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Corryveckan45's Replies
<i> Back to ILL, in some instances Lucy's meddling incompetence is taken for comedy and Ricky benefits from it. I'm thinking of the episode when Ricky makes a film for a talent scout. Lucy and the Mertzes make their own film and Lucy edits them together."
"The talent scout thought it was fantastic. He said that, "Most people would make a straight, dull musical but you added all those delightful touches of comedy.</i>
This is the problem I have with Lucy. Yes, she lucked out when the TV executive liked her "editing" of Ricky's musical variety show pilot, but her basic attitude was completely selfish. She didn't care what the potential harm to Ricky or his career was, so long as she got her moment in the spotlight...and for the record, in this case, the Mertzes were just as bad.
<i>In the Mr and Mrs. TV Show episode, it was Ricky who was unfair to Lucy. She was the one who was offered a show for Phipps Department Store. Ricky refused to include her and then only pretended to want her when Mr. Phipps wouldn't do the show without her.
Lucy's bit of revenge was intended only to upset Ricky. How was she to know that the " dress rehearsal" was actually the live show? In the case if this show, Lucy would have been an interesting addition. There was no real reason for her to sing at the breakfast table!</i>
Except that, based on several of Lucy's past performances (e.g., her "Waters of the Minetonka" duet with Ricky, her performance of "Sweet Adeline" in the barbershop Quartet number, etc.) Ricky had ample reason to believe that Lucy's participation would have been disastrous.
There may not have been any real reason for Lucy to sing at the breakfast table, except that Lucy undoubtedly would have insisted that she be able to participate in the singing, as Ricky, Fred and Ethel all had their musical moments.
"But wasn't that the problem in those last series? Every week, same script, different movie star."
Yes, it was, along with Ball's by then ossified performing style, in which, as you've correctly observed, she tended to bark her lines off cue cards.
I'll take your word for it that the kids were beautifully cast in her first series. As I said, I really didn't watch it and I (thankfully!) barely remember it.
Ball undoubtedly stayed on long past her prime, but in fairness to her, I understand her work was always the most important thing to her, and CBS kept her working for too long. I wonder what the ratings for her shows were in her final years?
I read Desi Arnaz's autobiography (A BOOK) several years ago, and I recall he related a story from Lucille Ball about her being so poor when she was first starting out that she couldn't afford to buy food. To survive, she would go into a crowded diner/restaurant during the breakfast shift and wait until a customer left his/her seat after leaving a tip. Lucille would then quickly slip into the seat, grab the tip and when the waiter/waitress came back, order a doughnut and coffee.
I think it's also worth noting that Lucy Ricardo wasn't just obsessed with being a star in show business, but THE star in everything she did. I recall an episode in which her women's club was having elections for officers. Lucy was certain she'd be nominated for some office but kept being passed over for other candidates. She'd then dismiss the office as insignificant to Ethel.
Poor Ethel, who was gracious and complimentary to each candidate as she was nominated, suddenly found herself selected by the outgoing president to be the new president of the club. Lucy, who couldn't stand that she wasn't nominated for any office (which I do think was nasty of the other ladies since they were holding the elections in Lucy's apartment!), bribed another member (the future "Carolyn Appleby"?) to nominate her and they ended up being co-presidents.
In a later episode when they live in CT (maybe the last one?), Lucy is the head of a committee for the town's commemoration of a Revolutionary War battle. Although Ethel does all the physical work (confirming that the new statue will be ready in time, calling all of Lucy's club members, and nailing the posters advertising the event to telephone poles), the first thing Lucy does when Ethel returns is grab the poster to check "her" billing on it and lay into Ethel for making her worry so much about whether Ethel was getting the work done and complaining that it's all too much work for her (Lucy)!
And I agree with you about Ball's subsequent series. Even as a kid, I never watched the reruns unless the episode featured a guest star I liked and sometimes not even then.
Another problem was that Lucy, as much as she thought she wanted a career in show business, didn't want one without Ricky. She gives up her opportunity to get a show of her own (as the substitute clown) and the MGM year-long contract because it would mean being separated from Ricky and the Mertzes.
To be fair to Ricky, he makes it very clear (in that early episode where Lucy successfully substitutes for the clown) that he wants Lucy to be just a housewife and the mother of his children, and to the best of my recollection, Lucy never tries for a showbiz career unless it's in some way connected with Ricky.
