LURED

LURED (1947). Director: Douglas Sirk. 

"I am an unmitigated cad." 

 George Sanders, Boris Karloff, Charles Coburn -- and Lucille Ball -- all in the same movie? Not only that but George Zucco and Sir Cedric Hardwicke, too? Too bad it's such a lousy movie. Lucy is a show girl of sorts whose friend disappears after answering a romantic personal ad. The police employ her as a decoy who will answer different ads and hopefully bring the murderer of several young women, the friend included, to light. George Sanders is a theatrical agent who takes a shine to Lucy. Boris Karloff is a weird, mentally ill clothing designer, Zucco is a police officer (as is Alan Napier of Batman TV fame), and Joseph Calleia is an even weirder friend of Karloff's. Charles Coburn is miscast as a Scotland Yard inspector -- it's one of the few times this wonderful character actor fails to make much of an impression, although he does have his moments (such as a scene with Hardwicke). Lucille Ball does make an impression -- but in the wrong way. 

Although her Lucy characterization was four years in the future, at times the movie resembles "Lucy Meets Jack the Ripper." Her comic gifts and timing are much in evidence, but in the wrong movie. And her whole persona is much too contemporary to be convincing in a period piece. On the other hand, she's the only bright note in the movie, despite solid performances from Sanders and some of the others. However, in no way can it be considered a memorable dramatic performance. There are some atmospheric shots, but Douglas Sirk is no Hitchcock and the music is all wrong. A hilarious aspect is that early in the film one of the victims describes the (fairly obvious) killer as being "handsome." Well ... wait and see, if you care to. 

Verdict: Seems like five hours. *1/2.

FOREVER DARLING

Desi Arnaz, James Mason, Lucille Ball

FOREVER DARLING (1956). Director: Alexander Hall. 

Lorenzo or Larry Vega (Desi Arnaz), a chemist working on a new bug killer, is married to Susan (Lucille Ball), who is much influenced by her snobbish cousin, Millie (Natalie Schafer of Female on the Beach), whom Larry can't stand. Larry also feels that he and his wife are drifting apart after several years of marriage. He is hoping to rekindle things by taking her with him on a work-related trip, an idea that doesn't sit well with Susan. Then who should appear in her bedroom one night but James Mason (James Mason), who is actually Susan's guardian angel wearing the face of someone she admires. "James" gives Susan some sage advice, and convinces her to go off on a short trip with Larry so he can test his new insecticide, but things may not go exactly as planned ...  

Arnaz and Lucy

Made at the height of the popularity of I Love Lucy, the main strength of Forever Darling is its cast. Not exactly playing the Ricardos, Arnaz and Ball are as wonderful as ever, James Mason -- who probably wondered how he ever wound up in this film -- is classy and excellent, and the ever-adept Louis Calhern [The Asphalt Jungle] nearly steals the movie -- no easy feat -- as Susan's highly amusing father. Then we've also got Natalie Schafer, Nancy Kulp as the maid, John Hoyt and Willis Bouchey as Larry's associates, Mabel Albertson in a brief turn as a reporter, and John Emery in a very funny bit as a psychiatrist who tries to explain to Susan why she's seeing strange men in her bedroom. 

Forever Darling, alas, is not as good as the other film the Desi-Lucy combo did, the very funny The Long, Long Trailer, but it has its moments. What starts out almost as a somewhat sophisticated drawing room comedy turns into an episode of I Love Lucy as the couple have misadventures while camping, with their plastic boat springing a leak and so forth. It was probably decided that that was what the couple's fans wanted, but it makes the flick a bit lopsided. Nothing much really happens with the whole "guardian angel" idea, making the movie -- but for the delightful performances and a few laughs -- almost seem pointless. Still, it's Lucy! The theme song by composer Bronislau Kaper is pleasant, sung by the Ames brothers over the credits and by Desi late in the picture. He also sang the tune on an episode of Lucy. Marilyn Maxwell appears in a move-within-a-movie sequence with Mason. 

Verdict: Has a certain degree of charm and amusing performances, but the script -- an old one dusted off for Lucy and Desi -- could have used some work. **3/4. 

LOVER COME BACK (1946)

George Brent and Lucy

LOVER COME BACK (1946). Director: William A. Seiter.

"Jealousy is a particularly crude manifestation of the uncultured."

"Your complete and unashamed lack of principles almost amounts to integrity." 

"That's different -- I'm a man!"

