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Corryveckan45's Replies
It took some time for sitcoms to take Domestic Violence seriously. I saw an episode of THAT GIRL in which Marlo Thomas' "Ann Marie" character was selected to serve as a juror on a Domestic Assault and Battery case in which the husband allegedly slapped his wife in the face, bruising her face and breaking two of her teeth.
In a takeoff on TWELVE ANGRY MEN, "Ann" is the lone holdout among the jurors in believing the husband is innocent. She ultimately seemingly proves her point to the other jurors and the guy is acquitted. When the wife jumps up to protest the verdict, the husband yells at her to "Shut up!" and slaps her again, in a manner that proves he could do it and was guilty.
the incident is played for laughs as the judge, with a look of disgust, dismisses the jury, and the other jurors all frown at Ann as they leave. The topper is that as Ann and her boyfriend "Don Hollinger" (Ted Bessell) leave the courtroom, she makes a joke about the incident and they laugh at it.
As for ILL, Ricky putting Lucy over his knee and spanking her for her misdeeds, which I think he did more than once, would be considered domestic violence, even though Lucy deserved some punishment for her misdeeds.
As for "The Black Eye," as in a few other episodes, the whole mess was Ethel's fault, all of it.
Maybe Ethel's Mom sent her the bus/train fare?
I haven't seen most of these episodes for a long time, but from what I can remember of them, "Drafted" would probably get my vote as the worst ILL episode. There's not a single laugh in this miserable misfire, the women are incredibly whiny and the men unbelievably stupid. I don't think the star quartet has ever been more collectively grating.
While I wouldn't rate "The Courtroom" as ILL at its' best, it does have a couple of bits I recall liking, particularly Lucy's "ownrehearsed sponetaneus testIMonee" as coached by Ricky, and especially Ethel's version of the incident. I always laughed at the face Ethel makes when she re-enacts Ricky "hacking" the Mertzes TV with "the axe," and her subsequent description of "this Cuban maniac" forcing everyone into the Ricardos apartment and "picking up (Fred's) foot and PUSHING it through the glass!"
I also recall liking Moroni Olsen's performance as the Judge, especially when Lucy forgets the part of her testimony that flatters Olsen's judge and he says something like: "Don't worry about it, my dear. Just go back to that part about 'such a handsome, kind, intelligent and distinguished jurist." Lucy's testimony is immediately followed by Ethel's effort to mimic Lucy's skirt raising ploy only to have Fred yank her skirt back down and chastise her, "What are you trying to do, lose the case for us?!"
That said, as I've said before, I often have a hard time liking the "Lucy Ricardo" character, and her thoughtlessness in having the heavy, cumbersome TV set delivered to the Ricardo apartment, and then letting poor Ricky get it down the stairs to the Mertz apartment by putting it on his back and slowly and painfully going down each step while seated, is one of "Lucy's" most infuriating and selfish acts in the entire series. Not helped by her clueless comment: "Hey! We should have thought of this before!"
Samantha pretty much DID leave the world of witchcraft. In fact, in one episode, she became ill (lost her powers) because she wasn't using them often enough and Tabitha is always punished or criticized for using her powers.
In another episode, Samantha refused to attend a mandatory meeting with the Wtiches Council because she knew Darrin would forbid it. They had such a lousy marriage, she had to get Serena to fill in for her while she attended the meeting behind Darrin's back to keep him from being turned into a statue.
Jeannie was MUCH more independent than Samantha, and those who don't think so, need to check out IDOJ again. Like Samantha, Jeannie made the choice to follow Tony back to Florida and attempt to serve him. (Tony is so grateful when Jeannie saves him from being stranded he sets her free).
Jeannie often had different ideas about what was "best" for Tony and wasn't shy about enforcing her opinions, as in the episode when she made every day Sunday to force an exhausted Tony to get some rest, or when she finds out he failed his eye exam and attempts to give him perfect vision so he can go up on his mission.
Jeannie also isn't shy about imposing HER OWN wishes on Tony. In one episode, she decides that Tony needs to get a promotion because "it makes her look bad to have a master who's only a major," ignores Tony's orders to stay away from NASA and becomes his commanding officer's secretary. In yet another episode, she gives Tony a great singing voice so he can win a NASA talent contest and she can have a trophy for the mantel.
By contrast, Samantha is always using her powers to surreptitiously stroke Darrin's fragile (and bigoted!) male ego. For example, it's several times mentioned in the series that Darrin's greatest success is his campaign slogan is the one for "Caldwell's Soup," a slogan Samantha actually thought up and lies about to Darrin when he asks her if she knew what she'd just said.
