MovieChat Forums > I Love Lucy (1951) Discussion > Lucy and the dummy

Lucy and the dummy

posted 8 years ago by [email protected] (1732)
18 replies | jump to latest

Certainly among the least discussed "Hollywood" episodes, this little gem is a favorite of mine.
The "dummy" head of Ricky (quite creapy actually) is an inspired idea, and Lucy's attempting
to make it her dance partner is very much of the "earlier" seasons. As silly as the notion is,
the script is very sharp, and the scene where the dummy falls apart, and Lucy does
everything to try and save an impossible situation ("the show MUST GO ON!") is super
funny and among Ball's best in her physical comedy.

No "classic" to be sure, but it's a reliable laugh treat.

[–] [email protected] (6247) 8 years ago

I get ideas, I get ideas...

Yes, it's not talked about much, but it is funny! Lucy at her loony, scheming best! Only Lucy could come up with an idea like that. Served Ricky right for going "dipsy fishin'."

It's a hilarious episode but I usually don't comment on it because I thought Ricky was being a selfish jerk in the end. I wish they had come up with a different idea for the last act, e.g., the studio wanted Lucy to perform with the REAL Ricky, not "raggedy Ricky", so he ended up obligated to do several performances with Lucy.

The way it ended made Ricky seem so selfish. Sure, he had to get back to New York and wanted his wife with him. But for years, Lucy had a dream of being in show biz. Now she was handed a golden opportunity and he couldn't sacrifice ONE year to help her go for her dream?

I know Ricky had to get back to his band, but what was "the band" doing in the months he was in Hollywood? Working somewhere else? On a paid extended vacation? They were professional musicians. Surely they didn't need Ricky to maintain a livelihood.

But Lucy needed Ricky in her corner. She obviously had SOME talent. Ricky made one movie and MGM obviously wasn't clamoring for his services. But Lucy, on the strength of one messed up performance, caught the eye of the studio and was offered a contract.

Sure she was no singer, but she had a possible future in comedy musicals.

She could have stayed in Hollywood for a year along with Ethel. She said she'd be making a big salary and she'd pay expenses. I'm sure Ethel would've taken care of the baby in exchange for room and board. Ricky could've gotten his band a gig in California.

I just wish the episode hadn't ended with Ricky stomping on Lucy's dream. Yes, she was a wife and mother. But surely he must've met SOME actresses at MGM who were married with children! And Ethel was married when she was a vaudeville performer.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 8 years ago

I'm fine with the ending, as well as Ricky's decision to go fishing. First, he had been an MGM "Yes man" for three
months, while they dump his first film, drag him out to car wash shootings, and other silly publicity stunts. Ricky
wanted time alone, and I admire him for sayng "no" (even before he knew what Lucy was up to). When he does
find out, he sticks to his guts. Good for HIM. He had been generous to Lucy, to the Mertz's, and his overbearing
mother-in-law. Lucy had her chance in the big staircase musical sequence (which she botched), as well as with
Van Johnson. Ricky didn't owe Metro OR Lucy any more favors.

As for Lucy's expecting everyone to stay out a YEAR (!), and give up their own lives,...talk about selfish. I doubt
Lucy would've gotten far anyway. She wasn't young, she was very unpolished, and most of her successful comedy
is by proxy: disaster. In other words, they would've dropped her option.

[–] [email protected] (6247) 8 years ago

Oh I didn't mean to imply that Ricky shouldn't have gone fishing! I don't think he owed the studio any more performances either.
You said it in another thread. Hollywood is a tough town and they shelved Ricky's film without even telling him. Then they had him hopping around like a trained seal from one publicity stunt to the next. But it wasn't to benefit the studio. They were trying to keep Ricky's name in front of the public while searching for the right film for him.

I do think the studio decided to cut it losses with Ricky after one film. He obviously didn't impress MGM that much.

As for Lucy's showgirl staircase number, a very funny comedy bit, but it was hardly a fair test of Lucy's ability. I mean, she was given NO rehearsal time! They just plopped a 25 lb (or whatever it weighed) headdress on her and expected her to be graceful? I can't think of anyone who could walk while balancing that thing without any practice.

