I Love Lucy: Rare Picture of Cast

Here's an extremely rare color picture of the I Love Lucy cast after a scene.

 

 

I'll like to clarify once again that the dislike that William Frawley and Vivian Vance had for each other was exaggerated. Please remember that it was the period where the whole world loved this television program. Everyone bought merchandise that would remind them of I Love Lucy. It's like the Titanic craze, remember? Everyone bought t-shits, key chains, notepads, erasers-- anything that would remind them of the (awesome) movie.

Of course people would exaggerate things.

It's known to many that Vivian Vance indeed said "champagne for all!" in a club upon hearing the passing of Bill Frawley. However, the publicity people conveniently left out the second part, "it's a pity that (...) the world lost a deeply humorous... and talented man."

Vivian just didn't want to be romantically linked with an unattractive older man on television. Bill was at the age where he had lost his charm and former suaveness, so he got offended. So, Viv would be sarcastic to him, Bill would play childish tricks on her. And Desi and Lucille and the I Love Lucy family would roll their eyes. That's all.

I Love Lucy: Playing Scrabble

Desi and Lucille retained that innocence when couples just started dating who were hopelessly smitten with each other. That would be the period where they would find anything amusing.

If you have watched the documentary Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie, you'll see clips of them acting childlike and silly when they were first married. They dressed in costumes, partied, teased and horse played, took adorable pictures and videos of each other, and thoroughly enjoyed the company of each other. I suppose that they were able to throw away their adult problems momentarily and return to the carefree childhood. Too bad they became the main source of unhappiness for each other 2 decades later and had to separate. People change; external circumstances never stay the same. However, Desi and Lucille loved each other in spite of all the mistakes... till the very end.

That magic between these two is the ingredient that makes I Love Lucy so successful.

Keith Thibodeaux and Desi Arnaz Jr

Hey guys! Thank you for leaving me those wonderful comments. Well, I miss you all too! And I'm deeply honored and humbled that what I've been doing to this blog has received compliments. I love Lucy, and I'm sorry for not posting. Here's one.

A lot of people believe that Ricky Ricardo Jr. was Desi and Lucille's real son. They couldn't be more wrong.

The role of Little Ricky was played by a talented young drummer called Keith Thibodeaux. He displayed such great skills with the drums that he was hired by Desi Arnaz immediately. Lucille took care of his wardrobe, his hair, and even his education. Keith stayed over at the Arnaz's place often and was a playmate to Desi Jr. and little Lucie.

"It was like having three children instead of two," said the couple.

Of course, that meant that young Keith had witnessed Desi and Lucille's explosive tempers and raging quarrels many times.

Having Little Ricky on television was kinda tough for Desi Jr., it caused him to have identity problems. When he was young, strangers would walk up to him and say things like, "hey, you're Little Ricky!" or "hey, you don't look like Little Ricky!" It was tiring to have to try to explain to people that he wasn't little Ricky, but Desi Jr.. They wouldn't have gotten it. Bear in mind that back then, communication methods were tough. There wasn't television reruns, not many books were written about the legendary couple, DVDs and documentaries didn't exist, and there wasn't internet. Television audience "invited" the Ricardos and Mertzes into their living room once a week, and they were like family. Telling them that Little Ricky wasn't Desi Jr. wouldn't have gotten anywhere because they were too used to having another concept.

I'm glad that Desi has straighten out his life and is living meaningfully and happily with his family.His parents would be so proud of him.

Lucy Goes to Scotland

Studio audience who viewed Lucy Goes to Scotland got a real treat. Normally, the I Love Lucy sets were made up of neutral colors because they'd look better on black and white film, but Desilu Inc. decided to make an exception for this episode for publicity purposes.

Desi even brought his own video camera to record the color version. Too bad we don't get to see it. I really hope that the Arnaz family could release the color version because till this day, there's only one true color segment of I Love Lucy on earth, filmed secretly by a studio audience member.

CBS has painstakingly colorized this episode, though! They made use of the picture above can colored as accurately as they could on Ricky and Lucy Ricardo's Scottish costumes.

The Ricardos and the Mertzes

The success of I Love Lucy is due to its fundamental principle of love, that love conquers all, that a happy ending ensues. Aren't these what human beings subconsciously aim for? The purpose of living life the way we do is to hope that a happy ending occurs.