Executive Kay Williams (Lucille Ball) cleverly fobs off a variety of wolves, including her boss, while her husband, Bill (George Brent), a war correspondent, is overseas. When he returns home, Kay discovers that he had a number of dalliances with women, including his photographer Madeline (Vera Zorina of On Your Toes). She decides to get even by pretending that she also saw different men while he was gone -- and after. Madeline waits hopefully in the wings, while Kay's in-laws -- Bill Sr. (Charles Winninger) and his wife (Elisabeth Risdon) -- offer conflicting advice to both parties and bicker with each other. Will the younger couple work out their problems or wind up in Reno? 

Elisabeth Risdon and Charles Winninger

Lover Come Back is a breezy and delightful film bolstered by excellent performances from the entire cast, with Lucy being especially bright-eyed, effective, and resplendent. This is a clear example that Ball's talent did not begin and end with the wonderful I Love Lucy. Brent gives one of his more memorable performances, and one can't say enough about the terrific Winninger and Risdon, who make quite a pair of nattering lovebirds. Then we've got Austrian actor Carl Esmond as dapper and aggressive Paul, who wants to marry Kay; William Wright (of Philo Vance Returns) as photographer Jimmy, who makes frequent passes; Raymond Walburn (of And the Angels Sing) as Kay's amorous boss J. P. Winthrop; Wallace Ford as the lawyer Tubbs, who switches sides in this battle of the sexes after he gets punched; and spirited Louise Beavers as the couple's lovable domestic, Martha. Others in the cast who appear briefly are Franklin Pangborn as a hotel clerk; Ellen Corby as a secretary; and Joan Shawlee as one of Bill's rather bitchy ex-girlfriends.

Lucy!

One could easily argue that Lover Come Back is a slight picture were it not for the feminist sub-text. The picture argues against the double standard that it's acceptable for men to cheat -- "I'm a man, after all!" -- but that it's somehow worse for women to do so. The screenplay by Michael Fessier and Ernest Pagano is also full of good dialogue, and while the flick is not a laugh-riot it is consistently amusing. Brent is a likable enough performer so that his slightly sleazy character -- despite his love for his wife -- is made more palatable. This was the last of nine films for the German actress and dancer Vera Zorina, who has a certain undeniable appeal. As for Lucy, she is just splendid and looks absolutely gorgeous throughout!

Verdict: Lucy leads a cast of pros in an amusing comedy. ***.

LUCY AT THE MOVIES

LUCY AT THE MOVIES. Cindy de la Hoz. 

Before she became a super-star with I Love Lucy, Lucille Ball was an honest-to-goodness movie star who appeared in dozens of films, beginning as a chorus girl and extra, moving on to supporting player, and finally emerging as a star in her own right of such films as The Big Street, in which she was teamed above the title with Henry Fonda. Ball displayed her comic gifts – although she was more than "just" a fine comedienne – in film after film, bolstering mediocre efforts and complimenting good ones such as Street, in which she gives an affecting, memorable portrait of a spoiled, frightened singer who is scared she'll never walk again and takes it out on everyone around her, especially the man who is devoted to her. This book looks at every film that Ball appeared in before, during, and after Lucy, everything from The Affairs of Annabelle to Mame. You'll even read about the film she once made with Boris Karloff! Ms. de la Hoz supplies synopses, sample reviews, her own background notes and critique, and loads and loads of photos. This is a huge, heavy, coffee table book on thick paperstock. 

Verdict: Lucy fans should pounce! ***1/2.

DU BARRY WAS A LADY

Ball, Kelly, Skelton, O'Brien, Dorsey

DU BARRY WAS A LADY (1943). Director: Roy Del Ruth.

