Lucille Ball on Johnny Carson Saturday Night

[mickie]

I've often wondered (my mind works in strange ways sometimes, just goes along with my curious nature I guess) do people the stature of Lucy and her ilk actually draw their Social Security once they reach an age where it'd be available to them?? Not they need it but they're no less entitled to it so.... I wonder what some of our stars and personalities "of a certain age" do in this regard?

 

Thoughts?

Cher collects her social security checks, although they are then split up and give to some charities.

[Neil]

I'm on the free version of Dropbox so I get 2gb. Pretty much it's up to me to pull it when I don't want it there or need the space. Right now these are coming out pretty small in file size so I'm not pulling anything I put here, for now.

 

If you are unable to dropbox the whole thing, let me know, because I have the paid version of dropbox for business and can upload.  

[Luvsbway]

I can fit the whole thing, just did the Lucy part and a bit of Dom since Lucy hung around.

[Will]

can't wait till see this after work.  A good end to a so far stressful Monday at work and personally.  

[Brock]

Link for download of the program. I only included the Lucy parts.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jndn09mn60bqzxt/carson%20full%20converted.mp4?dl=0

 

That was wondaful! Thanks so much or sharing.

[LittleRickyII]

I had to watch that again because I think they were talking about x rated porn movies more than a tasteful nude scene in a film. But geez Lucy, calm down. And she never did answer Johnny's age question.

 

I just watched again.  Johnny was asking about her children and how she would react if they had to do a nude scene:  "Suppose one of them came to you and said, 'Hey Mom, they want me to be in one of those nude pictures, you know it's an X-rated picture.  Would you give them some advice then?"  I think he was using "x-rated picture" figuratively.  I think he was really referring to a mainstream movie with nudity.  But her answer seems a bit ambiguous to me.  She's talking about actual actors who "are hungry" and are being exploited to make those movies.  It's hard for me to tell if she's talking about actual pornography, or just a spicy R-rated movie.  I think her definition of pornography was very expansive based on other comments she made over the years, like when she famously remarked that she wanted to punch Marlon Brando for making Last Tango in Paris.

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=bP5QbMP6rY0C&pg=PA208&lpg=PA208&dq=lucille+ball+marlon+brando+last+tango&source=bl&ots=2N6Ml2H3Qu&sig=7yJj4qm51ziA7HzihfH8Xp5Ks9U&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjaqNmj8uLPAhUI74MKHZYzBAAQ6AEIODAH#v=onepage&q=lucille%20ball%20marlon%20brando%20last%20tango&f=false

[Luvsbway]

Are you sure? I know at some point it evolved into discussion of X rated films. But I thought he was asking a question about her children and how she would react if they had to do a nude scene. And she started talking about how terrible it is that young actors are forced to do nudity. I thought that's when she said it was prostitution. Maybe I misinterpreted, but I've seen other comments she made about nudity in films, and she famously remarked that she wanted to punch Marlon Brando for making Last Tango in Paris.

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=bP5QbMP6rY0C&pg=PA208&lpg=PA208&dq=lucille+ball+marlon+brando+last+tango&source=bl&ots=2N6Ml2H3Qu&sig=7yJj4qm51ziA7HzihfH8Xp5Ks9U&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjaqNmj8uLPAhUI74MKHZYzBAAQ6AEIODAH#v=onepage&q=lucille%20ball%20marlon%20brando%20last%20tango&f=false

That's pretty much how it went. She looped it around to answer the question saying her kids would never ask because they wouldn't do a movie like that.

[HarryCarter]

I didn't notice any obvious edit points but I'm nearly sure that a clip from Mame was shown in the original broadcast. My memory says it was most of the "It's Today" number. The movie had not yet opened here and I was a little disappointed in her toneless vocals, particularly after having been led astray by the clip shown on Merv the previous fall. Other than It's Today, her vocals are actually pretty good (on the Lucy scale). I wonder if the critics would have attacked her singing as much without "IT".

