Lucy Ricardo Was Just Like Us — She Loved Movie Stars!

Posted by medusamorlock on August 5, 2011

This coming Saturday — tomorrow, August 6th – marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of show business’ forever and always top funny lady Lucille Ball, and also a day of Lucille Ball on TCM’s Summer Under the Stars. It would be more than appropriate for anyone to celebrate this significant milestone, but I especially love Lucy. My mother used to say that when I was a kid everytime she would come into a room I’d be watching I Love Lucy on TV, and I used to talk about it all the time. Still do even today — watch and talk about it!

It’s probably a safe bet to say that these days Lucy is considered more a TV star than a movie star, but maybe not around TCM, though. Lucille Ball was a very successful movie star for years before she defined TV comedy in her own image, and she was very much a Hollywood fixture and powerhouse on many levels for her entire life. In honor of her centennial, I’d like to celebrate her hilarious collaborations with the Hollywood stars who guest-starred on I Love Lucy. Considering the long run of Lucy’s first series, the actual number of celebrities who dropped in on the Ricardos isn’t huge, but when they did it was comedy mayhem.

Most of my favorite examples come from the episodes when Lucy, Ricky (Desi Arnaz), Fred (William Frawley) and Ethel (Vivian Vance) went to Hollywood when entertainer Ricky had been signed by MGM to star in a Don Juan movie (which never gets made). Lucy Ricardo was utterly starstruck and completely dedicated to seeing as many film stars as she could while on the West Coast, and the episodes in this story arc were genuinely charming and the stars who came onboard for them came across extremely well. The writers chose to use a real studio and references to Hollywood locations in the storylines, as well as real MGM exec Dore Schary as a character (played not by Schary but by actor Phil Ober, Vivian Vance’s then-husband), a quick glimpse of Eve Arden, gossip columnist Hedda Hopper playing herself, fashion designer Don Loper with real actor wives like Sheila MacRae (Mrs. Gordon MacRae), Jeanne Martin (Mrs. Dean Martin), Mona Carlson (Mrs. Richard Carlson), and Brenda Marshall (Mrs. William Holden) in the “The Fashion Show” episode. Other Hollywood names peppered the scripts, and the featured guest movie star’s dialogue plugged their latest films as they played opposite Lucille Ball as Lucy Ricardo.

In no particular order — though the first one is probably #1 in everybody’s book:

William Holden in “L.A., At Last”: The Ricardos and the Mertzes arrive in Hollywood and Lucy begins her star-watching with a Brown Derby sighting of Eve Arden and a closer encounter with William Holden. Holden is superb in this episode filmed at the beginning of December 1954 and aired two months later. His appearance was a huge win for I Love Lucy – Oscar-winner for 1953′s Stalag 13, Oscar-nom for Sunset Blvd., a big hit in Born Yesterday and so many other terrific films — and he and Lucy had appeared together onscreen in 1948′s Miss Grant Takes Richmond. He’s absolutely hilarious in this episode in two classic sequences, among the very funniest in all of ILL. First up is the Brown Derby scene, and then Bill Holden visits Lucy at the Ricardo’s Hollywood hotel room.

In case WordPress is having trouble displaying YouTube videos — which is possible — here are the direct links to the two clips:

Brown Derby is here, Holden Hotel Room is Here

Cornel Wilde in “The Star Upstairs”: In Hollywood, Lucy worms it out of bellhop Bobby (played by a hilarious Bobby Jellison) that Cornel Wilde is staying in the room above theirs. She’s determined to get to him, and manages to sneak into his room — twice! — and eventually gets trapped on his balcony. This episode has everything — the threat of a naked Cornel Wilde in the bathtub, fake ventriloquism, Lucy hanging by a rope — and Cornel is pretty funny, too. He was at the top of his movie stardom when this episode was filmed in March 1955 and broadcast six weeks later. Just two years previously he co-starred in C.B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth, and though most remember him as an adventure hero, he had received an Academy Award nomination for his 1945 starring role as Chopin in A Song to Remember. (He also made another sitcom guest appearance 2 years later on Father Knows Best!) You can watch the whole episode here.

