Quote from Lucille Ball

"We try to make a game of our lives--but a game without any fixed or definite pattern. We believe that too many couples allow themselves to become 'settled' and prosaic, and as a result lose the fun which drew them together in the first place, and which keeps romance alive"
- Lucille Ball, circa 1942

You can imagine how romantic and exciting the earlier years of their marriage had been. They fought like mad, and made love like crazy. They loved playing games to test each other's devotion and depth of love.

I suppose that spending too much time together was one of the reasons Desi and Lucille ultimately filed for divorce. Their marriage got routine, and their responsibilities accumulated a great deal. They spent the day working on I Love Lucy, publicity tours, etc., and the night together too. Even the closest couple need a break from each other.

That's why after the divorce, they finally realized they were each other's greatest loves. They had that break, but it was eternal.

Dig That Hat

I been receiving requests to post up my Instagram (@welovelucilleball) photographs onto this blog. I'm really sorry for the delay of the older pictures. They're stored somewhere else and I need time to dig them out.

Here's a recent one, the one where young Lucille Ball is wearing a beautiful hair accessory (can we call this a hat?). She's so lovely.

(Alternatively, you can go to Twitter(@golucilleball) and save the pictures directly from there!)

Lucille Ball in Color!

Here's a treat for ardent Lucille Ball fans, Lucy in color!

I was asked by one beloved Instagram follower on what I am going to do on Lucille's birthday, 6th August. It's an interesting question, and I guess I'll just be spamming pictures of her on Instagram and this blog for followers' and readers' pleasure. Maybe I'll re-watch all her old movies and reread her old books again! I can't be watching I Love Lucy because I'm already doing it almost daily!

What about you?

Just Married

Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball had barely known each other for 6 months when he proposed to her. It's amazing how love at first sight does really happen! Just think, Lucy had a steady boyfriend and fiance, director Alexander Hall, and they had been together for years! She was also active in dating. Desi was like Elvis Presley in those days, he had dated beautiful blonde actresses such as Betty Grable. He had also fallen in love the first time with a girl he nicknamed Freckles and he wanted to marry her.

Why would the two of them give up the entire forest for a tree?

After their first night together (which didn't take long), Lucy phoned Al Hall and broke up with him, Desi did the same with Freckles.

"I'm sorry, Freckles. Please know that the last thing I ever want to do is to hurt you. You, of all people. I don't know why I'm doing this, it's so unnatural."

"Desi, nothing is unnatural. All things happen for a reason."

Little did Freckles know that she had created a prophecy. Indeed, all things happens for a reason. In this case, the thing is I Love Lucy. 

Instagram!

The Bluest Eyes

Here's young Lucille Ball in an advert for Max Factor, I think.

Lucille sure had the bluest eyes in the world!

I'm so partial towards her red lips, red hair and red nails. Have I mentioned it before already?

Instagram!

Instagram Pictures!

Lucille Ball looks so classy here!

Why is Desi Arnaz pointing to Lucy's stomach? Hmmm...

Here's a rare picture of Lucy in her young modeling days, where she was still a dark blonde.

Beautiful, in 1940s:

Brunette Lucy in a bathing suit. Look at those legs!

Instagram Pictures

Greetings! Here are more pictures of Lucille Ball (and Desi Arnaz) that I used Instagram to edit. As if she isn't stunning enough, Instagram has made her even more gorgeous!

More would be available really soon!

Instagram

I know that you guys cannot click copy and paste and save pictures from Instagram, and I wanna share pictures of Lucille Ball (and Desi Arnaz) with you guys, especially when Instagram edits such beautiful pictures.

So,  I'll try to upload the pictures onto this blog whenever I can.


Enjoy!

Instagram users: 
Please do me a favor and become a follower of @WELOVELUCILLEBALL. It's not for my sake but I want more people to know how awesome Lucy (and Desi) was. You and I know that she certainly could act just as well (or even better than) many of the revered actresses from Old Hollywood. She was her best at every film; she even delivered an acid line fabulously!

Some of the pictures are really rare, and here is one example of what I call a rare photo:

I love this photo to bits! Desi looked so suave in his army uniform and I love Lucy's loose curls here. Most important, it seems like Desi wanted Lucy to look at nowhere else but at him!

Remember, it's @welovelucilleball!

WWII

Desi Arnaz looks so handsome in army uniform!

Rare Photo of Lucille Ball

I bought this picture with my hard earned cash! And I'm posting a scanned copy here to share with avid fans of Lucille Ball.

Hope you guys will like it!

Lured (1947) Review

I had the fine privilege to watch Lured (1947) starring Lucille Ball, George Sanders and Charles Coburn just hours ago. It's really tough to get hold of this movie because first, it's so old; second, Singaporeans have no appreciation for black and white movies; third, film noirs are even rarer; lastly, I do not have TCM channel and even if I have, I'll probably have to wait a decade before they show this movie.

Synopsis:
Sandra Carpenter (Lucille Ball) travels to London and is supposed to be a performer but unfortunately, the company files for bankruptcy. An all American girl who is broke, Sandra has to work as a taxi dancer in a club. Her friend Lucy (Tanis Chandler) raves about going for a date and goes missing. She is believed to be the 8th dead victim of a famous "poet killer", who writes poems before a murder to taunt the police for being always being one step behind him.