May Daly (Lucille Ball) is a nightclub singer who is courted by both Alec (Gene Kelly) and Louis (Red Skelton), neither of whom are rich enough to suit her. She is squired around town by a man who is wealthy, as well as much older, Wille (Douglass Dumbrille). When Louis wins the sweepstakes May wonders if she can have any kind of life with the newly rich fellow, but before any decision is made Louis collapses and dreams that they are all back in the days of King Louis and Madame Du Barry. Who will May ultimately wind up with, and will the IRS man (Donald Meek) leave any money for Louis? Du Barry is a strange picture, whose plot -- such as it is -- is put on hold for about half an hour (after the brief opening minutes) while we watch Tommy Dorsey and his band perform and the Oxford Boys do their impressions of famous band leaders. Others in the cast include the delightfully deadpan Virginia O'Brien; Zero Mostel (who does a pretty terrible impression of Charles Boyer); Louise Beavers as May's sassy maid, Niagara; Dick Haymes, who only appears as the lead vocalist in a group of singers; and drummer Buddy Rich. There's also Clara Blandick as a funny little old lady on a subway who gives advice to Ball and Skelton. This is very loosely based on a Cole Porter Broadway show, although most of the songs in the movie were written by others. Du Barry isn't a very good movie, but it goes out on a high note, with the cast spiritedly performing Porter's "Friendship." Another bright spot is Kelly's dancing to "Do I Love You.", although Kelly doesn't get to do nearly enough dancing in this.

Verdict: Silly, amiable, light-weight, but well-performed, and the final number is a pip. **.

CHARLES WALTERS: THE DIRECTOR WHO MADE HOLLYWOOD DANCE

CHARLES WALTERS: THE DIRECTOR WHO MADE HOLLYWOOD DANCE. Brent Phillips. University Press of Kentucky; 2017.

This excellent biography looks at the life and work of Charles Walters, who started out as a dancer, became a choreographer for both stage and film, and then directed many notable movies at MGM and elsewhere. Walters lived with a male partner, his agent, for many years, was good friends with everyone from Judy Garland to Esther Williams to Lucille Ball (working with the latter on TV specials as well as Du Barry Was a Lady, for which he did the choreography), and by all accounts was a likable and amiable Hollywood presence. The movies Walters directed include Good News, Easy to Love, Summer Stock, Jumbo, Lili, Torch Song with Joan Crawford, High Society, The Glass Slipper, and The Unsinkable Molly Brown, among others. Well-researched and bolstered with interviews, this bio has amusing behind-the-scenes anecdotes a'plenty,and also explores Walters' approach.to "cine-dance" -- dance in the movies. 

Verdict: First-rate look at an unsung Hollywood figure. ***1/2.

THE FULLER BRUSH GIRL

Eddie Albert and Lucille Ball

THE FULLER BRUSH GIRL (1950). Director: Lloyd Bacon. Written by Frank Tashlin.

Sally Elliott (Lucille Ball) is engaged to co-worker Humphrey Briggs (Eddie Albert), and the two have their eye on a home they can't afford. After a spectacular accident at work involving an exploding switchboard, Sally is fired and tries her hand at selling cosmetics as a Fuller Brush girl (she hasn't actually got the job yet, but is kind of "auditioning"). She and Humphrey wind up in the midst of a murder mystery, on the run both from police and from the real killer, winding up on a ship at sea with a bomb aboard! Red Skelton's The Fuller Brush Man was a success, so it was only natural for there to be a Fuller Brush Girl, and Lucy was an inspired choice as star, as she's wonderful in this. Franklin Tashlin's funny script (he also co-wrote Fuller Brush Man), has lots of thrills and laughs, and is full of his trademark inventive "cartoon-style" comedy, such as a great scene when Lucy, wearing several round life preservers, goes rapidly rolling around the deck of the ship and almost goes kerplunk into the ocean. Albert [On Your Toes] provides fine support for Lucy, and there are good performances from Jerome Cowan [Have Rocket, Will Travel] as her boss; Lee Patrick as his wife; Gail Robbins as dancer Ruby Rawlings; Arthur Space as Inspector Rogers; and Jeff Donnell [Night Editor] as Sally's friend, Jane. Red Skelton has a cameo playing himself and a potential customer -- he sells some items to Lucy instead of the other way around! There's a lot of clever stuff in this and the two parrots on the ship (voiced by Mel Blanc) are a scream.

Verdict: Cute picture with lots of laughs and a resplendent Lucy! ***.

JOAN DOES TV IN THE SIXTIES AND AFTER

Joan with Milner and Corbett on Route 66

JOAN DOES TV IN THE SIXTIES AND AFTER. 

Primarily a film star, Crawford, as mentioned, had numerous appearances on television in addition to GE Theater and Zane Grey Theater.

