Happy One-Hundredth, Lucy!!!!! (Day Six of Her Birthday Bash)

Where I live, it's a little after midnight, which means that it is officially August 6th, 2011.

And 100 years to the day of Lucille Ball's birth - which makes our beloved redhead officially 100 years old!


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IT'S FINALLY HERE!

Lucy is 100! 

♥♥♥

Actually, I've been blogging for Lucy for five days now (today is day sixth!), all in celebration of her big 100.

Here's a quick review of what I've already blogged about Lucy for her birthday....

Day One:

I discussed Lucy tributes on TV, on the web, in press releases.... etc. Btw, since that post (which I wrote on Monday), the coverage on Lucy's 100th has doubled. Among many, you can check out LIFE.com for a gallery of "Lucy's many faces," "I Love Lucy," and my personal favorite, unpublished photos of Lucy taken by LIFE. Also, Access Hollywood honored Lucy on their Friday, August 5th show with loving words about her from Mary Tyler Moore and  Carol Burnett, who are just a few of the many television actresses, and actresses in general, who benefited from what Lucy has given us, as well as their five favorite "Lucy" moments. It's on their website, so check it out. That's not all - just Google "Lucille Ball," and you'll be hit with articles from top news services everywhere.

Day One of Lucy's Birthday Bash: Your Guide to Celebrating Lucy's 100th

Day Two:

I showed you my Lucille Ball book collection and reviewed every book.

Day Two of Lucy's Birthday Bash: My Lucille Ball Book Collection

Day Three:

I Blogged about Lucy's numerous appearances on the game shows "What's My Line?", "I've Got a Secret," and "Password."

Day Three of Lucy's Birthday Bash: Lucy, The Game Show Queen

Day Four

I shared with you "Finding Lucy," one of my very favorite documentaries about the Queen of Comedy.

Day Four of Lucy's Birthday Bash: "Finding Lucy"

Day Five

And yesterday, I shared some old articles about everyone's favorite redhead from my "Lucy Desi" scrapbook.

Day Five of Lucy's Birthday Bash: My Lucy Archive

So, I thought long and hard about how to make this post on her actual birthday a really awesome tribute to the funniest lady that ever lived. I'm going to be sharing a couple things with you (And I'm really sorry if this gets a little long.... you're welcome to stop and turn away at any time, because I'm not that interesting. Well, actually, this is about Lucy. Well, Lucy and me. But anyway, it's just - I really wanted to make it an awesome post so everything will come spilling out sort of).... about why I love Lucy, what "I Love Lucy" and Lucille Ball/Lucy Ricardo means to me, and, of course, a tribute video from Frankly My Dear TV. (You expected, that right?)

(from LIFE magazine)

♥♥♥

How Lucille Ball Became My Favorite Actress of all Time,

And how "I Love Lucy" Became my Favorite TV Show, and all of That Jazz

The first time I ever actually watched an episode of "I Love Lucy," (and not just in passing), was when I was nine years old. That was the same year I fell in love with classic movies - but that's another story, for another day.

The thing is, even though it wasn't until then that I'd actually watched an episode, I'd always heard of "I Love Lucy" - even before I loved classic film and all things Golden Age. It was a show that my mother loved and I think, really, even if you don't watch the show, is simply the show that comes to everyone's mind when you think of "classic television." There are other shows, other shows that are wonderful -- but "I Love Lucy," holds a place in our hearts, minds, memories, etc. that other shows are forced to compete with.

The episode was "Return Home from Europe." I did not know much more than Lucy and Ricky were married - I didn't even know who Fred and Ethel were! How embarrassing is that? But it was just after dinner, and I sat down to watch it. I didn't understand where they'd been (Europe) or where they were going (New York) but I decided to watch. needless to say, I'm very thankful for watching!

That's the episode where Lucy wants to bring a heavy, Italian cheese home to her mother, who, with Mrs. Trumbell, has been watching Little Ricky back in New York. However, Ricky's not about to pay for the pricey cheese's airfare, so Lucy disguises it as a baby, thinking it will fly for free in her arms. Needless to say, the results are priceless - especially when Lucy is seated next to a fellow "mother", played by the woman who would later become Betty Ramsey in the Connecticut episodes (Mary Jane Croft, I believe). 

From the opening credits of the satin heart, to the moment where Ricky finds melted cheese in an instrument in the band, I could not stop laughing. I just couldn't get over how plain funny it was. It wasn't like anything I'd ever seen before. Up until that point, I'd seen Disney Channel and was used to sarcastic humor that you could only chuckle at - but Lucy was different. The laughter I got from her was the type that makes you clutch your stomach, with tears running out of your eyes. I loved laughing like that.

That was really all it took. After that, every day after school I'd settle in for two episodes of "I Love Lucy", to make myself laugh like mad. (Those were the days when homework was just a "worksheet".) No episode failed me. I was religious. I was quickly drawn into the show and the characters in ways I'd never felt with another show (I still stand on that, by the way) - why can't Fred buy Ethel a new dress??? Why can't Ricky just let Lucy be in the show??? 

By November of that year, they began to air the pregnancy episodes. I was so excited and happy for Lucy and Ricky. I didn't even know anything about Lucy and Desi's real marriage, and the reason that they began to tear up in the end of "Lucy is Enciente." Even though I already knew that the baby would be a boy and his name would be Little Ricky, I was excited and almost on the edge of my seat in the "Lucy Goes to the Hospital" episode... I acted as if this was a new show, airing for the first time.

