Lucy Letter:
Hello friends, I'm your Vitameatavegamin Girl. Oops sorry, reflex. I spent hours working on that line. I guess it stuck hard. Pardon me I forgot to give my name. I'm Lucille Ball, known to most as simply Lucy. I find it overwhelming that so many people have watched my shows for years. For this I am greatly honored. I have to thank many of people for my fame, so many I wouldn't know where to start. Well enough with the sappy stuff, I'm sure you didn't come here to listen to me cry. Along with the I Love Lucy Shows, a great number of films helped boost my carrer. Wildcat, The Long Trailer, Fancy Pants, and Critic's Choice to name a few. Just recently I got hooked to the web. I was shocked to see the wealth of knowledge you can find. I tell you I could have hit it big with a web page on the net in the 50's. But today with I Love Lucy running still ringing in the hearts of my fans, young and old, I think it will still grow strong. Enjoy.
Love,
Lucy
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Lucy's Biography
This a short summary of the life of Lucille Ball, along with comments(sound files) now and then from Lucy, Desi, or the I Love Lucy gang. Enjoy!
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Lucille Desiree Ball was born in Jamestown, New York on August 6, 1911. When Lucy was 15, her mother enrolled her in a dramatic school, but after a time she was sent home saying she had no talent as an actress. She returned to Jamestown for a while, but still had dreams of being an actress. She returned to New York but with acting jobs scarce, settled for being a model and later an Earl Carroll showgirl.
Her modeling job as the Chesterfield Cigarette poster girl led to her selection as a Goldwyn Girl, and off she went to Hollywood to make her first film appearance in Eddie Cantor's musical "Roman Scandals". After that, she moved on to Columbia and RKO to play minor roles in films such as "Roberta", "Follow the Fleet", and others. She then began playing larger and more prominent roles, such as in "Stage Door" starring Ginger Rogers and Katharine Hepburn, and "Room Service" with the Marx brothers. (see a complete listing of her movies by clicking here) After RKO, she moved to Paramount, and Columbia and finally,with the introduction of color, Lucille died her hair red in 1944 for the MGM cameras and became known as "Technicolor Tessie".
In 1940, Lucille was cast as Connie Casey in a musical entitled "Too Many Girls" with a young, handsome Cuban named Desi Arnaz playing Manuelito, a football player/bodyguard to Lucille. It was there that Lucy and Desi met, fell in love, and eloped on November 30, 1940. But the newly-weds were apart most of the time, with Desi touring with his band and Lucille making movies in Hollywood. This constantly being apart caused a rough time marriage-wise for Lucy, and in 1944 she filed for divorce, but the day before the divorce Desi met with her and patched things up, and she decided to drop suit. On June 19, 1949 with their marriage going strong, Lucy and Desi were married again in a Catholic ceremony.
In 1948, Lucille began doing a radio show sponsored by CBS called "My Favorite Husband" in which she co-starred with Richard Denning as Liz Cooper, a scatter-brained wife who's imagination got her into trouble most of the time. After the three year success of "My Favorite Husband", CBS was in the process of transferring all its hit radio series to a new medium, television. CBS wanted to transfer "My Favorite Husband" to television, but Lucy said she would be on the show only on one condition, that Desi play her husband. The CBS executives refused, saying the public wouldn't believe she was married to a Cuban. So in order to prove that the audiences would believe they were married and could work together as a team, Lucy and Desi set up a vaudeville tour and took it across the country, and the audiences loved them! So CBS agreed to let Desi play her husband, and Phillip Morris became a sponsor, and "I Love Lucy" was born!
"I Love Lucy" won 5 Emmy Awards during it's original run, with over twenty nominations. It was the number one show of the 1950's. It is now known as one of the most classic and successful shows in television history, and is still being shown today! Desi was becoming too busy with his position as president of Desilu studios to keep up with a weekly "I Love Lucy", so "I Love Lucy" was taken off the air at the end of the 1957 season and replaced by 13 hourly specials entitled "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour", and continued until 1960 when business stress and personal problems grew fierce,Lucy and Desi divorced, this time for good.
After the divorce, Lucy still wanted to continue her film career, so in the 1960's she made a film with her frequent film co-star, Bob Hope called "The Facts of Life". After that, she starred in a Broadway musical "Wildcat!" which she played Wildcat Jackson, a rough and tough gal hoping to strike it rich on oil. It was a big hit, but had to be closed on account of Lucy's health.(She had fainted on stage once before, and was just too exhausted from the strenuous task of doing seven shows a week to go on) While she was doing a performance in New York, she was introduced to a nightclub comedian, Gary Morton, and the two fell in love and were married on November 19, 1961.
In 1962 Lucy returned to television with a new color sitcom for CBS co-starring Vivian Vance and Gale Gordon, called "The Lucy Show", which ran for six years. Also in 1962 Lucy took Desi's place as president of Desilu studios and became the first woman president of a Hollywood production company. Five years later, she sold Desilu to Gulf + Western and formed her own production company, Lucille Ball productions, which produced her 1968 television series which ran for six years, "Here's Lucy" which co-starred her real life children Lucie and Desi, Jr., playing her TV children.
Lucy retired from her weekly series in 1974, she made her last motion picture, "Mame", as well. Through 1974 to 1985 Lucy kept herself busy with guest appearances and specials. In 1985 she decided to tackle a dramatic TV movie, "Stone Pillow" where she played a homeless New York City bag lady which earned her critical acclaim but left her in frail health. The next year she tried again at a weekly series for ABC, entitled "Life with Lucy", but it was pulled only after running two months because of low ratings. Later that year Lucille was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the highest honor in entertainment.
In March of 1989, Lucy made her last public appearance at the Annual Academy Awards Telecast to a standing ovation from the crowd. She died on April 26, 1989 after open heart surgery at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. She was 77.
But her legacy still lives, she lives on in each laugh she brings us from her 124 radio episodes of "My Favorite Husband" , to the 179 episodes of "I Love Lucy", the 13 "Lucy-Desi Comedy Hours", the 156 episodes of "The Lucy Show" , and 144 episodes of "Here's Lucy", and her 80 movies, in a career that spanned over 50 years. Yes, we've laughed because of Lucy........and we'll continue to laugh forever more. Thank you, Lucy.
Lucy's Courage
We all know as a young girl Lucy was determined to make it big in Hollywood someday. No matter what.
What most of us don't realize however, is just how difficult is was for Lucy to make her dream into a reality. This is the story of perhaps, her greatest obstacle on the road to Hollywood, and how she overcame it with all the heart and courage that was ever asked of her.
Dateline: 07/29/97
Lucille Ball is revered as the queen of comedy. She left a legacy of film from
"I Love Lucy" shows and other work that live on long past her death in 1989.
