The Lucy Thread: AKA Lucille Ball on Film

Crimson

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so what better to explore than the filmography of Lucille Ball?

Depending on what you have access to and excluding a few I know you've seen:

FIVE CAME BACK
DANCE, GIRL, DANCE
THE BIG STREET
DU BARRY WAS A LADY
WITHOUT LOVE
LURED
MISS GRANT TAKES RICHMOND
FANCY PANTS
THE FULLER BRUSH GIRL

I consider the last three to be essential for any Lucy fan; those films combined with her radio show are where the "Lucy" persona takes shape.

Post-1960, her career isn't very impressive. Outside of YOURS, MINE & OURS the only thing worthwhile imo is THE FACTS OF LIFE. The big drawback to that film being Bob Hope; I think he was often funny in the 1940s but by 1960 he was nearly unbearable.
 

ClassyCo

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Depending on what you have access to and excluding a few I know you've seen:
I've got some of her movies on DVD, but the ones I've watched recently I've been able to find online.

FIVE CAME BACK
DANCE, GIRL, DANCE
THE BIG STREET
DU BARRY WAS A LADY
WITHOUT LOVE
LURED
MISS GRANT TAKES RICHMOND
FANCY PANTS
THE FULLER BRUSH GIRL
Of this list, the only one I've seen is FIVE CAME BACK, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Lucille plays a dancer, or a call girl, the "sexy one", that gets stranded on a deserted island post-plane crash. So, basically, she's Ginger from GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. The same director later remade FIVE CAME BACK as BACK FROM ETERNITY in the mid-50s.

I've started THE BIG STREET, but I've yet to finish it, and I've been able to find DUBARRY WAS A LADY online. If I can't find them for free, I'm not going to pay for it. I'm almost positive it's included in a DVD set that I have, but I've got to find that set first.

I want to watch MISS GRANT TAKES RICHMOND, FANCY PANTS, and THE FULLER BRUSH GIRL.

I'm personally intrigued by EASY TO WED (a remake of LIBELED LADY) where Lucille takes on a role originated by Jean Harlow. I've seen pieces of the movie on TCM, but I've never finished it.

Post-1960, her career isn't very impressive. Outside of YOURS, MINE & OURS the only thing worthwhile imo is THE FACTS OF LIFE. The big drawback to that film being Bob Hope; I think he was often funny in the 1940s but by 1960 he was nearly unbearable.
YOURS, MINE, & OURS is good, and I recall liking A GUIDE FOR THE MARRIED MAN as well, even if Lucille is just one of many cameos in that "naughty" movie.

The older I get, the less I like some of those old-school comedians. In small doses, Bob Hope can be funny, but leading a movie, I feel he'd irritate me terribly.
 
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ginnyfan

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Lucy went to MGM with big hopes, and the studio initially had big plans for her, even giving her that signature fire red hair, but somehow nothing came out of it. At Metro, Ball was just another supporting player and they tried her out in musicals, comedies and dramas. Of course, she was loaned out a lot and at smaller studios she got some of these leading parts.

I always think it's fascinating she was seated in the first row, with all the other major MGM stars in this iconic photo and it was 1943 and she just arrived at the studio.

 
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