Today’s movie is a biography with scenes set on March 2. I
hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.
LUCY
On March 2, 1960 [00:01 to 4:10] the cast is preparing to film the last
episode of the “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”. Lucy and Desi no longer get along and
are preparing to divorce. Lucy flashes back to working in her uncle’s amusement
park food stand in the 1920’s. To get her away from a “unsuitable” boy, her
family sends her to New York to follow her dream of being in show business.
Although she does not do well in drama
school, she starts in amateur theater. Then her mother and step-father lose
their house after a boy is seriously injured in a shooting incident on their property.
She tries to make it in burlesque and then becomes “The Chesterfield Girl” and
then a “Goldwyn Girl”. She goes to Hollywood and gets a lot of bit parts in
movies at RKO Studios. Then she meets Desi Arnez and they elope. Then Desi’s contract with RKO is not renewed
while Lucy’s is. Desi goes back to work as a bandleader and his infidelities
cause a serious rift with Lucy. Lucy adopts her signature red hair for the
movie “DuBarry was a Lady” (previously she had been a blonde). In 1944
she files for divorce from Desi and even gets an interlocutory decree. They soon reconcile. After a few years they develop a concept for
a TV show. Lucy works to develop her comic persona with some help from Buster
Keaton. To convince the studio that the show will work they take the show on
the road and perform it live. Lucy has a miscarriage, but recovers and has a
girl. They start filming “I Love Lucy”, which becomes a smash hit. When Lucy gets pregnant again they write
the event into the show after some reluctance on the part of the network. Then
Lucy has to dodge the House Un-American Activities Committee investigation into
Communist infiltration. Desi takes to drink under the stress of running Desilu
studios. They finally move to Beverly Hills, but Desi’s philandering starts
again. On March 2, 1960 they film their last show together. [2:01:50 to
2:06:55].
An interesting biopic. Tries to
show how Lucy developed from a B-movie starlet into the “Queen of Comedy”. Well
worth watching.
Ball of Fire by Stefan Kanfer (Alfred A. Knopf, New
York, 2003) at page 214 gives the date of filming for their last show.
Producer - Dave Mace
Director - Glenn Jordan
Screenplay - Katie Ford and T. S. Cook
Runtime – 2 Hours 8 minutes
Released - May 4, 2003
Starring –
Rachel York as Lucille Ball
Madeline Zima as Teen Lucy
Danny Pino as Desi Arnaz
Rebecca Hobbs as Vivian Vance
Ann Dowd as Dede
Russell Newman as William Frawley
La Chanze as Harriett
Merv Smith as Fred Hunt
Copyright by Ivan Walters 2014.
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