Her body of work supplements our memories of "Lucy" as an actress,
comedienne, and clown. The characters she played were often portrayed with
vigorous physical comedy, and required endurance, timing, and energy. With
this realization, a little known fact about Lucy becomes somewhat
unbelievable. As a teenager, Lucille Ball was diagnosed with rheumatoid
arthritis.
As a 17 year old girl possessing aspirations of becoming an actress, Lucille
Ball went to New York City with the intention of making her dreams come
true. She was not an overnight success, and struggled through theater school,
working as a chorus line girl, and as a model. When she began working for
Hattie Carnegie's internationally famous dress shop as a model her luck
improved. She was then in a world of rich society women and glamorous
movie stars.
On one particular day while standing on a dais for a fitting at Hattie's dress
shop, Lucy felt excruciating pain in both her legs, as if they were on fire. This
incident was preceded by several days with a bout of pneumonia and fever.
Hattie sent Lucy around the corner to her doctor. The doctor advised Lucy
that the pains were arthritic, possibly rheumatoid arthritis. He described
rheumatoid arthritis as an incurable disease which becomes progressively
more crippling until the sufferer ends up in a wheelchair, and instructed Lucy
to go to a hospital immediately. The doctor gave her the address of an
orthopedic clinic near Columbia University.
Lucy sat for three hours at the clinic, awaiting her turn. By the time she was
seen by the clinic doctor Lucy was crying and half fainting from the intense
pain. After examining her, the clinic doctor shook his head, and asked her
permission to try a new, radical treatment described by Lucy as "some kind of
horse serum". She agreed to the treatment, willing to do anything for some
relief. Lucy stayed in her room and the doctor came and gave her the
injections for several weeks, until her money ran out. Her legs were not better
and she decided her only option was to return to her parents home in
Jamestown, New York. At this point Lucy described herself as "discouraged,
but not terribly frightened".
At her parents home, Lucy was lectured by her father on taking better care of
herself. Her mother devoted her evenings to massaging her legs and cheering
her up. Months passed by, and Lucy was still in such pain that she described
the time that passed as a blur. The horse serum injections were continued. It
was a highly experimental treatment, last ditch effort and Lucy considered
herself a guinea pig.
Gradually the pain subsided and finally one day with the support of her father
and doctor, Lucy stood up, feeling wobbly and unsteady. Her left leg was
now somewhat shorter than her right leg and it pulled sideways. To correct
this she began wearing a 20 pound weight in one of her black orthopedic
shoes. She continued to convalesce at home. Though Lucy had residual pain
she was able to take a part offered her with the Jamestown Players, and she
later returned to New York City in search of her dreams.
REFERENCE: "Love, Lucy" by Lucille Ball
Lucy at the Movies
Here is a list of movies with appearances of Lucille Ball
in her entire film career. (79 films total)
The films are listed by year of release.
* means an unbilled cameo role.
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1. *Blood Money (1933) -Fox
2. *The Bowery (1933) -20th Century
3.* Broadway Thru a Keyhole (1933) -20th Century
(Look for a blonde Lucille in the beach scene)
4.*Roman Scandals (1933) -Goldwyn
(Look for Lucille as one of the slave girls in a long blonde wig)
5. *The Affairs of Cellini (1934) -20th Century
6. *Bottoms Up (1934) -Fox
7. *Broadway Bill (1934) -Columbia
(Look for a blonde Lucille as a phone operator)
8. *Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934) -Goldwyn
9. *The Fugitive Lady (1934) -Columbia
(Look for Lucille as one of the beauty operators)
10. *Hold That Girl (1934) -Fox
11. *Jealousy (1934) -Columbia
(Lucille was cast as "the girl")
12. *Kid Millions (1934) -Goldwyn
(Lucille appears as a Goldwyn Girl in the final number "Ice Cream Fantasy)
13. *Men of the Night (1934) -Columbia
(Lucille plays the small role of Peggy)
14. *Moulin Rouge (1934) -Columbia
(Look for Lucille in the nightclub scenes)
15. *Murder at the Vanities (1934) -Paramount
16. *Nana (1934) AKA The Lady of the Boulevards -Goldwyn
(Lucille appears as a girl in the chorus)
17. Carnival (1935) -Columbia
(Lucille plays a nurse in the hospital scene and her first credited role in a movie)
Note: this was Lucille's last film before being dropped out of her contract w/ Columbia but just as fast she was snatched up by RKO and put under contract for 7 years!
18. I Dream Too Much (1935) -RKO
(Lucille appears with a bit part as wisecracking Gwendolyn Dilley)
19. *Old Man Rhythm (1935) -RKO
(Look for Lucille as a college girl)
20. *Roberta (1935) -RKO
(Look for a blonde Lucille as a model in the final scene)
21. *Top Hat (1935) -RKO
(Look for Lucille as the flower shop clerk)
22. *The Three Musketeers (1935) -RKO
23. *The Whole Town's Talking (1935) -RKO
24. Bunker Bean (1936) -RKO
(Lucy plays Miss Kelly)
25. Chatterbox (1936) -RKO
(Lucy plays Lillian Temple)
26. The Farmer in the Dell (1936) -RKO
(Lucy plays the script girl, Gloria)
27. Follow the Fleet (1936) -RKO
(Lucy plays Kitty Collins)
28. Don't Tell the Wife (1937) -RKO
(Lucy plays Ann Howel)
29. Stage Door (1937) -RKO
(Lucy plays a more prominent role as Judy Canfield along with Katherine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Eve Arden, and Ann Miller)
30. That Girl Form Paris (1937) -RKO
(Lucy plays as Claire Williams)
31. *Winterset (1937) -RKO
(Lucille is cast as an extra)
32. The Affairs of Annabel (1938) -RKO
(Lucille plays Annabel Allison, a fading movie star willing to do anything to get back in the public eye, with the help of her publicity agent, Jack Oakie playing Lanny Morgan)
33. Annabel Takes a Tour (1938) -RKO
(This is the second and last in the series of Annabel films, RKO had planned to make more, but Jack Oakie's price was too high and over the studio's budget)
34. Go Chase Yourself (1938) -RKO
(Lucille plays Carol Meely in her first leading movie role)
35. Having Wonderful Time (1938) -RKO
(Lucille plays Miram, roommate to Teddy Shaw, played by Ginger Rogers)
36. The Joy of Living (1938) -RKO
[Lucille plays Salina, Maggie's(Irene Dunne) sister]
37. The Next Time I Marry (1938) -RKO
(Lucille plays the leading role of Nancy Fleming in this film)
38. Room Service (1938) -RKO
(Lucille plays Christine, co-starring with the Marx brothers)
39. Beauty For the Asking (1939) -RKO
(Lucille plays the lead as Jean Russell, who runs a cosmetic business in NY and develops a new miracle facial and skin cream)
Keep reading, you're halfway through!
