Just saw Lucy in . . .

[C L A U D E]

Staten Island ferry and Bon Voyage, two classic I Love Lucy epsiodes. The first one has one of my all time favorite Lucy scenes. Lucy is sleepy after taking all those seasick pills so to wake her up at the pass sa port office, Ricky slaps her awake, she thinks he`s going all chris brown on her so she goes to punch him back, one of THE funniest scenes in the whole series. Then, in Bon Voyage, another classic scene as Lucy has to take a HELL LEE COP TER to the SS Constitution. This particular scene is again, one of the best ones in the entire series. First sighting that cigar which someone threw away, which ends up being her SHIP, getting ready to jump out by checking her make up, being lowered down after telling him she`s scared and has a credit card so if he could FLY her all the way to Europe, money is no object. This particular scene is so well staged, even with a fake ship, fake backdrop, but so well done, you feel you`re with her lowered on that harness and you feel every part of this latest Lucy Ricardo escapade.

[Annaleigh]

Two fabulous episodes! Also you hit it right on the head with the Ferry episode. That whole scene at the Passports place was comedic genius on everyone's parts.

[C L A U D E]

Two fabulous episodes! Also you hit it right on the head with the Ferry episode. That whole scene at the Passports place was comedic genius on everyone's parts.

That's the thing, instead of the writers getting tired and churning out crappy scripts, they just got more involved and more detailed, more great instances of Lucy getting gems to work with and just hilarious episodes from the famous gang of four.

[C L A U D E]

Ok, today's two shows were on board the ship where Lucy wants to be romantic with Ricky and gets stuck in one of the portholes, this one seemed more human and touching and romantic rather than funny although it had it's moments . . . Fred and Ethel being so lovey dovey, must have killed them, both. And of course when Ricky finally meets Kenneth Hamilton, her ping pong partner who is just a kid when she had built him up to Ricky as a rival. Then the next show was Lucy in London, meeting the Queen. Loved it when Lucy met Jane Hathaway with a British accent, as the maid showing them how to curtsy. Shel, did Lucy have gorgeous clothes in the London one? And the dress while she's stuck in the porthole too was nice. Was that her Emmy dress with the sparkles on the collar? Another coat matching the dress i see.

[Luvsbway]

I'm blanking on what dress she wears in London. Was it black? She does wear a sparkle top dress around this time on the show that is the Emmy dress from a few pics back.

[C L A U D E]

I'm blanking on what dress she wears in London. Was it black? She does wear a sparkle top dress around this time on the show that is the Emmy dress from a few pics back.

I thought that was the Emmy dress, turns out it's a coat OVER the matching dress. The one in the porthole is all fluffy at the bottom, like one of the Oscar gals had this year, i forget which. And the top is simpler but paler than black.

[C L A U D E]

And in coming home from Hollywood, she said she was going to wear her Don Loper original and man does that dress look simple and dowdy, especially after all the beautiful outfits Elois created for her around this time.

[Luvsbway]

Did you ever notice when she's wearing the Loper and is letting people into the apartment part of the jewel on the belt falls off. Ricky comes and picks it up, Lucy then holds onto it for awhile before she drops it on the couch. At one point she even tries to put it back on.

[C L A U D E]

Did you ever notice when she's wearing the Loper and is letting people into the apartment part of the jewel on the belt falls off. Ricky comes and picks it up, Lucy then holds onto it for awhile before she drops it on the couch. At one point she even tries to put it back on.

No, never noticed any of that, where the hell do you people keep coming up with this stuff????? LOL! Joy tv is playing the eps a few behind Comedy Gold now so i'll watch it soon and get back to you. Tonight on Joy it was the ep where they go on Face to Face with Ed Warren. The bastards keep cutting the eps to shreads, i'm surprised new fans can get anything out of them, they no longer make sense with all they've cut. BUT, comedy gold shows them complete and perfect. Thank God!

