MovieChat Forums > Corryveckan45 > Replies
Corryveckan45's Replies
Good Point PJ!
I imagine there was some cost/tax saving measure in having the apartment building in Ethel's name, but, though Fred often bungled money matters, given how tight fisted he was with money,I find it hard to believe that Fred would give Ethel that much control over the building.
In fairness to Ricky, Lucy often acted like a child, and when she did, I don't blame Ricky for treating her like one.
I like a lot of the episodes where Lucy gets a wild idea and drags everyone into what (usually) turns out to be a disastrous result...especially for Lucy.
But there are some episodes where I'm put off by Lucy's selfishness. One is the "Bullfight Dance" episode. Lucy's efforts to get onto the nationally broadcast Heart Fund show that Ricky is hosting, show her at her most unlikable and selfish. First, she thinks nothing of blackmailing Ricky into putting her on the show by threatening to submit an unflattering portrait of him to a national magazine, and I think it's made clear in the episode that Lucy would really do it if Ricky didn't give in.
Then, even though Lucy's performance as the "Bull" in Ricky's bullfight number is funny in and of itself, at a time when Ricky and MGM are attempting to build an image of him as a dashing, romantic hero, Lucy makes him look like a fop and a bumbling clown. To top it off, at the end of the number, she pulls off the bull's head, and laughs about what she's done to Ricky as she skips offstage.
Lucy and Ethel saying, "I hope we're doing justice to his gowns," and wanting to thank him for letting them "scoop the fashion world" lol And then Jacques Marcel steals the dress designs and makes them part of his own collection. Jeez!
Almost without exception, Lucy's problems arise because she acts so impulsively without thinking.
I love the way Ricky and Fred get even with Lucy and Ethel for the fake "Hunger Strike," and I can't believe that Ricky and especially Fred, of all people, caved in and agreed to buy both girls those designer gowns! I think what they did to the girls was entirely appropriate.
I like Lucy's line: "Well, leave it to Jacques. What an inspired use of Burlap!"
Hard to say. The three you've chosen are definitely among her best. I think of her early "child star" films, Three Smart Girls Grow Up, though a sequel, has one of the best scripts of a Durbin film, and shows her talent as a singer and an actress at its' best.
I think many film historians like First Love (1939) a lot. I do too, except that I like to see Deanna taking charge rather than being put upon by other characters in the cast.
Christmas Holiday (1944) and Lady on a Train (1945), are uncharacteristic Durbin films, and good showcases for her dramatic (Christmas Holiday) and comedic (Lady on a Train) talents in the film noir genre.
I have a friend who used to make an odd sound running his tongue against his upper teeth when we were kids. It sounded sort of like a very soft grunt of a piglet. I have no idea how he did it, and he couldn't explain how he did it. Like you, he eventually outgrew it.
You're right. I think everyone has an odd habit or two.
To quote Gladys Kravitz after she's zapped by the Purenthians' "N Gun" on Bewitched: "None of us is perfect, you know."
I guess it was just supposed to be that Larry's latest potential cash cow client, "Mr. Giddings," was so conservative that HE wouldn't understand Samantha's turning hippie.
You're welcome.
Still, as you've pointed out, it does leave a big plot hole unresolved. Why didn't Louise just say to Larry something like:
"Larry, that could be Samantha's cousin, Serena. Remember the mixup we had when Sam and Darrin were in Chicago and I stopped by their house and thought Samantha was at home? It turned out to be her cousin, Serena, and they're almost identical. We should make sure it isn't Serena in the paper before you start jumping to conclusions."
Of course, we all know that if she had, there wouldn't have been an episode, but other than hat, it defies logic. lol
That's funny, PJ.
But I think Fred's jingling habit was probably the least annoying of the quartet's, so I'm not completely surprised that you didn't pick up on your Dad's habit.
Me neither. Just watching her do it in that episode sort of turns my stomach!
That would probably be my number 2 choice, too.
Even if I found Lucy's constant stirring her coffee annoying, she wasn't always drinking coffee or tea. Ricky could start drumming his fingers any time he got nervous or edgy.
The craziest thing about this episode, is that it DOES acknowledge that Louise and Serena have met before. After Larry invites himself and Louise to dinner at Samantha and Darrin's so they can see Serena for themselves, Serena files off in a huff after Darrin insults her, and refuses to stay for dinner. Samantha shows that she can pose as Serena for the evening. The only problem is that she can't be both Samantha and Serena at the same time.
