Welcome to the 2020 We Love Lucy Blogathon!

Happy 109th Birthday, Lucille Ball!

I've been thinking back and trying to remember how old I was when I first watched an episode of I Love Lucy. I honestly can't recall a specific year. Lucille Ball has been such an integral part of my love for classic Hollywood that it feels like she's always been there. I do know that it all began for me with I Love Lucy. I've seen every single Lucy episode at least 40 or 50 times. Back when I was a kid we had a VCR and recorded the episodes on videotapes and my sister and I pretty much wore them out with how often we played them.

It was only later that we both realized there were snippets of scenes missing!

You know how tv stations abridge movies nowadays so there's enough space for the commercials? Well, they did that to I Love Lucy. So it was a real eye-opener when we first watched I Love Lucy on DVD and realized we had never seen a full episode of the show. Thankfully all of our old recorded videotapes have gone to the great beyond and I own all of I Love Lucy on DVD now, but I will always laugh when I remember the epiphany of realizing someone had dared to chop bits and pieces out of I Love Lucy.

Throughout the years, as I've grown into a woman in my thirties, Lucille Ball has always been a constant companion. Whenever I had rough patches or just needed cheering up, I would pull out a disc from I Love Lucy or The Lucy Show and pop it in the DVD player. She's always made me laugh.

Lucille Ball and Bob Hope

Her partnership with Bob Hope is an absolute gem. I've watched every single movie she made with Bob, from Sorrowful Jones in 1949 to The Facts of Life in 1960. I laughed when he put a birdcage in her hair in Fancy Pants, and of course, when she caused him to get hit on the head with a baseball in his iconic episode of I Love Lucy. Their movie The Facts of Life is one of my absolute favorites because it deals with emotional adultery and the realization both of their characters come to that they're being ridiculous and cannot hurt the people they love, meaning their spouses. It's a funny movie, but with some great messages on relationships and marriages.

Lucille Ball and Gale Gordon

Then there's Gale Gordon, the funnyman who starred alongside her in so many episodes of The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy. He was the perfect match for her, a foil for her comedic genius. I'll always remember the episode of Here's Lucy where she literally rips the wiring out of the walls in his house because she thinks there's a short. Or that moment in The Lucy Show: Lucy the Good Skate when she and Gale waltz together with her in roller skates. If you really want a laugh, Gale Gordon plays one of Tom Hanks' neighbors in The 'Burbs and he has pictures of himself with Lucy on shelves in his house. When I realized that man was Gale Gordon, it made that movie so much better.

Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett

We can never forget Carol Burnett and Lucille Ball, either. Those women were REMARKABLE when they teamed up. Carol's episodes in The Lucy Show had me guffawing for hours, probably because I worked in a library and I could just picture myself hanging from the bookshelves too afraid to yell help because I was in a library. Except I would actually yell help. To say nothing of Lucy's appearances on The Carol Burnett show in roles where they always butted heads so beautifully and Lucy always came out the winner.

To say nothing of the good and bad years she spent with Desi Arnaz and her amazing relationships with Vivian Vance, Red Skelton, John Wayne, Shelley Winters, Van Johnson, and pretty much everyone else in Hollywood considering how many times they showed up in her television programs.

So here we are, all these years later, celebrating the vibrant life of a vibrant woman who brought laughter and joy to so many millions of people. Please take the time to enjoy the Lucille Ball blog posts that will trickle in throughout August 6th and 7th. May they make you smile, remind you of when you first "met" Lucy, and maybe even introduce you to some of her movies or programs you haven't watched yet.

Thank you, Lucy, for being you. ❤

2020 We Love Lucy Blogathon Entries

We Love Lucy and Stage Door!

a blog post contributed by Jess at Box Office Poisons

"Stage Door combines the explosive screen presences

of some of the most popular screen actresses of the late

'30s: Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, and Lucille Ball,

plus some up-and-comers . . ."  - Jess at Box Office Poisons

We Love Lucy Blogathon: A Film Noir: Lured (1947)

a blog post contributed by Charity at The Sacred in the Secular

"Back before Lucille Ball became a household name as a redheaded

funny lady, Hollywood wasn’t sure what to do with her. Lured is an

interesting film noir from the 40s, also starring George Sanders,

and a host of sinister antics . . ."  - Charity at The Sacred in the Secular

Lucy on the Radio: Dinner at Eight (Campbell Playhouse, 1940)

a blog post contributed by myself at Musings of an Introvert

"Edna Ferber's theatrical play, Dinner at Eight, was adapted for radio by the Campbell
Playhouse in 1940. One of Orson Welles' productions, Dinner at Eight guest-starred
Lucille Ball in the role of his wife, a character much like her role in Fancy Pants
with Bob Hope, slightly uncouth and uncultured." - Carissa at Musings of an Introvert

Red Skelton and Gene Kelly pine for Lucille Ball in... Du Barry was a Lady

a blog post contributed by Michaela at Love Letters to Old Hollywood

 

"Have you ever loved a movie even though you know it isn't great? It isn't absolutely
terrible, but it is also never going to be considered an underrated classic. It is just a film
that you find enjoyable and comforting while everyone else, including the people who made
it, thinks it deserves to be forgotten. For me, that film is Du Barry was a Lady,
a musical comedy . . ." - Michaela at Love Letters to Old Hollywood

The Dark Corner: Hardboiled Lucy

a blog post contributed by Rebecca at Taking Up Room

"Lucille Ball was a comedienne in the best sense, but like most up-and-coming
actors, she did her share of roles outside of what she’s now famous for. Ergo, Lucille Ball
made some dramatic films. One of these was 1946’s The Dark Corner, an underrated noir
about framing of all kinds." - Rebecca at Taking Up Room

My Ten Favorite I Love Lucy Episodes

a blog post contributed by Hamlette at Hamlette's Soliloquy

"I've loved I Love Lucy (1951-57) since I was a tween. I saw my first
episode at twelve, when my family moved to NC and we gained a video
rental store that had lots and lots of classic TV shows on VHS.  Not full
seasons, but "best of" compilations and such." - Hamlette at Hamlette's Soliloquy

Movie Review: Go Chase Yourself (1938)

a blog post contributed by MovieCritic at Movies Meet Their Match

"This is my entry in the We Love Lucy Blogathon! It would have been her 109th birthday.

I haven't seen her in many films as I am mostly just a solid I Love Lucy watcher, but this was

one where I decided to see more with her." - MovieCritic at Movies Meet Their Match

Lucille Ball and John Hodiak star in Two Smart People (1946)

a blog post contributed by myself at Musings of an Introvert

"Two Smart People is one of my favorite films from the 1940s and has made it into
one of my top Lucille Ball films, period. It's really an entertaining ride with two actors
who, I think, had excellent screen chemistry and got to play with a fun script where they
could express loads of facial expressions and sarcastic quips." - Carissa at Musings of an Introvert

We Love Lucy Blogathon: Yours, Mine, and Ours (1968)

a blog post contributed by Ivy Miranda at Revealed in Time

"Yours, Mine and Ours is a classic that never gets old and Lucille Ball was her typical

fabulous self, playing a no-nonsense mother who knows control, order, love and overwhelming
understanding of her eight children who needed a father and his ten children who desperately

needed a mother." - Ivy Miranda at Revealed in Time