40. Five Came Back (1939) -RKO
(Lucille plays Peggy, one of the stranded passengers of a South American plane crash)
41. Panama Lady (1939) -RKO
(Lucille plays Lucy, a singer in a Panama cabaret who ends up doing housekeeping for the man she robbed after being caught in order to avoid doing jail time)
42. That's Right, You're Wrong (1939) -RKO
(Lucille plays Sandra Sand)
43. Twelve Crowded Hours (1939) -RKO
(Lucille plays Paula Sanders)
44. Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) -RKO
(Lucille plays "Bubbles", a burlesque dancer in a musical co-starring Maureen O'Hara)
45. The Marines Fly High (1940) -RKO
(Lucille plays the lead as Joan Grant, an owner of an American cocoa plantation that is raided by bandits)
46. Too Many Girls (1940) -RKO
(Lucille plays Connie Casey, a spoiled young woman who attends a small college in New Mexico with four football players as bodyguards, one of which is Desi Arnaz)
47. You Can't Fool Your Wife (1940) -RKO
(Lucille plays the lead as Clara Fields)
48. A Girl, a Guy and a Gob (1941) -RKO AKA The Navy Steps Out
(Lucille plays Dot Duncan, in a navy comedy about a love triangle between Dot, her fiance, "Coffee Cup" played by George Murphy, and her shy boss, Steven Herrick played by Edmond O'Brian)
49. Look Who's Laughing (1941) -RKO
(Lucille plays Julie Patterson)
50. The Big Street (1942) -RKO
(Lucille considered this film to be her big break, co-starring with Henry Fonda, she portrayed Gloria Lyons, a New York nightclub singer who was crippled in a fall. Henry Fonda plays "Pinks", a polite young busboy who devotes himself to and cares for the selfish singer as she recouperates from the accident. Lucille had a wonderful dramatic climax in the final scene of this film, and was critically acclaimed for it.)
51. Seven Days' Leave (1942) -RKO
(Lucille plays Terry Havalok Allen who is the love interest interest in the film)
52. Valley of the Sun (1942) -RKO
(Lucille plays the lead in her only western film on location in New Mexico as Christine Larson, a restaurant owner who is romanced by two different men)
Note: Lucille left RKO studios in late 1942 and moved in front of the color cameras of MGM studios.She bacame known as "Technicolor Tessie" because her red hair was so hard to photogragh and light. She also did a bit of freelancing during this time.
53. Best Foot Forward (1943) -MGM
(This is the first role that Lucille played as herself, Lucille Ball, the movie star)
54. DuBarry Was a Lady (1943) -MGM
(This colorful comedy starred Lucille Ball and Red Skelton)
55. Thousands Cheer (1943)- MGM
(Lucille Ball, Red Skelton, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, and Ann Southern all appear in a show together during this film)
56. Meet the People (1944) -MGM
(Lucille plays Julie Hampton, a Broadway star who gets a job in a shipyard in order to "meet the people" because the playright (William Powell) feels she's too conceited for the part.)
57. Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945) -MGM
(Abbott and Costello are on the lose in Hollywood, where actress Lucille Ball is trying to film a movie)
58. Without Love (1945) -MGM
(Lucille plays Kitty Trimble, a wise-cracking real estate agent)
59. The Dark Corner (1945) -20th Century Fox
(Lucille plays Kathleen Conley, a secretary to her boss[Mark Stevens]that was framed for murder)
60. Easy to Wed (1946) -MGM
(Lucille plays the supporting female role of Gladys Benton)
61. Lover Come Back (1946)-Universal AKA When Lovers Meet
(After discovering that husband, Bill (George Brent) was fooling around while he was in the war, Kay Williams (Lucille Ball) decides to get even and do the same. When her husband doesn't act jealous, Kay is determined to get a quick divorce)
62. Two Smart People (1946) -MGM
(Lucille plays Riki Woodner, a girl who makes the mistake of falling in love with a man about to go to prision)
63. Ziegfeld Follies of 1946 (1946) -MGM
(A glamourous Lucille appears in a pink sequened dress as a whipcracking lion tamer)
64. Her Husband's Affairs (1947) -Columbia
(Lucille plays the lead as Margaret Weldon)
65. Lured (1947) -United Artists
(Lucille palys Sandra Carpenter, who joins forces with Scotland Yard and serves as a decoy to catch a mysterious killer)
66. Easy Living (1949) -RKO
(Lucille plays Anne, a secretary for the New York Chiefs who secretly falls in love with one of the halfbacks, Pete Wilson, played by Victor Mature)
67. Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949) -Columbia
(Ellen Grant [Lucille] thinks she's been hired as a secretaryby a real estate owner.But in reality, Dick Richmond [Bill Holden] is a con artist who runs illegal horse-race bets)
68. Sorrowful Jones (1949) -Paramount
(Bob Hope plays Sorrowful Jones, who is given gambler's young girl as collateral for an unpaid dept. Lucille plays Gladys O'Neil, a friend of Sorrowful's who helps care for the girl, and eventually they become a family)
69. Fancy Pants (1950) -Paramount
(Lucille palys Agatha Floud, who takes home Humphrey[Bob Hope] to be her butler in New Mexico.When the town believes he is a British lord, Humphrey plays the charade untill Agatha's beau uncovers the truth)
70. The Fuller Brush Girl (1950) -Columbia
(Lucille plays Sally Elliot, a door-to-door cosmetics saleslady who innocently got caught up with crooks, murder, and the law)
71. *A Woman of Distinction (1950) -Columbia
(Lucille makes an unbilled cameo role in this film)
72. The Magic Carpet (1951) -Columbia
(After learning the secret of the magic carpet, a prince persuades a harem girl named Narah, played by Lucille, to help in freeing his people from the evil rule of the Caliph)
Note: This was Lucy's last movie before her great success of television
73. The Long, Long Trailer (1954) -MGM
(Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz portray Tacy & Nicholas Collini, two newlyweds who buy a trailer home and expierence the problems of living in a house on wheels)
74. Forever Darling (1956) -MGM
(Lorenzo [Desi Arnaz] and Susan [Lucille Ball] Vega's marriage is going downhill fast, so Susan's gaurdian angel [James Mason] appears in an attempt to help the couple)
75. The Facts of Life (1960) -United Artists
(Kitty Weaver and Larry Gilbert (played by Lucille and Bob Hope) are two middle aged married people who experiment with an affair together & return to their spouses)
76. Critic's Chioce (1963) -Warner Brothers
(Parker Balllentine[Bob Hope], a stubborn NY drama critic, arrives drunk at the Broadway opening of the first play written by his wife, Angela[Lucille]. Parker's unflattering review results in an unhappy household for the Ballantines.)
