OKAY NEW MOVIE: BEING THE RICARDOS

On the set of I Love Lucy

BEING THE RICARDOS (2021 Amazon streaming video). Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. 

While preparing an episode of their show I Love Lucy, Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman of To Die For) and her husband Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem of Skyfall) learn that powerful columnist Walter Winchell is calling Lucy a communist. In addition to that upsetment, Lucille is convinced that Desi is having affairs with other women, even if a photo published in Confidential proves to be several months old. Lucy, a perfectionist, clashes with her director, writers, husband and fellow cast members as to how certain sequences should be handled, while Vivian Vance (Nina Arianda) suffers angst over how Ethel is continually seen as unattractive when she is married to her "grandfather," Fred, played by William Frawley (J. K. Simmons of Whiplash). The sole female scriptwriter doesn't want Lucy to be depicted as being stupid, but Ball counters that "Lucy" is clever and almost always gets her way -- true! 

Essentially all of this material, none of which is new to the I Love Lucy fanatic (among which I count myself) has already been covered in the 1991 telefilm Lucy and Desi: Before the Laughter. However, Being the Ricardos is still an entertaining, if unnecessary, picture, although if it has people pulling out or buying their complete sets of I love Lucy I'm all for it. Nicole Kidman is better as Lucy than I would have imagined, and while Bardem is not as handsome as Desi was, he is also effective in his portrayal. I wouldn't have necessarily chosen Simmons or Arianda to play Fred and Ethel, but they are also good, especially grumpy Simmons, and the people who play the writers and director are also well-chosen. (Linda Lavin and others play the older versions of these people in mock interviews.) Lucy's children, Lucie and Desi Jr., served as producers. 

Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball

Just as happened with Judy, the recent film about Judy Garland, some viewers won't be satisfied with any actor portrayal of a beloved figure unless the person themselves gets up out of the grave and, impossibly, plays the part. Nicole Kidman has gotten some serious hatred, and she certainly isn't a brilliant comedienne like Lucy, but she doesn't try to be -- she is rarely shown attempting the physical comedy Ball was famous for. But nevertheless she does a very good job approximating Ball. As for the film itself, there is some attempt to flesh out the characters, although the ultimate result is a tad superficial. Apparently Aaron Sorkin is not a fan of I Love Lucy -- while not every episode was a winner, quite a few were classics that are as funny today as when they first aired. 

Verdict: Whether you like this movie or not, get out your box of I Love Lucy and enjoy Ball and the others dealing with operettas, candy factories, William Holden in the Brown Derby, Lucy stomping grapes to soak up local color, selling salad dressing, attending a country club dance, going to charm school, and dozens of other episodes that will bring a great big smile to your face. And these days we sure need one! ***. 

MARY WICKES: I KNOW I'VE SEEN THAT FACE BEFORE

MARY WICKES: I KNOW I'VE SEEN THAT FACE BEFORE. Steve Taravella. University Press of Mississippi; 2013.

 "Your posture is atrocious!" -- Wickes as the ballet instructor on I Love Lucy.

Now that most of the major figures in Hollywood have had their lives exhaustively catalogued,  it's time for authors to turn their sights to less stellar but often beloved character actors, such as Mary Wickes. You might think there might not be a whole book in Wickes' life and career, but guess again -- this is a scrupulously researched tome bolstered by many interviews with those who knew Mary best -- such as Lucie Arnaz, whose mother was Mary's best friend  [but who paid her much less for her appearances on Here's Lucy than she did other guest stars] -- and with penetrating analysis of Wickes' approach to comedy and her roles, as well as her not always charming personality quirks. Basically this is an admiring, respectful bio but it presents Wickes in all of her aspects, a full-realized human being with admirable traits as well as flaws. Wickes, of course, will always be famous for The Man Who Came to Dinner, where she brilliantly traded barbs with Monty Woolley, but she also did a lot of theater and television work, appearing on Father Dowling Mysteries and in Oklahoma in the last years of her life, when she could hardly see and had numerous ailments. She lived for her work, which sustained her nearly until the very end. While there may be a bit too much of the sad, lonely spinster  -- with so many friends and such a busy schedule you have to wonder how lonely she really was -- and for some people this might be Way Too Much of Mary, but if you're a Wickes fan, this is an absorbing read, extremely well done and highly recommended.