In 1963 Joan appeared in the episode "Same Picture, Different Frame" on Route 66. In this young Linc Case (Glenn Corbett, who had taken over from George Maharis) inexplicably gets involved with the "mid-forties"Morgan Harper (Joan was actually 57 at the time), whose husband, Eric (Patrick O'Neal), has escaped from an institution. Case comes to her rescue when Eric goes on a murder spree. Crawford gives a good performance, but the script, meant to be moving, is only mediocre, and Case's interest in Morgan is never explained. But then, I've always thought, perhaps wrongly, that Route 66 was a vastly over-rated TV series. In any case, this is not one of its better episodes. Martin Milner, the show's other star, doesn't interact much with Crawford. **.

Joan appeared on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in 1967 on "The Five Daughters Affair," one of the least memorable UNCLE episodes. Even though Crawford would have made an exciting THRUSH villainess, she is only cast in a minor role and.is killed off in the first few minutes of the show,  As the two part Uncle episodes were often turned into feature films in Europe, it was hoped that Joan's name would have marquee value. **.

Joan appeared in "Lucy and the Lost Star" on The Lucy Show in 1968. Lucy and Viv (Vivian Vance) have car trouble near Joan's house. She makes them lemonade, and the two wacky ladies come to the conclusion that Joan is broke. They all put on a show, and in a sketch Crawford comes to work in a speakeasy with Lucy and Viv as molls. Joan is fine, and the show is cute. Joan also appeared in what I believe may have been a pilot for a variety series starring comic actor Tim Conway. This was very silly and negligible but Joan is funny and maintains her dignity. **1/2.

In 1969 Joan appeared in the Night Gallery telefilm, which later became an hour-long series hosted by Rod Serling. Joan was excellent as an imperious blind woman in her segment "Eyes," which was directed by a very young Steven Spielberg, ***.

Joan's last TV appearance -- her final credit, in fact -- was on The Sixth Sense, a spooky anthology series. Star Gary Collins played a psychic investigator. In the first episode, "Dear Joan, We're Going to Scare You to Death,"directed by John Newland, Crawford was the guest-star. In the version of this that I saw on youtube, Collins only provides narration. Joan Fairchild (Crawford) encounters a group of young people who are experimenting with their paranormal abilities, and some decide to see if they can literally frighten the woman to death. Crawford is good, but this seems padded, and has characters wandering around to little effect. Dull, slow-paced, and with a terrible musical score. .*1/2.

Joan substituted for her daughter, Christina, on a couple of episodes of the soap opera, The Secret Storm. Joan also did two TV movies, Woman on the Run (1959) and The Foxes (1961) but I haven't been able to find these.

MAME

Auntie Mame and Patrick on the Statue of Liberty!

MAME (1974). Director: Gene Saks.

The story of madcap Auntie Mame was turned into the musical Mame, starring Angela Lansbury. Although Lansbury, who could sing and had appeared in a great many movies, could certainly have essayed her screen equivalent, the role was instead given to Lucille Ball, who couldn't sing a lick. Remember the classic "Operetta" episode of I Love Lucy? When Ricky remarks that Lucy on occasion hits a flat note, Ethel reassures him that "every time she opens her mouth the entire cast will join in." If only they had followed that policy in this movie, because dear Lucy's croaking pretty much devastates all of her numbers. However, that being said, Mame is not a bad movie. Ball is not up to Russell's level, but she's hardly terrible as Mame Dennis, although the picture is completely stolen by Bea Arthur as Vera Charles (Coral Browne was great as Vera in the original, but she didn't steal the picture from Russell). "The Man in the Moon" is a funny number, as is "Bosom Buddies," and "My Best Girl" is a pretty tune. There are other good songs, but Lucy butchers all of them, except when Jane Connell repeats her Broadway role as Agnes Gooch and adroitly delivers her one big solo. [There's also a new song, "Loving You."] Kirby Furlong and Bruce Davison [Stolen: One Husband] are fine as the young and older Patrick, respectively, and Doria Cook-Nelson scores as Patrick's fiancee, Gloria, as does Patrick Labyorteaux as Mame's little grandson, Peter. Lucille Benson is funny as the mother of Robert Preston's Beauregard Burnside, who marries Mame and travels the world with her. The sub-text of the film substitutes racism for anti-Semitism. Say what you will about Mame, when the whole troupe breaks into the title tune the movie certainly plays. Jerry Herman did both music and lyrics, including the snappy "Open a New Window," an anthem to having new life experiences.

Verdict: Not in the league of Auntie Mame, but not bad on its own terms. *** out of 4.

FIVE CAME BACK

Patric Knowles and Joseph Calleia

FIVE CAME BACK (1939). Director: John Farrow.

