Color: Close Up of Lucille Ball

Here's another rare picture of Lucille Ball.

She's so perfect even close up.

Meet The People

Meet The People is a WWII patriotic film, featuring Lucille Ball as a glamorous actress, and Dick Powell as an wartime employee in a shipyard.

This picture's taken circa 1943.

She looked nowhere near 33 years of age. In fact, she looked like as if she was 25! This is why people say that she can be cast in shows where the character is 10 years younger than her.

My Organizer

 I've just created an organizer and I've pasted Lucille Ball's photographs and quotes all over. This task has caused me to reread Desi Arnaz's and Lucille Ball's autobiography again.

She has the loveliest eyes in the world!

They remain as my favorite couple.

The first time that I read Lucy too had an affair came as a shock to me. It was disturbing. After some time, I figured that she was probably trying to convince herself that she still had that charm that made Desi fall in love with her 19 years ago. Or maybe, she wanted to make Desi jealous. Or maybe, she needed to release the tension? After all, they began sleeping in separate bedrooms during the filming of the Comedy Hours.

Anyway, Desi wasn't clear about that part about the matchstick at all. Things remain ambiguous, and the secret's buried forever.

This is a case at hand where love can remain after so many nasty things had happened between them, more evidently so after their divorce, where they both maintained that they were the greatest loves ever.

Great Beauty

She's unlike any other Hollywood stars.
She treats marriages seriously.
She treats her career of acting seriously.
She has more ethics than most fame-hungry stars.
Loyalty and friendship are her priorities.

She's Lucille Ball!

Two Smart People

Publicity shot for the movie Two Smart People.

I've been waiting for a DVD release for this movie. Anyone knows where to get a hold of it?

Du Barry was a Lady (1943)

Here's a review on a old Hollywood musical film, an adaptation from Broadway: Du Barry Was a Lady.

Before composing the review, I would like to discuss the feud between Hollywood and Broadway. Without saying, many would prefer the original Broadway version to the film version. It's just a whole different experience to watch a play as live audience-- certain emotions cannot be procured in a movie theatre. Sometimes I do wonder why Hollywood would want to purchase film rights from Broadway to make those unparalleled musicals into movies. Sure, it is a guaranteed way to earn money from us movie-goers-who-choose-to-watch-movies-instead-of-Broadway-musicals-due-to-budget-constrains, but can they stand the disgruntled rotten tomatoes? Look at how full of angst fans of Phantom of the Opera exuded.

Nevertheless, I'm biased when it comes to Lucille Ball. But objectively speaking, she's the type of actress who whenever presented with a weak script, would come out of the script and make the plot alive. She's the kind of a person who would give 120% when only 100% is required of her. Even movie critiques and professional reviewers concur these statements (I've read those statements!). And we all know how harsh and brutal these experts could be.

"Now I'm not falling for anyone until I see the whites of their checkbooks."

Lucille Ball was cast as May Daly/ Madame Du Barry
Red Skelton was cast as Louis Blore and Louis XV
Gene Kelly was cast as Alec Howe and The Black Arrow

So the story goes like this: May Daly is a talented and beautiful nightclub singer. She vows not to fall in love with a man with no dough after seeing how hard her parents had to work to survive in the harsh city of New York. Both employees in the nightclub, Louis Blore and Alec Howe are deeply in love with her. Of course, May Daly loves Alec, but because he is virtually penniless, she chooses to subdue her feelings for him. One day, Louis wins the Irish Sweepstakes and becomes a millionaire overnight. He proposes to May Daly, who accepts it. May Daly makes it clear to Louis that she isn't in love with him, but she says her yes because he can provide her stability. Louis accepts it, and fervently believes that he can win her heart one day.

Louis is accidentally slipped a mickey and he falls into a deep sleep. He dreams he is the corrupted King Louis XV, who uses all his money from extorting the peasants to woo the impossibly demanding and selfish Madame Du Barry who is May Daly, and Alec is The Black Arrow, the hero who wants to assassinate the tyrant king. After a series of slapstick comedy, Louis wakes up from the dream and realizes that money cannot buy love. May Daly finally awakes from her stupid philosophy and decides to marry Alec, and the story ends on the typical happily-ever-after note. 

A side note: I just realize how well I can write a synopsis! 

From the summary, you could see how tough it is for an actress to take up the role of May Daly or Madame Du Barry. One would first need to get all gussied up for the role of a perfectly groomed singer in a nightclub; that kind of sophisticated and serious woman who is hard to get. Then, one would need to be recast into a selfish and demanding queen, and be spun into a series of crazy comedic routines that would make the character a complete antithesis of the nightclub singer. I must proclaim that with such a tough role, only Lucille Ball would be able to take it up. Maybe Sandra Bullock can do it too.

I love the movie not just because of Lucy, not just because of Gene Kelly, but also because the songs were all written by Cole Porter. I love "Friendship". And my favorite number is "Do I Love You." It just melts my heart! The lyrics, the melody and the rhythm, the answer of "Yes, I do love you" is just encapsulated in the song.