Verdict: Exhaustive look at the life and work of Wickes. ***1/2.

MEET THE MERTZES

MEET THE MERTZES: The Life Stories of I Love Lucy's Other Couple. Rod Edelman and Audrey Kupferberg. Renaissance books; 1999.

This book takes an interesting and pleasant look into the lives of Vivian Vance (Ethel Mertz) and William Frawley (Fred Mertz) both before, during and after I Love Lucy, their appearances on which made them forever famous. There is a look at Frawley's long, long career in films, his important role on the post Lucy sitcom My Three Sons, and tales of his drinking and famous, if lovable, grumpiness. Vivian, who grew up in Albuquerque [but was not born there] -- "Ethel's" home town -- got her start in New Mexico theater then migrated to Manhattan where she had some important stage roles but never quite graduated to stardom [she made very few films]. She appeared with Lucille Ball on The Lucy Show, even  though she would rather have stayed in Connecticut with her gay husband, a publisher who was her late-in-life companion. There are also details on her earlier marriages, as well as the one time Frawley tied the knot. Illustrated.

Verdict: A good read for Lucy fans. ***.

DESILU: THE STORY OF LUCILLE BALL AND DESI ARNAZ

DESILU: THE STORY OF LUCILLE BALL AND DESI ARNAZ. Coyne Steven Sanders and Tom Gilbert. New and Expanded Edition. Itbooks; 2011.

This isn't just the story of I Love Lucy, but of the marriage [and eventual divorce] of Ball and Arnaz, their Desilu empire and its successes [Star Trek] and failures [Guestward Ho], Lucy's subsequent TV shows after Lucy went off the air, and the often unsavory private lives of both individuals. Desi's business sense was often compromised by his heavy drinking, and after awhile he was incapable of helming Desilu. Ball could be kind to friends and associates, but on other occasions she could be a real monster. [According to this she had guest star Joan Crawford in tears!] Bolstered by many interviews, including with daughter Lucie Arnaz, this goes behind the scenes of The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, and Ball's last attempt at a TV show, Life with Lucy, with comments from the cast. The book also looks into her marriage with second husband Gary Morton. You'll find lots of info on William Frawley and Vivian Vance as well.

Verdict: An inside, page-turning look at television's most famous and influential couple. ***1/2. 

THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW

THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW 1967 - 1969.

It must have looked good on paper. Get the wonderful Eve Arden and the talented Kaye Ballard together to play women whose children are married to one another. On top of that, the two families live next door to each other. And there are all sorts of problems, complications and feuding and fussing. If didn't really matter who played the husbands or the married children [in truth these actors were all competent if forgettable] as long as Arden and Ballard could successfully pull off a new team of Lucy and Ethel. Unfortunately, they don't. Even Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance as they got older and began to repeat themselves became much less fun as the comical couple after I Love Lucy -- a truly memorable sitcom -- went off the air and they dipped in the well once too often on The Lucy Show. [Let's not even talk about Here's Lucy or Life with Lucy.] It was a style of comedy that had its day and is still fun to watch in I Love Lucy reruns, but on The Mothers-in-Law it mostly didn't work. Much was made of the fact that many episodes of this series were written by people who'd done scripts for I Love Lucy, but a.) it was another era and b.) they were not writing for Ball, Vance, Arnaz and Frawley, and c.) even I Love Lucy had the occasional stinker episode. The Mothers-in-Law has the occasional laugh [Ballard does a dead-on impression of Bette Davis at her most affected], but mostly this show is made up of stinker episodes. Yes, Lucille Ball's lovably childish "Lucy" character was brilliantly brought to life by Ball, but in general it's not much fun watching grown-ups acting like eight-year-olds.

Verdict: Watch I Love Lucy instead where they did most of this shtick for the first time. **.

THE LUCY-DESI COMEDY HOUR

THE LUCY-DESI COMEDY HOUR. CBS-TV 1957 - 1960.