I loved seeing Lucy Ricardo, the mother. As a young kid I often paralleled TV characters with my own life, and for me to like them, or love them in this case, they needed to be likable characters... characters I could relate to. In the episodes with Lucy and Little Ricky, I was happy about the way Lucy cared for Little Ricky. Take the episode "Lucy and Superman," for example. Lucy is willing to climb out onto the ledge with all of New York City below her (and in a helmet and cape, mind you!) just to keep a promise to Little Ricky. With this episode, i could feel her love for Little Ricky in the ways my own mother loves me, and keeps her promises. 

Of course, as a nine year old, I was not analyzing this as I watched. It was somewhere in the back of my brain, someplace I couldn't understand yet - but it was there. And I knew I loved Lucy because I loved to laugh, but also because I loved to smile. It's impossible to watch an episode without smiling. All of these episodes were new to me when I first watched them, despite being so old, and I anxiously awaited to see what Lucy, Ricky, and the Mertzes would be up to next... I knew "I Love Lucy," was classic. But it hadn't really yet registered in my brain how important it was in history, and all of that... I just knew I liked it.

Then there was Lucille Ball, the actress who played Lucy Ricardo. I wasn't a great researcher, as most nine years old aren't, and I didn't know much about her... it took a while for that to come. But I loved her show, and so it was as simple as that: Lucille Ball was my new favorite actress.

Over the years came the books, the TV specials, the documentaries, and the Googling... but then it was very simple. I just loved Lucy.

It's still that way. It's always going to be that way. I just can't imaging not loving Lucy, and not needing to watch the show. Because sometimes I need to - sometimes I think we all need to. Whenever I'm feeling stressed or just need cheering up, a single episode of "I Love Lucy" does the trick.

♥♥♥

I guess I'm not a Lucy expert, but I'm pretty close! I've read books, watched documentaries and interviews... I know a lot. So I thought it would be appropriate to give you a brief biography of her, and some of my favorite trivia (like I did on Natalie Wood's birthday).

Biography

Lucille Desiree Ball was born on August 6th, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. Her parents were Desiree "DeDe" and Henry Durrell Ball. DeDe was a beautiful pianist and was working to that profession when she met Henry. She was seventeen when she married him (it was common of those days to be married so young), and became pregnant with their first child - Lucille. Not long after she was born, Lucille and DeDe traveled to Detroit, where her father was holding down a job. There the family was united, but soon after they traveled to Michigan for a softer change of scenery. It was here where Henry worked as a telephone linesman. He worked through a rough winter storm and caught the grippe - not much longer after, he died. DeDe was about nineteen, pregnant with their second and, obviously, last child. Lucille was not yet four. They went back to New York to live with DeDe's parents, Fred and Florabelle, who raised Lucille when DeDe was gone, holding down jobs wherever she could get them. Fred, Lucille's brother, was born soon after. Lucy's childhood was tough, often parceled off from relative to relative. They were also quite poor. But she maintained a strength that she would carry with her for the rest of her life, and developed a love of acting, putting on "plays" in her front yard with friends. When she was fifteen, DeDe sent her rebellious daughter to acting school in New York. However, everyone there was too enchanted by the star pupil, Bette Davis, and did not think Lucille had any talent - she was sent home. Lucille was not discouraged, and it was not long after when she was on her way to Hollywood as one of Samuel Goldwyn's "Goldwyn Girls." She made a home there, and after she had enough money, sent for her family. She did her best to climb up the Hollywood chain. Eventually she was getting lead roles in B movies; the public dubbed "RKO's Queen of the B's." It was in 1940 when she met a Cuban drummer named Desi Arnaz on the set of one of these B movies, "Too Many Girls." They fell in love and six months later they were married. Their union proved to be a tumultuous one. They were often separated, which resulted in nasty fights. They wanted children; but Lucille suffered many miscarriages. Desi called her "Lucy," and the name stuck. Lucy continued to be the Queen of B movies, her career stuck. It was not until the late 1940's, when her radio show "My Favorite Husband" was turned into a TV show - it was called "I Love Lucy." (We don't really need to get into that, do we?) It was an amazing success. In 1960, the Arnazes ended the show and divorced. Lucy got custody of the two kids they eventually were able to have - Lucie and Desi, Jr. She did two more television shows, "The Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy" - successful and popular in their own right, but not with the same impact of "I Love Lucy." She also made a few movies. She continued to be insanely popular with the public. She died on April 26th, 1989, at the age of 77 from a ruptured aorta. 

Once again, that's just a brief little biography... there are lots of books about Lucy's life, most notably her autobiography, "Love, Lucy." So you should be sure and check that out to learn more.

Some Trivia

• Carole Lombard was her favorite actress - Carole and husband Clark Gable would often come over to Lucy and Desi's ranch in the years before Carole's death, and vice versa.
• She made over 100 movies, most of them B movies before "I Love Lucy" turned her into a sensation. Her own personal favorite was "The Big Street," where she played a beautiful yet cold hearted chanteuse... her co-star was Henry Fonda.
• TV Guide says her face has been seen by more people than any human being who ever lived. (How awesome is that????!!!)
• "I Love Lucy" went on air in 1951, and thanks to reruns, has never been off since. It plays on television someplace in the world, every day, and every day, someone's watching it. It is dubbed in twenty-two different languages.
• There is a Lucille Ball Diabetes Research Library, named after her when she was honored by the Variety Club ("All Star Party for Lucille Ball.")
• Her favorite song was "Make Someone Happy."
• She loved the show "Three's Company," and even made a guest appearance.
• Whoismorefamous.com (a little lame sounding - but they have a substantial list of "the most famous people of all time") lists Lucille Ball as the 103rd most famous person of all time.
• After Desi Arnaz gave up his position as president of Desilu Studios, Lucy ran the company - she was the first woman to do so.
• Her favorite episode of "I Love Lucy" is the one in which she dresses up as Queen of the Gypsies.. "The Operetta."
• When Americans were polled a few years ago, they named Lucille Ball the most missed deceased celebrity.