John Wayne in “”Lucy and John Wayne”: Another great Hollywood adventure; this one’s the part two of Lucy’s fifth season opening episode when she and Ethel steal John Wayne’s footprints from Grauman’s Chinese Theater, and now they’re conspiring how to return them. The duo – ”a middle-aged dishwater blonde and a wild-eyed frowsy redhead” — find themselves front page news. Wayne is very amusing and quite natural, and William Frawley is extra cute when he meets the star, too. Of course, the fun doesn’t end there! You can watch the whole episode here.

Here’s a terrific clip from the episode when Lucy sneaks into Wayne’s dressing room; it’s absolutely wonderful, and like the Cornel Wilde episode, plays on the possibility of seeing a star naked — extra funny! — and hearing a dirty joke. Pretty sophisticated, actually, and completely hilarious!

Direct Link is here.

Harpo Marx in “Harpo Marx”: In Hollywood, Lucy promises visiting friend Carolyn Appleby some celebrities, then dresses up and fools her nearsighted pal. However, the real Harpo Marx shows up and they have a celebrated encounter, a re-creation of Harpo’s famous mirror scene from the Marx Bros. movie Duck Soup. Allegedly Harpo was the one Marx that she really liked a lot — she had co-starred in 1938′s Room Service with the fellas — and it shows. Genuinely sweet and funny sequence! You can watch the whole episode here.

Here’s a clip from Lucille Ball guesting on The Dick Cavett Show in 1974 and describing filming the sequence, and it’s fascinating. (Turn the audio up, it’s low.)

The Direct Link to this sequence is here.

Van Johnson in “Dancing Star”: In Hollywood, Lucy wants to show off to her New York friend and ends up doing a nightclub routine with star Van Johnson. Their musical duet of “How About You?” (by Burton Lane and Ralph Freed, brother of the famous MGM creative genius Arthur Freed) is completely charming, especially when Lucy gets stage fright and nearly becomes unglued. Lucy and Van had appeared together on the big screen in the 1946 musical Easy to Wed, and would later team again in 1968′s Yours, Mine and Ours; they have great chemistry in this episode. You can watch the whole episode here.

This is the scene that everybody loves from the episode! The Direct Link is Here.

Richard Widmark in “The Tour”: Still in Hollywood, Lucy and Ethel go on a bus tour of movie star homes and Lucy ends up in Richard Widmark’s backyard. Widmark isn’t so much the lure here, but veteran character actor Benny Rubin as the bus driver is especially hilarious, and actually the bus scenes are the highlights of the episode. There’s really funny stuff with Lucy and Ethel disrupting the tour and talking about movie stars. (You’ll also recognize Barbara Pepper — Mrs. Ziffel on Green Acres — as one of the other passengers.) It’s not that Widmark isn’t pleasant enough, but he’s not exactly funny, and the whole “big game hunter” hobby with trophy heads of magnificent dead animals on his den wall hasn’t aged well at all. Lucy has some fun with a bear rug, but it’s just not cool anymore to brag about shooting animals, and definitely not cool to pull out an elephant gun. Yikes and ick! Really puts a damper on the fun, though Widmark tries to be amusing (playing against his frequent onscreen image as a creepy villain, such as in Kiss of Death and other noir classics) as he shows Ricky around. Widmark was a good “get” as a guest yet doesn’t come across as charmingly as Lucy’s other Hollywood catches, but I’ll blame that on the taxidermy. You can watch the whole episode here.

Rock Hudson in “Lucy in Palm Springs”: In Hollywood, the Ricardos and the Mertzes are getting on each other’s nerves — wives against husbands — so the girls head off to sunny Palm Springs to get away from their husbands. Ricky arranges for a strapping Rock Hudson to show up and help Lucy and Ethel get back together with Ricky and Fred. The episode filmed in March of 1955 and aired about five weeks later; Rock’s hit Magnificent Obsession opposite Jane Wyman would come out in the summer. The 29-year-old Hudson is breezy and charming, with a very funny scene with the girls that wins theirs hearts. You can watch the whole episode here.

