Category: Blogathon

Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Movies (Pre-1980)

The Eleventh Annual Buster Keaton Blogathon—“The Navigator” (1924)

I had to travel to California again for work and am trying to write this entry from my hotel room using my iPad and a $14 Bluetooth keyboard with a $6 mouse. I am hoping to get the actual iPad keyboard some day—it’s my birthday next month, maybe I’ll get lucky. Anyway, you definitely get what you pay for with the $14 Bluetooth keyboard. It doesn’t seem to respond to the Ctrl functions very well and sometimes the space bar acts like a “Tab” button. But I digress.

I watched The Navigator (1924) again last night in preparation for this article. I saw this movie at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland awhile back and it was hilarious. This film is mentioned as one of Buster Keaton’s “10 Best Films” in the 2018 documentary, The Great Buster, narrated by director Peter Bogdanovich. The Navigator features Buster as Rollo Treadway, a wealthy young man who impetuously decides to propose to Betsy O’Brien (Kathryn McGuire), his young neighbor across the street.

Before even waiting to find out if Betsy will accept his proposal, Rollo sends his servant to book passage on a ship to Honolulu for the honeymoon. The title card even razzes Rollo, saying “He had completed all the arrangements, except to notify the girl.” Betsy, of course, turns Rollo’s proposal down. She doesn’t even know him. Undeterred, Rollo decides to go on his honeymoon anyway, even if he doesn’t have a bride. He shows up at the shipyard and due to a covered up pier number, Rollo ends up boarding “The Navigator,” an old battleship. Meanwhile, Betsy’s father has just sold “The Navigator” to a small country.

ROLLO: Will you marry me?
BETSY: Certainly not!

Buster Keaton as “Rollo” and Kathryn McGuire as “Betsy.”

Betsy’s father ends up being captured by saboteurs when he visits “The Navigator” to check it out before selling it. Betsy boards the ship looking for her father. This sets up a hilarious scene where both Rollo and Betsy are living on “The Navigator” without the other knowing. Both Rollo and Betsy experience strange events on the ship inadvertently caused by the other. Eventually they meet and are forced to try and survive when “The Navigator” drifts out to sea and the chance of rescue looks slight.

Becuase they grew up rich, both Rollo and Betsy struggle to perform even the most basic tasks. Rollo tries to make coffee but uses like five beans. He then tries to open a can using a machete, an enormous meat cleaver, and later a large corkscrew—failing miserably with every attempt. However, mother is the necessity of invention and eventually Rollo and Betsy are able to rig up a variety of different machines to perform the aforementioned tasks using items found around the ship. One of Buster Keaton’s favorite gags, having items strung up on ropes attached to a pulley system is used in this film to expert effect.

The highlight of The Navigator, and probably its most famous scene, is Buster Keaton’s underwater scene where he tries to fix the ship which has sustained a large amount of damage. On the verge of sinking, “The Navigator” must be fixed. Betsy finds scuba diving gear onboard and convinces Rollo to put it on, go underwater, and fix the hole. Rollo agrees and heads underwater. He brings a variety of different objects with him, including a hilarious “Men at Work” sign which he sets up while he’s repairing the ship. He also uses a swordfish to fence another swordfish. Apparently in this scene, Buster wanted to don a starfish to look like a badge and direct traffic for schools of fish, but the scene was cut. That’s a shame because the schtick involving literal interpretations of fish-involved themes would be hilarious.

Buster Keaton was very good in his scenes, per usual. He does quite a few dangerous stunts, most memorably the underwater scenes, of which he could only film about ten minutes at a time due to the extremely cold temperatures off the waters off Catalina Island where The Navigator was filmed. He also has to perform a pretty high dive off the top of “The Navigator” ship when Betsy starts to drown. Kathryn McGuire was very good as Betsy as well. I was relieved that she actually got to don the cute 1920s era Flapper bob, versus the ratty looking sausage curls that so many of the 1920s women seem to wear. And why are they always dressed like oversized preschoolers? Betsy actually looked very chic in her sailor outfit.

Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Movies (Pre-1980)

Cry Me a River: Tearjerkers Blogathon–“The Way We Were” (1973)

Full disclosure, I don’t cry at movies. While there are definitely movies that I find sad like Make Way for Tomorrow (1938) or the end of Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993), I have yet to actually cry at a film. The Way We Were (1973) always seems to make the list of classic tearjerkers, which is why I picked it; but I would like to argue that I didn’t find the ending sad. In fact, I found the ending of The Way We Were (1973) to be very satisfying.

The Way We Were spans a 20-year period, starting in the late-1930s and ending in the late-1950s. It also features a non-linear narrative, with the film beginning in 1944 towards the end of World War II. Barbra Streisand’s character, Katie Morosky, works at a radio station and goes to a nearby nightclub in New York City after work for drinks. She runs into an old acquaintance, Hubbell Gardiner (Robert Redford) at the bar. He’s dressed in a Navy uniform and seems like he’s had one too many drinks. In what ends up being an extremely questionable scene, she ends up inviting him back to her apartment to “rest” and the two reconnect and start a romance.

Prior to Katie and Hubbell’s reunion at the nightclub, they were college classmates in the late-1930s. In the college scenes, Katie is shown to be a bit of a plain Jane and very involved in political activism. She seems to always be protesting against something, whether it be politics or war. It’s also made very clear that she’s Jewish, which definitely is a sharp contrast to her WASP classmates like Hubbell. Hubbell is shown to be naturally handsome, athletic and seems to coast through life without much effort at all. This is particularly evident in a scene where Katie is shown to be working on writing a paper for hours and Hubbell sort of just slaps his paper together in a fraction of the time. The professor is impressed with Hubbell’s paper and praises it in front of the class. Katie is infatuated with Hubbell (because duh, it’s Robert Redford), but sees him as being clearly out of her league.

After Katie and Hubbell reunite in 1944 at the nightclub, they become a couple. However, their personal differences quickly surface with the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1945. Hubbell’s friends make jokes and Hubbell is indifferent. Katie is furious that they would dare to make jokes about FDR’s death as well as Hubbell’s complete lack of interest in politics. She is also unhappy about Hubbell’s unwillingness to support her and tell off his friends. On the flipside, Hubbell does not care for Katie’s bluntless and unrelenting insistence on being right. They end up breaking up, but get back together shortly after.

Hubbell proves himself to be a naturally gifted writer, a talent that I’m sure both infuriates and pleases Katie. He easily whips out a novel without exerting too much effort. His novel proves to be a hit, to the point that he receives an offer to come out to Hollywood and help adapt his novel into a screenplay. Katie worries that Hollywood is beneath Hubbell’s talents; but they move to California despite her hesitations. Hubbell’s contract proves lucrative, which allows him and Katie to live lavishly. Because of their comfortable lifestyle, there is an expectation that Katie will stay at home. However, she quickly becomes involved in protesting against McCarthyism and the infamous blacklist which starts to endanger Hubbell’s career and reputation.

Katie’s activism and Hubbell’s absolute nonchalance about everything comes to a head when her activism becomes bigger and more outspoken. She also discovers she’s pregnant, which only further strains Katie and Hubbell’s marriage. Hubbell eventually escapes the marital issues by having an affair (because obviously), which causes Katie to realize that he’ll always find a way to avoid dealing with anything difficult. She ends up divorcing him and moving back to New York City.

Now here’s where the tearjerker part comes in. If you haven’t seen The Way We Were, then I’m sorry for discussing the ending. It is now the late-1950s, the television era. Katie is on a busy corner opposite the Plaza Hotel in New York City protesting the nuclear bomb. She’s remarried and raising her and Hubbell’s daughter. Suddenly, she spots Hubbell and another woman coming out of the hotel. She runs over to Hubbell and asks what he’s doing in New York City. He explains that he’s writing for television. There is a tinge of hope that maybe Katie and Hubbell will find each other, reunite, and this time it will be different–except this time it doesn’t happen. They exchange pleasantries. Hubbell asks Katie about their daughter. Katie says she’s fine. Katie then invites him out for a drink. Hubbell declines, they embrace and part ways. Perhaps never to cross paths again.