♥♥♥

Okay, so this is the first of my two special tributes for Lucy.... since she is turned one hundred, I thought I'd share with you my top 100 favorite TV episodes and movies starring Lucy. I promise not to go into detail. I'll just list them. Because if I did go into detail, you'd be here forever... and I've already blabbed for too long! (But it's Lucy blabbing... so... I think that makes it better. I hope!)

Oh, and by the way - after the first few, it's kind of in no particular order. I mean... these are my one hundred favorite, just I didn't want to get into the technicalities after about the first ten. 

MY TOP 100 LUCILLE BALL APPEARANCES 

(in films and movies)

----

1. "Lucy is Enciente" - I Love Lucy
2. "The Handcuffs" - I Love Lucy
3. "First Stop" - I Love Lucy
4. "The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub" - I Love Lucy
5. "Lucy Goes to the Hospital" - I Love Lucy
6. "Lucy Does a TV Commercial" - I Love Lucy
7. "Return Home from Europe" - I Love Lucy
8. "Stage Door" - movie
9. "Yours, Mine and Ours" - movie
10. "Lucy Fakes Illness" - I Love Lucy
11. "Lucy Thinks Ricky is Trying to Murder Her" - I Love Lucy
12. "The Quiz Show" -  I Love Lucy
13. "Lucy is Jealous of Girl Singer" - I Love Lucy
14. "Breaking the Lease" -  I Love Lucy
15. "The Ballet" - I Love Lucy
16. "Young Fans" - I Love Lucy
17. "Fred and Ethel Fight" -  I Love Lucy
18. "The Gossip" - I Love Lucy
19. "Pioneer Woman" - I Love Lucy
20. "The Marriage License" - I Love Lucy
21. "The Publicity Agent" - I Love Lucy
22. "Lucy's Schedule" - I Love Lucy
23. "Job Switching" - I Love Lucy
24. "The Anniversary Present" - I Love Lucy
25. "The Courtroom" - I Love Lucy
26. "Pregnant Woman are Unpredictable" - I Love Lucy
27. "Lucy Hires an English Tutor" - I Love Lucy
28. "Sales Resistance" - I Love Lucy
29. "Inferiority Complex" - I Love Lucy
30. "The Black Eye" - I Love Lucy
31. "No Children Allowed" - I Love Lucy
32. "Ricky and Fred are TV Fans" - I Love Lucy
33. "Never Do Business with Friends" - I Love Lucy
34. "Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress" - I Love Lucy
35. "Sentimental Anniversary" - I Love Lucy
36. "Fan Magazine Interview" - I Love Lucy
37. "Ricky Loses his Temper" - I Love Lucy
38. "Home Movies" - I Love Lucy
39. "Lucy Writes a Novel" - I Love Lucy
40. "The Black Wig" - I Love Lucy
41. "Tennessee Ernie Visits" - I Love Lucy
42. "Tennessee Ernie Hangs On" - I Love Lucy
43. "The Golf Game" -  I Love Lucy
44. "The Sublease" - I Love Lucy
45. "Lucy's Mother-in-Law" - I Love Lucy
46. "Ethel's Birthday" - I Love Lucy
47. "Getting Ready" - I Love Lucy
48. "Lucy Learns to Drive" - I Love Lucy
49. "California, Here we Come!" - I Love Lucy
50. "Ethel's Hometown" - I Love Lucy
51. "L.A At Last" - I Love Lucy
52. "Lucy Gets in Pictures" - I Love Lucy
53. "The Fashion Show" -  I Love Lucy
54. "The Hedda Hopper Story" -  I Love Lucy
55. "Hollywood Anniversary" - I Love Lucy
56. "The Star Upstairs" - I Love Lucy
57. "Lucy in Palm Springs" - I Love Lucy
58. "Dancing Star" - I Love Lucy
59. "Harpo Marx" -  I Love Lucy
60. "Ricky Needs an Agent" - I Love Lucy
61. "Lucy Visits Grauman's" - I Love Lucy
62. "Lucy and John Wayne" -  I Love Lucy
63. "Ricky Sells the Car" -  I Love Lucy
64. "The Great Train Robbery" -  I Love Lucy
65. "Nursery School" - I Love Lucy
66. "The Passports" - I Love Lucy
67. "Staten Island Ferry" - I Love Lucy
68. "Bon Voyage" - I Love Lucy
69. "Second Honeymoon" - I Love Lucy
70. "Lucy Meets the Queen" - I Love Lucy
71. "Paris at Last" - I Love Lucy
72. "Lucy Gets a Paris Grown" - I Love Lucy
73. "Lucy in the Swiss Alps" - I Love Lucy
74. "Lucy Gets Homesick in Italy" -  I Love Lucy
75. "Lucy Goes to Monte Carlo" - I Love Lucy
76. "Little Ricky Learns to Play the Drum" - I Love Lucy
77. "Visitor From Italy" - I Love Lucy
78. "Off to Florida" -  I Love Lucy
79. "Lucy and Superman" - I Love Lucy
80. "Lucy Hates to Leave" - I Love Lucy
81. "Lucy Misses the Mertzes" -  I Love Lucy
82. "Lucy Does the Tango" - I Love Lucy
83. "The Celebrity Next Door" - The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour
84. "Lucy's Summer Vacation" - The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour
85. "Too Many Girls" - movie
86. "The Facts of Life" - movie
87. "Lucy and Viv Put in a Shower" - The Lucy Show
88. "Lucy Gets Trapped" - The Lucy Show
89. "Lucy and Joan" - The Lucy Show
90. "Lucy Gets the Burtons' Ring Stuck on her Finger" - Here's Lucy
91. "The Long, Long Trailer" - movie
92. "Forever Darling" - movie
93. "Lucy's Italian Movie" - I Love Lucy
94. "The Big Street" - movie
95. "Best Foot Forward" - movie
96. "Easy to Wed" - movie
97. "Dance, Girl, Dance" - movie
98. "Sorrowful Jones" - movie
99. "Lured" - movie
100. "Mame" - movie