I know Lucy wanted them all to stay with her but she offered to pay the Mertz's expenses. Fred's eyes lit up at that and he would've gone for the idea if not for Ricky. What were the great "lives" Fred and Ethel had to rush home to anyway? Their kids? Their careers? If it was me, I'd trade a year in an old New York brownstone to live in sunny Southern California any day! Fred could've found someone to manage the place. Not all landlords live in their buildings.

Ricky was in show business. He could have found a booking for his band out west. If not, he could have at least been supportive, allowed Little Ricky to stay with his mother.

Lucy and Ethel were inseparable. They would've had a great time. And as you said, her career in show biz would've probably been short-lived anyway. Ricky wasn't thinking ahead. It was a perfect opportunity for Lucy to have her "big chance"! If she was a flop, Ricky wouldn't have to hear her complain anymore that he was standing in her way.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 8 years ago

Lucy was given a year's contract (in reality, it would've been seven years, which was the standard then). She
would NOT have been making a large salary. She was an unknown and would've been started out at something
like $500 per week - hardly enough to support all of them. It was la la land. Lucy is only OFFERING all this
out of desperation, not because it was reality.

Earlier in that final scene, Ethel says Lucy and MGM were "talking terms." In reality, naive Lucy, who had NO
agent, was sitting there, starry-eyed, while two executives offered her a small salary per week to do bit parts.

[–] [email protected] (6247) 8 years ago

Okay, don't know much about Hollywood contracts, standard or otherwise! ha! Why was Ricky only offered a ONE picture deal? He surely wasn't out in Hollywood seven years. He didn't get the "standard 7 year contract".

Of course Lucy wouldn't be offered a "star" salary, but $500 a week was a big chunk a change back then. It would've have gone quite far, that is if Lucy could refrain from buying any hats. lol

She would've been making $2000 a month when most working class folks made $40 a week. You really don't think a family could live on $500 a week back then??

I looked at one of those inflation converters and $500 back then had the buying power of over $4000 today. Lucy could surely have rented a nice place and afforded groceries for that amount!

And I do wonder what the studio execs saw in Lucy, must've been something. Why would they be offering an unknown a contract?

Also, you wrote that she "wasn't young". Well, Lucy was only supposed to be about 34 at that point, hardly a doddering old lady! I read about some performers who entered show biz late in life. Not every performer was Judy Garland or Shirley Temple.

Burt Mustin, well known character actor got his first professional acting job at age 67. You might remember him as Mr. Quigley from All in the Family. He was also the messenger who contacted Endora in Toys in Babeland.

Remember Madge Blake, Mrs. Mulford who owned the hat shop in ILL in "Ricky Loses His Temper'? She started her acting career at age 50.

Maybe Lucy wouldn't have become the great Oscar winning star she fantasized about, but she may have had some success in Hollywood. She was ambitious, beautiful and she could dance! I remember how she told Van Johnson that she saw his act fourteen times and knew the dance routine by heart. I have watched that episode more than 14 times and I could never imitate the steps Lucy does!

Just sticking up for my gal Lucy!!

[–] [email protected] (1732) 8 years ago

Lucy was in her mid-30's (the CHARACTER, anyway); waaaaaaaaaaay over the hill for a beginner female
then (and even now). MGM, and other studios, were breaking apart; the studio system was ending. Lucy
would NOT have been offered a major star-making contract just because she slipped on a dummy at a
studio party. The offer would've been small (especially since she was not a professional, and had no
resume). SHE was thinking big, but the reality was much smaller.

$500 may have been big in 1955, but to honestly believe that Ethel and Fred would've sat out in
Hollywood for a year, while Lucy supported them, working all day in bit roles, is nonsense. And Ricky?
He was part of the New York scene, had a CONTRACT with the Tropicana, and would not have risked
lawsuits and disrupting the lives of his loyal band! As Ricky says, "She can't stay out here a year!!"
Of course not. NOT unless she stayed out alone, and Little Ricky stayed with ONE of his parents.