Apparently people just sob about there being no happy ending for Katie and Hubbell. However, I would argue that their divorce is probably the best thing that could have happened to both of them. The main motif throughout the entire film is that Katie and Hubbell are opposites in almost every way–physically, personality-wise, ambition, etc. However, both are too stubborn to even try meeting their partner in the middle. Katie was very outspoken politically whereas Hubbell was indifferent. She could have perhaps tried to be a little less outspoken, or at least less public about it, especially when it was negatively affecting Hubbell’s career and potentially their livelihood. Hubbell could have also tried, even a little bit, to learn about some of the issues that Katie was passionate about and tried to form an opinion–even if he wasn’t outspoken about it. Katie and Hubbell spent so much time arguing over each other’s differences, instead of finding common ground.

While I don’t disagree that Katie and Hubbell were truly in love, I think this is a case where two people can love each other deeply; but cannot be together. At the end, when Katie and Hubbell see each other, there is a brief moment of tenderness when they are reminded of their love for each other, despite the strife and unhappiness they endured together, i.e., “The Way We Were” as the title song says. However, that innocent drink that Katie offers is not that harmless. That drink has the potential to reignite Katie and Hubbell’s tumultuous relationship–after all, the film started with Katie and Hubbell having drinks together and starting their romance. Hubbell was wise to decline.

Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Movies (Pre-1980) Favorite Performers

The Master of Suspense Blogathon–Ingrid Bergman & Alfred Hitchcock

I way over-committed to blogging during April and May. I am so late with this post. It might not even be posted on Classic Film and TV Corner Presents’ page; but I wanted to finish it. Turning your homework in late is better than not at all, right? I was on vacation during the time of the blogathon, attending the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, in fact. I had every intention of writing this post ahead of time and scheduling it to post. Then, I just ran out of time. When I got back, I was tired. I had work. I had game night. Then I was sick for two days. Then I was sent on a last minute (literally, told Friday, left Sunday) work trip to California where I am now.

Anyway, I wanted to write about Ingrid Bergman and her multiple collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, the “Master of Suspense.” Their first collaboration was in 1945’s Spellbound, which starred Bergman with Gregory Peck. Spellbound was made during Hollywood’s obsession with psychoanalysis, psychiatry, psychology, and all of the other sciences involving the psyche. Some other memorable films dealing with this subject are The Dark Past (1948), High Wall (1947), Now Voyager (1942), The Three Faces of Eve (1957), The Snake Pit (1948), just to name a few.

Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman in “Spellbound.”

Bergman portrays Dr. Constance Petersen, a psychoanalyst working at the Green Manors mental hospital in Vermont. She regularly has to reject the advances of her co-worker which leads to her being deemed an ice queen. Her older colleague, Dr. Murchison, ends up retiring after suffering from nervous exhaustion. He is replaced by the much younger Dr. Anthony Edwardes (Gregory Peck). Obviously because he’s the male lead and he’s much hotter than every other guy in this movie, Anthony and Constance quickly become romantically involved. While kissing Anthony, Constance discovers that he has an odd phobia: parallel lines.

After Anthony’s phobia is revealed, Constance is on a quest to learn the truth about Anthony’s phobia. There are numerous twists and turns, complete with an amnesia storyline, a fantastic Salvador Dali-conceived surrealistic dream sequence, some excellent skiing scenes and an interesting look at dreams and psychoanalysis. Fitting with the dream motif, the haunting score featuring a theramin, provides a eerie, surreal feeling.

After Spellbound comes Bergman and Hitchcock’s best collaboration, Notorious (1946) co-starring Cary Grant and Claude Rains. This is an excellent film. A film noir, Notorious, stars Bergman, somewhat against type, as American party girl Alicia Huberman. She is the daughter of a convicted Nazi spy. Grant plays T.R. Devlin an American government agent who recruits Alicia to infiltrate the Nazi ring. She refuses at first; but ultimately relents when Devlin plays recordings of her insisting that she loves her country.

Because it’s Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, two actors known for appearing in some of the most romantic Hollywood films of all time, their characters of course fall in love. Hitchcock very adeptly defied the Production Code which prohibited scenes of prolonged kissing. “Prolonged” according to the very puritanical Production Code board meant that on-screen kisses could not last for more than three seconds. Bergman and Grant’s kiss lasted for over two and a half minutes! To get around this, Hitchcock had the actors deliver dialogue, nuzzle, take breaths, etc., every three seconds. Bergman and Grant reportedly felt awkward, but Hitchcock insisted that it was perfect. He was right. This scene is much sexier than if they’d just made out for two minutes.

Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman circumvent the Production Code in “Notorious.”

Eventually Alicia receives the assignment to seduce Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains), an associate of her father’s. Alex is more than happy to romance the much younger Alicia. Throughout the film, Devlin remains somewhat in the middle, as it’s sometimes not clear whether he’s genuinely in love with Alicia or whether it’s part of his work. Grant is very good at playing both sides. Rains makes an excellent villain. Bergman is of course excellent as the party girl caught in the middle of a love triangle with Devlin and Sebastian, as well as torn between her patriotism and love for her father.

In 1949, Ingrid Bergman completed her final collaboration with Hitchcock, Under Capricorn, co-starring Joseph Cotten and Michael Wilding. This film, unfortunately, is Bergman and Hitchcock’s least successful collaboration. I would even go a step further and say that it wasn’t even a very good film! Nothing seemed to happen until the last few minutes. This film is a period film, which seems like an odd choice for Hitchcock. Bergman doesn’t feel out of place in a period film, as she was very good in her Oscar-winning role in Gaslight in 1944. Unfortunately for Under Capricorn, it is no Gaslight.

Under Capricorn takes place in 1831 Sydney and stars Michael Wilding as Charles Adare, the second cousin of the new Governor, Sir Richard. In the mid-19th century, Sydney is overrun with ex-convicts from the British isles–so it is a rough place to be. Charles is in town because he wishes to make his fortune. He ends up meeting an ex-con, Samuel Flusky (Joseph Cotten), who is now a successful businessman.

Ingrid Bergman is probably the best part of “Under Capricorn,” an otherwise lackluster film.

Charles ends up meeting Samuel’s wife, Lady Henrietta (Bergman). Lady Henrietta is, to put it mildly, a mess. She is a drunk, social outcast, who is on the verge of just going completely insane. Bergman plays her like a slightly trashier version of her character, Paula, from Gaslight, except if she’d also turned to the bottle during her nervous breakdown. Poor Lady Henrietta, like Paula, has a maid who only contributes to her mental illness. Charles ends up befriending Lady Henrietta and helps restore her mental health. Eventually he uncovers a secret about Henrietta and Samuel.

Perhaps Under Capricorn would be more successful if Hitchcock’s reputation as the “Master of Suspense” hadn’t been so cemented in the minds of the audience. It doesn’t appear that Hitchcock intended for this film to be a thriller; however, the poster stating “Alfred Hitchcock’s Under Capricorn” carries the implication that this will be another Hitchcock film in the same vein as Rebecca and Shadow of a Doubt. Nothing happens in this film. Even the secret is kind of ho-hum. I won’t write this film off entirely; but if I wanted to watch Bergman in a Hitchcock film, I’d definitely choose Spellbound or Notorious over Under Capricorn.

In 1979, Ingrid Bergman hosted Alfred Hitchcock’s AFI Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony. The ceremony also featured tributes given by other “Hitchcock Stars” including Henry Fonda (The Wrong Man), Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh (Psycho), James Stewart (Rope, Vertigo, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much), John Forsythe (Topaz, The Trouble with Harry), Teresa Wright (Shadow of a Doubt), Norman Lloyd (Saboteur), Jane Wyman (Stage Fright), Rod Taylor (The Birds), Vera Miles (The Wrong Man, Psycho), Tippi Hedren (The Birds, Marnie) and Sean Connery (Marnie), Judith Anderson (Rebecca), and Cary Grant (Notorious, North by Northwest, To Catch a Thief, and Suspicion).

After the whirlwind of actors, Bergman was back with her closing remarks, which she directed towards Hitchcock:

Thank you. We must leave you now, but thanks to film, Hitch’s work never will. Now there’s just one little thing I want to add before we finish this evening. You remember that agonizing shot when you built some kind of elevator–it was a basket or something–with you and the cameraman, and you were shooting this vast party in “Notorious.” And you came zooming down, with your elevator, and your pull focus man…all the way down, into my hand, where you saw the key in a close-up…so that was an extreme long shot to close-up, just the key we saw now. Well, you know what? Cary stole that key after the scene! Yes, and he kept it for about 10 years and one day he put it in my hand and he said, “I’ve kept this long enough, now it’s for you for good luck.” I have kept it for 20 years and, in this very same hand, there is the key! I’m coming over… it has given me a lot of good luck, and quite a few good movies too, and now I’m going to give it to you with a prayer that it will open some very good doors for you too. God bless you, dear Hitch, I’m coming to give you the key.

Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Movies (Pre-1980)

Adventure-A-Thon, “The African Queen” (1951)

Cleopatra (1963), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Gone with the Wind (1939), The African Queen (1951). What do these wildly different films have in common? All were notoriously difficult films to make, all for different reasons. The African Queen didn’t have difficult stars like Cleopatra. It didn’t have a meddling producer like Gone with the Wind and it didn’t have technical issues to overcome like The Wizard of Oz. What The African Queen did have was a notoriously difficult on-location film shoot led by the ultimate adventurer, director John Huston.

Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart

Katharine Hepburn’s experience filming The African Queen alongside co-star, Humphrey Bogart, was so difficult in fact that it warranted an entire book detailing her ordeal. Hepburn’s book, The Making of ‘The African Queen,’ or How I Went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall, and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind, describes the challenging conditions that she faced while filming in the Belgian Congo. Hepburn relished the opportunity to go to Africa and film on-location; however, the experience ended up being more challenging than she ever could have imagined. Hepburn famously suffered from that classic Oregon Trail Game disease–dysentery.

During the filming, Katharine Hepburn repeatedly chastised Humphrey Bogart and John Huston for drinking so heavily during the shoot. To make her point, she drank large amounts of the local water, which was contaminated. During the opening scene where Hepburn’s character, plays piano at the church, a bucket had to be placed nearby (but off screen) so Hepburn could get sick between takes. Bogart and Huston wisely (?) opted to survive solely on liquor, baked beans, and canned asparagus in lieu of the local water and cuisine. Bogart was in disbelief that Hepburn, despite how ill she was, seemed to also be in her element and having the time of her life–despite having a run-in with a black mamba in the outhouse, causing her to have to run to some trees to relieve herself.

Humphrey Bogart’s wife, Lauren Bacall, went along on the shoot and did her part by playing a den mother type role. She helped cook and clean for the cast and crew. When she wasn’t cooking, the locals treated the cast and crew. Bacall was quoted as saying that they learned very quickly to not ask what they were eating.

As for Humphrey Bogart himself, he loathed the entire experience. He couldn’t believe that John Huston would drag them to that hell hole. He hated everything: the temperature, the food, the water, the humidity, all the venomous insects and creatures, you name it. He refused to allow Huston to cover him in real leeches for a scene. Bogart insisted on using rubber leeches. Huston wanted real leeches and even went as far as to hire a leech breeder with actor leeches. Eventually, Bogart was allowed to film the scene with rubber leeches, and then a close-up of the leech breeder’s chest with his actor leeches was used in lieu of Bogart.

In The African Queen, Katharine Hepburn plays Rose Sayer, an English missionary working in 1914 East Africa. At this time in history, East Africa was occupied by the Germans during World War I. Rose is at a small village with her brother, Samuel (Robert Morley), spreading the word of their Methodist religion. Humphrey Bogart plays Canadian (!) Charlie Alnutt, the owner and operator of “The African Queen” steam boat which drives up and down the river delivering supplies and mail to the villages. He warns Rose and Samuel that the Germans have declared war on Britain and they’re in danger. Samuel dies soon after from disease.

Needing to escape, Rose has no choice but to leave with Charlie on “The African Queen.” A majority of the film deals with Rose and Charlie having to not only get along, but work together to navigate the treacherous river. Rose and Charlie are polar opposites, personality-wise. Rose is prim and proper, whereas Charlie is a bit rough around the edges. Rose disapproves of Charlie’s heavy drinking. Charlie has to get used to having not only another person onboard; but a woman onboard. He does his best–making tea for Rose and offering her the covered part of the boat to sleep under.

Rose and Charlie grow closer on “The African Queen.”

Much of the fun of The African Queen is watching Rose and Charlie interact. Eventually they come to grow closer, perhaps having either found common ground with each other, or genuinely finding the other person’s eccentricities charming. Charlie and Rose have a particularly exciting evening one night when they work together to build torpedoes out of supplies on the boat, and then use the torpedoes to fight the Germans. They are victorious and end up embracing and sharing a romantic kiss. From then on, Charlie and Rose are now a romantic couple.