If you're wondering why there is a lack of "The Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy" episodes, it's because i haven't seen that actual many. I can't find it on TV and not all the seasons our on DVD yet, so whatever I watch is usually whatever I can find on YouTube. Also, some of these movies, like "The Big Street" and "Mame" aren't actually good movies... but I enjoyed Lucy's performances in them.

(from LIFE magazine)

♥♥♥

Finally, I of course made a special tribute for her on Youtube... I'm still getting used to this tribute thing. I have this really old, unfortunate version of Windows Movie Maker that for some reason sticks at the beginning of clips, which really annoys me - but there's nothing I can do about it. * sigh *...and the ending is choppy, too. I really wanted this to be good and perfect, because it's Lucy's birthday, and it's her 100th!!! So I worked on it for several days... and yep. I used clips from several "I Love Lucy" episodes, and the movies "The Big Street," "Dance, Girl, Dance," "Too Many Girls," "Du Barry was a Lady" and "Beauty for the Asking".... as well as a few clips from "Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie."

I decided to use the song "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder. Okay, so, I know the song is about a baby girl being born - you can tell from the lyrics... Just one minute old! - BUT I just liked the feel of it.... and maybe since it's a birthday tribute, it's somewhat appropriate.  I know at times the lyrics don't work, but I really wanted to use this. I decided to use Lucy's "pretty" moments from her movies and television shows, and "Isn't She Lovely" just went very well. Besides. She was lovely..

So.... yep. I really hope you enjoy it and I hope it captures... I don't know the word. "Birthday spirit"? Lol.

♥♥♥

Soo, there it is. I hope I was able to give Lucy a little bit of the 100th birthday tribute she deserves!!!!

Lucille Ball was - and is - truly amazing. She's inspirational, too. She had a spirit in her that never gave up. And she inspires me to do the same... She was just a girl growing up in a small town in New York, struggling a little, and she was able to make herself famous around the whole world! Chances are, I'm not likely to become an actress like she. But I love to write. And Lucy proves to me that with handwork and determination, anything is possible - and if I want to write, I'll write.

Thanks a billion, Lucy. And happy birthday. <3

One of my favorite photos of Lucy

I can hardly wait to see other blogger's tributes, and I hope you've enjoyed mine. I'll be watching Lucy all day long, and I've got a feeling I won't be the only one.

Happy, happy, happy birthday Lucy. 

♥♥♥

Day Five of Lucy's Birthday Bash: My Lucy Archive

JUST ONE MORE DAY.

Less than 24 hours.

So, today I'm just going to share with you some interesting articles about the redhead  that I have from my two "scrapbooks" about her (I wrote about them in my Day Two post)... these are not rare in any way, but I thought they'd just be sort of interesting to share with you for those of you who don't own the books... you know.

Of course, I haven't written ANY of this, don't own it, take no credit, etc. etc. Now with that out of the way, let's get started.

***

From my "Lucy-Desi" Scrapbook:

August 1911, in a section of birth notices. (Which newspaper, I am not sure of).

BALL - At Jamestown, N.Y, Aug. 6 1911, to Henry D. and Desiree Hunt Ball, 123 Stuart Avenue, a daughter.

Dancing School - Lucy and Desi become dance instructors (1940's)

(I made this so fantastically huge so you can try to read it... you may still have to squint. I'm sorry! But typing it all up would have taken quite a while...)

Movie Contracts Say 'No,' But Lucy and Desi Wed (December 1940)

When love has been laughing at locksmiths for centuries, what chance has an old Hollywood marriage clause got?

About equal to that of the snowball in perdition, i twas amply proved yesterday at the Byram River Beagle Club in Greenwich, Conn. by Lucille Ball, the film actress, and Desi Arnaz, Cuban dancer. 

They were married there by Justice Joseph J. O'Brien.

Just eight days ago, Miss Ball, who is 26 and a Butte, Montana native (ha! Both lies!) sighed at the Stork Club:

"Love? Of course it's love. Desi and I very much want to get married, but we have three year contracts with the same studio and both contracts have no marriage clauses, so..."

So they just went ahead and got married.

The bridgeroom, in fact, ducked his 12 o'clock show in the Roxy for the dash to Greenwich and they bought a ring in a 5-and-10 cent store.

Lucille Ball Sues Sgt. Desi Arnaz for Divorce (Summer of 1944)

An explosive romance formula - a redheaded woman and a fiery Latin - blew up yesterday when Lucille Ball filed suit for divorce against Staff-Sgt. Desi Arnaz.