Desi Arnaz brings Rock Hudson in to talk to Lucy and Ethal

George Reeves in “Lucy Meets Superman”: From I Love Lucy’s sixth season, this episode captures George Reeves in top form — and so completely charming and hilarious — in his title role as Superman in the popular series. Of course we all know that his great work as the Man of Steel put the kibosh on his serious movie career — watch the fascinating film Hollywoodland (with Ben Affleck a terrific Reeves) for an account of this — but boy, this one-time Tarleton twin in Gone With The Wind had charm and talent! This episode was filmed in November of 1956 and aired in mid-January, and it’s sad and shocking to remember that Reeves would be mysteriously dead just two-and-a-half years later at the age of 45. Here’s the climax of the show, and it’s both hilarious and heartfelt.

The Direct Link is Here.

I Love Lucy had a few other celebrity guest stars like Bob Hope and Orson Welles (who used Lucy in a magic act); their episodes are also good. Lucy and Desi’s follow-up thirteen-episode series The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour was full of stars like Fred MacMurray, Betty Grable, Ernie Kovacs, Fernando Lamas, Maurice Chevalier, Red Skelton, Tallulah Bankhead and many others. These episodes haven’t been as exposed as the original I Love Lucy episodes, but they’re showing up on the net and I believe on DVD so check them out if your favorites made an appearance.

The Hallmark Channel is running an I Love Lucy marathon tomorrow and Sunday — kind of a so-so-marathon because they are repeating long blocks of the same episodes over the two days but they are playing the whole arc of Hollywood and European episodes – and TCM is running Lucille Ball movies all day tomorrow, so you will have a good chance to salute Lucy on her 100th Birthday as you see fit. I’m going to try to catch everything all day! Why? Because I Love Lucy, what else!

20 Comments |

submit

20 Responses Lucy Ricardo Was Just Like Us — She Loved Movie Stars!

Posted By NCeddie : August 6, 2011 4:11 am

I was born in August just before “I Love Lucy” first aired on October 15, 1951. I have always been a fan of Lucille Ball AND Vivian Vance. Vance was the greatest comedy re-actor ever, in my opinion. Ball and Vance– their styles never competed; always complemented. And the Cornel Wilde episode you mention, caught the finest Vance reaction ever! Lucy is literally hanging on the side of the hotel by a bedsheet from Wilde’s balcony above. Ethel is trying to guide Lucy onto the Ricardo’s balcony. Enter Ricky– who is always in the dark about Lucy’s schemes. Ethel must leave the balcony and distract Ricky from seeing Lucy’s perilous predicament. It has always been a priceless scene, watching Ethel watch Lucy over Ricky’s shoulder while trying to remain nonchalant for Ricky’s sake. Then Lucy plunges from view! To me, Vance carried that whole comedy scene with just her eyes! She excelled to the max!
Yes, I will always love Lucy, therefore, I will always love Vivian Vance, too!

Posted By dukeroberts : August 6, 2011 11:44 am

One of my favorite shows of all time. I have the entire series on DVD. I am partial to the John Wayne episode myself, of course (look at my name). There was also the episode of The Lucy Show where she has to visit him on the set of a movie he is making to get his signature. Of course, hilarity ensues.

Posted By morlockjeff : August 6, 2011 1:37 pm

All of these sound great and I have no memory of them since I saw them at such an early age. I remember more of the later star turns on The Lucy Show in the sixties with appearances by Jack Benny, Joan Crawford (she’s cleaning the floor of course when Lucy first stumbles into her home), Ethel Merman, Mel Torme, Milton Berle and others. Speaking of classic TV series, I’ve gotten hooked on the entire THRILLER series lately. So great to see Boris Karloff having fun with those Hitchcock-like host intros and seeing stars like Mary Astor, William Shatner and Rip Torn in early episodes.

Posted By medusamorlock : August 6, 2011 2:21 pm

Duke, the Wayne episode is completely hilarious. Wayne is incredibly funny and the whole thing is great! I really LOVE the massage scene!

NCeddie, you are right — Vivian Vance worked so well with Lucy and what a perfect partnership! She is insanely funny in that balcony scene and when she gives that weak desperate laugh before she leaves the hotel room — unbeatable!