Jeannie wasn't afraid to be herself, but Samantha was.
I don't think Fred was really a bully. He blustered and boasted about his strength and athletic prowess a lot and occasionally threatened Barney, but he was basically good-hearted and cared about his friends.
I think a classic example of "a typical bully" on THE FLINTSTONES was Fred's neighbor "Mr. Loudrock" in the 5th season episode "Dino and Juliet."
Mr. Loudrock treats everyone with contempt, deliberately mispronouncing Barney's last name as "Rabble," and ordering Barney to tell Fred to be quiet while he (Loudrock) takes a sunbath.
Loudrock especially enjoys picking on Fred, referring to him as "Fatstone" and "Fatso Flintstone," tying a knot in the nose of Fred's mastadon sprinkler, and throwing a lawn weed on Fred's head in a deliberate effort to get Fred's goat.
Loudrock also takes special delight in humiliating Fred when Fred tries to be a tough guy. For instance, when Fred confronts Loudrock for throwing the lawn weed on his head and tells him to knock it off (tormenting him), Loudrock responds by by swinging a hammer at Fred's head, forcing Fred to duck to avoid injury.
Fred's most humiliating moments occur when he warns Loudrock that he knows karate. Loudrock responds by dropping the stone wall between their properties on Fred's legs, trapping Fred's bare feet on Loudrock's side of the wall. While smirking at Fred, Loudrock allows Fred to bluster until Fred realizes that Loudrock is about to tickle his feet and meekly reveals his terror of having his feet tickled. Loudrock is perfectly evil as he taunts Fred by saying "Cootcee, Cootchee, Coo!" while he starts ticking Fred's feet vigorously. Fred erupts in helpless laughter which quickly becomes hysterical, but despite Fred's pleas, Loudrock keeps up the tickle torture, savoring Fred's helplessness, until Fred is able to pull his feet to safety on his side of the wall.
Later, Loudrock punches Fred so hard that he flies through his house ending up in a trash can outside the back door, swats Fred with a tennis racket, sending Fred flying, and wraps a golf club around Fred's neck.
Loudrock is a real bully if there ever was one. He's physically intimidating, has a big ego, and he's both physically and verbally abusive toward others, especially Fred, and enjoys it.
Thanks Gary:
I agree that the Mertzes' scenes involving the motorcyle are the highlight of the episode. I like Ethel's comment to Lucy: "Logic has nothing to do with it. When I say he's wrong he's WRONG!"
Did Desi Arnaz ever say why he hated this episode? I agree that except for the motorcycle scenes, it's not great, but I wouldn't say it's a dud.
Another excellent example of Lucy's overwhelming egomania. It's always all about her.
Another example would be when she invited a couple she wanted to see married to dinner without telling Ricky anything about it. Ricky had put in a long day was exhausted, and had a recording session the next morning, but Lucy couldn't have cared less.
Yes, I'm sure that MGM hired psychologists to help her, and she was sent by the studio for "rest cures"/treatment a few times. The one I recall is her being sent to Peter Brent Brigham Hospital in Boston after her firing from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN. There's an interview with Dore Schary, who took over running MGM after L.B. Mayer was forced out that MGM offered to pay Judy's salary for a year while she addressed her issues, but she declined the offer, possibly because they insisted that her treatment include electroshock therapy.
Composer Harry Warren, who the songs for THE HARVEY GIRLS and SUMMER STOCK later said that Judy was treated better at MGM than she was anywhere else. At Warners she would have been through long before.
Yes, she was a child, but so were her child star peers, and all of them (or most of them) took the same drugs Judy did without getting addicted. Some of those who did develop dependencies on drugs managed to overcome their addictions.
Also, according to some sources, MGM did give her opportunities to address her problems. Hiring psychologists to counsel her (she later claimed she never told them the truth), and sending her for hospitalizations when she was ill. One can say Metro didn't do enough, but I can't think of another studio that did as much to help a troubled star address his/her issues as MGM did with Judy.
Garland undoubtedly resented Durbin's instantaneous stardom and the worldwide "Durbin phenomenon" that resulted from her meteoric rise. It took several years for Garland to reach Durbin's level of superstardom.
Garland may also have resented that Durbin was always the main star of her films and that she was always considered lovely and an object of romantic interest to the male characters in her films, while Garland was stuck with the "Girl Nobody Whistled At" image until her early 20s.
I think Durbin got what she wanted out of life. She wasn't interested in being a star/public figure and as soon as she could, she fled the celebrity spotlight. Garland paid a terrible price for her "legendary" status, and as sublimely talented as she was, not all of her legend is flattering and her early demise, looking twice as old as her 47 years, is tragic.