 The "blast" rocked Hollywood as the titian tressed actress and her actor soldier husband were considered one of the film colony's most devoted couples.

"I can't believe it," said a friend of the couple. "I had a dinner date with them for tonight."

CRUELTY CHARGED

Filed in Superior Court by Atty. David Tannenbaum, the action charges extreme cruelty, but is barren of details. No community property was involved and they have no children.

Sgt. Arnaz, a Cuban, is serving in the special service office at the Army's Birmingham General Hospital near Van Nuys, but was not off duty yesterday and was unavailable for comment.

Miss Ball's attorney said that, 'We expect Sgt. Arnaz to waive his right to postpone trial of the suit until after he leaves the service.'

Married Nov. 30th, 1940 in Greenwich, Ct., they separated only last Wednesday, according to the complaint. It was the first marriage for each. 

 Notice for Lucy and Desi's rexchange of vows, 1949

 Lucille Ball will adopt Desi Arnaz' religion and they'll be married again in a church service. RKO, incidentally, ordered her to leave her bridegroom and fly back to Hollywood for work, and Desi, who is under contract to the same studio, is sizzling.

 Variety, 1950

Lucille Ball's bow out of "The Greatest Show on Earth" because of impending motherhood, "caused a number of repercussions in the DeMille production offices," Paramount flackery exhuded yesterday. "Thousands of dollars in costumes for Miss Ball may have to be discarded if her successor is a different size," the blubbery panted. "The script itself will be affected on certain portions which were written to suit Miss Ball's personality and acting technique." From Miss Ball's corner came this: "I was very excited over the opportunity of working for C.B, but there will be other times; at least, I hope so, and the baby is more important."

Hubby and Wife Together, At Last, Thanks to Video (plus other bits and pieces!) (1951)

Lucille Ball Tells Diet, Perfume, Voice, Hair Dyeing, and Complexion Secrets

(I know, I'm sorry - you probably can't read that...)

There are plenty more to share, but it would take forever to type up or scan them all! 

So, that's it.

ONE MORE DAY. LESS THAN 24 HOURS... until Lucytennial.

Just can't wait!!!!!!

PS: I bought a lot of books and DVDs to add to my Old Hollywood collection recently. I'm still waiting for some of them to come through the mail, but when Lucytenniel's over, I'll do a blog on it.

Day Four of Lucy's Birthday Bash: "Finding Lucy"

It's Day 4!

Lucytennial is so close I can just TASTE it!!!

This is my fourth day of blogging for Lucy, the birthday girl. On Day One, we discussed tributes and press releases in this news for Lucy's big 1-0-0- (read it here). After that, I shared with you reviews of my extensive Lucille Ball Book Collection (see here), and finally, yesterday the topic was Lucy's appearances on game shows (here).

Today's post will be a little shorter. I often watch biographies, and I've seen several of Lucy's. A few days ago I stumbled upon one I hadn't seen - "Finding Lucy," by American Masters. It is an incredible tribute to everyone's favorite redhead.

^^ This is part one

I think it did an excellent, excellent job of showing Lucy's life, and all her hardships, successes, marriage and divorce with Desi, and just the amazing person she was... It was beautifully filmed, with special little touches here and there that make it all the more wonderful to watch. It also has a great many special guest stars to take about Lucy, like:

• Fran Drescher of "The Nanny"
• Dean Martin
• Madelyn Pugh Davis and Bob Carroll, Jr. ("I Love Lucy" writers)
• Maury Thompson (family friend and involved with the production of "I Love Lucy")
• Van Johnson
• Edie Adams
• Carol Burnett

It just really felt like a loving, warm tribute to Lucy. My very favorite part of all was a montage of Lucy's clips in the end, set to "My Funny Valentine," followed by excerpts of Lucy's eulogy, written and read by Diane Sawyer (entitled "Is There Laughter in Heaven?").  It was sooo moving.

^^ Last part, with "My Funny Valentine" bit at the end

Everyone who speaks has a lot of respect for her; the producers do not criticize her but praise her... they remind you of how wonderful she really was, and what an impact "I Love Lucy" made on the American public and just history in general. and I really got shivers down my spine watching the last part! So far, it is one of the best Lucy documentaries I have ever seen.

Here are some screencaps:

"TV Guide says the face of Lucille Ball has been seen by more people than the face of any human being who has ever lived... She reigned as the First Lady of Television for 35 years."

- 'Finding Lucy'

^^ From the "My Funny Valentine" montage.

***

It's really a loving, wonderful documentary... and so if you want to watch some Lucy related in honor of her birthday, this is a good thing to add to your lineup.

Well, that's all for today. Just two more days!

Ciao!

PS: As a good American citizen, i guess I find it my duty to wish our President a happy birthday... he turns 50 today. Happy Birthday!

Day Three of Lucy's Birthday Bash: Lucy, The Game Show Queen

Hi everyone!! It's Day 3 already!


Okay, so I think everyone has an opinion on game shows. Some people hate them, some people love them, some people are in between and others just don't care. Well, about a year ago I stumbled across vintage "What's My Line?" clips with Old Hollywood celebrities as mystery guests, and, of course, I just fell in love!

I was even more ecstatic to find that Lucy was a frequent contestant on these game shows - "What's My Line?", "I've Got a Secret" and "Password." Her appearances on these shows are just awesome and funny and wonderful, so I thought I'd share them with you for Day 3.

Enjoy!

***

"What's My Line?"