 

I don't understand her comment: "The three people that knocked the picture were the three people who should and the rest of them were great."

The original broadcast had two clips from Mame strung together: excepts of It's Today and Mame. This came right between the X-rated film answer and Desi's entrance. Antenna usually includes film clips, but I'm sure these were cut because they included music.

[LittleRickyII]

That's pretty much how it went. She looped it around to answer the question saying her kids would never ask because they wouldn't do a movie like that.

 

I think you were responding my comment at the same time I was revising it.    This is my revised version:

 

I just watched again.  Johnny was asking about her children and how she would react if they had to do a nude scene:  "Suppose one of them came to you and said, 'Hey Mom, they want me to be in one of those nude pictures, you know it's an X-rated picture.  Would you give them some advice then?"  I think he was using "x-rated picture" figuratively.  I think he was really referring to a mainstream movie with nudity.  But her answer seems a bit ambiguous to me.  She's talking about actual actors who "are hungry" and are being exploited to make those movies.  It's hard for me to tell if she's talking about actual pornography, or just a spicy R-rated movie.  I think her definition of pornography was very expansive based on other comments she made over the years, like when she famously remarked that she wanted to punch Marlon Brando for making Last Tango in Paris.

 

https://books.google...t tango&f=false

[Luvsbway]

I guess it's all in her mind in what is porn and what isn't. This was the time of porno chic and Deep Throat, but Last Tango isn't that. So where does she draw the line? Johnny sort of muddled it there in his question because he was talking about 2 different kinds of films, technically. It's not a nude scene but it's approaching it with a love scene in The Jazz Singer with Lucie and Neil. I'm not up on all Desi Jr's film work but I think that's as close as either kid got to one of those.

[Will]

A funny interview. Lucy leaves me in stiches. Her face shows so much. I love her Charo impression. She is so quick witted. Hope her other appearances from Johnny will air

[Neil]

I think you were responding my comment at the same time I was revising it.    This is my revised version:

 

I just watched again.  Johnny was asking about her children and how she would react if they had to do a nude scene:  "Suppose one of them came to you and said, 'Hey Mom, they want me to be in one of those nude pictures, you know it's an X-rated picture.  Would you give them some advice then?"  I think he was using "x-rated picture" figuratively.  I think he was really referring to a mainstream movie with nudity.  But her answer seems a bit ambiguous to me.  She's talking about actual actors who "are hungry" and are being exploited to make those movies.  It's hard for me to tell if she's talking about actual pornography, or just a spicy R-rated movie.  I think her definition of pornography was very expansive based on other comments she made over the years, like when she famously remarked that she wanted to punch Marlon Brando for making Last Tango in Paris.

 

https://books.google...t tango&f=false

 

Evidently Lucy didn't see "best friend" Paula Stewart's one-shot as movie producer: "Dinah East", an X-rated movie so blatant, nude scenes are included in the trailer (on youtube).  Paula in her book claims the movie was run one night on Lucy's lanai, though Lucy's reaction was not recorded (at least that I can remember from the book).    If she was going to sock Brando in the jaw, I can't imagine what she did to Paula.  A semi-spoiler alert (semi, because Dinah's "secret" is revealed in the trailer; also in the first few minutes of the film):  Dinah, the new sex symbol rage of the movies, dies and the coroner goes into shock when he sees Dinah's appendage.  I don't know if the shock came from that fact that he/she had one or how HUGE it was.  The trailer hails the actor in the title role as giving  "smashing debut performance" but his acting as corpse, after he/she dies a mysterious in the back seat of a limo, is only slightly less animated than when he/she was alive. 

[Luvsbway]

I know Lucy saw Deep Throat via Sammy Davis Jr. I'm not sure if it was at his house or if it was part of the screening party he had that I believe is depicted in the movie Lovelace.

 

Then there is the movie Lenny that Gary was in. That had sex and nudity and she didn't have a problem with that film.