Joe Pasternak may have put it best when he was quoted in one of the first Garland books:
"You'd have to be a psychiatrist to understand why one child adjusts to a situation better than another. Deanna was never a topic of sensation - except for her talent. She came from a much more settled home life and her private life never created a hullaballoo. She knew when to quit. Before they quit her. She's still the same delightful girl she ever was. About Judy there are legends. She always made news. People wanted to write about Judy because she was explosive and unpredictable."
As for Garland's letting Durbin have it in her "stories," she at least always gratefully acknowledged that it was Durbin who first proved that an adolescent female could be a major box office draw and critical darling, thus paving the way for Garland and the others who were to follow.
I like the finale, too, and I also think it's appropriate to show Lily as a big success on Broadway.
Perhaps people (including Joe Pasternak), were thinking of the smaller scale films he made at Universal with Deanna Durbin. The Durbin films never ended with a big finale/production number, just with Durbin singing.* I'm not sure, but I think LILY MARS was the first film Pasternak made at MGM. Then again, the Durbin films weren't real "musicals" like the Garland vehicles produced at Metro.
Of course, that wouldn't explain why people today feel the large scale finale is out of place. Personally, I don't think the finale is very large. Yes, it not only features Judy and Charles Walters, but Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra, but the chorus isn't huge and, as you've noted, it does an excellent job of spotlighting a more mature Judy's singing/dancing talent.
*It's interesting to compare LILY to Durbin's 1943 film, HIS BUTLER'S SISTER. Both films feature gifted young singers (both from Indiana!) who come to New York seeking stardom on Broadway. Both of the girls finagle their way into the lives (professional and personal) of established, successful leading Broadway lights. (Durbin gets a job as the maid of prominent Broadway composer Franchot Tone), and both, of course, wind up as Broadway's best bets in years.
The finale of SISTER, though, features Durbin's English language rendition of Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" aria. Although like other Durbin films, the finale spotlights her singing, she looks radiant and beautiful in the same way Garland does in MARS and Leonard Maltin had it right when he described her performance as "stunning" and the finale as "moving." (It shows Durbin, at the conclusion of her aria, running a gaunlet through a crowd of applauding admirers into Tone's waiting arms.)
I knew about Judy's singing "Santa Fe" on her TV series but not about the lost track from her Capitol album. Still, Shipman is correct that she never added it to her concert repertoire, or sang it regularly despite it being one of her two Oscar winners.
I agree that Judy looks lovely in the film, especially in the scenes in "the Valley" with John Hodiak. As I said, I like the film a lot and not just for Judy's central contribution. I think Hodiak is excellent and his "My Intuition" duet with Judy is charming, and I miss Virginia O'Brien* when her character "disappears" a little more than halfway through the film. I also like the score a lot, including O'Brien's "The Wild Wild West" and Kenny Baker's lilting "Just You Wait and See."
*Why is O'Brien's character considered unattractive? I realize she's assigned the wisecracking "sidekick" role, but I think she's very pretty.
Speaking of PRESENTING LILY MARS' "Paging Mr. Greenback," in his memoir Joe Pasternak said that Judy, because she "listened to the wrong people," went behind his back and complained to L.B. Mayer, insisting a big production number be produced for the small scale film to keep it from failing, resulting in the Freed Unit producing the "Broadway Rhythm" finale. It's not one of her major productions, but I've always liked LILY MARS, and I think Judy may look her healthiest/loveliest in it of all her films.
I agree that her performance of "Santa Fe" in the movie is remarkable, but to me she sounds a little more strained than she did singing earlier "belting" numbers like "I Got Rhythm" or "FDR Jones."
I know what you mean about her DECCA recordings compared to her soundtracks. I find her soundtrack performance of her most famous song, "Over the Rainbow," emotionally richer, though it's sung more softly than her commercial recording for DECCA.
And I recall that comment in Torme's book about Judy's dislike for "Buds Won't Bud." From the way he described it, I thought he felt that Judy was playing a joke on him when he asked her if she'd consider singing "Buds" on her show, because she knew of his dislike for the comment about "breaking wind."
Anyway, though I realize that David Shipman's biography of Judy is reviled by many Garland fans (not unlike Torme's book), I recall him pointing out that Judy never looked back on THE HARVEY GIRLS with affection, and never sang any of its' songs in her concerts, not even the Oscar winning "Santa Fe."
Incidentally, even if Judy didn't care for THGs, I like it a lot, not just for Judy's contribution but for those of John Hodiak, Virginia O'Brien and especially, the remarkable turn by 19 year-old British Angela Lansbury as the tough as nails leader of the "saloon gals."