77. A Guide for a Married Man (1967) -20th Century Fox
(Lucille Ball, Art Cartney, Jack Benny,Jayne Mansfield and others make guest apperances on this film about a stubborn husband who decides to dabble in infidelity)
78. Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) -United Artists
(Lucille Ball plays Helen North, a widow with eight children trying to start a new life, meets widower Frank Beardsley (Henry Fonda), a Navy officer with 10 childern of his own. The two fall in love, marry, and try to cope with the demands of maintaining 18 children)
79. Mame (1974) -Warner Brothers
See Lucy's Monthly Movie Showcase....Featuring this Movie!
(During the Depression and Prohibition, Mame Dennis, played by Lucille Ball, lives life to the fullest and tries her hand at show business, marriage, and caring for her orphaned nephew in this full-of-life musical comedy)
Here are info on some of Lucille Ball's movies:
Lucy Movie Info #1: Fancy Pants (1950)
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Synopsis
"An American actor (Arthur Tyler [Bob Hope]) impersonating an English butler is hired by a nouveau riche woman (Effie Floud [Lea Penman]) from New Mexico to refine her husband and headstrong daughter (Aggie [Lucille Ball]). The complications increase when the town believes Arthur to be an Earl, and President Roosevelt decides to pay a visit." [Erica Schulman]
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Cast
ACTOR/ACTRESS ROLE
Lucille Ball Agatha Floud
Virginia Kelley Rosalind
Bob Hope Arthur Tyler
Percy Helton Mayor Fogarty
Bruce Cabot Cart Belknap
Robin Hughes Cyril
Hope Sansberry Millie
Jack Kirkwood Mike Floud
Oliver Blake Mr. Andrews
Lea Penman Effie Floud
Hugh French George VanBasingwell
Grace Gillern Albertson Dolly
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Credits
RUNNING TIME
92m's
YEAR OF RELEASE
1950
STUDIO
Paramount
COLOR/B&W
Color
DIRECTOR
George Marshall
WRITERS
Edmund L. Hartmann
Robert C. O'Brien
Harry Leon Willson (original story)
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Charles Lang
FILM EDITING
Archie Marshek
PRODUCER
Robert L. Welch
ART DIRECTORS
Hans Dreier
A. Earl Hendrick
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Notes
Lucy and Bob Hope had scored a huge success for Paramount in Sorrowful Jones, which had grossed more than any other Bob Hope film to date. Paramount, hoping they could score another huge success with the team, immediatley signed Lucy for their next Hope comedy: a remake of the 1935 Charles Laughton film, Ruggles of Red Gap.
The film was first titled When Men Were Men, before changing to Fancy Pants.
There were two songs written for the film by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans: "(Hey) Fancy Pants!" and "Home Cookin'."
Fancy Pants began shooting in August. It opened in late Summer 1950, and was not as big a success as Sorrowful Jones. It did earn a tidy sum at the box-office, and was well-recieved by critics as well.
This was Lucy and Bob Hope's second film teaming. They would work together on screen two more times; in The Facts of Life and Critic's Choice.
Fancy Pants is available on home video from Paramount. You can buy the video online from Ted's Lucille Ball Bookstore (in association with Amazon.com).
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Reviews
". Amusing musical remake of Ruggles of Red Gap...." [Leonard Maltin]
"Lucille Ball is one of the finest comediennes in Hollywood." [Cue]
"Bob Hope and Lucille Ball are in good form in this spirited remake of Ruggles of Red Gap." [Find-a-Video]
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Quotes
"You act as is gravy was on it!"
-- Agatha, as Sir Wembley kisses her hand
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Lucy Fans Speak
"Fancy Pants was a wonderful movie.... Its a really great movie." - Ben
Lucy movie info #2: Forever, Darling (1956)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Synopsis
"Susan and Lorenzo have been married for over five years and they are starting to drift apart. So into her life comes an angel,
which only Susan can see, to tell her that there will be trouble ahead if they do not work out their problems. Lorenzo is
developing insecticide #383 at Finlay Vega Chemical Co. and plans to test it on a camping trip that he takes with Susan, but the trip becomes a an obstacle course for him." [Tony Fontana]
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Cast
ACTOR/ACTRESS ROLE
Lucille Ball Susan Vega
Desi Arnaz Lorenzo Xavier Vega
James Mason The Guardian Angel
Louis Calhern Charles Y. Bewell
John Emery Dr. Edward R. Winter
John Hoyt Bill Finlay
Natalie Schafer Millie Opdyke
Mabel Albertson Society Reporter
Ralph Dumke Henry Opdyke
Nancy Kulp Amy
Willis Bouchey Mr. Clinton
Ruth Brady Laura
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Credits
RUNNING TIME
96m's
DATE OF RELEASE
February 9, 1956
STUDIO
MGM
Zanra
COLOR/B&W
Color
DIRECTOR
Alexander Hall
WRITERS
Helen Deutsch
Bob Carroll, Jr. (uncredited)
Madelyn Pugh (uncredited)
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Harold Lipstein
MUSIC
Bronislau Kaper
FILM EDITING
Dann Cahn
Bud Molin
PRODUCER
Desi Arnaz
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Notes
After the huge success of The Long, Long Trailer, MGM wanted the Lucy-Desi team back on the screen - but fast. However, this time Desi had more clout, and told MGM he was going to produce the film, using the I Love Lucy television staff, at Desilu. Instead of the Desilu banner, though, Desi produced the film as Zanra (Arnaz spelled backwards) Productions. MGM would finance and release the film.
On March 7, 1956 it was announced that Desilu had dug up a comedy script by Helen Deutsch called Guardian Angel, which had been written in 1944. Under that title, it was considered as a vehicle for the team of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. An earlier version, titled The Woman Who Was Scared, had been written as a potential vehicle for William Powell and Myrna Loy. Later, in a silly MGM publicity stunt, the studio tried to sell a story to the press that Deutsch had written the story as a Lucy-Desi vehicle originally -- in 1942!
The role of the angel was intened for William Powell in the Hepburn-Tracy script, and the Arnazes wanted Cary Grant for the part. Instead, however, they settled for James Mason. Married couple Judy Garland and Sid Luft had also intended for Cary Grant -- in the role of the suicidal movie star Garland marries -- in their 1954 musical-remake of A Star is Born, but they, too, had to settle for James Mason.