[C L A U D E]

Today, it was The Fox Hunt in England and i dun't particularly ike this episode which is quite short on comedy bits although Lucy has a good one getting on that horse. The next one was Lucy goes to Scotland which along with Drafted USED TO BE two of my least favorite episodes. You can imagine how i feel about watching it in black and white after being spoiled with that gloriously beautiful copy of it in color we got to see recently.

[C L A U D E]

She's in Paris now, getting her hands on counterfeit money, and on the next one, it's Charles Boyer. Love these two eps.

[Annaleigh]

She's in Paris now, getting her hands on counterfeit money, and on the next one, it's Charles Boyer. Love these two eps.

Ahhhh! The Pariè episode! Best of all the Europe episodes!

[C L A U D E]

Ahhhh! The Pariè episode! Best of all the Europe episodes!

Really? They dun't seem to be as funny as i remembered they were, maybe i've seen them too often like the Hollywood eps that i know them by heart and there are so few laughs for me in them anymore. But i thought she did that routine at the restaurant so well that i at least smiled, the whole AMERICAN TOURISTS routine when seeing Fred and Ethel and then of course the holding her nose as sh attempts to eat the ESCARGOT.

[Irene Kampen Tripp]

YUP... Paris and Charles Boyer are two very good episodes.. the clamps on the nose and her double take while drinking her coffee at the cafe... that TRANSLATION bit in the french jail... and Dessi trying to get one over on her... very good episodes...

[Annaleigh]

Really? They dun't seem to be as funny as i remembered they were, maybe i've seen them too often like the Hollywood eps that i know them by heart and there are so few laughs for me in them anymore. But i thought she did that routine at the restaurant so well that i at least smiled, the whole AMERICAN TOURISTS routine when seeing Fred and Ethel and then of course the holding her nose as sh attempts to eat the ESCARGOT.

Europe are my least favorite but the Paris one is my favorite out of rhe bunch.

[C L A U D E]

Europe are my least favorite but the Paris one is my favorite out of rhe bunch.

Well, they needed something bigger everytime so they went from Hollywood to Europe and then to the house in the country, i think they did great laying the plots out like that.

[C L A U D E]

YUP... Paris and Charles Boyer are two very good episodes.. the clamps on the nose and her double take while drinking her coffee at the cafe... that TRANSLATION bit in the french jail... and Dessi trying to get one over on her... very good episodes...

Yeah, Charles doing his SHTICK for ehr was a riot, munching on her elbow and so on, really funny.

[C L A U D E]

DARK CORNER, wasn't as good as LURED in my opinion but very good nonetheless. What do you people think? Dark Corner or Lured, which is your fave?

[Luvsbway]

This is like picking your favorite, or so I hear as I have no children. Lured she is stunning and plays it so well. Dark Corner is more of a quieter, but strong character. Still stunning. I like her male costar chemistry better in Dark Corner.

[Taylor]

DARK CORNER, wasn't as good as LURED in my opinion but very good nonetheless. What do you people think? Dark Corner or Lured, which is your fave?

 

"Lured." Lucy's got more sex appeal in this I think and it's just a better movie.

[Luvsbway]

In Lured I love her march through the club after leaving the managers office heading to the phone. She shoots some good looks in this film. The taxi cab one is another good trademark look. Lured wins on costumes by far. That music hall dress is amazing.

[C L A U D E]

"Lured." Lucy's got more sex appeal in this I think and it's just a better movie.

D I T T O !

[C L A U D E]

In Lured I love her march through the club after leaving the managers office heading to the phone. She shoots some good looks in this film. The taxi cab one is another good trademark look. Lured wins on costumes by far. That music hall dress is amazing.

Agree! If you watch Lured first, man, are you going to be disapointed with her clothes in Dark Corner. They look like they were picked in a very dark corner.

[Luvsbway]

So here is my more detailed analysis of Dark Corner and Lured. These are two of my most favorite Lucy movies.