"I wouldn't lower myself to try to get even with a wacky character like you." -- Tallulah Bankhead, playing herself.

The last three seasons of I Love Lucy were done as special hour episodes that aired periodically but had all the same wonderful actors playing the same lovable characters.

First, the bad: "Lucy Goes to Sun Valley" with Fernando Lamas was the worst of these episodes, tedious and unfunny, although the song "Melancholy Baby" was well-delivered by Fred (William Frawley). "Summer Vacation" with Ida Lupino and Howard Duff had no real solid laughs, and the bit with Lucy and Ida desperately plugging the holes in the rowboat with chewing gum might have looked good on paper but doesn't quite work. But the biggest drawback is there isn't enough of Fred and Ethel, who spend most of the episode far away in Atlantic City.

The mediocre: These episodes had some solid laughs and great sequences, but weren't quite on the "A" level. "Lucy Goes to Alaska" with Red Skelton begins very well with a very funny sequence in a hotel room involving a hammock, but Lucy's pantomine with Red seems endless and the rest is just blah. "Lucy Wins a Race Horse" with Betty Grable and Harry James has a great bit with the gang trying to push a horse up the stairs, and Fred and Betty make an amusing team, but the horse race itself is disappointing. "Lucy Goes to Mexico" with Maurice Chevalier is an elaborate episode -- like a mini-movie -- with bullfights and the like, and Little Ricky gets his biggest break yet as he sings, dances and plays the drums in a production number; it's just not that special in spite of it.

Somewhat better than these are the episodes with Milton Berle, which has a great bit with a swinging construction car and a funny western PTA show, and "Lucy Goes to Havana," with Ann Sothern, Cesar Romero, and Rudy Vallee. This tells the story of how Lucy and Ricky first met.

The best: These episodes are pure gold. "Lucy Hunts Uranium" with Fred MacMurray features a wild chase through the desert, and old pro MacMurray and Lucy make a good team. Even better is the episode with Danny Thomas playing his Make Room for Daddy character, which has a great climactic courtroom sequence. Then it's a toss up as to which of the two remaining episodes are the best of the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour: "Lucy Wants a Career" or "The Celebrity Next Door." The celebrity, of course, is the great Tallulah Bankhead, and in the other episode Lucy goes to work on a morning TV show with Paul Douglas -- who is excellent -- playing himself. Both episodes are very, very funny with top performances from all involved.

Here's more on I Love Lucy.

Verdict: A great clown with great support. ***1/2.

GREAT OLD CHARACTER ACTORS: JAY NOVELLO

JAY NOVELLO. 1904 - 1982.

When I was a kid I saw Irwin Allen's production of The Lost World and the classic seance episode of I Love Lucy many times, but I never made the connection between the simpering South American "Costa" of the former and the nerdy but lovable "Mr. Merriweather" of the latter. ("We're all odd, aren't we?" he says to Lucy and Ricky.) Novello, who has 205 credits to his name, also appeared on two other I Love Lucy episodes, playing Mario from Italy and a nervous trial witness who only wants some peace and quiet which, of course, he doesn't get from Lucy. He was in dozens of films, appeared in virtually every famous TV show, had parts in cliffhanger serials, and was always first-rate in everything he did. Why did it take me so long to recognize that Costa and Mr. Merriweather were played by the same actor? Because Novello was one of those rare birds, a very gifted, genuinely versatile performer who could lose himself in every role he played, convincingly portraying any kind of person and affecting whatever accent was required by the role. (In The Mad Magician with Vincent Price you'd have thought he was actually a British actor. And he played an Eskimo chief in The Great Alaskan Mystery!) Jay Novello left behind more than his share of very memorable portrayals and was one of those really great character actors who was a boon to every production he took part in.

LAUGHING WITH LUCY

LAUGHING WITH LUCY. Madelyn Pugh Davis with Bob Carroll Jr..

This is a very pleasant memoir written by one of the members of the writing team for the classic sitcom I Love Lucy. There are some interesting backstage stories but nothing of a scandalous nature, which is not at all what the author has in mind. Rather this celebrates a great TV show and the people who worked on it, and relates some of the behind-the-scenes details of writing for a hit show and the pressure it engendered; there is a bit about the author's personal life and family as well. The author ends the book with a comment that many people often come up to her and tell her that when they're blue an episode of I Love Lucy always snaps them out of their funk and cheers them up – the highest compliment you can give the funny series. NOTE: For more on classic episodes of I Love Lucy, click here.