^^ I love this one, it's one of my favorites. I believe this was her first appearance, and sometime during the run of "I Love Lucy."

^^ I'm guessing that this is her second, or maybe it's her first and the latter one is second. (??) Haha! But I love this one, too. During "I Love Lucy"s run for sure. I love her 'Swedish' accent!

^^ If she seems a little different here, that's because she was doing "Wildcat" on Broadway at the time and was becoming very ill from overwork.

^^ I think this is to publicize for "Critic's Choice."

^^ 1965

^^ Aren't the audience receptions for her just ahmazzing?

"Password"

^^ Lucy, her kids, and Gary Morton. I loveeee this episode. This is just the first part; double click to go to the  Youtube page to get the following parts.

^^ Another one I love, this is in 1964 with Vivian Vance, her husband, and Peter Lawford.

^^ An appearance in the 1980's with her son and Betty White... there are lots of other parts, so double click the video for the rest!

^^ In 1980, with Dick Martin... once again, click the video for more!

"I've Got a Secret"

^^ Lucy in the panel!!! This is part one. You know what do. ;)

^^ And with Johnny Carson on the panel and Lucy with "the secret." 

***

Okay, that's all for Day 3.

Just a few more days!! We'll back tomorrow, and with more loving Lucy!!

Ciao!

Day Two of Lucy's Birthday Bash: My Lucille Ball Book Collection

Hello everyone, and welcome to day two of blogging for the birthday girl: Lucille Ball!

Of course, our favorite redhead won't turn 100 until Saturday, but that's not going to stop me. We're already celebrating here at Frankly, My Dear. Yesterday, we discussed Lucy's 100th in the news and special televised tributes (click Here to view the post.)

Today, I thought I'd go over my extensive Lucille Ball book collection by showing you what I've got and reviewing them for you... Below is a short clip of my entire collection, with the exception of the "Lucille Ball Trivia Book" by Michael Karol, which i own but could not find for some reason. (If the music sounds familiar, it's me with that "Love Story" theme again - the same one I used for the intro of my "No Sad Songs For Me" video. :P)

Yeah, I know that's not exactly the work of Hitchcock there. But anyway, I hope you got the gist of it.

So, now, I'll review each of the books. I'm not going to make these reviews very detailed because my collection is somewhat large (though it can always get huger, and I have a feeling it will), and I know you don't have all day to read posts by little old me. :)

***

"Love, Lucy" by Lucille Ball

So, if you're a classic movie fan (which you probably are if you're reading this), you ought to have known by now, either through the grapevine or other bloggers or book reviews, how wonderful Lucy's autobiography truly is! This book was published posthumously by Lucy's children when they found the manuscript among her papers in the late 90's. It was originally written at some point in the 1960's (circa "Yours, Mine and Ours" if I am to set a timeline for you), with the help of a ghost writer. Lucy never published it though, likely because she didn't want to hurt people that were still alive that she spoke of - mostly, Desi, who'd she just divorced. However, Lucy needn't have worried. She speaks with such class and talks of everyone fondly. Even when it comes time to write about the divorce with Desi, she doesn't dish the dirt... And I think that was very classy of her. It's the best celebrity autobiography I have ever read, and I don't care if it sounds biased. 5/5.

"Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz" by Coyne S. Sanders and Tim Gilbert

I'm not finished with this yet. So far it looks okay, but I'm seeing a lot of focus on "Desilu Studios" instead of Lucy and Desi. But I'm not even halfway through, so we'll see how it goes. And because of that, I can't give it a rating yet.

"Laughing with Lucy" by Madelyn Pugh Davis and Bob Carroll Jr.

Any good Lucy fan knows that Madelyn and Bob were the two consecutive writers of "I Love Lucy," as well as several episodes of Lucy's other shows and her 1968 box office hit "Yours, Mine and Ours." And though Bob gets credit for writing this, this is all Madelyn's book - written in first person - with little input from Bob. I have always had great interest in the brilliant writers, and this is a nice, short read featuring bits and pieces o Madelyn's and Bob's lives, and their relationship with Lucy - and Desi too. Madelyn clarifies all the stereotypes about the backstage atmosphere of the show... Lucy was the perfectionist, Desi was the charmer, etc. etc. Though most of the information isn't new, we do get to learn a few, rare and charming backstage stories - like the time Tallulah Bankhead visited the set as a guest star. According to Madelyn, Tallulah was always late, messing up her lines, and tipsy. It drove Lucy, who had a high standard, nuts. The cast decided to hold a private meeting about what to do about her. Just before they began, Tallulah wandered in and bellowed something about them forgetting to invite her. To try and break the awkwardness, Lucy complimented Tallulah on a sweater she was wearing - to which Tallulah replied, "You like, it dahhlling? You can have it," and pulled it off on the spot. Vivian cracked, "Good thing you didn't compliment her on her slacks," but then Tallulah said, "You want those too?" And the pants came down. 3.5/5

"Lucy A to Z: The Lucille Ball Encyclopedia" by Michael Karol

Any Lucy fan will really enjoy this. Michael Karol is the writer of several Lucy books and founder of www.sitcomboy.com. Though he misses a few entries that he could have added, for the most part, Karol gets it all. The newest edition also comes with photographs. Over all, very nicely comprised. The presentation could have been better - Karol self publishes, which ought to explain it - so with that in mind I give it 4/5.