 

Both of these films are considered film noir. On the Dark Corner DVD two film noir writers do a nice commentary. It’s actually very good and you learn a lot of film noir techniques. Some things to mention from this commentary: In the apartment scene after they have hid the body and the Lucy character kisses Bradley, the commentators talk about the setup of this shot, how we can see both characters by using the mirror and that this is a much used shot in other film noirs. The one commentator also makes an observation that he likes Lucy in this part and never really cared for in her famous “Lucy” character. I think he was making the point that she was good at this stuff and wished she did more like it. I agree on part 2, but will not take offense to part one.

 

Overall in Dark Corner I think the general tone of Lucy’s performance I would characterize as “quite, strength”. The strength comes in the persistence to help at all turns, but she is never really loud or demanding. I particularly like the scene in the coffee shop where Brad is telling her his back story. It’s rare to see Lucy actually cry (not fake cry) on screen but she does in this scene (guess they didn’t have waterproof mascara back then, as you can see it starts to run). Some of my other favorite small moments are: the beautiful shot behind the desk of her legs as she is putting on the nylons Brad scores for her. The other is one that I never noticed until the commentators mentioned it. As Lucy is paying the milk man Brad takes the newspaper from under her arm. The milkman gives her a look like “Oh, so we had a man over last night?”

 

Another reason I like this one is the on screen chemistry between our two leads. It’s much better chemistry then in Lured.

On to Lured. I found this one before Dark Corner and fell in love with it, partly because it was noir, but mainly because Lucy was playing something so different than I had seen her in before. The acting in this is different as it is not the “quite, strength” as Dark Corner but more of a woman on a mission. I think Lucy is able to show more of a range in this role and she is the lead, not just the woman on the side helping. Some of my favorite moments are: the walk through the club after she leaves the manager’s office towards the beginning of the film. When that guy bumps into her, she gives him such a look, but is also so familiar. The cab scene where she gives the gun back to her bodyguard guy. The eye look she does is such a mannerism of Lucy’s that I have seen it countless times over decades of work. I also think she is particularly good in the climatic ending too.

 

Lured gives Lucy some of her best (non MGM) clothing ever in film. This is credited to Eloise Jensen and the first time she works with Lucy. It’s no wonder that Lucy hired her for ILL, she knows how to make some gorgeous stuff. The music hall dress is stunning and perfection when you put the fur with it. I always wonder what that looked like in color. My other favorite is that engagement party dress. I got obsessed with that thing and wanted the bottom of my wedding dress to look like that. That wasn’t too hard now days with the current wedding dress styles. The dress was a light blue by the way. Many years ago on Ebay I came across an article on Eloise and this movie. Lucy in that dress was featured. I never know why I didn't pick that thing up, but hopefully it will turn up again someday.

 

Now the backstage stories on these two movies. Dark Corner’s is particular interesting. Lucy talks about it in her book. She was still under contract to MGM at this time and apparently had a really bad agent with this contract. She got loaned out to another studio for this movie without her knowing about it and was not too happy. The only way Lucy could get away from this agent was to leave the MGM contract, which we know that she did. The director for Dark Corner was also notorious at being really horrible to work for and Lucy was not happy to be working with him. As with many times in the 40’s things were not happy at home either. So with personal and professional stress Lucy says she about had a nervous breakdown doing this movie and couldn't watch it and doesn't remember much about making it. In my initial viewings I thought that she seemed sort of “in a fog” in this role. The commentators even mention this story but think she did a good job in this role. Over repeated viewings I’ve come to see more of the acting as a style and not so much of her walking through it.

 

Lured’s backstory we’ve talked about before. For someone she apparently had a rumored fling with, Lucy and George Sanders have the least amount of on-screen chemistry I have seen from a male co-star of Lucy’s. There is just no spark there.

 

Another film I want to mention in this similar genre and done around the same time as the others is Too Smart People. The director on this film went on to do true film noir, but this was his start into it. I think this movie sometimes doesn’t know what it is trying to be. Is it a drama with a few funny moments? A film noir that never quite gets there? It’s not a particularly stellar film, but I keep putting this thing in for repeated viewings. I actually had a copy of this hanging out for a long time in my collection and realized I had never watched it. It’s on DVD so check it out if you haven’t seen it before, and look for cousin Cleo in the Mardi Gras party scene.