A plane flying over South America crash lands in the jungle, but only five people can fly back when the plane is fixed, and there are headhunters in the area. Will it be the convict who faces execution (Joseph Calleia), or the blowsy brunette (Lucille Ball) who feels she hasn't got much of a future? Professor Spengler (C. Aubrey Smith) and his peppery wife (Elisabeth Risdon)? Crimp (John Carradine), who is delivering his prisoner but uses no handcuffs or takes any precautions? Or Pete (Allen Jenkins) who is traveling with his murdered boss's little boy, Tommy? Then there's the eloping couple, Judson (Patric Knowles) and Alice (Wendy Barrie), and the two pilots, played by Chester Morris [The She-Creature] and Kent Taylor [Gangbusters]. Five Came Back certainly features an interesting situation, but it's contrived, and the acting, while professional, is generally of the second-rate Hollywood variety. However, "Lucy" isn't bad as Peggy, and Knowles makes an impression as Jud, while Barrie does her best with the part she's given. At least in this earlier version the horrible death of a steward is remarked upon at some point. Farrow directed the remake Back from Eternity some years later, but it wasn't much of an improvement. This is not one of the great movies of 1939.

Verdict: Maybe more headhunters would have livened this up. **.

GREAT OLD EPISODE: THE OPERETTA -- I LOVE LUCY

"I am the queen of the gypsies..."

I LOVE LUCY: "The Operetta." Season Two. 1952.

SQUIRE/FRED MERTZ: "There's lots of ale and stout upon the shelf.
  And I take a drop or two myself"

PEASANTS: "A drop, he says! The squire's got the gout.
The stout makes him ail, and the ale makes him stout."

Needing to quickly replenish the treasury of the Ladies Wednesday Fine Arts League (or whatever the heck it's called), Lucy decides to write and put on an operetta entitled "The Pleasant Peasant." Since Ethel can sing much better than Lucy, she is given the lead role of Lily, while Lucy has to be content with Camille, "the snaggle-toothed old queen of the gypsies." To drown out Lucy's awful singing, the cast has been instructed to join in every time she opens her mouth. The costumes and scenery have been rented, everything's going well on opening night, but as always when Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball) is in charge, things don't go quite as expected ...

Asked who wrote the songs, Lucy replies "Did you ever hear of Victor Herbert?" Of course, Lucy wrote the songs herself. When I first saw this in reruns as a child, I thought the rather tuneful music really was composed by Victor Herbert -- it's in his melodious style --  but I've never been able to determine who really did the music. [I Love Lucy has credited composers such as Eliot Daniel and Wilbur Hatch but they did general music for many episodes.] In any case, all of the songs are surprisingly memorable, including Ethel/Vivian Vance's delightfully-performed number "Lily of the Valley" ["when other girls go walking on their arm they've got a swell beau; whenever I go walking on my arm is just my elbow"], Ricky's love song to Lily, the drinking song, the Squire/Fred's number, and so on. I assume the clever and amusing lyrics were written by the Lucy writing team, Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Davis and Bob Carroll, Jr. The episode was directed by Marc Daniels.

Ball, Vance, Desi Arnaz, and William Frawley are all in top form, aided and abetted by Myra Marsh as the club president and the other ladies, especially the woman who interrupts the performance to sing to Lucy about a bounced check, and whose identity I can't determine [she isn't listed on imdb nor even on the I Love Lucy DVD], although I have definitely seen her elsewhere, possibly other Lucy episodes.

UPDATE: Aside from the first number in the operetta, the songs were all composed by Eliot Daniel, who also composed the show's theme song.

Verdict: Classic comedy. ****.

THE LUCY SHOW SEASON TWO

Lucy and Viv try to get the "world famous Thunderbolt" to move

THE LUCY SHOW Season 2.1963.