Do I love you, do I? Doesn't one and one make two?
Do I love you, do I? Does July need a sky of blue?
Would I miss you, would I? If you should ever go away?
If the sun should desert the day, what would life be? 


Will I leave you, never? Could be ocean leave the shore? 
Will I worship you forever? Isn't heaven forever more.
Do I love you, do I? Oh my dear, it's so easy to see. 
Don't you know I do, don't I show you I do just as you love me.

I guess this lyrics seems kind of familiar to my Twitter followers. Each time my iPod plays this song sung by Ella Fitzgerald, I'll type the lyrics out and send it to the virtual world. It's simply poetic. If someone I love were to look into my eyes, play the piano and sing this song to me, my cold heart would melt!

Gene Kelly did a phenomenal job of singing this song. His tap dance was, not surprisingly, excellent as well.

Red Skelton is without speaking, one of the best slapstick comedians ever. I think Lucy learned a lot from him! You could see hints of a future Lucy Ricardo in this movie!

Du Barry was a Lady

Lucille Ball was photographed so breathtakingly beautifully!

I love it when her hair's long!

Color Picture of Lucille Ball

Here's another color picture of Lucille Ball.

She was so beautiful! She could simply get away with wearing flamboyant, contrasting colors!

Hope you'll like it.

Lucille, Colorized

Here's a treat for Lucille Ball's fans, a colored photo, showing off her deep blue eyes, fair skin and flaming red hair!

Rare Pictures of Lucy

Here are some rare pictures of Lucille Ball I would like to share with you!

This is hardly seen anywhere!

Do enjoy:)

30 Days of Lucille Ball-- Day 12

12. Favorite behind the scene picture of Lucille Ball

Here's a rare picture of her practicing for a dancing scene in The Big Street with Henry Fonda. It was a pity that they had to cut this scene off due to time limit.

She could certainly dance gracefully, but it's a pity she wasn't given many chances to show off her talent!

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Wallpaper

Hope you guys enjoy this!

30 Days of Lucille Ball-- Day 11

11. Favorite Lucille Ball hairstyle

 Pun intended!

Actually, I liked her really long hair in Fancy Pants. When she was sitting at the boudoir and combing through her hair, it struck me how long it was! I think she didn't like her hair too long, or was it that during the Golden Era of Hollywood, hair that reached women's shoulders were considered long?

Here's one I got from Life magazine!

She was so beautiful. Everything about her was beautiful! There was simply nothing about her that repulsed me.

30 Days of Lucille Ball-- Day 10

10. A picture of Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett

When Carol Burnett awoke on her 56th birthday in 1989, she learned on the morning news that Lucille Ball had died. Later that afternoon, the flowers she received every year arrived at her home with the note “Happy Birthday, Kid. Love, Lucy.”

30 Days of Lucille Ball-- Day 9

9.  Favorite Lucille Ball quote

In life, all good things come hard, but wisdom is the hardest to come by.

The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.

30 Days of Lucille Ball-- Day 8

8.  A picture of Lucille Ball and her first husband (Desi Arnaz)

That's easy, I've collected hundreds of their pictures.

I chose this picture because it's taken in the late 1950s (note Lucy's short hair), the evidence that even though they were living in separate bedrooms and were not speaking, Lucy still did wifely things like trimming Desi's nails. This kind of intimacy only shows that though they could not stay married any longer, their love was just as deep, if not deeper.

I'm glad they had solved their differences after their divorce. It must have been that time where Lucy was injured and Desi flew to her to take care of her.

What a couple!

Lucille Ball, Wallpaper

Here's a treat for all Lucy fans- a wallpaper I've created:

Do spread the love for Lucy!

30 Days of Lucille Ball-- Day 7

7. A picture of Lucille Ball and her children

 I loved those pictures where Lucy was pregnant. You could see how blissful she was, and how grateful to God Desi was. I bet they were thankful for a peaceful period where there was nothing in the Arnaz family but happiness.

30 Days of Lucille Ball-- Day 6

6. Favorite FEMALE co-star of Lucille Ball

As an avid fan of I Love Lucy, this goes without saying. VIVIAN VANCE, the queen of second bananas! Coming to think of it, I think Viv was the only female co-star with Lucille. They fought like sisters, and loved each other deeply like sisters.

Of course, in many ways, Viv was the more emotionally independent one, and Lucy was the more emotionally dependent one. She had many insecurities; luckily, she knew she could count on a few people in her life. This is why she treated those who were loyal to her ten times better. She definitely taught Viv how to be tougher and stronger to conquer her fears from her parents and ex husband.

Vivian Vance is such a great actress!

30 Days of Lucille Ball-- Day 5

5. Favorite MALE co-star of Lucille Ball

This goes without asking, Desi Arnaz! They were so fantastic together in the Golden Era of Hollywood, in I Love Lucy, Long Long Trailer and Forever Darling, and it helped that they were crazy in love. Even on the throes of divorce, they were still passionately in love. I guess that too much passion makes a person lose steam.