"The Lucy Book of Lists: Celebrating Lucy's Centennial and the 60th Anniversary of I Love Lucy" by Michael Karol 

Once again, not too crazy about the presentation. ALSO, since this is supposed to be a celebration of Lucytenniel and ILL's 60th anniversary, we could have gone for something thicker... however, the written work is of great quality. Kaye Ballard also makes a "guest appearance," and my favorite segment is "Ethel Mertz A-Twitter."... (Yes, Ethel Mertz Twittering). So, still great fun. 4/5

"Lucy at the Movies" by Cindy de la Hoz

This was the first Lucy book I ever got. I found it in the bookstore on a routine shopping trip a few years ago... I was extremely excited but was disappointed to learn it was thirty-five dollars. I didn't get it, but read it everytime I visited and hid it behind other books to make sure no one would buy it. I was very excited when my friend bought it for me as a Christmas present that year, and thus my collection of Lucy books was started. This is a wonderful book, big with lots of glossy pictures and movie posters... Lucy made over 100 films and this documents each and everyone of them. It includes a mini-bio of Lucy, as well as summaries of her movies, cast and production information, and critic reviews. It also has a gorgeous photo of Lucy on the cover. An excellent job. 4.5/5

"The Lucille Ball Book of Treasures" by Cindy de la Hoz

I got this as a Bargain Book from Barnes & Noble about a year. I was sooo excited to find it and very pleased with the information. It is a biography of Lucy with a lot of pictures and pull out "treasures" - just so awesome. Just great, great memorabilia. Every Lucy fan needs to own it. 4.5/5

"Lucy & Desi: The Real Life Scrapbook of America's Favorite Television Couple" by Elisabeth Edwards

This is another excellent, excellent Lucy book. Taken straight out from the estates of Lucy and Desi, this features bits from both of their real life scrapbooks (they were avid keepers of them), as well as more "pull-outs," like the "telegram" sent to Lucy and Desi by Desi's father in Florida the day they eloped, the marriage certificate of the two (with both of them lying about their ages!), and a Valentine's Day card to Lucy written by Desi ("To my favorite wife...")... just to name a few. It is just the greatest, best thing any Lucy fan could every stumble across! 5/5

"The I Love Lucy Scrapbook" by Elisabeth Edwards

A follow up to the latter book, this is just as wonderful! This features more excerpts of their scrapbooks, except all of the written bits are about "I Love Lucy." Also, you get a chance to take a peek into "The Mockingbird Murder Mystery" (the notorious novel Lucy was reading when she thinks Ricky is going to murder her - second episode, season one), pull out Little Ricky's "birth certificate", and much, much more! It is also a little bit of an episode guide to the series. Just lovely! 5/5

"I Love Lucy: Celebrating 50 Years of Love and Laughter" by Elisabeth Edwards

If there ever was a collective episode guide to every since "Lucy" episode, this is it! Includes plot summary and lots of photos. 4/5

"Lucille Ball" by Nick Yapp

Found by me the same day I found "Lucille Ball Treasures." With a couple lengthy captions, this is a great picture book of Lucy - in black and white, sepia, color... a lot of wonderful photos. I believe I noticed some typos and misprints, but otherwise it was very well put together. Buy it for the photos alone, if not anything else... 4/5

"Lucy: A Life in Pictures" by Tim Frew

I got this for a very good price - a new copy for $6. Another picture book of Lucy... I would say the latter book has more pictures, of rarer quality, but this is a good book, too. 3.5/5

***

So, there it is. That's my collection, and that's day two of partying for Lucy! The big day gets closer... and closer...!

Before signing off, I'd like to wish a quick happy birthday to Myrna Loy, who would have turned 106 if she were still alive today. I really enjoy Myrna's movies, and I think she doesn't get enough credit. In fact, one of the first classic movies I ever saw starred Myrna (and William Powell) - a slapstick comedy called "Love Crazy." It made me laugh my head off and contributed to my following obsession with old movies.

Happy birthday, Myrna!

Well, that's all for today. We'll back tomorrow with more Lucy related fun... have a great day!

Ciao!

PS: I believe you can buy all of the mentioned books at Amazon.com 

Reviews By a 10 Year Old Kid (AKA: Rianna embarrasses herself)

Taking a note from a few other bloggers, I have decided to embarrass myself greatly and share with you five little reviews I wrote as a nine or ten year old kid. Please remember that I was nine. I hope you get a good laugh out of it, my lovely little blog readers. I was in a bit of a writer's block today - but tomorrow I can probably produce something more worthy of your time. For now... have a good giggle.

***

Well will start off with Rianna's incredibly embarrassing ten year old child review for "Forever Darling" (1956), with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

"FOREVER DARLING (1956)"

Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz

Ten year old Rianna says -

Even though this movie litrally would've been titled, "Four More Years, Darling", since the love duo of Ball and Arnaz lasted until 1960 only, "Forever, Darling" is sweet and charming. It's a lot like the amazing TV series and "The Long, Long Trailer", but I liked this better than the Long, Long Trailer. Ball and Arnaz play similar characters to their TV show, but slightly different. Arnaz is a scientist this time and Ball is not always botching things up. Susan Vega (Ball) and Larry Vega (Arnaz) were the perfect couple when they were married. But five years later, they are drifting a part. Susan is turning into a clone of her cousin Millie Opdike, and no matter how hard she tries, she can't stop swooning over James Mason at the movies! Larry is almost never at home for dinner nad is constantly eating, breathing, and thinking all about his new pesticide. (Except for that one time when he has a dream about Ava Gardner.....). Then Larry announces that he and Susan will be taking a 2 year field trip to test the pesticide! Susan is furious. After having a fight with Larry, her guardian angel, James Mason, shows up. She has mixed emotions about Mason-first she's scared of him, then angry at him, and then in love with him! But Mason, in his charming voice and attitude, is able to coax Susan into learning more about Larry's work. Susan suddenly, with a burst of inspiration, agrees. She finds the perfect oppertunity to do so when Larry announces he's going on a camping trip for a day to test the pesticide before the 2 year field trip. Nothing can go wrong, can it? But, of course, in it's usual Lucy way, it does! This movie, of course, is perdictible. But Ball and Arnaz's acting, of course, is superb. So what, it's not an Oscar-y movie, but it's still great for Lucy fans. Four stars for pure Desiluness! ~~~~~~~~