Jeff, you clearly didn’t watch as much TV when you were a little kid as I did! In L.A., “I Love Lucy” ran incessantly on the KTTV Metromedia station when I was growing up — still runs there, I believe. “I Love Lucy” was always such a valuable TV property and really is timeless. Also, if you’re loving THRILLER, you should take a look at this website where last fall two writers/historians covered one episode of THRILLER per day; they also did it for original OUTER LIMITS (I posted a lot there!) and will be doing it starting next month with BATMAN. They are great guys and funny, too! Here’s the link for the Thriller site: http://athrilleraday.blogspot.com/

Everybody enjoy the rest of Lucy’s 100th Day!

Posted By Doug : August 6, 2011 4:06 pm

One more ‘big name’ from the later “Lucy Show”-Cary
Grant, playing a Cary Grant look-alike named Archie Leach.
I grew up on “I Love Lucy” in reruns. Now looking back and seeing her in so many great movies-she is a treasure.

Posted By suzidoll : August 6, 2011 5:29 pm

I watched reruns of I Love Lucy from the 1960s through the 1980s. The season in which they all go to Hollywood is definitely my favorite, and most of the episodes you mention are in my top ten. I also like the hour-long show in which they moved to Connecticutt and stars dropped by. I think it was the Lucy-Desi Hour, or something like that.

I miss funny women in the movies, though there are several good comediennes on tv.

Posted By dukeroberts : August 6, 2011 6:37 pm

Medusa- I love Thriller, The Outer Limits and Batman. Thanks for the link to the site. Maybe someday they will get around to The Twilight Zone, my favorite show of all time. I Love Lucy is close behind it though.

Posted By cutsietootsie : August 7, 2011 1:46 am

Lucy fans – back in the early 80′s when I got my first car, my girlfriends and I would “stalk” Lucy – well, not quite – we would sit in my car that was parked on the curb in front of her Beverly Hills house, and literally pray that Lucy would come out the front door, just so we could get a glimpse of the icon. She was a heroine of mine, and brought happiness to my life, and I wept when she passed away. Needless to say, Lucy never did come out her front door – thank God, how mortified we would have been! Fast forward as a parent, I waited until I felt my kids were old enough to tackle the mob at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, and shuffled them to Hollywood a few years ago. To my horror, we could not find Lucy’s footprints! After inquiring with an attendant, we were told that Lucy never had her footprints cemeted at the theater. In shock, I made a quick exit and deftly walked my kids back to our car and drove away. In my youth, I must have overlooked this fact, but as a mom of Lucy fans, I feel it’s a complete travesty of justice that Lucy’s footprints are not at the Chinese Theater! They ought to acquire a pair of her shoes and posthumously dedicate a square to her! She was a hard worker, a dedicated artist, and a woman who ran her own studio and was a good example to young women, she deserves it!

Posted By Wendy T. Merckel : August 7, 2011 2:49 pm

One of my favorites is the CHARLES BOYER episode, in which Lucy mistakenly thinks the real Boyer is a Boyer impersonator, and wants to use him to prove to Ricky that she can resist the famous actor’s charms.

Posted By medusamorlock : August 7, 2011 3:30 pm

Cutsie! I’m so impressed about your Lucy-stalking! Can’t believe that she doesn’t have footprints at Grauman’s — how could they not have put them there after all the free publicity? :-)

Wendy — I forgot about Charles Boyer! Just watched the episode yesterday and he was HILARIOUS! What a good sport and they really do a number on him at the end, ripping his coat and the ink and the hat — completely insane and wonderful sequence!

I’ve been immersing myself in Lucy all weekend and I’m more convinced than ever that she is a timeless entertainer — as are all her co-stars — and she will undoubtedly life forever. The pacing of the episodes is zippy and there is very little of the quaint quality of many sitcoms of the era. Lucy’s talent is as contemporary as tomorrow!

Thanks for all the comments!!