Forever, Darling director Alexander Hall had once been romantically linked to Lucy, and they had almost gotten engaged. However, his hiring wasn't the best idea. Bernie Weitzman in Desilu: "[Lucy] had a lot of sentiment about people. Al Hall was an old-time director who couldn't get a job with anybody else. She made him the director because she liked him and he was nice to her when she was a nobody. She had great sentimental feeling about people who were good to her when she was down. Desi did, too. She surrounded herself with people who knew her for years and years who were really througfh in this industry, but for her they were very important. She had tremendous loyalty -- even if it wroked against her."
Being used to television -- where time was of the essence -- Desi didn't waste time the way most movie-makers did. One of his ideas was simple, yet hadn't been thought of in the 25 years of movie making since Technicolor began. Martin Leeds, also in Desilu: "At the end of the first day [of production], I got a call from Ben [Thau], asking how we were doing. 'We are ahead two days,' I replied. 'What is with you,' he said. 'Are you drunk?' I explained that when we started our color tests, we shot script at the same time, and the two days of tests came out first quality, great. MGM had never thought of that, but we television people knew that you should never waste anything."
Production on the film ran from May 31 to July 14, 1955.
Radio City Music Hall deemed the film "substandard" and declared that it wouldn't priemere the film at it's movie house.
MGM priemered the film on February 9, 1956, at New York's Loew's State Theater. The Arnazes flew to the Big Apple for the event, stopping in Lucy's hometown of Celeron for a reunion.
The film met with critical blahs and mediocre box-office.
Forever, Darling is available on home video from MGM/UA Home Video. You can buy the video online from Ted's Lucille Ball Bookstore (in association with Amazon.com).
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Lucy Says...
"I haven't been in many flops in my life, but this one was petty bad. Desi played a scientist working on a new insecticide; I was his screwball wife who went along on a field trip to help. The picture was made hastily with a poor script; both critics and public pannied it. But at least it inspired a beatuiful song...." [Love, Lucy]
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Reviews
"1/2. ....Contrived but enjoyable." [Leonard Maltin]
"...silly..." [Newsweek]
"...garbled story...not until the final reel does Lucy het around to taking the pratfalls that are her television specialty." [Time]
"The script is heavy and the jokes are bad. This is quite a switch on the entertainment pattern of the day -- the two stars devote their best energies to television and toss off a quickie for the movies. Movie fans deserve a better break." [Uncredited critic, quoted in Desilu]
"In several studio close-ups of Miss Ball, both camera and lighting are notably unkind." [Variety]
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Lucy Fans Speak
"Lucille Ball and Desi Aranz at there best." -- Paul Dawson
"Not as great as Long, Long Trailer but still Lucy. It proves that television makers can't beat movie makers at their own game." - Carol Burnett
Lucy movie info #3: The Long, Long Trailer (1954)
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Synopsis
"America may never be the same after Hollywood's favorite couple, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, take you aboard their home on wheels for a wacky cross-country honeymoon." [MGM Synopsis]
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Cast
Lucille Ball Tracy Collini
Desi Arnaz Nicholas Collini
Marjorie Main Mrs. Hittaway
Keenan Wynn Policeman
Gladys Hurlbut Mrs. Bolton
Moroni Olsen Mr. Tewitt
Bert Freed Foreman
Madge Blake Aunt Anastacia
Walter Baldwin Uncle Edgar
Oliver Blake Mr. Sudloy
Perry Sheehan Bridesmaid
Charles Herbert Little Boy
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Credits
RUNNING TIME
103m's
YEAR OF RELEASE
1954
STUDIO
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
COLOR/BW
Technicolor
DIRECTOR
Vincente Minnelli
WRITERS
Frances Goodrich
Albert Hackett
Clinton Twiss (author)
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Robert Surtees
MUSIC
Adolph Deutsch
Richard A. Whiting
FILM EDITING
Ferris Webster
PRODUCER
Pandro S. Berman
LYRICISTS
Haven Gillespie
Seymour Simmons
Richard A. Whiting
ART DIRECTORS
Edward C. Carfagno
Cedric Gibbons
SET DIRECTORS
F. Keogh Gleason
Edwin B. Willis
SPECIAL EFFECTS
A. Arnold Gillespie
Warren Newcombe
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Notes
Desi had become interested in Clinton Twiss' The Long, Long Trailer as early as May 1952, but MGM producer Pandro S. Berman outbid him.
Berman, however, though Lucy and Desi would be great in the film, but MGM honchos weren't sure. Berman later recalled, "Metro wanted no part of it. They subscribed to the theory that the audience wouldn't pay to see actors they could get at home free. But I insisted these were different parts, and Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz could make the picture hillarious. If the picture was funny enough, I had no worries that enough people wouldn't pay to see it."
On February 4, 1953, Lucy and Desi were signed to make the film at MGM for $250,000. Vincente Minnelli was chosen to direct a week later.
Lucy and Desi began production a week after "I Love Lucy" ended production on its second season. The production wrapped on July 16.
In February 1954, two "I Love Lucy" episodes were produced back-to-back so that Lucy and Desi could attend the film's New York premiere.
The movie was a major part of MGM's Thirtieth Anniversary Jubilee, and they spent a huge amount of money on the film's marketing campaign.
Trailer premiered at the world-famous Radio City Music Hall to fantastic reviews and eventually became MGM's top-grossing comedy film of all-time, eclipsing Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor's Father of the Bride.
Trailer is also the reason there is no "I Love Lucy" feature film. Other than a preview in Bakersfield, California, the film was never released because MGM did not want extra competition for Trailer. If anyone has any information on the whereabouts of a copy of this film, please e-mail me.
Trailer is available on videotape from MGM/UA Home Video (202112). You can buy the video online from Ted's Lucille Ball Bookstore (in association with Amazon.com).
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Lucy Says...