What Makes Teenage Rianna Cringe the Most - 

• My usage of the phrase "love duo". UGH! What the bloody L is that supposed to mean? (Yes, I'm  American - but I have habit of using British phrases. Long story... you'll get used to it) This makes me cringe so much I was contemplating not even mentioning it ;)
• The fact that I give away nearly the entire plot, making this review about a thousand pages long. 
• My insane obsession with "~". I guess i thought it looked cool. (?)
• Last but not least, my equally obnoxious use of "Desiluness." Only a true Lucy fan could use a word like THAT. Plus, as much as I love Lucy and Desi, too, it isn't really a four star movie. And "The Long Long Trailer" is much better. But I guess, in my little ten year old brain...

Next to suffer my ten year old wrath is "The Lady Eve" (1941). * shivers *

"THE LADY EVE (1941)"

Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda

Ten year old Rianna says - 

'The Lady Eve' is a fun movie, good for kids ages ten and up. (They will understand the idea more.) The beginning is a little rocky, but soon you will be propelled into the plot as Stanwyck, playing a young daughter of a con-artist tries to ploy into Fonda, a 'geeky' but handsome young man who has just come back from an Amazon tour and "isn't used to seeing women still.” As expected, he is loaded with cash. Stanwyck and her father try to con money out of him by playing casino games, and Stanwyck begins a planned romantic relationship with Fonda. Fonda, easily fooled, plays along and soon Stanwyck finds herself actually in love with the young man! The rest, I will leave to everyone else to find out, but you’ll find a lot of inner-joy and pleasure to watch this movie, and will be very ‘pleased as pink’, as they say, at the nice turnout. I’d give it a 4 and a half stars if I could, but I can’t, so it’s displayed as 4 stars above, but really, I’d give it 4 and a half. Rent this movie as soon as you can! (And try to ignore Stanwyck’s fur coat, please).

What Makes Teenage Rianna Cringe the Most -

• My trying to determine the perfect age group for watchers of "The Lady Eve." Because a 10 year old kid would totally know that, right?
• My use of "inner-joy" and "pleased as pink." 'Nuff said.
• My great indecision and babbling about the film's rating.... that would just make any person annoyed, wouldn't it?
• The "trying to ignore Stanwyck's fur coat, please." I am still totally against fur - I have a chinchilla, after all! - but still... it's just... I don't know. annoying sounding. To me, anyway ;)

Okay, I'll give you just one more. This is for "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer" (1947).

"THE BACHELOR AND THE BOBBY SOXER (1947)"

Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Shirley Temple

Ten year old Rianna says - 

I wasn't surprised that I enjoyed Cary Grant (a la Archibald Leach.....funny) and Myrna Loy's preformances in this movie, but I was surprised that I enjoyed Shirley Temple. I was very much afraid this would be another showcase of her dripping sweet cuteness and silly songs, but thank goodness, I guess growing up helped. Surprisingly, she really DID deserve to be in this movie with these two Hollywood stars and made the best out of it. Temple plays a love-struck teenager who is in love with a man, Grant, that comes to speak at her school. Loy, who plays Temple's older sister, however, finds the man horribly annoying. It's a really cute movie if you're trying to introduce a teenager to classic movies and show that classic movies CAN be cool (and in many situations, cooler than today's movies). It's sweet and what I would call a classic chic flick (You don't need Kate Hudson or designer Prada labels in a movie for it to be a chic flick, or made in the last few years). I enjoyed it; it was really cute, for sure. It will bring you back to the era.....of bobby-soxers! ~ rent this movie!!!!!

What Makes Teenage Rianna Cringe the Most -

• My use of "dripping sweet cuteness and silly songs" - it just doesn't make sense. I mean, as much as I am not a big Shirley fan, she was a teenager by now, so really, what was I expecting?
• The whole business about me blabbering away about using this movie to introduce classics to teenagers - in spite of the fact I wasn't yet a teenager myself. I mean, yeah, it's a good movie. But still, I'm just blabbering too much.
• My spelling of chick flick as "chic flick." Good God! 
• "back to the era.........of bobby soxers!" follow by yet another "~" and more !!!!!!

***

Well, I don't know about you, but I've finished embarrassing myself at the present moment. Oh, who knows? I may embarrass myself like this some more another day. But for today, I'm finished.

Before I leave you, yesterday I went to the bookstore and got two books - "Diana at 50" by Life magazine (it's got tons of great pictures... more on that later) and "Desilu", which i am not sure why I didn't get it earlier! It's got some great pictures of Lucy and Desi inside, and the following is one of my favorite. I scanned it for you. It's so awesome/and lovely. I love the pictures of them as children on the wall with the plaques underneath that read "Our President" and "Our Vice President." (They mean President and Vice-President of Desilu, of course).