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on October 4, 1931 in the Detroit Mirror, and it was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate. Gould wrote and drew the strip until 1977,and various artists and writers have continued it. Dick Tracy has also been the hero in a number of films, two of which were released in 1947. On December 25, 1949, just five days before this broadcast, Dick finally married his girlfriend, Tess Truehart.
Little Tommy ‘Tracy’ (Johnny McGovern) comes over to visit to show ‘Pruneface’ Cooper (Liz) his badge, handcuffs, and finger print outfit.
LIZ: “Tommy, is it true that no two people in the whole world have the same fingerprints?”
TOMMY: “Nah, that’s a lot of bunk. I’ve already found three people who have exactly the same fingerprints; my daddy, Santa Claus, and the crook who broke into my piggy bank.”Liz and Tommy continue to play cops and robbers. When George comes into the room looking for some ink, Tommy ‘arrests’ them both by putting handcuffs on them. Tommy says the handcuffs are not toys, but ones his daddy had in the attic – and he doesn’t have the key! Liz immediately calls Mr. Wood to ask about the key – but he doesn’t have one!
End of Part One
Bob LeMond does a live Jell-O commercial, giving a holiday recipe.
ANNOUNCER: “Well, Liz and George have been real buddy-buddy since little Tommy Wood inadvertently handcuffed them together several hours ago. Right now we find them frantically trying to get the darn things off.”
George is trying to file off the handcuffs – to no avail. Liz has called every locksmith in the phone book, but none are in their office at nearly midnight. Liz thinks they should call the police. George is reluctant because their pictures will be in all the papers. The account George is pursuing at the bank is handled by a conservative businessman who will not like the publicity.
GEORGE: “I can see the headlines now: ‘Dick Tracy captures Mr. and Mrs. George Pruneface!”
Pruneface is a fictional character in the long-running comic strip Dick Tracy, who first appeared in 1942. He is one of the series’ main villains and notable for his wrinkly face despite being a young man. His wife’s name was Ana.
Liz and George have trouble undressing for bed when handcuffed. They decide to sleep in their clothes.
The dilemma of undressing for bed is much more satisfactorily explored on television, where Lucy and Desi can actually do the things they only briefly describe on radio.
Next morning the alarm clock goes off at 8:30am. George realizes that he is late for work and Liz remembers that they are still handcuffed together.
George’s boss Mr. Atterbury telephones. George decides not to tell him that he is handcuffed to his wife. Liz tells Mr. Atterbury George is sick, stalling for time to find a locksmith. Mr. Atterbury says that if he is not at work by 10 am, he’s fired!
Later, Liz and George are still waiting for the locksmith to arrive. Liz has an appointment at the beauty parlor (Operation Henna) and George has to get to work.
The locksmith Mr. Hussy (Hans Conried) finally arrives. The Coopers are anxious, but Mr. Hussy takes his sweet time telling a story while examining the cuffs.
On television, the locksmith was named Mr. Walters and is played by Will Wright. He tells a slightly different, though no less long-winded story, while searching for the key.
Mr. Hussy has to go to his shop to get the key – which will take 45 minutes. To save time, Liz convinces George to come to the beauty salon with her!
At Sally’s Beauty Salon they are impatiently waiting for Liz’s hair to be done and George reads to Liz from a magazine.
GEORGE (reading): “Flash: Biograph Studios announces a new young starring team: Theda Bara and Rudolph Valentino.”
Like most salons and doctors’ offices, the joke is that the magazines are woefully out of date! Theda Bara (1885-1955) was a silent film star and one of the screen’s first ‘sex symbols’ known as ‘the vamp’. Lucy Ricardo embodied her as ‘the wicked city woman’ in “Tennessee Ernie Hangs On” (ILL S3;E29) to scare off Cousin Ernie. Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926) was the male equivalent to Bara’s sex symbol status in silent films. He was a favorite of Lucy’s Mother, Mrs. McGillicuddy on “I Love Lucy.” Biograph began in 1912 in NYC and eventually had movie studios in California and cinemas nationwide. It was absorbed by a buy-out in 1948, months before this broadcast. There is, however, no record of Bara and Valentino ever collaborating working together or separately for Biograph. Since Valentino died in 1926, the magazine George is reading from is at least 25 years old!
Sally’s telephone rings at the salon George picks it up. It is Mr. Atterbury, who recognizes George’s voice and tells him to get to work right away! Liz dashes out of the salon without even taking the dye out of her hair!
At the bank, George and Liz go in the side door and are immediately confronted by Mr. Atterbury. Liz and George show him the handcuffs. Mr. Atterbury knows Mr. Curtis won’t tolerate Liz being present at their confidential business meeting so he comes up with a plan: Liz will get behind the sofa and George will drape his handcuffed arm behind the sofa so that Curtis doesn’t see Liz or the cuffs. The dust behind the sofa makes Liz feel like sneezing.
On television, the sofa becomes a stage curtain and Lucy sticks her arm through it, making it look like Ricky’s arm while he is singing a song. The bit was so successful it was adapted for “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.”
Mr. Curtis comes in and Liz can’t help it – she sneezes! Mr. Curtis takes the opportunity of the all-male meeting to tell a naughty story.
CURTIS: “Have you ever heard the story of the fan dancer with a cold?”
A fan dancer was a female burlesque performer who removed articles of clothing while hiding her private parts with large fans. Sally Rand (1904-79) was probably the most famous of these ecdysiasts (strippers).
Liz cannot stay hidden any longer and pops up from behind the sofa just in time for Mr. Hussy to come in with the key to the cuffs. Mr. Curtis is indignant. Liz demonstrates how easily such a thing could easily happen and accidentally cuffs herself to Mr. Curtis!
LIZ: “Well, at least I’ll find out what happened to that fan dancer!”
In the live Jell-O commercial, Lucille Ball plays Baby New Year (1950), and Bob LeMond plays Old Father Time (1949). The Baby laments the troubles of the world she’s coming into, but Father Time says at least they have Jell-O!
LUCILLE / BABY NEW YEAR: “Happy New Year, everyone!”
END OF EPISODE
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TV PREVUE & MORE!
December 29, 1957
On December 29, 1957, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz appeared on the cover of TV Prevue, a television listings supplement to the Sunday Chicago Sun-Times.
Inside, it lists the premiere of “Lucy Hunts Uranium” on January 3, 1958, part of the “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”. The episode guest-starred Fred MacMurray and featured his wife, June Haver.
It was also a busy week for Lucille Ball films on television with various stations airing Beauty
for the Asking (1939), Dance
Girl Dance (1940), Best
Foot Forward (1943), Du Barry
Was A Lady (1943), Bunker
Bean (1936), Easy
Living (1949), Ziegfeld
Follies (1945), and The Dark Corner (1946).
The Los Angeles Times asked several celebrities to comment on the past year, and look ahead to 1958. Lucille Ball said that the “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” allowed her six months off to spend with her family and that she had no reason to be bored.
On this date in many newspapers, it was announced that Lucille Ball was selected as one of the most successful people of 1957 in the area of Business. She was alongside such company as world leaders Queen Elizabeth and Eleanor Roosevelt. In the area of entertainment, Ingrid Bergman took top honors.
In an exclusive with TV Graphic of the Pittsburgh Press, Lucille Ball commented on her “perky pan’s wide repertoire of emotions” with photos from the upcoming “Lucy Hunts Uranium”.
This TV column mention discussed Desilu’s purchase of RKO, which happened in late 1957 and was formalized by January 1, 1958. Happy New Year, indeed!
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