The first season of The Lucy Show had its moments but was certainly no I Love Lucy. The second season also has some laughs, but there isn't a single really outstanding episode. The more memorable ones feature Jay Novello as a safe cracker; Robert Alda and John Carradine as art student and instructor [and a very clever bit involving the Mona Lisa]; Lucy's all-woman fire department putting out a fire at the bank; Lucy and Viv opening a restaurant [though it can't compare to "The Diner" episode on I Love Lucy]; Lucy working with Mr. Mooney [Gale Gordon, who is introduced on the fourth episode of the season] at the same bank; the gals competing in a bake-off; and the frenetic couple organizing kiddie parties [the funniest bit has the gals trying to get a recalcitrant dog, "the world-famous Thunderbolt" -- see photo -- to just get up and move]. The problem with The Lucy Show is that everyone thinks that all Ball needs is a little shtick to be hilarious, but the episode with her conducting an orchestra is just plain bad, and there are other overly silly and unfunny episodes with labored and poor material that even the talents of Ball and Vance can't save. However, the gals get some good support from Gale Gordon, Mary Jane Croft, Kathleen Freeman, and others. Ball's second husband, comic Gary Morton, appears in one episode and is quite good. Season three was slightly better. In the introduction to the show, there are nuermous photos of Lucy, and only one of Vivian Vance, who is still billed only as a "co-star."

Verdict: "Ethel Mertz" is one thing, but you can really miss her teaming up with Ethel Merman. **.  

THE DARK CORNER

Lucille Ball and Mark Stevens

THE DARK CORNER (1946). Director: Henry Hathaway.

"Love is not just for the young, my dear; it's a heartache that affects all age groups."

Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens), who was sent up the river on a frame-up yet somehow has a private detective license, is convinced that the very man who framed him, Tony Jardine (Kurt Krueger) is now having him tailed and trying to kill him. Presumably Krueger's hired gun is a cowardly tough guy named Stauffer (William Bendix). Also thrown into this hard- boiled mix are Galt's secretary Kathleen (Lucille Ball), a wealthy art collector named Hardy Cathcart (Clifton Webb) and his much younger wife, Mari (Cathy Downs), who has a wandering eye. The main problem with this movie is that the audience, knowing everything that's going on, is always one step ahead of the hero Galt as he tries to figure out what's going on and who's really trying to get him, so there's virtually no suspense. Webb and Bendix are both swell, Ball is completely miscast and wasted -- as much as I love Lucy she's not a good fit with film noir [such as Lured] --  and Stevens does a pretty good approximation of a hardened if pretty-boy gumshoe. Webb is given the best dialogue and delivers it in his inimitable style: "That happens to be a coincidence I took great pains to arrange," he says, as well as  "the enjoyment of art is the only real ecstasy that is neither immoral nor illegal." Downs, who is fine as an adulterous wife, later appeared in The Amazing Colossal Man and Missile to the Moon; she was a talented actress who never quite got the breaks but amassed quite a few credits. 

Verdict: Entertaining if somehow third-rate but saved by Webb and Bendix. **.

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. ***.

THE LUCY SHOW: SEASON ONE

Lucy and a bleating sheep

THE LUCY SHOW: SEASON ONE. CBS/1962.

After the end of I Love Lucy as well as the dissolution of Lucille Ball's marriage to Desi Arnaz [although not the end of their professional relationship due to their involvement in Desilu], Ball and Vivian Vance re-teamed without the boys as a widow and a divorcee living together with their children in a small town. Although The Lucy Show had the same writers as I Love Lucy, the show -- which also ran several years before turning into Here's Lucy -- was not in the same classic league. [One problem was that the writers couldn't resist re-using some classic I Love Lucy bits and plot lines.] There are, however, some funny moments and memorable scenes in the first season, such as "Lucy and Viv take Up Chemistry" and "Lucy Buys a Boat." The two best episodes are "Lucy Builds a Rumpus Room," which has a very funny finale, and "Lucy is Kangaroo for a Day," which has a priceless bit in which a strand of her suit is caught in an elevator and completely unravels her outfit, as well as some hilarious scenes in a restaurant. Dick Martin is okay as the girls' neighbor and occasional date, Harry, but Charles Lane [later replaced by Gale Gordon] is terrific as the severe banker Mr. Barnsdahl. The three children in the cast are all talented and appealing as well. However, there are too many mediocre episodes to make most people want to look at later seasons, although they had their moments.

Verdict: Lucy can still make you laugh -- with reservations. **1/2.

DANCE, GIRL, DANCE

DANCE, GIRL, DANCE (1940). Director: Dorothy Arzner.

"Bubbles is like a kid who can't stand it if a kid has one marble even if she's got twenty."