"We took three days of from ["I Love Lucy] and then went directly into production of MGM's The Long, Long Trailer. We did this movie for my old friend producer Pandro Berman. My former studio, MGM, paid us $250,000, and fortunately the show was a big moneymaker. I had Lana Turner's old dressing room and Desi was in Clark Gable's....We knew that MGM had a few things lined up for us to promote The Long, Long Trailer, which was having its New York premiere, but mainly our idea was a short vacation from the daily grind. The trip started one Wednesday night in February 1954...we flew toward New York so fast that I never had time to get my girdle off. We sat up all night. The plane's water pipes froze, making it impossible to freshen up before getting off. We landed at Idlewild at seven a.m. and were flabbergasted to be met by a huge crowd, a host of dignitaries, and a sixteen-piece German marching band. Desi and I mugged and hugged, then kissed and waved before sashaying down a red carpet stretching from the plane to the terminal....[The morning after the premiere] we learned that The Long, Long Trailer was definitely a hit. The Radio City Music Hall had enjoyed the biggest Sunday and Washington's Birthday in its entire history, with lines stretching from the theater clear to Fifth Avenue. Metro booked an additional $1.5 million of showings across the country following the news." [Love Lucy]
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Reviews
"Pleasant vehicle for Lucy and Desi, on honeymoon with cumbersome trailer that creates havoc for the duo. Plenty of slapstick." [Leonard Maltin]
"...a wonderfully slaphappy farce..." [Time]
"...hilarious..." [Newsweek, Commonwealth and American Magazine]
"...[a] very funny movie..." [Saturday Review]
"It is an hour and a half of the sort of nonsense you might get in one good, fast Lucy show...the wife is still a nitwit...and the spouse is still a good sport with more patience than passion -- or brains." [The New York Times]
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Lucy's Fans Speak
"This may be my favorite film of Lucy's, it's definitely my favorite of the three she made with Desi." - Ted Nesi
"The Long Long Trailer was a great movie which stared both Lucy and Desi in it. I think it was well-written, and takes place in beautiful Yosemite National Park, and it's the best Lucy/Desi movie I've seen. (Ok, ok, so it's tied with Forever Darling, another Lucy/Desi film)" - Matthew Lewis
"The Long, Long Trailer is my favorite movie. Lucy and Desi are just great in it. It's great for any Lucy or Desi fan. Everyone will enjoy this great movie. Worth watching." - Anonymous
"I think this was a hiliarous movie. Although the names sounded a little too much like their counterparts in I Love Lucy, it was still a new and exciting adventure." - Jake Frasch
"This is my absolute all-time favorite movie. I laugh just thinking about some of the scenes." - Shonna Owens
"The best Lucy-Desi movie!!! 4 Stars all the way. GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT!!!!!!!!" - R. Taylor
"This is THE BEST Lucy video that I have ever seen. I am so happy that I was able to purchase this video. I watch it all the time!!!!" - Michael Blackford
"I think The Long, Long Trailer is the bomb! It is my favorite movie and Lucy is my favorite actress! I give it four stars 'cause it has a great plot, cast and is just plain ol' great!" - Amber
"I love to watch The Long, Long Trailer...I particularly like the part where [Tracy] is walking through the trailer and then is thrown into the mud." - Jason
"The Long, Long Trailer was a wonderful movie.... I bought the movie and I watch it almost every so often. It's a really great movie." - Ben
Lucy movie info #4: Yours, Mine and Ours (1968)
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Synopsis
"This story is taken from the real-life marriage of two people in the [late] 1960s. Helen North (Lucille Ball) is a widow with eight children who falls in love with Naval officer Frank Beardsley (Henry Fonda), a widower with ten children of his own. The two marry as comedy ensues from the sheer numbers and diverse age groups of the offspring. Narration is used in the first half of the film to help set the stage for the impending nuptials. Van Johnson is the mutual friend who brings the couple together. Tom Bosley plays the harried doctor who makes a house call and finds almost two dozen patients under one roof. The newlyweds are soon off to the hospital when Helen becomes pregnant with the couple's first child in this amusing family comedy." [Pavlides Dan]
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Cast
ACTOR/ACTRESS ROLE
Lucille Ball Helen North Beardsley
Henry Fonda Frank Beardsley
Van Johnson Warrant Officer Darrel Harrison
Louise Troy Madeline Love
Sidney Millek Dr. Ashford
Tom Bosley Family Doctor
Nancy Howard Nancy Beardsley
Walter Brooke Howard Beardsley
Tim Matheson Mike Beardsley
Gil Rogers Rusty
Nancy Roth Rosemary North
Gary Goetzman Greg Beardsley
Michele Tobin Veronical Beardsley
Tracy Nelson Germaine Beardsley
Stephanie Oliver Jean Beardsley
Jennifer Leak Colleen North
Kevin Burchett Nicky North
Kimberly Beck Janette North
Mitch Vogel Tommy North
Margot Jane Jean North
Eric Shea Phillip North
Greg Atkins Gerald North
Lynnell Atkins Teresa North
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Credits
RUNNING TIME
111m's
YEAR OF RELEASE
1968
STUDIOS
United Artists
Desilu
COLOR/BW
Color
DIRECTOR
Melville Shavelson
WRITERS
Mort Lachman
Melville Shavelson
Bob Carroll Jr.
Madelyn Davis
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Charles F. Wheeler
MUSIC
Fred Karlin
FILM EDITING
Stuart Gilmore
PRODUCER
Robert F. Blumofe
ART DIRECTOR
Arthur Lonergan
SET DECORATOR
James Payne
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Notes
In 1961, Lucy remembered Desilu first buying The Beardsley Story (as it was then known) as a Lucy-Desi movie in 1959.
In December 1962, Lucy was coming off the heels of her divorce from Desi and the only semi-successful Wildcat. With her Broadway career aborted, Lucy decided to concentrate on her film career. She had, after all, only made three films since The Magic Carpet in 1951. So she decided to come back to Desilu in this family-comedy, then titled Full House. The film would be written by Lucy scribes Madelyn Pugh Martin and Bob Carroll, Jr. and would concern the true story of the Beardsley family, a widow with eight children who married a widower with ten.
Desilu, however, was not in the best of financial conditions at this point and Desi told Lucy the company needed her to return to series television. And so, The Lucy Show began production in 1962 and was immediatley a major success. Because of this, however, it was announcd Full House (now titled The Beardsley Story again) would postpone filming until the summer hiatus of 1963. At this point, no leading man had been chosen, but Lucy said she'd like Jimmy Stewart or Fred MacMurray (My Three Sons) as her co-star.
Production, however, was again postponed indeffinitley when Lucy's 1963 comedy with Bob Hope, Critic's Choice, flopped at the box office. Instead, Lucy took a Hawaiian vacation during her 1963 summer hiatus.
The film hit another bump when Lucy had a falling out with long time writers Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Martin. She threw out their version of the script and comissioned Leonard Spigelgass (who wrote The Big Street in 1941) to write a new version to begin production in the summer of 1965.
In August 1965, Lucy (now President of Desilu) announced plans to launch Desilu "family-type" feature films. The plan was for fifteen different films to be produced in the next three years, with a budget of $750,000. The first of these was supposed to be The Beardsley Story, with Jackie Gleason or Art Carney as her co-star. The film had now been in pre-production since 1961.
A little more than a year later, The Beardsley Story finally seemed to be on the right track. United Artists had recently entered into a deal with producer Robert F. Blumofe to produce feature films, and the company had commited to the financing and distribution of the film. Lucy now decided she wanted Jackie Gleason, Art Carney or John Wayne to play Mr. Beardsley. The movie would be filmed by Desilu in the summer of 1967. All the previous screenplays, Blumofe said, had been too I Love Lucy-ish, so he approached Mickey Rudin and Bernie Weitzman too develop the screenplay into a good movie. But this too was deemed too similar to Lucy's television work, and so Mel Shavelson, who knew film comedy, was asked to write. United Artists, however, was growing weary of never having a script, and they told Lucy and Blumofe they had to wave script approval. Lucy finally agreed.