Sandra goes to the police, and is hired by Inspector Harley Temple (Charles Coburn) and associates to act as an undercover to lure the killer out because of her keen observation, wit and breathtaking beauty. The killer sources out these young women by writing personal ads for dates and Sandra. Sandra becomes an employee of the police, and she has to answer these ads by pretending to be interested in these blind dates.

By coincidence or fate, she keeps bumping into Robert Flemming (George Sanders) who is the handsome and wealthy owner of a night club. At first, he wants her to work in his club as a singer and a dancer. However, he falls for her charm and beauty.

Complications arise, and evidence points to Robert being the killer. Sandra does not believe it, and tries to lure out the real murderer. Is there a real murderer, or will Sandra be killed?

Review:
Backdrop appears to be unclear, sound quality is only moderate, but what can we except? This movie was made more than 60 years ago!

I know I'm supposed to discuss the content and the actors' skills, but I have to say that Lucille Ball looked so gorgeous and perfect in this movie that it felt surreal! I simply cannot believe such a flawless female could ever exist! You really have to watch the movie to comprehend what I am saying. And bear in mind that video enhancements and all that technological crap to make people look more beautiful weren't invented yet. What you see is what you get. Lucy was really one hot and classy lady back then. Her features, her hair and her figure were all perfect! She was really one of the most beautiful ladies. Ever. Each time she appeared in a scene, I couldn't take my eyes of her. She also plays a model, housemaid, a glamorous woman and so on as an undercover. 

1947 was a period when Lucy left MGM due to some lackluster interests in her. She had to freelance and it turned out to a good thing because she was given not her usual musicals or stereotypical comedic parts, but to star in a film noir with other superb supporting actors. Her acting was superb. If you divide each shot to 64th of a second and really observe her expressions, you will see some flawless acting, and she wasted no unnecessary expressions. Such a fine actress should have been given more quality movies like Lured. You still see her tough verbal wise cracks in this movie, which is entertaining! I was so thankful that she had a lot of screen time! An A actor like her should have been starred in A movies! Even the toughest movie critiques always praised her and condemned the ever blind movie companies. And bear in mind that movie critiques seldom give rave reviews. They're the toughest ever.

I'm so proud of her and she's worth going through so much trouble to watch the movie! Fans of I Love Lucy should watch this movie because it portrays another side of her which is so different and disconnected from the screwball redhead, it just shows how talented she was!

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!

Movie Review: Ziegfeld Follies (1946)

I finally had the pleasure to watch the extravagant Hollywood musical by Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), Ziegfeld Follies. The movie was amazing because it starred many of MGM's greatest stars ever, including Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, William Powell, Red Skelton, Esther Williams, and many others, who I am not familiar with.

Vincente Minnelli, the father of the famous Liza Minnelli we all know today (if otherwise, watch Sex and the City 2, she sang Single Ladies), and the then husband of Judy Garland, was one of the movie directors.

Who says Hollywood cannot produce musicals like Broadway? I found Ziegfeld Follies enjoyable! MGM really proved this sweeping statement wrong.

William Frawley was one of the supporting actors in one of the acts! It's amazing how Lucille Ball and William Frawley appeared in the same movie, yet never spoke until I Love Lucy!

Fred Astaire sang Here's to the Girls, and Lucille was the princess/dancer.

She then cracked a whip over the chorus girls.

Esther William was a mermaid, dancing underwater. Of course, she was wearing waterproof make up.

Another highlight of this musical was Fred Astaire dancing with Lucille Bremer. They were magnificent together. Dancing on the moving treadmills and rotating floors was so breathtakingly exciting!

In fact, Lucille Bremer was Fred's dance partner in 3 of his best routines.

Judy Garland was... Judy Garland-ish.

What can I say? She was a great dramatic actress and a great singer. And being gorgeous helped much!

I couldn't wait to see Fred and Gene Kelly together. Indeed, their number was great. Seeing the two men together was an awesome feeling-- they could dance, tap dance and sing equally well!

I long for happy peppy musicals or movies where all the Hollywood people come together to strut their stuff. But today's stars have too huge an ego to star together with others of the same status and popularity. Even if they have movies of this sort, somehow, they suck. I don't know what people think of New Year's Eve (starring Katherine Heigl, Zac Efron, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ashton Kutcher, Josh Duhamel, Jessica Biel, etc, etc), it most certainly didn't suck, but it wasn't hands-down wonderful too. One might think that he wouldn't be disappointed with all the wonderful celebrities around, but one was wrong. 

Hollywood stars back then were irrefutably talented. They could dance, sing and act. Even if they could do none of these, they at least looked drop dead gorgeous. Nowadays, too many Hollywood celebrities can do none of the above. Some of them aren't even good looking, without the stage make up and all. Of course, there are exceptions! I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that more talents would emerge.

For fans of splashy musicals from the 1940s, Ziegfield Follies is a must watch!

Young Couple

Taken in the 1940s.

I promise I will blog about their elopement (the 8th part of their love story) soon!