Many people were offered a one-picture deal to star in, then offered a seven year contract IF they
felt they could groom a star. Ricky was not young either. And with the Latin accent, and no
acting experience, he was extremely limited. Also, musicals were going out of style. Gene Kelly
and Astaire only had a few more pictures themselves by that point, and Astaire was going to other
studios (Fox for "Daddy Long Legs"; Paramount for "Funny Face").

The Hollywood arc was very well thought out by the writers, and, frankly, honest. It didn't dwell on
Ricky's Hollywood "failure", because it was a happy sitcom. Also, this was before the days when
sitcoms got "heavy." So....we were spared. Thank God.

[–] [email protected] (6247) 8 years ago

I wonder if Lucille Ball is looking down on us and wondering why we are so interested in her alter ego? lol

Lucy Ricardo, too old for a newcomer? Well...as I wrote in my last post, a lot of people began showbiz careers later in life and had long and fruitful acting careers, certainly NOT in starring roles, but steady work as supporting players.

A Hollywood contract, however small, would've given Lucy a foot in the door and at least SOMETHING to put on her resume. It didn't mean she had to stay at MGM or any movie studio making musicals. I doubt they were grooming her to be the next Debbie Reynolds or Julie Andrews.

She could have parlayed her experience into TV roles. After all, that's what Lucille Ball herself did! She was know as the "Queen of the B's", B pictures that is. But she became a superstar on TV.

Vivian Vance was no famous movie star. But at the age of forty, ILL propelled her to TV stardom. Character actors like Charles Lane (he had many roles on ILL), played many character roles. He enjoyed a long career in TV.

Lucy's offered to have the Mertzes stay with her. Yeah, Fred was cheap, but not lazy. I don't think he would've sat on his duff the whole year! ha This could've been the perfect chance for him to research his idea of owning that orange grove near Pomona. And remember their old vaudeville friend who gave them parts in a movie? The Mertzes had some showbiz connections. They might've found some other jobs to do.

Yes, Ricky had a CONTRACT. But he was somehow able to get out of it right out of the blue when a talent scout came knocking on his door! I doubt if he was SO irreplaceable. I mean, did the Tropicana close its doors for four months while Ricky was away? New York had NO other band leaders? Did his band collect unemployment? Talented musicians in New York could find work in many places.

Yeah the Hollywood arc was fun and it had to end. But it's also fun to discuss these "what ifs" with another rabid Lucy fan!!!

[–] [email protected] (1732) 8 years ago

Ricky got a MONTH off (which turned into three months). That doesn't mean it would've been okay
for him to take an additional year off. The Lucy-staying-in-Hollywood would've been a disaster of
inconvenience for all. This is why I have no issue with the way "Lucy and the Dummy" ends.

To each his own.

[–] [email protected] (6247) 8 years ago

Well Ricky's "month off" morphed into about four, so I guess the Tropicana didn't collapse without him. LOL Did he call the Tropicana and say that they shelved his original picture so "I need more time off"?

I seriously doubt it would've been a "disaster of inconvenience" for Ethel and Fred. ha ha As I said before, the Mertzes had no kids or careers to go home to. A year in sunny Southern California would hardly be "inconvenient". I think Ethel would've been willing to cook and keep house and watch the baby. She did all those things in New York anyway.

When the Ricardos moved to Connecticut, the Mertzes gave up their "great" New York lifestyle in a New York minute to move to the country to raise chickens and be close to Ricky and Lucy.

I think the Mertzes would have been just as willing to uproot their lives to live in L.A. with Lucy.

As for Ricky, yes it was a sitcom and the episode had to be wrapped up in a scene or two. But he didn't give a moment's thought about what this opportunity meant to Lucy. She spent 15 years cooking, cleaning and washing his dirty underwear. Didn't he have any desire to help her recognize a dream beyond housework? Well this was the fifties and women were supposed to be content to cook and clean and keep quiet.

Just an interesting irony at play here. Lucille Ball's talent was the reason Desi Arnaz got to be a successful TV producer. If she had quit showbiz to stay home with the kids, no one would've heard of Desi Arnaz!