You're probably both right. I don't remember much about it, though I've always liked Paul Douglas, who was the guest star.
Wasn't she already taking charge of/playing showy roles in several local performances/events in the Connecticut episodes of ILL and Lucy/Desi?
Good Points, as usual, Gary:
She undoubtedly possessed a remarkable voice, and it was probably at its' most beautiful in the early/mid 40s.
Like you, I don't like all the songs, but I enjoy the DECCA recordings and it's fascinating to hear her vocal development and the development of her MGM persona through her singing during these years. I don't think they're discussed very much in evaluations of her work, so I'm glad to see your response.
You may have a point about her singing in THE HARVEY GIRLS. I recall reading somewhere that Liza Minnelli thought her singing in THGs marked a new level of maturity in her voice. Still, I think her singing of "In the Valley" sounds a little uncomfortable. Perhaps it's just an uncomfortable arrangement for her. Her singing of "On the Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe" (the recording made for the movie) also sounds a little frayed/strained to me. but that doesn't mean I don't think it's great singing. I think she sounds great in that "commercial" recording of the song with the Merry Macs.
I like the song "Buds Won't Bud," and Judy's singing of it, though my favorite version is Ethel Waters' from CAIRO (1942).
I agree that her offscreen problems were reflected in her singing in THE PIRATE and, to some extent in the films that followed.
Interestingly, I think her best singing in the late 1940s, was in IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME, a minor Joe Pasternak production without any big production numbers or extensive dancing routines.
Didn't Lucy turn out to be a big success on a TODAY type morning show with Paul Douglas on one of the lUCY-DESI shows?
It's been a long time since I've seen that one, but I recall that despite Lucy making a disastrous debut on the show (in typical "Lucy" fashion), the producer/TV exec came running out excitedly just after Paul Douglas fired her, to say that Lucy's participation were what the audience liked best about the show. After that debut she apparently relaxed and helped make the show a hit.
Lucy was often was selfish and a real whiner, though. That's one of the reasons I often don't like the character.
I suspect it took more than one phone call from Gladys. She was nothing if not persistent.
Of course, the only member of the military who continued to hang around was the goofy "Captain Tudwell."
Not exactly an example of "America's Finest."
That's an excellent example, Andrew. I'd forgotten about that one.
It's weird isn't it?
I'm really not a fan. I don't generally watch the show and, as I said, I often find "Lucy Ricardo" to be very unlikable.
Still, some of my siblings liked it, and like many people, I grew up with it being on in our house fairly regularly. And I do admire Lucille Ball's genius, incredible work ethic and fearlessness in making people laugh, not to mention the very talented cast that supported her.
I've recently caught parts of the episodes I've been commenting on on the Pluto app. (ILL is a great show to watch for a few minutes if you want to wind down/relax after work, etc.)
Incidentally, for real fans of ILL, I recommend this app's "ILL Channel." I don't think I've yet caught a full episode, but they seem to be uncut and the prints/sound quality are excellent.
Great Point, Gary!
And I gotta admit, Lucy knew Fred and Ethel's "Achilles Heel" weaknesses by heart. She knew just where to strike to sway them to her side.
In the "Mr. and Mrs. TV Show" episode, for example, Ethel is all set to tell Ricky the TV executive Lucy spoke to at 21 when Lucy refuses to because Rick won't let her participate:
ETHEL: I'll tell you who it was,Ricky?
LUCY (slyly): Actually Ethel, we don't need Ricky. We can build the show around you and Fred and Me...
RICKY: Who was it Ethel?
Ethel (giggles): I-I forget!
Also, I think it's important to acknowledge that Lucy's selfishness/egomania isn't just confined to her showbiz aspirations. In Hollywood, she just HAS to have a Don Loper original dress, even though it costs $500.00! Even though she manages to get the dress for free by participating in the fashion show, when a guilt ridden Ricky leaves her a check to buy the dress back and Ethel tells Lucy to return it, she refuses, and there's every indication that she kept it and spent it on herself.
Not having learned her lesson in Hollywood, In Paris, Lucy goes on a fake hunger strike to get Ricky to cough up another $500.00 so she can get a Jacques Marcel original dress. This is after, she's promised Ricky that she'll only attend the fashion show to "look." After Ricky and Fred exact what I consider to be a reasonable comeuppance for Lucy, she somehow nags/harangues Ricky into buying her a Marcel original "no matter what it costs."
The bottom line is: Lucy never cares how hard Ricky has to work, or how many things he has to deny himself so long as she gets what she wants.