Finally, in summer 1967, Lucy began production on Yours, Mine and Ours. The film had been called The Beardsley Story, Full House and His, Hers and Theirs but now they had a title, a script and a leading man. Henry Fonda, who had worked with Lucy on RKO's The Big Street in 1941, called Robert Blumofe from New York, and said he was interested in playing the male lead. Both the producer and Lucy agreed he would be wonderful in the role, and he was signed. Mel Shavelson had brought in Bob Hope's top writer, Mort Lachman, and in six weeks the pair had written a screenplay good enough not to need any changes.
Lucy, at one point, wanted her children, Lucie and Desi Jr., to act in the film, but Shavelson told her no, because he did not want it to become a family affair.
At first, Lucy didn't want to do the famous drunk scene in which Fonda's children spike her drink. She didn't think she could do it. But Shavelson told her he thought she could, and she filmed the whole thing in one take, with almost no outside direction.
Lucy's age presented a considerable problem for the film's cameraman. As Mel Shavelson said in Desilu, the 56-year-old Lucy, who was portraying a woman about 40, was not easy to photograph. "She had a basic lighting problem, and she knew it, and she knew a great deal about her lighting. You had to frontlight her and photograph her from the front so that the wrinkles did not show. Lucy's skin had gone to pieces because of the years and years of makeup. It took not only time to light her, but also care to shoot a scene so that she was not shown from an unflattering angle." They did a good job, however, because many people later commented they thought the film had been made during her I Love Lucy years. Lucy did not have any special lighting during the promotional tour for Yours, Mine and Ours and one little girl came up to her and said "Lucy, what happened to your face?" It hurt Lucy deeply, and she couldn't talk to anyone for the rest of that day.
When the film finally opened in 1968, it was a huge critical and box office success. The film ended up costing only $1,700,000 and it became one of the top-grossing films of the year, and United Artists' highest-grossing film of 1968.
An LP soundtrack for Yours, Mine and Ours was released in 1986 by MCA Classics Soundtracks (see picture above).
Yours, Mine and Ours is available on videotape from MGM Home Video (#201702). You can buy the video online from Ted's Lucille Ball Bookstore (in association with Amazon.com).
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Reviews
". For once, a wholesome 'family' picture with some intelligent scripting. ...Lucy's drunk scene is a delight in warm, well-made comedy." [Leonard Maltin]
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Lucy's Fans Speak
"I've always thought this was one of Lucy's best films. She and Henry Fonda are wonderful together (as they were in The Big Street) and the children are cute. The script is great, but not overly cutesy, as some films of this genre are." - Ted Nesi
"I love this movie! It is great! Lucy and Henry Fonda were very good in it. This is my [second favorite] Lucy movie. I have this movie on tape and I keep watching it over and over." - Jessica
"This movie had been one of my favorite movies for years. I enjoyed watching it often and understood what the actions were produced and shown with funny actions. It was the greatest [film] of the 1960's and Lucy did a great job with her own actions. She was a great actress and I had been a big fan of hers for years." - Vivian Blanco
"Yours, Mine, and Ours is one of the best Lucy movies I've seen. The drunk scene (where the children spike her drink), shows off her many acting talents." - Erin
"Yours, Mine and Ours was a wonderful movie....I watch it every time its on TV. Its one of a kind. I give it four stars." - Ben
"Great!" - Anonymous
"I think this movie is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Lucille Ball surely proves that she is the Queen of Comedy. I love her." - Adam Wishman
Lucy movie info #5:
Stone Pillow (1985)
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Synopsis
"[T]he Lucy we see in Stone Pillow is a cranky bag lady, fiercely independent and violently resistant to do-gooders who try to alter her homeless status. Daphne Zuniga plays an idealistic social worker who tries to get Ball off the streets. It is only after watching several of her fellow indigents die where they sleep that Ball agrees to give up her 'stone pillow.'" [Hal Erickson]
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Cast
ACTOR/ACTRESS ROLE
Lucille Ball Florebelle
Daphne Zuniga Carrie Lang
Stephen Lang Tim
Susan Batson Ruby
Anna Maria Horsford Collins
Stefan Schnabel Mr. Berman
Rebecca Schull Mrs. Nelson
Imogene Bliss Violet
Michael Champagne Supermarket Manager
Gloria Cromwell Bus Terminal Matron
Patrick Kilpatrick Young Thug
Matthew Locricchio Tony
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Credits
RUNNING TIME
100m's
AIR DATE
November 5, 1985
STUDIOS
Gaylord Productions
Schaefer-Karpf Productions
NETWORK
CBS
COLOR/B&W
Color
DIRECTOR
George Schaefer
WRITER
Rose Leiman Goldemberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Walter Lassally
MUSIC
Georges Delerue
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Notes
The Wisconsin State Journal TV-Week had Lucy (as Florabelle) on their cover for the November 3-9, 1985 issue.
Stone Pillow was originally supposed to be shot during the winter of 1984/85, in New York City. Production was delayed, however, after writer Rose Leiman Goldemberg's daughter was killed. The company couldn't begin shooting due to unfinished work on the script. The film finally began production in May 1985 -- during a sweltering heat wave. Lucy lost 23 pounds during production. She was loaded down with heavy, winter clothing, and had to be hospitalized for dehydreation upon her return to the west coast. Lucy didn't complain, though: "You just keep going. You get in there and get it over with. There's a whole company around, and they're suffering, too. So you just shut up and do it." Lucy's health was never the same after the film, though.
Stone Pillow was the second-highest-rated TV-movie of the 1985-86 television season. Critics also enjoyed the film -- or at least Lucy's performance, with some sighting a weak/sentimental script as one of the film's detractors.
The high ratings garnered by Stone Pillow led ABC to sign Lucy for a series comeback. Life with Lucy bombed, and was cancelled after only eight episodes aired early in the 1986-87 season.
Although one of Lucy's most requested films, Stone Pillow has never been released on video. In recent years it has, however, aired on Lifetime.
