JoeySanJoaquin Posted July 29, 2013 Report Share Posted July 29, 2013 Why expect much anyways from a lousy TVM that can't even get the basic -- and easily verified! -- facts straight: "....and on September 8, 1951, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo are introduced to America...." Really?? Everyone knows it didn't debut until mid-October! WTF??! Sorry... when he doesn't even notice the baby! Honestly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted July 29, 2013 Report Share Posted July 29, 2013 Why expect much anyways from a lousy TVM that can't even get the basic -- and easily verified! -- facts straight: "....and on September 8, 1951, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo are introduced to America...." Really?? Everyone knows it didn't debut until mid-October! WTF??! Sorry... when he doesn't even notice the baby! Honestly! LOL! October 15th, yes, I think all of us know THAT MUCH, LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvsbway Posted July 29, 2013 Report Share Posted July 29, 2013 It’s been a while since I saw ‘Laughter” but I do agree that Francis does look more like Lucy. I think I may have mentally blocked out Maurice’s performance. The inaccuracies in this movie were so much more glaring than in “Lucy”. As with “Lucy” I could go through that movie and pinpoint where every story came from (book, etc…). The idea of for every good thing happening something bad had to come along and take it away was an idea I think they latched onto from Lucy’s autobio. “Lucy” at least attempted to explain more of her as a person, but it still did not go deep enough. It was a pretty surface level explanation for someone who was very complex. What I liked in “Lucy” was that they made DeDe and Harriet into characters. You needed to have her mom in this as someone who could keep her in check, which was very true of her actual mother. I head it many times that DeDe was the only one who could really call her on stuff. There is a scene where they have DeDe basically tell Lucy that just because he cheats doesn’t mean you should. I think the Buster Keaton and gang scene was just not good. I understand the point but it was so contrived. Like let’s learn where Lucy learned comedy. In “Lucy” I can forgive the 50’s timeline being sped up as there was a lot you had to get into this time period and budget didn’t allow for changing the set for each 2-3 yr span. It still bugs though and it’s been documented that the last episode did not have an audience. I also did not like the ILL recreation scenes. You can not duplicate the magic of these scenes and I think if they were left out it would not be missed. One part I don’t like was there was some fight about the kids or something and Desi yelling at her that she spent no time with the kids. Heck he was more busy with the show and running the studio than Lucy who had the opportunity to spend more time with the kids (albeit not the kind of time she should have). I don’t think this is something that one would accuse the other of, implying that you don’t love your kids. I think it was a shitty way to get the point across that Lucy could not be around to raise the kids, but in reality it was a problem for both parents. As for Rachel I knew her before this as a Bway actress and have seen her on stage before. She is getting rave reviews in the current Anything Goes tour. I felt that she tried to give “Lucy” a little more warmth than Francis’s portrayal. What Francis left me with was a bitch and not someone who was trying to succeed in her personal and professional life and be happy. It just seemed like this version was a person unhappy with the crap roles she was getting and constantly mad at her husband . Back when Lucie was doing Dirty Rotten Scoundrels there was a short overlap when she was doing the show with Rachel. When I learned that Lucie was doing this role the second thing I thought was how weird is it to be acting with someone who played your mom. Here is an excerpt from an interview Lucie did with Broadway.com: Was Rachel York [formerly Christine] nervous about meeting you? I heard you didn't like the 2003 TV movie she did in which she played your mother. No, wait! I didn't like the first movie [Lucy and Desi: Before the Laughter, with Frances Fisher as Ball]. The second movie was way better. I never said I didn't like it. I thought it was actually as good as they could have done under the circumstances. I could tell that Rachel really did her homework, and I thought Danny Pino was good as my dad. Rachel was very kind to say that [her preparation was made easier] because they could watch the Lucy-Desi documentary we made. There were things that no one could have known unless they saw our film. The thing I didn't like about the first movie was it was so tabloid-esque. I guess Rachel was a little nervous, but she's a doll and we're buddies. We're eating together between shows today. I agree with the first movie being tabloid. It really did follow that same pattern in Liz and Dick too. The inaccuracies are so numerous in this movie that I can’t forgive them as it greatly impacts the actual story. I don’t remember all of what my 3 pages of inaccuracies were but having Grandpa Hunt alive at the second wedding was a big WTF on the research as he died 5 years earlier. Also the creation of ILL was even more wacked here than in “Lucy” which I can not give a pass on as this has been greatly documented over the years. I think the problem may have been at the time in which it was made. 91’ish to 03’. There was a huge amount of stuff that came out in the 90’s about Lucy. Many books including the autobio and Home Movies being 2 very big ones. “Lucy” just had a lot more sources to pull from than “Laughter” did so much of what the first film did was take some general stories and tabloidze them. Oh and in “Laughter” the first meeting in the commissary is directly taken from Maureen’s autobio. I’ve watched the Judy miniseries biopic and that