[LittleRickyII]

Evidently Lucy didn't see "best friend" Paula Stewart's one-shot as movie producer: "Dinah East", an X-rated movie so blatant, nude scenes are included in the trailer (on youtube).  Paula in her book claims the movie was run one night on Lucy's lanai, though Lucy's reaction was not recorded (at least that I can remember from the book).    If she was going to sock Brando in the jaw, I can't imagine what she did to Paula.  A semi-spoiler alert (semi, because Dinah's "secret" is revealed in the trailer; also in the first few minutes of the film):  Dinah, the new sex symbol rage of the movies, dies and the coroner goes into shock when he sees Dinah's appendage.  I don't know if the shock came from that fact that he/she had one or how HUGE it was.  The trailer hails the actor in the title role as giving  "smashing debut performance" but his acting as corpse, after he/she dies a mysterious in the back seat of a limo, is only slightly less animated than when he/she was alive. 

 

I've heard of Dinah East, but I didn't realize it was so raunchy, or that Paula Stewart was in it.  Was it truly X-rated, or improperly rated with an X the way Midnight Cowboy was?

 

Luvsbway mentions Deep Throat in the post above, which reminds me of a story Sammy Davis, Jr. told in his autobiography.  He wrote that when that movie came out, he and his wife, Altovise, got together with Lucy and Gary and watched it together.  He said they ended up laughing at it.  But that story raises two questions:  1) She was so prudish about nudity on film, yet she has a private screening of Deep Throat???  WTF?  2) What the heck was going on with Lucy and Gary that they would get together with another couple and watch porn?  I've heard that Sammy was a swinger, so while their viewing of that movie together may have been very innocent, it makes me wonder.

 

As to Luvsbway's question about whether Lucie and Desi Jr. did any nude scenes, I agree that the closest Lucie got was that scene in The Jazz Singer.  I recall she was topless, sitting by a fire with Neil Diamond.  But she was pressed up against him so you couldn't see anything but her arms and back.  Everything was left to the imagination.  Desi Jr. was in a movie called Joyride.  That film did have nudity in it, but not from Desi Jr.  I think there was a scene with him in the shower with Melanie Griffith or another actress.  But it was all shot above the waist.

[Luvsbway]

There’s a term someone on this board coined called ‘public pride’ to describe Lucy and what she said in public/interviews. I see it over and over in interviews both in print and like here on TV where she was just appalled at what was considered entertainment and it wasn’t just sex and nudity, but social issues, violence etc.. She thought entertainment should be escapism not make you think because there was too much bad in the world every day, why do we need it in entertainment.

 

Maybe it was just a changing of the times and her old fashioned thinking, but then again this was a girl who lived pretty unconventional in her private life in her early years. One who when told we’re getting married tomorrow said, “can’t we just live together?” Or that in her first movie she was practically naked. Or that she had a relationship with the married head of the studio. Maybe some of her views on actors who do those film comes from what she experienced in her career. She got very lucky to be under contract and have mentors through her career, like Lela and Ed. But she knew very well that there were many young actresses being prayed on and had to play the casting couch game. Fast forward to the 70s and she touches on it in interviews and her seminars that the studio contract system was a good way to learn and be protected and felt bad because so many young actors have to go it alone. That she didn’t have to lower her standards in her career and she doesn’t want to see young talent succumb to having to doing anything immoral.

 

As far as Deep Throat goes, it was a huge hit. People who never saw porn went to see this movie, including famous people like Jackie O. I’ve never seen the film but have watched the documentary done on it and saw the movie Lovelace about the making of it. It struck me as more funny then titillating. The porno chic thing that was going on at this time made movies like this more acceptable to see as they had a plot and actors. It wasn’t just people screwing. So to have a group together to watch this doesn’t strike me as odd in theory. But then it is sort of odd that Lucy who seemed to hate films with violence and nudity would screen this. But then again this is where the public prude comes in. I think she was curious and really wanted to see what all the fuss was about. A very interesting duality in her personality that I would like to learn more about.