No matter how zany Lucy Ricardo's antics are, her husband, Ricky, always forgives her. Her neighbors and best friends, Fred and Ethel Mertz always support her. And it so happens that Ricky's best friend happens to his neighbor, and Lucy's best friend happens to be her neighbor, and they're all paired up.

As long as they are honest people who work hard, it'll entail a good life, good enough to travel to Hollywood and Europe as a foursome.

It's America's dream: the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness!

I Love Lucy is a global treasure, really.

I Love Lucy: The Ballet

One of the classic episodes!

Mary Wickes, the woman who played Madame LeMond in The Ballet, was one of Lucille Ball's closest friends, and also one of the very few people who could really make her laugh (In the 1970s, Lucille wrote a list of the people who could make her laugh on her organizer and Mary Wickes made the list!).

Mary was considered the role of Ethel Mertz, but Mary knew Lucille's character and her working style too well to agree. She believed that if she accepted the role, it would ruin their friendship. She played Madame LeMond really well, didn't she!

Mary also accompanied Lucille on her final visit to Vivian Vance before her death in 1979. While Lucille and Viv chatted, Mary gave them some private time by sitting at a corner. When they drove home from Viv's place, they cried hysterically because it was obvious to them that they would never see Viv alive again. Viv lost her life to cancer thereatfer. 

I Love Lucy: The Young Fans

Desi displayed some onscreen comedic talent with his "Please keep jiggling, Peggy, keep jiggling!"

"I was terribly intimidated working with Lucille Ball because, well, she was Lucy, but she was marvelously professional. In rehearsals she was letter perfect, but I was shocked during the shoot. When the camera started rolling in front of the live audience, she just "turned on" -- she was so much bigger on camera than in rehearsal. I got the part because Madelyn called me and asked me if I would like to be on I Love Lucy. I was thrilled to do it, but there was only one problem. I was pregnant. I was playing a teenager on radio on Corliss Archer at the time and didn't show too much, so we thought it was safe. Wardrobe covered me up so I didn't show at all. Lucy knew I was pregnant, and when we rehearsed the "keep jigging Peggy" scene, she would say, "Janet, cool it. Don't do it too much now. You don't want to miscarry!""
- Janet Waldo

Lucille Ball and I Love Lucy

"I hadn't really gotten to watch I Love Lucy. Recently I had caught some of it. Well, I feel that I have a funny looking hairdo, funny looking skirt, and I look like I was forever pregnant, because I was either having one or getting rid of one. But I know that they were well-written and we had a wonderful time doing them and I think it shows. That is the essence of our comedy, and it gave me my education."
--Lucille Ball, 1977 (Babara Walters interview)

Gosh, why would Lucille Ball not know that she was funny off screen too? She certainly had a great sense of humor but she never realized it. 

I Love Lucy: The Courtroom

I love all their facial expressions. Classic, epic!

I actually enjoyed season 1 of I Love Lucy the most. It contained lots of classic episodes that were adapted from Lucille's radio show, My Favorite Husband. I feel that there was a lot of excitement exuded from all the cast members because everyone was still unsure of how the show would take. And there was a lot of love displayed by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball.  

Desi and Lucille must have been so happy; otherwise, Desi Jr. wouldn't have been born, you get what I mean?

When a Curve Ball is Thrown at You...

...Always remember that life is never a bed of roses. And for the lucky ones who lead a smooth life, they'll never understand or appreciate certain things that we would.

Opinion on Lucille Ball

"I fail to find any other Hollywood actress as diligent and as passionate about the career of acting as Lucille Ball. I admire her drive and determination, and I only wish that I have half as of these qualities as she had. Most admirable of all, she was never full of herself. She downplayed her talents, saying that she could neither sing nor dance, and she wasn't even pretty. While rehearsing for The Big Street, her dance teacher was astounded by her natural flair and grace, and she indeed had so much potential to be a great dancer. I concur she couldn't sing as well as Ella Fitzgerald or Vera Lynn, but she could carry a tune properly. And with regards to her physical beauty, there is no doubt about it."

Remember

"Lucy has always considered herself a serious actress. No matter what role she was assigned to, she would pour in her heart and soul into being the perfect character. In The Big Street, for instance, Lucy played a heartless singer, Gloria, who became crippled when her boyfriend pushed her down a flight of stairs due to jealousy. I would give her acting full stars! She was so convincing as a bitchy woman, one would find watching movie weird because Gloria was so different from Lucy Ricardo."