The ending of The African Queen is the climax when Rose and Charlie have to confront the large German gunboat, the Luise. The Luise is the only thing that stands between them and freedom. Rose and Charlie decide that the only way they have even a slight chance is if they ram “The African Queen” into the Germans’ boat. However, a storm hits and “The African Queen” capsizes. Rose and Charlie are separated. Eventually Charlie is found by the Germans and brought onboard the Luise. The Germans accuse Charlie of espionage. Charlie confesses, thinking that Rose has drowned and now he has nothing to live for.

However, Rose appears, having been recovered and brought aboard. She proudly announces their plot to sink the Luise. The Germans are not amused and declare that both Rose and Charlie should be executed for being British spies. Thinking he’s about to die and being in love with Rose, Charlie asks the captain to marry them before they are hanged. In one of the oddest wedding ceremonies ever featured in a film, Charlie and Rose are married as nooses are placed over their necks. Suddenly, the Luise hits something and starts to capsize. It seems that the hull of “The African Queen” is sticking out of the water and that is what the Luise struck. Charlie and Rose are able to escape their nooses and swim away from the wreckage in marital bliss.

Humphrey Bogart notably won the Best Actor Oscar in 1952, beating the likes of Marlon Brando for A Streetcar Named Desire, Montgomery Clift for A Place in the Sun, Arthur Kennedy for Bright Victory, and Fredric March for Death of a Salesman. I don’t know that I would have given Bogart the Oscar over Brando or Clift, both of whom are tremendous in their respective films. That’s not to say that Bogart isn’t great in The African Queen, he is fantastic; however, I think that he was awarded for the wrong film. Bogart, hands down, should have won for Treasure of the Sierra Madre a few years prior–and he wasn’t even nominated! It is easy to suspect that Bogart’s win for The African Queen might have been a nod to his entire career, versus that single performance.

This is the most ridiculous poster. At no time does Hepburn look like this in the movie. This looks like the cover of a romance novel.

Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Television

I Love Lucy Blogathon–My I Love Lucy Collection!

Last, but not least, here is my I Love Lucy collection!

Some of my I Love Lucy dolls, from left to right: “Lucy’s Italian Movie,” “LA at Last!,” “Lucy Does a TV Commercial,” “The Audition,” “Lucy Gets in Pictures,” “The Diet,” and “Lucy is Enciente.”

My dolls live on top of my physical media collection.
More dolls, left to right: “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress,” “Job Switching,” “The Operetta,” “Lucy Tells the Truth,” and “The Ballet.”
The Lucille Ball tribute doll and my newest doll, “Lucy Gets a Paris Gown.”
My Lucy books, including the hard to find copy of Desi Arnaz’ memoir, “A Book.”
More of my Lucy books!
I Love Lucy Cookbook!
Lucille Ball on LIFE magazine
My I Love Lucy and Lucille Ball movie collection!
My all-time favorite movie on blu ray!!
My complete set of the Hallmark I Love Lucy ornaments
My I Love Lucy boxes
Lucy and Ethel blanket
I Love Lucy plates
I Love Lucy metal sign
A drawing my sister made for me, a poster from the I Love Lucy Colorized Celebration Theater event in 2019 and another metal sign.
A candid photo of Desi and Lucy that hangs in my kitchen
This year’s calendar from the Lucy-Desi Museum
Lucy coffee mugs
I Love Lucy trading cards and magnets

NOT PICTURED (due to needing to find it):

Desilu sweatshirt
Lucy and Desi cartoon figurine tank top
I Love Lucy Board Game
I Love Lucy Trivia Game
Lucille Ball sheet of commemorative stamps issued by USPS

Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Television

I Love Lucy Blogathon–Top 5 Underrated Episodes of “I Love Lucy”

I’m here again with my second of three total posts about my all-time favorite television show–I Love Lucy! Everyone knows about the most famous moments of I Love Lucy–even people who have never seen an episode (they’re probably out there, hard to believe, I know), are probably aware of Vitameatavegamin. They’ve probably seen Lucy and Ethel struggling to wrap chocolates on the conveyor belt at Kramer’s Kandy Kitchen, or watched Lucy almost drown in the wine vat while stomping grapes with her large pizza-sized feet.