When the Tates arrive, as Darrin is greeting them and taking their coats, "Serena" (Sam in disguise) enters the room and Darrin says, <i>"You remember Louise Tate, don't you, Serena?"</i> Samantha/Serena responds, "Oh sure!" Then, to Larry: "Hey Cotton Top that's a wild looking chick you've got there!"
i don't think Ricky is being mean when he wants to avoid contact between Lucy and celebrities. Her terrible record of embarrassing and outrageous behavior when she meets up with a celebrity speaks for itself. Moreover the problems almost always arise because Lucy is completely self-absorbed and feels her needs/wants always should take precedence over everyone else's. In the episode with Cornel Wilde, for example, she perfectly ready to get the hotel's nice bellhop ("Bobby") fired just because she wants to get a look at Mr. Wilde to complete her "100 Celebrity Sightings List." I can understand why Ricky doesn't want her to be at the lunch with Richard Widmark, as he later says to Widmark about Lucy: "She's a very nice girl, but something happens to her when she gets close to a movie star."
I like the John Wayne episode a lot, though I can't understand how Lucy, Ethel and Fred wouldn't realize that stealing Wayne's footprints from the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre wasn't a crime. In the episode when Lucy and Ethel hold a raffle for a TV set to finance their trip to Europe, when the District Attorney tells Lucy that she's committed Fraud and that it's a crime punishable by imprisonment, Lucy says she wouldn't have done it if she'd known it was a crime.
As for Robert Cummings, he was a successful film actor from the late 1930s through the 1960s, and in the 1950s starred in a very successful TV sitcom, Love That Bob. I can understand why many viewers today would have no idea who Cummings, Tallullah Bankhead and Erine Kovacks and his wife Edie Adams were, among others, but at the time the shows were produced they were all extremely successful, well known and admired celebrities.
I like the Fred MacMurray episode, too, especially when they're all racing across the desert to beat each other to file the Uranimum claim.
The ILL Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League women remind me of that classic movie THE WOMEN (1939).
It's a very funny movie, but the basic themes that Men are born to cheat on their wives and women are born to drive them to it through their constant catty clannishness with each other is pretty discouraging.
I agree that it's inappropriate to repeat unkind comments about other people, but I guess it made good comedy for ILL and other shows.
I think Lucy also criticized Carolyn's stinginess. As she was dealing out the cards didn't she say something like, "Carolyn when are you going to buy a new deck of cards? We've been playing with the same dirty old deck since I've known you!"
I did like Lucy's comment to Marion: "Stop cackling. I've been waiting 10 years for you to lay that egg!"
No kidding P.J.!
That episode when Lucy insists on getting further details about the friend who got a black eye from her husband, and that she's so delighted/excited about the incident has always bothered me a lot.
And remember in the "Club Elections" episode how "Lillian" Appleby was just about to spill some dirt about "Maron Strong" to Lucy and Ethel. Just as Lillian was about to speak, Marion walked in the door and they all embraced. To top it off, Lillian then nominates "her very dear friend" Marion for one of the Club offices!
The women on ILL were very untrustworthy.
Great Example, PJ!
AND in the opening scene that frames the episode from a year later after the birth of Little Ricky, Ethel kept insisting to Ricky that she believed Lucy and Ricky the whole time!
What a Crock!
Ethel also was pretty nasty when she wouldn't allow Lucy to join the Women's Club All Girl Orchestra. Granted Lucy's saxophone playing was terrible, but so was Ethel's piano playing and the musical talent of all the other club members.
I do love Lucy's description of the Band ("Well, if it isn't Ethel Mertz and her "Makes You Want to Stick Your Fingers in Your Ears Music!")
I think Ethel was a little jealous of the open affection and passion that Lucy and Ricky shared and got some enjoyment out of causing some problems in the Ricardo marriage. I guess you can't really blame her considering that she was married to Fred, and how terribly Fred treated her.
Novello made several appearances on ILL, but this was probably his funniest performance.
You're right that since he didn't play himself I don't know if he could be considered "a celebrity," but it's a great performance anyway and well worth remembering.
Lucy, Fred and Ethel also get memorable bits in this episode. Thanks for bringing it up.
Harpo's appearance was a classic. He was not only great in re-creating the "Mirror Scene" with Lucy, he was funny with Ricky and Fred in the scene that set up his visit with Lucy and Ethel.
Lol!