Madame Basilova (Maria Ouspenskaya) has a rag tag group of girls with whom she hopes to re-enter the big time. The only one who gets any offers is the spirited "Bubbles" (Lucille Ball), who soon becomes known as "Tiger Lily White", burlesque queen. She gets the theater to hire the more sedate Judy (Maureen O'Hara) to do her ballet specialty, but on her first night Judy realizes she's only meant to be Bubbles' stooge as the men boo and hiss her and call for Tiger Lily. The women are also rivals for Jimmy Harris (Louis Hayward), who is carrying a torch for his ex-wife Elinor (Virginia Field). In the meantime, dance producer Steve Adams (Ralph Bellamy) is, unbeknownst to Judy, highly interested in her and her career. O'Hara, Hayward and Field are all fine, but Lucille steals the show in a role which is nothing at all like her famous "Lucy" of TV fame. Hard-boiled but lovable, this tough dame also scintillates in her musical numbers. The famous cat fight between the two women is much too brief to make much of an impression. Ouspenskaya is killed off early on and Sydney Blackmer has a bit as Elinor's new husband. Sporadically entertaining, but pretty minor-league with an awkward script, this would probably be forgotten were it not for the exciting presence of Lucille Ball.

Verdict: Lucy fans will enjoy this most of all. **1/2.

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 LUCY SHOW Season 3

Ball and Vance with bird

THE LUCY SHOW Season 3. 1964. CBS.

"Her hair's dyed -- and her brain isn't too long for this world, either."

After I Love Lucy wrapped up and Lucy divorced Desi -- the two remained involved with Desilu Studios -- Ball importuned Vivian Vance, who only wanted to stay on the east coast with her husband, to co-star with her in a new vehicle. Supposedly based on a book called "Life Without George," The Lucy Show basically had Lucy (now the widowed Lucy Carmichael with two children) and Ethel (reborn as the divorced Vivian Bagley with one son) sharing a house and expenses and a lot of misadventures. The network kept wooing Lucy and Lucy kept wooing Vance, so she returned for a third season of silly episodes. Vance did not appear in every episode -- one condition for her doing the show -- so she was occasionally replaced by special guest-stars, including Ann Sothern, who isn't bad as a widowed countess who returns to the town where she was born. However, the episodes with Ball and Vance are generally the most memorable. Arguably the best third season episode has Lucy and Viv vying for Charles Drake as Lucy shows up at a dance on roller skates, ensuring pandemonium. Other reasonably good shows have Jack Benny playing a plumber, Lucy and Viv acting as camp cooks, and a wacky trip to Las Vegas. Lucy loses a contact lens in chocolate icing but doesn't know which cake, and she accidentally sucks a rare valuable stamp into a vacuum cleaner she's trying to sell. And so on.

Lucy and Viv can still be very funny,-- and occasionally overbearing, especially the former --  but the scripts weren't always up to their standards. Gale Gordon makes an excellent foil as irritable banker Mr. Mooney; he's especially good in a sequence wherein he tries to teach Lucy how to ski. The episode where Lucy tries to get tickets to a Danny Kaye performance is fairly wretched, as are the episodes where she becomes a traffic and undercover cop. Guest-stars and supporting players include a very funny Harvey Korman, Reta Shaw, Byron Foulger, Keith Andes, John Williams, Kathleen Freeman, Jim Davis, Carole Cook, Nestor Paiva, Mabel Albertson, Jack Kelly, Steven Geray and Norma Varden. The children haven't got much to do but they are appealing and do it well.

Verdict: No I Love Lucy, but a certain amount of laughs and clever comic antics. **1/2.

THE LONG, LONG TRAILER

The trailer makes its ascent into the mountains!

THE LONG, LONG TRAILER (1953). Director: Vincente Minelli.

"Most new marriages break up within three years. Include a trailer, it's the speed-up plan." 

Tacy and Nicky Collini (Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz) buy a very big trailer and travel across the country in it having one amusing misadventure after another. Lucy and Desi may only be playing variations of Lucy and Ricky, but both are in top form. Keenan Wynn makes an impression as a traffic cop even if he only has one line of dialogue, and Marjorie Main and Madge Blake are swell as, respectively, a trailer park neighbor and Tacy's Aunt Anastasia. This is an amiable and very funny movie [although some might feel the bit with "poor Grace" (Connie Van), who is obviously "mental," is a bit tasteless] that also has some beautiful photography and scenery. The best scenes are the visit to Aunt Anastasia and the wonderful climax, wherein the Collinis try to negotiate their huge trailer over a steep and hazardous mountain road with Nicky unaware that the two-ton monster he's pulling is full of souvenir rocks -- this scene is both scary and hilarious!

Verdict:  Quite delightful. ***.

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.