was done very well. I know it was based on Lorna’s book so it was just one view but still a worthwhile view. I really got the feel in that movie how it wasn’t all Judy’s fault that she ended up on the road she did. A lot more depth to this person was explored. Judy is another person it is hard to imitate well but the actress who portrayed her as an adult was marvelous. This movie also took Judy from kid to death. Of course the death is a story in itself that recently got its own Bway show. The thing that suffers when most people try to tell the Lucy story is it’s only interesting up till 60’. The 20 year romance and how it all came undone, the rise from bit girl to Queen of TV, and the start of the studio is a great story. The 25+ years after I don’t think make for great visual story telling. On a personal level it’s no hot romance, just a very boring stable one. Career wise it’s just more of the same, 2 more successful series with the same character. Even running the studio is not dramatic enough. This 25+ time period I think is better served in books, but I just wish the docs would do more with this time as it so often gives the impression that Lucy did not do much after ILL when it fact she was only getting started. I guess it’s just too status quo to talk about. Just a very famous, hard worker who continued to be loved and adored until she died (with a stumble career other than a misstep or two with Mame and LWL). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryCarter Posted July 29, 2013 Report Share Posted July 29, 2013 Why expect much anyways from a lousy TVM that can't even get the basic -- and easily verified! -- facts straight: "....and on September 8, 1951, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo are introduced to America...." Really?? Everyone knows it didn't debut until mid-October! WTF??! Sorry... when he doesn't even notice the baby! Honestly! The first episode was filmed on September 8, 1951, so it's not completely wrong. The movie is set on the day of the first filming, so I get what they're saying. I guess they consider "America" to be the 309 people setting in the audience at General Service Studios rather than a national television audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted July 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2013 The first episode was filmed on September 8, 1951, so it's not completely wrong. The movie is set on the day of the first filming, so I get what they're saying. I guess they consider "America" to be the 309 people setting in the audience at General Service Studios rather than a national television audience. Right, it's referring to the filming day. Why expect much anyways from a lousy TVM that can't even get the basic -- and easily verified! -- facts straight: "....and on September 8, 1951, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo are introduced to America...." Really?? Everyone knows it didn't debut until mid-October! WTF??! Sorry... when he doesn't even notice the baby! Honestly! Like Harry said, the press release is referring to the filming day rather than the airdate. The second one was certainly much more factual and less mean-spirited than this one. The biggest problem with both films was trying to depict too much information in too short a time period. Even airing the second film in a three hour time period (meaning about 130 minutes of movie content) only helped so much. It would've been better off as a miniseries. More time to breathe, and less time spent on having to shuffle the timelines to fit everything in. I commend the second movie in that nothing dramatized in it appears COMPLETELY fabricated, it's all based to an extent on real life. Even when things occur out of sequence and/or in a fictionalized manner, they usually are things that did happen to a degree in actuality. Before the Laughter, however, makes a lot of spiteful guesswork. And I agree with Luvsbway regarding Fisher's take on Ball vs. York's. While Frances had the physical look of Ball circa 1951 down more than York did, I didn't like the version of Lucille that Fisher was given to play. I believe one critic commented that her Lucille was a "shrewish, self-righteous bore". Which she was. Had Frances been given the script of the second movie, for instance, we may have seen a much better performance come out of her, as she would've had a more fleshed out version of Ball to play. The material York had to work with may have been only marginally better, but it was still an improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted July 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2013 Oh, and everybody, it's Frances with an E. Francis with an I is the male spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted July 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2013 Nah, the only sinking ship Lucy was ever on was Life with Lucy. Oh I am restraining myself so hard from making a certain comment right now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 Oh I am restraining myself so hard from making a certain comment right now... Awwwwwwww go ahead scarredy cat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted July 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 http://celluloidstage.blogspot.com/2013/07/lucy-desi-conception-and-legacy-of.html Finally finished my piece on Before the Laughter! Put a lot of effort and research into this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeySanJoaquin Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 The first episode was filmed on September 8, 1951, so it's not completely wrong. The movie is set on the day of the first filming, so I get what they're saying. I guess they consider "America" to be the 309 people setting in the audience at General Service Studios rather than a national television audience. That is correct but that's not what they wrote and moreover, obviously not what they meant, it doesn't really make any sense, does it? Whom besides