Yeah, to each his own. I just enjoy going over these episodes with someone who loves the show!

[–] [email protected] (1732) 8 years ago

Yep. Like I said, Ricky's taking a month-to-three months off (it's stated in the show as "three",
in case you need reference) is a HUGE difference between three months, plus the TWELVE months
so that Lucy could be a contract actress at Metro. Those "boys" were with the Ricky
Ricardo Orchestra for years, and they needed their income.

As for Connecticut, Lucy wasn't "supporting" them; they went into business together. AND
they were still on the East Coast, allowing Fred to go into NY to collect the monthly rent.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. .

[–] [email protected] (6247) 8 years ago

Okay!

In the episode when Ricky is planning their trip, Lucy comes home with MORE clothes.

Ricky says, "I am only making ONE picture and we're only going to be out there for ONE month."

Yes, their stay was extended because MGM shelved Don Juan. That just brings me back to my original question. Just what did his band do while he was gone all that time? Did the Tropicana shut down? Did his "boys" collect unemployment?

I'm thinking that the club hired a temporary band leader. Those men were in the music business. Bands and groups break up all the time and go their separate ways. (Ever hear of the Beatles? LOL) There are no guarantees in show business (not that there are guarantees in any other business for that matter!)

But I think Ricky was too loyal to leave them high and dry.

As for the Connecticut move, I brought that up to illustrate the friendship between the couples. The Mertzes would follow the Ricardos anywhere. Even if Fred was in L.A., he could hire a building manager.

Funny coincidence. Many years ago I had an apartment in a big old house that was carved up into five apts. The owner, believe it or not, was a professional musician with an orchestra and he travelled a lot. The building was managed by a woman who lived in one of the apts.

Yeah we can just disagree. I'm outnumbered anyway. The show's writers were clearly on YOUR side!

[–] Mikwalen (12) 8 years ago

We never did get any info on the movie that Ricky actually DID make, did we?

[–] [email protected] (6247) 8 years ago

Well I don't want to replay THAT whole argument again. But I was always disappointed that we never learned the title of Ricky's film.

When the Ricardos went on "Face to Face" Ricky mentioned going to the premier. But that was it. No title.

I think the picture was mentioned when they did the short Florida arc. Ricky ran into Claude Akins who remembered Ricky from Hollywood. But that was it. No mention of the name of his film.

[–] Mikwalen (12) 8 years ago

Hmm! So.maybe the film flopped and Ricky became "box office poison" LOL!

[–] [email protected] (6247) 8 years ago

Well we can probably assume that Ricky's film was NOT a major box office smash hit or else Hollywood would have been clamoring for his services again!

[–] [email protected] (1732) 8 years ago

We can assume that. But ILL isn't from an era that did "serious" comedy
(All in the Family, etc.). It was pure entertainment. They finished the Hollywood
arc, and moved onto the European stuff.

We have to remember that Lucy and Desi had a REAL film coming out around
the time that RICKY'S film came out..."Forever Darling." Since fans knew this
at the time, I"m sure we can assume that Ricky's film has the same title,
especially since he records "Forever Darling" just before finding out that
Lucy and Ethel can come to Europe.

Again, for me, I have enough information, and I couldn't care less that
we don't technically know the title of his film. Who cares? The Hollywood
storyline is long enough, and when it's done, it's done.

[–] [email protected] (6247) 8 years ago

Oh that is true. I think you have something there. Ricky's film on ILL might've been a way to promote the Arnaz film.

Yes, the Hollywood arc was over. No need to keep going back to it.

And it WAS a good thing this was an era of pure escapist comedy. Otherwise can you imagine the number of times Lucy would've been in trouble with the law? In Hollywood alone she stalked celebrities and trespassed. ha

In the first season when "Lucy is Jealous of Girl Singer", she had the woman kidnapped and tied up in a closet.

[–] Mikwalen (12) 8 years ago

That's funny, "in trouble with the law" L!

[–] [email protected] (1732) 8 years ago

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