Second male co-star of Lucille Ball is definitely Bob Hope. They had so much chemistry, and they deserve the title of King and Queen of Comedy! They were great together in Fancy Pants! And they were great friends. Lucy only felt truly comfortable when working with Desi and Bob.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Let us, the romantic hearts, believe that Desi and Lucy are now in heaven together now and are holding hands, enjoying Valentine's Day while looking down on us! Perhaps even so, everyday to them is Valentine's Day, and they're always happy for making the world feel better!

30 Days of Lucille Ball-- Day 4

4. The first Lucille Ball movie you ever saw

I really cannot be accurate about this because even before I got hold of the precious DVDs, I had gone to YouTube to search segments of her in movies, including those from The Long, Long, Trailer; Dance, Girl, Dance; Too Many Girls, The Big Street; and Fancy Pants.

 

However, the first full movie would be The Big Street! Fancy Pants comes second, and The Dark Corner comes third!

Henry Fonda

Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda once dated when they were very young. No romance brewed and they moved on.

However, they must have felt a certain fondness for each other than they ever admitted, probably as the years went by.

When Lucille was to star in The Big Street with Henry, Desi Arnaz felt so insecure about leaving the both of them alone together that he often pop by in the movie sets to keep an eye on his lovely wife and a handsome actor, and his paranoid self made the director so exasperated that he finally banned him from being 10 feet near. 

I've always wondered if there was a certain attraction. Maybe it was because Lucille wanted Desi to have a taste of his own medicine and therefore made him jealous as often as she could by flirting with Henry, or maybe because she purely enjoyed Henry's attention. You can see from the pictures the way she was smiling-- that smile can only be conjured by a few men, including Desi Arnaz, Bob Hope and Henry Fonda.

 

Here's my postulation. It's purely based on speculations, but probably years ago, Lucille wasn't the queen of movies when they first dated in early 1940s. When he met her, her career was just starting to take off, and so was his. He probably was attracted, but she didn't have fame. He must have felt angry with himself when Lucy became North America's favorite housewife Lucy Ricardo in I Love Lucy in mid 1950s!

A credible person, none other than Henry's daughter Jane Fonda, claimed that Henry Fonda and Lucille had a very intimate relationship while filming the movie Yours, Mine and Ours in 1968. He became deeply and crazily in love with Lucille until his death.

In Dean Martin Roasts Lucille Ball, Lucille appeared to be overjoyed when she knew that Henry Fonda was going to roast her.

Henry hinted that there would have been Fondalu and not Desilu if they got married!

But I guess there will be no doubt in any of everyone's mind, that Lucy always belonged to Desi, even after her second marriage to Gary Morton.

30 Days of Lucille Ball-- Day 3

3. Favorite photo of Lucille Ball

This is both easy peasy and uber difficult. I love all the photos that consist of her! My favorite picture would change very often too.

However, this is my all time favorite picture. Hence, the banner on my blog:

Look at that pair of beautiful eyes. Though it's black and white, I can imagine how blue and deep her eyes must have been; it would be like staring right at the ocean.

30 Days of Lucille Ball-- Day 2

2. Favorite Lucille Ball movie

I actually enjoyed quite a number of her movies, I love Fancy Pants, The Next Time I Marry, The Long, Long Trailer, The Big Street and Dance, Girl, Dance the most.

However, given just one choice, it would be Dance, Girl, Dance!

Firstly, Lucille was given the opportunity to sing two numbers in the movie. Her vocal chords aren't first class, but she could really sing well if the script called for it. In fact, she was so versatile-- she could sing, dance, be bitchy, be stupid, be compassionate, be sick, and be funny (which in my opinion, is the most challenging).

Secondly, I liked the storyline. I guess it is equivalent to what we call chick flicks today. Maureen O'Hara was stunning! I didn't know who to root for when they fought.

Thirdly, I got to see her dance! She was so graceful, so beautiful and so classy at the same time.

Another reason is that this was the period where she had just met Desi Arnaz. You could see her glowing with happiness! She looked the prettiest!

Destined

Look at those kids dressing up in costumes and fooling around at home. It's destined that these two wonderful people would costar in a show one day. They just didn't know when.

I'm so glad that Americans in the 1940s and 1950s accepted them as a couple. Otherwise, there wouldn't be I Love Lucy, there wouldn't be laughter that cheer people up, even till today!

Happy Home

Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball really had high hopes about their marriage in the first few years. They loved everything about their home in Chatsworth that they had built together. Furniture and bric-a-bracs were inexpensive but meaningful. Lucille, with the help from her mother, had made white ruffled curtains and knitted sofa covers. Families and friends would always visit them and the couple would always hold fun parties.

There is a distinct difference I see in Lucy between the first 10 years and the last 10 years of her marriage. During the first 10 years, there was something childlike about her, she had blind faith in everything and believed that all would work out if one was diligent. She gave her unrestrained love to her husband, her family, friends and her pets. She even loved her plants and farm animals.

I guess she built a wall around herself from the hurt and humiliation Desi had given her with his indiscretions. He never had the intention of hurting her, and he loved her very deeply. But we cannot deny that he had hurt her, so much that a part of her died and lost connection with the rest of the world. She was disillusioned, afraid of letting herself go, and I don't blame her.