Actually, there is one exception: I remember an episode of the LUCY/DESI COMEDY HOUR in which Lucy becomes a big hit as the Girl Friday on a TODAY type morning show. She auditions because she's tired of being "Just a Housewife," but quickly discovers that she misses being a housewife and her family.
Interestingly, I don't recall Ricky trying to stop Lucy from auditioning. (Maybe he didn't know about it?), but after she gets the job he doesn't try to force her to quit. Because of their conflicting schedules, Lucy and Ricky are only able to see each other briefly between catching their respective trains. In one of their meetings, Ricky tells Lucy "I haven't even been able to tell you how proud I am of you. The show's a big hit. You obviously have a lot of talent. I guess you were just wasting your time being a housewife." In response, Lucy bursts into tears and confesses that she wants to be a housewife again!
I think this is why audiences could like both characters, despite their sometimes selfish tendencies.
True, I think Lucy is supposed to have had some talent. In addition to the episodes you've cited, I recall an early one where she took the place of an injured clown in Ricky's act at the last minute. Ricky and his band were auditioning for a group of TV executives, but only Lucy ended up with a contract offer from them.
Then there was a later episode in Hollywood where Lucy took a dummy of Ricky to an MGM party. Her plan to announce "Ricky" had taken ill and to continue "their" number solo fell apart, but Lucy didn't and wound up with an offer of a year's contract from Metro!
Lucy's problem, I think, is that she thinks she can do EVERYTHING. Before she ends up as the Bull in the Bullfight number, she suggests that she be allowed to sing the dramatic "Let Me Go Lover." She can barely get a sound out of her saxophone without hitting a bum note, but believes she's polished enough to join Ricky's band, Ethel's band, or her own (with Fred, Ethel and Little Ricky) and be the star soloist.
And it's the lengths to which she would go to try to prove her talent that I find off-putting. The Bullfight number was clearly intended to introduce Ricky to a national audience in the image that MGM was developing for him: a dashing handsome Latin personality but Lucy made him look like a fool just to get her shot in the spotlight. I think the episode makes clear that she's not just doing it to prove her talent, but to get back at Ricky for casting her in such a "nothing" part in the first place.
And I don't think there's any excuse for what she did with the furniture to scare the daylights out of Ricky and make him believe she'd been kidnapped or killed.
But, as you point out, in this show, there wouldn't be any comedy without the conflict between the two of them.
PS Speaking of Van Johnson, last week I saw part of an episode with Charles Boyer. Ricky was going through Lucy's past mishaps with celebrities to keep her away from Boyer and listed Johnson as one of her "victims." As you said, Lucy performed successfully with Johnson. What was the problem there?
In addition to being a poor episode for Marion Lorne's swansong, I also don't like how vicious Gladys Kravitz is in this episode. Although the series often presents Gladys as a quasi-friendly neighbor to Samantha, here she shows her true colors. She's really out to get the Stephens family, making a citizen's arrest and exulting "You'll all be captured! And put where you belong!" etc.
I like most of them. Here's a few suggestions from different stages of her vocal development style:
"Little Girl With the Big Voice": "You Can't Have Everything"
MGM Teen Star (Mickey Rooney's Good Right Arm): "I'm Nobody's Baby" Honorable Mention: "Buds Won't Bud."
Emerging Solo Star: "But Not For Me" "I Got Rhythm"
Top MGM Star: "The Trolley Song," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" "Smilin' Through"
There are others, of course, but I think these give a good representation of her vocal development during this period of her career. I think her offscreen problems began to affect her singing in the late 1940s, starting with her recordings for THE HARVEY GIRLS, but I'll add her recording of "On the Atchinson Topeka and the Santa Fe" with The Merry Macs as one of her best.
Obviously, I don't expect you to listen to all (or any) of these, but since I said I liked how the DECCA recordings showed the development of her vocal style, I thought I'd offer suggestions from her different periods.
I like both shows but in many ways I preferred IDOJ. Here are a few reasons why:
In terms of magic, Jeannie was more powerful than Samantha, or likely any of the Witches and Warlocks on Bewitched.
Jeannie was more Independent than Samantha.
IDOJ had a much more admiring view of humans/mortals than Bewitched.