[LittleRickyII]

There’s a term someone on this board coined called ‘public pride’ to describe Lucy and what she said in public/interviews. I see it over and over in interviews both in print and like here on TV where she was just appalled at what was considered entertainment and it wasn’t just sex and nudity, but social issues, violence etc.. She thought entertainment should be escapism not make you think because there was too much bad in the world every day, why do we need it in entertainment.

 

Maybe it was just a changing of the times and her old fashioned thinking, but then again this was a girl who lived pretty unconventional in her private life in her early years. One who when told we’re getting married tomorrow said, “can’t we just live together?” Or that in her first movie she was practically naked. Or that she had a relationship with the married head of the studio. Maybe some of her views on actors who do those film comes from what she experienced in her career. She got very lucky to be under contract and have mentors through her career, like Lela and Ed. But she knew very well that there were many young actresses being prayed on and had to play the casting couch game. Fast forward to the 70s and she touches on it in interviews and her seminars that the studio contract system was a good way to learn and be protected and felt bad because so many young actors have to go it alone. That she didn’t have to lower her standards in her career and she doesn’t want to see young talent succumb to having to doing anything immoral.

 

As far as Deep Throat goes, it was a huge hit. People who never saw porn went to see this movie, including famous people like Jackie O. I’ve never seen the film but have watched the documentary done on it and saw the movie Lovelace about the making of it. It struck me as more funny then titillating. The porno chic thing that was going on at this time made movies like this more acceptable to see as they had a plot and actors. It wasn’t just people screwing. So to have a group together to watch this doesn’t strike me as odd in theory. But then it is sort of odd that Lucy who seemed to hate films with violence and nudity would screen this. But then again this is where the public prude comes in. I think she was curious and really wanted to see what all the fuss was about. A very interesting duality in her personality that I would like to learn more about.

 

Always classy Jackie O' saw Deep Throat??? OMG!  You make some great points.  If a prim and proper person like Jackie O would watch it, I guess that's enough to make it legit for anyone to see it!  Wow, who knew?!

[Irene Kampen Tripp]

I saw it.. I remember the ending was funny. I also thought it was good for the type of movie it is. I can see how a group of friends could laugh at it.. My friends and I did

[LittleRickyII]

Something else about her interview that caught my attention was when she was deflecting from Johnny's opening question and starts talking about being overwhelmed by the Regency Hyatt House in Atlanta (now called the Hyatt Regency).  That was a nostalgic moment for me because, when I was a kid, I stayed there with my family.  It was a few years before Lucy stayed there.  If Lucy was enthralled by it, so imagine what it was like for a little kid like me! It probably wouldn't have the same impact today because some of the amazing elements of that hotel have since been adapted to other buildings over the years.  But at that time it was completely innovative and seemed like something out of 2001: A Space Odyssey:  hotel rooms ringing the perimeter of the building with a huge atrium in the middle; external glass elevators that shot up withing the atrium, giving an exhilarating view as you quickly ascended to your floor; walkways on each floor overlooking the atrium; and to top it off, a flying saucer-shaped restaurant on top with revolving floors that gave you views in every direction while you dined, and covered with a dome that lit up blue at night.  A six/seven year-old kid and a moving floor?  I'm in paradise!  I'm sure you seen these types of things in other buildings in the decades since, but at that time it was completely original and unusual.  This little kid was mesmerized.  One other memory I have of that hotel:  We're riding up the elevator with other people on board.  The elevator stops at THEIR floor, they get off, and so does my sister!  Doors close and we take off again in the elevator, my parents completely freaking out, who weren't paying attention to the floor number when she got off!

 

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5YEPAYO5qww/maxresdefault.jpg

https://www.tripsmarter.com/sites/default/files/styles/640x360/public/hyattregencyatlanta.jpg

http://stampstock.com/images/US_Atlanta_RegencyHyatt2.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hyatt-regency-atlanta-atrium.jpg

http://stampstock.com/images/US_Atlanta_RegencyHyatt.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/12/06/12/1206121295a13808c0c5121701be1749.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyatt_Regency_Atlanta