Verdict: Highly recommended for Lucy fans. ***.

GREAT OLD TV: I MARRIED JOAN

I MARRIED JOAN. A collection of episodes from this classic fifties sitcom (1952 - 1955) starring Joan Davis has been put together on a two-part four-DVD set. I loved this show when I was a kid, but I wasn't certain how it would hold up after so many years. I must admit that at first it seemed pretty silly, with Davis a deft comedienne on her own terms but not quite a genius on the level of I Love Lucy's Lucille Ball. The scripts seemed even more childish than Lucy's could be on occasion. Then I saw some of the more memorable episodes of I Married Joan and the full magic of the show -- and of Davis -- came through, and I suddenly remembered after all these years why I had enjoyed it so much when I first saw the reruns years ago.

COLLECTION ONE: In “Joan's Haircut” Joan gets one of the hot new “panda” haircuts for her class reunion but then feels like putting a bag over her head when she can't get used to it. In “New House” she and hubby Jim Backus ["Thurston Howell" from Gilligan's Island] put down a down payment on a hew home only to learn that another couple has done the same thing – and both couples are equally determined to move in! Joan and Brad have an argument while showing movies from their trip to Hawaii in “Home Movies.” “Honeymoon” features a flashback to Joan's disastrous honeymoon where her new husband spent most of the trip trapped in a closet. “Alienation” is a slightly risque episode in which Brad believes that Joan has been entertaining a variety of lovers.

COLLECTION TWO: Lee Patrick guest-stars as a tough hospital clerk when Brad gets a couple of “Broken Toes.” To impress a snotty “friend” [played by Adele Jergens] Joan buys a hugely expensive dress she can't afford in “Clothes Budget.” [Fritz Feld marvelously plays the dress shop owner and there are also appearances by Bernard Gorcey and “Clara” from the I Love Lucy “operetta” and other episodes.] At a hat shop Joan gets into a cat fight with a touchy lady that she doesn't realize she'll be having dinner with later in “Acrobats.” Joan finds out that she's apparently allergic to her own husband in “Allergy.” A smooth lecturer with wonderful manners creates “Jealousy” in Brad and other husbands.

I Married Joan could be much racier than I Love Lucy. Joan's daughter Beverly Willis played her sister Beverly in several episodes. Joan's wise Aunt Vera was played in other episodes by the “speed it up!” lady from the chocolate factory episode of I Love Lucy ["Job Switching"]. Two episodes that are not included in this collection but I wish had been: Joan innocently drops a piranha in with Brad's collection of tropical fish. And tries to stuff or do something to a chicken while taking some kind of course in school. Now those I'd really love to see again!

Verdict: Lots of fun! ***.

THE LAST LAUGH

THE LAST LAUGH (1924/Germany). Director: F. W. Murnau.

The head doorman at a prestigious hotel is demoted to basement wash room attendant on the day of his daughter's wedding, and we watch his despair and disintegration as he tries to cover up the disgrace and is rejected by friends and family when the truth is uncovered. Although slow at times, this is a powerful film, greatly aided by the strong lead performance of Emil Jannings, who can be broad at times but is always effective and moving. The film has to be taken as a fairy tale of sorts, as on some occasions it stretches credulity [that only one person, the night watchman, has any sympathy for Jannings, for instance], and the ending is the purest fantasy. Yet the ending has its own quiet power and charm, and can also be taken as a mere expression of the defeated, desperate Jannings innermost desires. The new orchestral score by Timothy Brock is evocative and excellent and adds immeasurably to the film's modern-day impact. A masterpiece. [Karl Freund, who photographed the film, later worked on I Love Lucy which might be seen as a comedown -- at the very least a big change in tone -- were it not for the fact that he helped revolutionize the way TV series were filmed and became an important part of one of television's most enduring and memorable programs.]

Verdict: A near-masterpiece. ***1/2.