Posted By muriel schwenck : August 7, 2011 4:01 pm

I like some of Lucille Ball’s movies, but I can’t stand the “I Love Lucy” character. She is very annoying to me. My parents couldn’t stand the show either when it was first on TV in the 50′s (and they were a young married couple). When we were kids, they let us watch the show, because they thought it was harmless fluff for kids. But I got tired of it because I thought the gags went on too long. So I guess we are not an “I Love Lucy” family.
That said, Lucille Ball was really onto something when she developed that character. Ball was quite a business woman. I really admire her showmanship. Desi Arnez was pretty sharp too.
But Lucille Ball day on TCM and other channels was a day when I caught up on other movies I had recorded during the week.
When I want a flighty housewife character I’ll watch Billie Burke or Spring Byington.

Posted By dukeroberts : August 7, 2011 4:47 pm

Muriel- Sacrilege! That’s okay. I’m the only Lucy fan in my family. My dad liked her too, but he’s gone now. The rest of the family finds Mrs. Ricardo loud and annoying. My mom will watch the Hollywood episodes though because of Rock Hudson, William Holden, Cornell Wilde, Richard Widmark and, of course, John Wayne.

Posted By dukeroberts : August 7, 2011 4:48 pm

Billie Burke was a pretty good flighty housewife though, wasn’t she?

Posted By Wendy T. Merckel : August 7, 2011 5:24 pm

I didn’t like I Love Lucy when I was younger, I was horrified by the embarrassing situations Lucy always found herself in.

Now that I’ve gotten older, and life is a little harder, I find I really do love Lucy. I’ve seen too much, and realize just what went into the making of the show. I have come to appreciate the woman who would do absolutely anything to make my day a little more fun, a little easier to get through. Lucy makes the ridiculous things I’ve done in my life seem small by comparison, and her husband always gives her a hug and kiss at the end of the episode. I find that comforting.

I Love Lucy seems like a lot better show, now that the standard is reality TV. The show’s timing is PERFECT, and I can’t wait for Lucy to turn to the camera and get an idea. Getting a barrel laugh out of someone at the end of a tough day at work is a lost art, and one I appreciate more and more.

Posted By chris : August 9, 2011 6:05 pm

My mom always loved Lucy, my dad hated her. I’m kinda in the middle. However, I do agree with Groucho Marx who once said that Lucille Ball wasn’t a comedianne but rather a comic actress, the difference being that others always wrote her material.

Posted By iluvcinema : August 9, 2011 8:05 pm

I never tire of Lucy! I still watch her in syndication.

Posted By Juana Maria : August 10, 2011 6:27 pm

Your select of guest stars is superb! Mom & I watched the marathon on Hallmark Channel. I taped some of it, we had a lot of fun watching all these great stars & Lucy. My favorite are John Wayne, Fernando Lamas, Charles Boyer & Bill Holden.

Posted By Pamela Sue : August 12, 2011 11:22 pm

My mom said one of my first words in 1965 was “Lucy” when I was toddling thru the living room and heard the I Love Lucy theme music. It was love at first sight. I have always been a die hard Lucy fan. It is so intriguing to me that such a funny lady in her performances had such a difficult childhood that was marked with tragedy and sorrow. During her lifetime she was true survivor and had the most wonderful work ethic. I hope that during her lifetime she found some peace and happiness. I will always love Lucy.

Posted By Al Lowe : September 12, 2011 1:17 am

Medusa, what I found interesting about the “Fashion Show” episode of “I Love Lucy” is noting which wives of stars were featured as models. Some of the wives had husbands who were the biggest stars of the day – Alan Ladd, Dean Martin, William Holden. And others were married to actors who definitely were NOT the biggest stars of the day – Forrest Tucker and Richard Carlson.

Also, I am sure, Medusa, that you know that Van Johnson was a good friend of Desi and Lucy. Van and Desi appeared in TOO MANY GIRLS on Broadway together. Desi first offered “The Untouchables” TV show to Van and he was dumb enough to turn it down.

Posted By changeling69 : February 26, 2013 12:03 pm

Never had a lady so talented, nice, beautiful and yes, SEXY, made me laugh so much from the screen as Lucille Ball. She is my fave lady comedian along with Bob Hope (my fave male comedian!). I used to watch The Lucy Show on channel 7 in Australia after school every day. What a lady:):)!!!!

MovieMorlocks.com is the official blog for TCM. No topic is too obscure or niche to be excluded from our film discussions. And we welcome your comments on our blogs and bloggers.