Opinion on Lucille Ball

"Before Lucille Ball, there was never another beautiful woman who could act in comedy. In my opinion, she was the first and the last comedic actress of that scale."

Opinion on Lucille Ball

"Many people have a penchant to think of Lucille Ball as being a comedic actress. She became insanely famous after I Love Lucy, and remained so in The Lucy Show and Life with Lucy. She has been associated with being the screwball redhead some time before jumping into television, where she already showed comedic talents with movies such as The Next Time I Marry, Du Barry was a Lady, Fancy Pants, etc."

Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance: Friendship

I really love the episode in I Love Lucy where the two women sing Cole Porter's song, Friendship. Those two wonderful ladies display so much chemistry that I'm just moved.

It's true that Lucille tries to contain her emotions and finds it difficult to express her love, loyalty and deep devotion for others. Lucille only knew how to display her outbursts of temper and irritability, but she was shy at nature. Yes, Lucy was a shy person!

However, it's just clear that she loved Vivian Vance. After Viv's death, Lucille could not mention her name without bursting into tears. Watch the interviews of Lucille after Viv's death, you'll weep too. I can't imagine how it's like to lose your best friend/sister forever.

Vivian Vance once told a wonderful story that showed just how much Lucille loved her.

"One Christmas, Lucille presented me with a scrapbook, embossed on the cover with This is Your Life - Vivian Roberta Jones. She'd put it together herself, with baby pictures, photographs of Mom and Dad and the family, including uncles and aunts. It had taken weeks of telephoning them - as well as my psychiatrists along the route- before she got together all the souvenirs to sort and paste in. Then, she threw a party at the studio and had everyone at Desilu attend. At the climax, she handed over the scrapbook."

The Big Street

Lucille Ball's best dramatic performance, in remembrance of her friend and role model, Carole Lombard, The Big Street:

Lucille Ball had the makings of being a dramatic actress, but neither RKO Studios, MGM Studios nor other movie studios cared to nurture her talent. It's a blessing in disguise really, because we have I Love Lucy today!

It must have been demoralizing for Lucille because at that point, she would never have known that she would be co-starring a television show with her husband, Desi Arnaz, and that particular show would become The Best Television Show of All Time (endorsed by America's ABC Channel in September 2012)!

Sometimes opportunities are disguised with setbacks. 

I Love Lucy: Pregnant Women are Unpredictable

Have you listened to the song Cheek to Cheek?

Desi Arnaz's version of Cheek to Cheek is the best! In this scene, you sense that they weren't Ricky and Lucy Ricardo, but they were Desi and Lucille Ball Arnaz.

Lucy was crazy on having rehearsals and she was well known to be a kind of... control freak. However, I read somewhere that she wouldn't rehearse those lovemaking scenes with Desi because they both wanted their real emotions to be captured on screen. If you observe every single expression of theirs, you'll get what I mean- it's magic.

Ziegfeld Follies, Lucille Ball

We tend to forget that Lucille Ball was first and foremost a model and a showgirl before she became an actress and a comedic actress.

She had the showgirl blood in her all her life. She had always wanted to return to the stage to perform. She always felt that people who appeared on screens weren't real actors; real actors would have experienced performing on stage.

In Ziegfeld Follies, you see perfect Lucy standing on a while horse, moving gracefully and whipping girls to tame them... and you get surprised! It's impossible to connect this Lucy with Lucy Ricardo in I Love Lucy!

She's amazing.

Lucille Ball and William Holden

You'll probably recognize the two subjects in the following picture...

Yes, they are Lucille Ball (duh!) and William Holden, the guest star who appeared on I Love Lucy's famous episode, LA At Last! Yes, he received a pie in his face and yes, he lighted Lucy's fake nose on fire!

Lucy and Bill went back a long way. They became great friends when they starred in the movie Miss Grant Takes Richmond.

They were laughing so naturally in this picture because for some reason, while doing an intimate kissing scene, they kept breaking into laughter again and again. Finally, they got comfortable enough. I supposed it was because they were good friends. Bill would confide in Lucy about relationship problems and Lucy would provide sound advice. They always teased each other and told each other funny stuff just to make each other lose the poker face.

I love Old Hollywood, where people were friendly and nice and simpler. Well, comparatively so anyway!

I Love Lucy: Fred and Ethel's Anniversary

I love the way Lucy Ricardo makes fun of Ricky Ricardo's accent!

This is one of the many scenes where I still laugh madly about, and I've watched each episode like... 30 times?