Unlike Darrin, Tony Had No Problem With Jeannie's Magical Abilities so long as they didn't cause him any problems. He actually enjoyed them.
IDOJ was more "realistic" than Bewitched in that Tony had a job at a real Government Agency and the show acknowledged the Special Problems of having a public relationship with an anonymous magical being suddenly who suddenly appeared in 20th Century America. Bewitched glosses over these issues completely.
Roger Healy was a much better friend to Tony than Larry Tate was to Darrin.
Dr. Bellows was a much better friend to Tony than Larry Tate was to Darrin.
Dr. Bellows was a much more interesting "threat' to Tony and Jeannie than Gladys Kravitz was to Darrin and Samantha.
There's an episode where Endora, at Samantha's urging, "gives" Darrin a brand new cutting edge "car of the future." One that's not even yet off the assembly line. (She sees him admiring the car in a magazine.)
Darrin accepts the "gift," and is initially delighted with it. While he is admiring the car's engine, he sees a plaque stating that the car was manufactured in Detroit and listing a serial number or some other form of identification.
When Darrin congratulates Endora on the "clever touch" of including the manufacturer's information, she knows nothing about it and Darrin quickly figures out she stole the car by zappping it out of the workroom where it was being assembled.
When Samantha upbraids Endora and asks her how she could "steal a car," Endora replies: "How else was I going to get it? I'm a witch, not a car manufacturer (or a mechanic)!"
So it seems that witches and warlocks do take the items they conjure up from other sources, at least some of the time.
Yes it is.
I think this is an excellent film. Entertaining and suspenseful plot, first class production values and an excellent performance by Bogart, as usual.
I'm surprised it isn't better known.
I think her oldest sister (Suzy) committed suicide over a failed romantic relationship.
Her second sister (Virginia), after one failed marriage and working for several years behind the scenes at MGM while Judy was under contract to the studio, married someone who wasn't in show business, moved to Texas, and had a happy married life. I believe she had at least one daughter with her first husband, named "Judalein" after Judy.
Was Lucy the only character allowed to poke fun at Desi's accent?
I'm not a huge fan of ILL, but I recall in the "Grape Stomping" episode when the characters are in Italy, Ricky returns to his hotel room looking for Lucy and finds Ethel there. Ethel is reluctant to tell Ricky that Lucy has gone to a grape vineyard to prepare for her movie role. Ricky become frustrated with Ethel's stalling and says something like, "Did she (Lucy) go around suckin' up lawcal coolor?!" Ethel repeats the phrase just as Ricky says it, as if she can't understand it, and says,"No, I don't think so." When Ricky demands an explanation Ethel admits that's what Lucy has done.
In another episode, Fred is babysitting Little Ricky and they're playing catch, practicing baseball swings in the living room. Little Ricky says something like, "I'll be another Joe 'Maggio!" Fred comments, "You sound more like your father every day." When Ricky comes in a few minutes later and Fred shows him what he taught Little Ricky, Ricky proudly says, "He'll be another Joe Maggio!"
And there's another episode where Fred is angry with Ricky (I don't recall why) and calls him "You Cuban mushmouth!"
Of course, Ethel isn't really making fun of Ricky's accent, and I guess one can argue Fred isn't, but the show is using it as an ongoing source of humor.
Another Screen Gems show that embraced potentially controversial and "realistic" themes was the much-maligned THE FLYING NUN.
Despite its' silly premise (that a young novice who weighed 90 lbs could become airborne when the wind was gusty due to the "wing shape" of her order's cornet), I recall the show touching on issues such as:
UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT FAITHS (Carlos Ramirez' Jewish goddaughter wants to become a nun);
ADULT ILLITERACY: (The Convent (Sr. Bertrielle, the Sally Field character) starts an Adult Literacy Class from which an initially reluctant middle aged successful businessman ultimately benefits.
ACCEPTING THE LIMITATIONS OF OLD AGE: (Due to failing eyesight, the Uncle of one of the Nuns can no longer practice his lifelong career as a fisherman. With the Convent's help, he's able to accept his limitation and find success in another line of work).
Of course, as in BEWITCHED, and other Screen Gems comedies of the time, the issues were handled in a lighthearted vein. Still, I don't recall any other comedy of the time, including BEWITCHED, even acknowledging them.