a hardcore fan is going to recall the actual dates/difference between the first episodes filming date vs. it's air date? Please! Besides, why make excuses for their pathetic inaccuracy? There's no excuse for this big a fact that could so very easily been checked/verified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted July 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 That is correct but that's not what they wrote and moreover, obviously not what they meant, it doesn't really make any sense, does it? Whom besides a hardcore fan is going to recall the actual dates/difference between the first episodes filming date vs. it's air date? Please! Besides, why make excuses for their pathetic inaccuracy? There's no excuse for this big a fact that could so very easily been checked/verified. Meow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 Meow But kitty cat's right though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted July 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 But kitty cat's right though. The movie did include a quote at the end that mentioned it premiering in October. So they were intentionally referring to the filming date in the press release. They knew it aired in October. I'm not defending it or anything but it wasn't an error. Read my new blog post if you have any doubts about my feelings on the film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryCarter Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 The movie did include a quote at the end that mentioned it premiering in October. So they were intentionally referring to the filming date in the press release. They knew it aired in October. I'm not defending it or anything but it wasn't an error. Read my new blog post if you have any doubts about my feelings on the film. Thanks. Your blog post is a great read! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 The movie did include a quote at the end that mentioned it premiering in October. So they were intentionally referring to the filming date in the press release. They knew it aired in October. I'm not defending it or anything but it wasn't an error. Read my new blog post if you have any doubts about my feelings on the film. I dun't thin we were referring to this mistake but just their general errors peppered through the entire script. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted July 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 I dun't thin we were referring to this mistake but just their general errors peppered through the entire script. Right. THAT I won't question Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted September 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 Besides Fisher and York, there's a third actress who played Lucille onscreen who has long been forgotten. I unfortunately have no way to make a screencapture at the moment as I don't have a Blu-Ray disc drive, but I just got to see The Scarlett O'Hara War, the TV movie from 1980 that chronicles the search for an actress to play Scarlett. Lucille Ball is featured in a cameo as one of the contract players seen for the part, and is played here by Gypsi DeYoung. I'll try to find a way to get a capture as the resemblance is striking (even if her makeup and hair color are off for the time period she's depicted in). If anyone has a copy of the 5-disc "Scarlett" edition of GWTW, the film is included as a bonus feature. I have the 3-disc Blu-Ray release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted September 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 Best I could do for now is take a photo with my camera. Uncanny, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted September 5, 2013 Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 Best I could do for now is take a photo with my camera. Uncanny, right? Certainly a far better likeness than either Fisher or York! Very interesting. While this one does look a lot like Lucy, there's a dash of Romy Schneider in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted September 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 Certainly a far better likeness than either Fisher or York! Very interesting. While this one does look a lot like Lucy, there's a dash of Romy Schneider in there. Haha. Yeah I can see that. She didn't sound as much like Lucy as Fisher and York did but the physical resemblance was there. I wonder if she tested for Ball in Before the Laughter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annaleigh Posted September 5, 2013 Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 Best I could do for now is take a photo with my camera. Uncanny, right? Very good! Especially in the mouth and cheek bones! Best looking Lucy in a film so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted September 5, 2013 Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 Best I could do for now is take a photo with my camera. Uncanny, right? W O W amazingly similar in looks. But who knows if she was a good enough actress to carry a whole tv movie about Lucy though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted September 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 W O W amazingly similar in looks. But who knows if she was a good enough actress to carry a whole tv movie about Lucy though. Good point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted September 5, 2013 Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 Good point. How short was HER scene anyway? Did she even have dialogue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted September 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 How short was HER scene anyway? Did she even have dialogue? It was a one scene cameo. She walks into Selznick's office back to. Davis says, "It's Lucille isn't it?" "Yes sir. Lucille Ball". She then flutters her eyelids with a cutesy smile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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