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Reviews
"Average [TV-movie]....what emerges is merely Lucy in a fright wig with no laugh track. A major disappointment...." [Leonard Maltin]
"Damon Runyon warmed over without his bite...Lucille brings home the bacon. Physically, Ball does superb work as she flails around in the heavy-duty gear she wears. Tough, gallant, impatient, Florabelle becomes a memorable portrait of pride going after a fall." [Variety]
"...a boulder of a show that even Ball cannot keep from rolling downhill." [The Washington Post]
Lucy movie info #6: The Fuller Brush Girl (1950)
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Synopsis
"Scatterbrained Sally Elliott gets a job as a Fuller brush girl and, as expected, her attempts at selling cosmetics door-to-door are disastrous. Things get worse when one of her customers is murdered and she becomes the prime suspect. She and her poor fiancé Humphrey find themselves dodging the police while trying to catch the real killer." [Daniel Bubbeo]
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Cast
ACTOR/ACTRESS ROLE
Lucille Ball Sally Elliott
Eddie Albert Humphrey Briggs
Carl Benton Reid Mr. Christie
Gale Robbins Ruby Rawlings
Jeff Donnell Jane Bixby
Jerome Cowan Harvey Simpson
John Litel Mr. Martin
Fred Graham Rocky Mitchell
Lee Patrick Claire Simpson
Arthur Space Inspector Rodgers
Barbara Pepper Woman Watching TV
Red Skelton Himself
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Credits
RUNNING TIME
85m's
YEAR OF RELEASE
1950
ALSO KNOWN AS
The Affairs of Sally
STUDIO
Columbia
COLOR/B&W
B&W
DIRECTOR
Lloyd Bacon
WRITERS
Frank Tashlin
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Charles Latown Jr.
FILM EDITING
William A. Lyon
PRODUCER
S. Sylvan Simon
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Notes
In 1949, Lucy had scored a huge success for Columbia in Miss Grant Takes Richmond, and Columbia was eager to get her in another film of the seem genre.
The Fuller Brush Girl was a sequel to Red Skelton's 1948 Columbia hit, The Fuller Brush Man. In fact, Skelton makes a cameo in this comedy.
Shooting on The Fuller Brush Girl began in February 1950.
Eddie Albert would later gain fame as Mr. Oliver Wendell Douglas on Green Acres, with Eva Gabor. He also guest-starred in an October 1973 episode of Here's Lucy.
Columbia released The Fuller Brush Girl in September 1950 and the film garnered critical raves and big box-office. But, soon after the release, the film's producer, S. Sylvan Simon, died suddenly, after completing Born Yesterday with Judy Holliday. Tyrannical Columbia mogul Harry Cohn decided that the success of The Fuller Brush Girl and Miss Grant Takes Richmond were not due to Lucy, but to Simon only. And with Simon gone, Cohn wanted out of Lucy's expensive contract. And so, he assigned her to a "grade-C potboiler" -- The Magic Carpet.
Gale Robbins (as Ruby Rawlings) performs the song "Put the Blame on Mame" (no relation to Lucy's Mame) in the film.
The Fuller Brush Girl is available on home video from Columbia/Tri-Star. You can buy the video online from Ted's Lucille Ball Bookstore (in association with Amazon.com).
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Lucy Says...
"When I made The Fuller Brush Girl, however, in March 1950, I began to wonder just how much I wanted to play that Ball role. We got great reviews and the bits were quite funny, but what I remember this movie for chiefly is the truly terribly migraine headaches I suffered making it. And no wonder! In filming all this wild slapstick, I sprained both wrists and displaced six vertebrae, then irritated my sciatic nerve by walking on the outside of my ankles for hours doing a drunk scene. I also suffered a two-day paralysis of the eyeball when talcum powder was accidentally blown into my eye by a wind machine. A three-day dunking in a wine vat gave me a severe cold, and I also was bruised by several tons of coffee beans. At any rate, at five o'clock on the last day of shooting, I was climbing into my car to drive directly home to bed, when I remembered I had promised to pose for publicity shots for the local tuberculosis society.
So I drove to Hollywood and Vine. Coughing and sneezing, I stood in front of the free chest X-ray machine they had set up there. The technician developed the film in a couple of seconds. 'Pardon me, Miss Ball,' he gasped, 'but this X ray shows that you have some kind of pneumonia.'
'I do?' I said. 'I thought I just had a cold.' I drove right to the hospital and spent the next nine days in the thermostatic pneumonia wagon." [Love, Lucy]
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Reviews
". Low-grade slapstick with energetic Lucy as door-to-door salesgirl...." [Leonard Maltin]
"[Lucy is] a wide-eyed beauty with buoyant charm...[she] puts over her comedy with perfect timing." [The Hollywood Reporter]
"...a rollicking, slam-bang, slapstick comedy with Lucille Ball at her best." [Variety]
Lucy movie info #7: Critic's Choice (1963)
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Synopsis
"Parker Ballantine (Bob Hope), a stubborn New York drama critic, arrives drunk at the Broadway opening of the first play written by his wife, Angela (Lucille [Ball]). Parker's unflattering review results in an unhappy Ballantine household." [For the Love of Lucy]
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Cast
ACTOR/ACTRESS ROLE
Lucille Ball Angela Ballantine
Bob Hope Parker Ballantine
Marilyn Maxwell Ivy London
Rip Torn Dion Kapakos
Jessie Royce Landis Charlotte Orr
John Dehner S.P. Champlain
Jim Backus Dr. William Von Hagedorn
Ricky Kelman John Ballantine
Dorothy Green Mrs. Champlain
Marie Windsor Sally Orr
Richard Deacon Harvey Rittenhouse
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Credits
RUNNING TIME
100m's
YEAR OF RELEASE
1963
STUDIO
Warner Bros.
COLOR/BW
Color
DIRECTOR
Don Weis
WRITERS
Ira Levin (play)
Jack Sher
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Charles Lang
MUSIC
George Duning
FILM EDITING
William H. Ziegler
PRODUCERS
Frank P. Rosenberg
ART DIRECTOR
Edward Carrere
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Notes
Lucy had discovered the property Critic's Choice by Christmas 1961, and immediatley thought it would make a movie hit.
On Broadway, Critic's Choice had been a moderate success. Coincidentally, it opened the same week as Lucy's moderatley successful musical Wildcat.
The film began shooting in March.
This was the fourth screen teaming of Lucille Ball and Bob Hope. They had also worked together on television throughout the '50s and early '60s.
Both Bob and Lucy later remembered this film as one of their least favorite movies.
Critic's Choice was released in April 1963, and was a critical and box-office flop.
Critic's Choice is available on videotape from Warner/Lorimar/Canon Video. You can buy the video online from Ted's Lucille Ball Bookstore (in association with Amazon.com).
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Reviews
"1/2. An in-joke Broadway play diluted for movie audience consumption....Film emerges as tired, predictable comedy, with best moments contributed by supporting players." [Leonard Maltin]
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Lucy's Fans Speak
"This film has it's moments, but it's not Lucy's best ever. Deffinitley not her best work with Hope." - Ted Nesi]
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