Part of the reason I like this film so much is the wonderful onscreen chemistry she has with the male lead. The three scenes with the most passion are the two in Mexico, the back of the train, and the private room at the Mardi Gras party.

 

Similar to Dark Corner I describe Lucy’s acting here as “quiet”. It’s a little more playful in the beginning of the movie but really shifts once the train scenes kick in. I think part of that is due to the fact this movie didn’t know what it wanted to be.

 

As with Eloise in Lured, Lucy works with another of her future creative geniuses in this film, Karl Freud. There are two particularly good lighting moments in this film that help to give it the film noir look. The first is in the hotel room in Mexico where Lucy walks into a dark room and then is lit only by match light. The other is when she is being rushed out of the mardi gras party in the dark.

Being MGM Lucy still gets some nice clothes in this movie but only two things stand out. The one shoulder dress with the lovely ruffled wrap in Mexico is gorgeous and fits her so well. The first shot of her in it is great. Lucy rarely wears a one shoulder dress in anything. Offhand the only time I can recall her in one-shoulder is the first CBS Opening Night show in 62, where she dances with all the men on CBS (extra on the LS DVD). The Mardi Gras dress and the veil that goes with it is very pretty. Lucy also gets another lovely full length shot when she first appears in it. I think it is Taylor that had that beautiful profile shot of Lucy in that gown on here recently. The only thing that bugs me with her look in this film is Lucy always has her hair up. It’s very pretty up but I like long, loose hair at least once in a film.

 

So if you have never seen any of these three films check them out. They are all available on DVD.

 

[mikidiki]

So here is my more detailed analysis of Dark Corner and Lured. These are two of my most favorite Lucy movies.

 

Both of these films are considered film noir. On the Dark Corner DVD two film noir writers do a nice commentary. It’s actually very good and you learn a lot of film noir techniques. Some things to mention from this commentary: In the apartment scene after they have hid the body and the Lucy character kisses Bradley, the commentators talk about the setup of this shot, how we can see both characters by using the mirror and that this is a much used shot in other film noirs. The one commentator also makes an observation that he likes Lucy in this part and never really cared for in her famous “Lucy” character. I think he was making the point that she was good at this stuff and wished she did more like it. I agree on part 2, but will not take offense to part one.

 

Overall in Dark Corner I think the general tone of Lucy’s performance I would characterize as “quite, strength”. The strength comes in the persistence to help at all turns, but she is never really loud or demanding. I particularly like the scene in the coffee shop where Brad is telling her his back story. It’s rare to see Lucy actually cry (not fake cry) on screen but she does in this scene (guess they didn’t have waterproof mascara back then, as you can see it starts to run). Some of my other favorite small moments are: the beautiful shot behind the desk of her legs as she is putting on the nylons Brad scores for her. The other is one that I never noticed until the commentators mentioned it. As Lucy is paying the milk man Brad takes the newspaper from under her arm. The milkman gives her a look like “Oh, so we had a man over last night?”

 

Another reason I like this one is the on screen chemistry between our two leads. It’s much better chemistry then in Lured.

On to Lured. I found this one before Dark Corner and fell in love with it, partly because it was noir, but mainly because Lucy was playing something so different than I had seen her in before. The acting in this is different as it is not the “quite, strength” as Dark Corner but more of a woman on a mission. I think Lucy is able to show more of a range in this role and she is the lead, not just the woman on the side helping. Some of my favorite moments are: the walk through the club after she leaves the manager’s office towards the beginning of the film. When that guy bumps into her, she gives him such a look, but is also so familiar. The cab scene where she gives the gun back to her bodyguard guy. The eye look she does is such a mannerism of Lucy’s that I have seen it countless times over decades of work. I also think she is particularly good in the climatic ending too.

 

Lured gives Lucy some of her best (non MGM) clothing ever in film. This is credited to Eloise Jensen and the first time she works with Lucy. It’s no wonder that Lucy hired her for ILL, she knows how to make some gorgeous stuff. The music hall dress is stunning and perfection when you put the fur with it. I always wonder what that looked like in color. My other favorite is that engagement party dress. I got obsessed with that thing and wanted the bottom of my wedding dress to look like that. That wasn’t too hard now days with the current wedding dress styles. The dress was a light blue by the way. Many years ago on Ebay I came across an article on Eloise and this movie. Lucy in that dress was featured. I never know why I didn't pick that thing up, but hopefully it will turn up again someday.

 

Now the backstage stories on these two movies. Dark Corner’s is particular interesting. Lucy talks about it in her book. She was still under contract to MGM at this time and apparently had a really bad agent with this contract. She got loaned out to another studio for this movie without her knowing about it and was not too happy. The only way Lucy could get away from this agent was to leave the MGM contract, which we know that she did. The director for Dark Corner was also notorious at being really horrible to work for and Lucy was not happy to be working with him. As with many times in the 40’s things were not happy at home either. So with personal and professional stress Lucy says she about had a nervous breakdown doing this movie and couldn't watch it and doesn't remember much about making it. In my initial viewings I thought that she seemed sort of “in a fog” in this role. The commentators even mention this story but think she did a good job in this role. Over repeated viewings I’ve come to see more of the acting as a style and not so much of her walking through it.

 

Lured’s backstory we’ve talked about before. For someone she apparently had a rumored fling with, Lucy and George Sanders have the least amount of on-screen chemistry I have seen from a male co-star of Lucy’s. There is just no spark there.

 

Another film I want to mention in this similar genre and done around the same time as the others is Too Smart People. The director on this film went on to do true film noir, but this was his start into it. I think this movie sometimes doesn’t know what it is trying to be. Is it a drama with a few funny moments? A film noir that never quite gets there? It’s not a particularly stellar film, but I keep putting this thing in for repeated viewings. I actually had a copy of this hanging out for a long time in my collection and realized I had never watched it. It’s on DVD so check it out if you haven’t seen it before, and look for cousin Cleo in the Mardi Gras party scene.

Part of the reason I like this film so much is the wonderful onscreen chemistry she has with the male lead. The three scenes with the most passion are the two in Mexico, the back of the train, and the private room at the Mardi Gras party.

 

Similar to Dark Corner I describe Lucy’s acting here as “quiet”. It’s a little more playful in the beginning of the movie but really shifts once the train scenes kick in. I think part of that is due to the fact this movie didn’t know what it wanted to be.

 

As with Eloise in Lured, Lucy works with another of her future creative geniuses in this film, Karl Freud. There are two particularly good lighting moments in this film that help to give it the film noir look. The first is in the hotel room in Mexico where Lucy walks into a dark room and then is lit only by match light. The other is when she is being rushed out of the mardi gras party in the dark.

Being MGM Lucy still gets some nice clothes in this movie but only two things stand out. The one shoulder dress with the lovely ruffled wrap in Mexico is gorgeous and fits her so well. The first shot of her in it is great. Lucy rarely wears a one shoulder dress in anything. Offhand the only time I can recall her in one-shoulder is the first CBS Opening Night show in 62, where she dances with all the men on CBS (extra on the LS DVD). The Mardi Gras dress and the veil that goes with it is very pretty. Lucy also gets another lovely full length shot when she first appears in it. I think it is Taylor that had that beautiful profile shot of Lucy in that gown on here recently. The only thing that bugs me with her look in this film is Lucy always has her hair up. It’s very pretty up but I like long, loose hair at least once in a film.

 

So if you have never seen any of these three films check them out. They are all available on DVD.

 

Wow! Great post - thanks for sharing - I've never looked in to these movies that much in depth. Never seen Too Smart People but I like both Lured and The Dark Corner although my favourite out of the two is The Dark Corner. Lured just seems very "over the top" in my opinion - too unrealistic borderlining silly. Thanks for posting insights in to each movie!