In this post, I wanted to highlight five underrated episodes which are just as funny as the more famous, iconic moments in the series. In this context, I’m considering “underrated” episodes to be ones that haven’t received a colorization and aren’t typically mentioned in any “Best of I Love Lucy” articles or other publications.

1. Home Movies. This is one of my favorite episodes of the entire series. It made me laugh the first time I saw it and it made me laugh the hundredth time I saw it. The episode opens with Fred and Ethel getting ready to go over to Lucy and Ricky’s for an evening of home movies–courtesy of the new film projector that Ricky has recently purchased. Fred is dreading the evening as he’s tired of watching the same home movies of Little Ricky. Fred and Ethel come up with a scheme to try and keep the conversation from lagging so that Ricky doesn’t have a chance to suggest his home movies. Unfortunately for them, they start eating Lucy’s caramels and are unable to speak. Ricky, having just purchased a new screen for his projector wants to try out the screen and once again plays the same home movies.

However, the evening ends up in shambles when Lucy falls asleep, while Fred and Ethel sneak out. Ricky is upset. He’s so upset in fact, that he informs Lucy, Fred and Ethel that he’s planning to make a television pilot film and he was going to use them as actors; but has since changed his mind. Discouraged and also never missing a chance to get into show business, Lucy decides that she will also make a television pilot film, starring herself, Fred and Ethel. She will then splice her film into Ricky’s so that he will unknowingly screen both films for the television producer.

Lucy, Fred and Ethel decide to make a western-themed show. Lucy paints a hilarious backdrop of a saloon (frankly, Lucy should look into being a backdrop artist. She’s a great painter). She and Ethel play cowboys, Tex and Nevada, respectively. They play out a typical Western scenario of two cowboys singing “I’m an Old Cowhand,” then playing cards and smoking. Nevada accuses Tex of cheatin’ which leads to a duel. Fred plays the sheriff who bursts into the saloon and wants to arrest Tex and Nevada.

Then we see Lucy at work running a film splicer and cutting the films together. However, we don’t see the end product until Ricky screens it for the producer. This film is hilarious. It starts with Ricky singing “Vaya Con Dios,” then goes into Lucy’s video, then back to Ricky, then Little Ricky, back to Lucy, then all of a sudden, it really goes haywire. The sound is mixed up with Lucy’s sound playing on top of Ricky’s video. There are random shots of Little Ricky. Then the film and sound start playing backwards, with the hilarious shot of Lucy’s cigarette smoke going back into her mouth. Then the film is sped up, then abruptly ends with Ricky’s “This is a Ricky Ricardo Production!” and Fred’s “I Got Wind of It!”

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2. Mr. and Mrs. TV Show. This episode begins with Lucy secretly having lunch at 21 (offscreen) with an executive who is acquainted with Carolyn Appleby. The executive, Harvey Cromwell, wants to do a show with Ricky. Lucy tells Ricky and is incensed when he wants to do the show, but without her. Eventually however, the executives come up with a concept for their show, a Mr. and Mrs. morning show, featuring Ricky and Lucy. Ricky is reluctant, but Cromwell insists, saying it is a “Mr. and Mrs. Show or else!” He has to convince Lucy to be a part of the show without telling her the truth. He feigns enthusiasm at her singing and makes her think that he’s going to demand that Lucy be added to the show.


Next, we see a common plot device on I Love Lucy, with Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel running through the entire show as written with no mistakes. Next up is the dress rehearsal before filming–or so they think. Cromwell tells Ricky (and only Ricky), that the “dress rehearsal” will be the actual show. They don’t want Lucy, Fred and Ethel to know they’re being filmed. It is right before the “dress rehearsal” when Lucy discovers that Ricky didn’t want her on the show after all. To get back at him, she decides to perform a different version of the show–with hilarious results. Lucy’s new performance brings my favorite line, “I woke up this morning feeling real blah. Felt like a real slob.”

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3. Bullfight Dance. This episode takes place during the Hollywood season. In this episode, Lucy is approached by Ricky’s agent to write an article called “What It’s Like to Be Married to Ricky Ricardo.” Lucy sees this as a golden opportunity. Lucy’s article is meant to promote the Heart Fund benefit that Ricky will be headlining. Lucy of course wants to be involved. Ricky of course says no. Lucy decides to blackmail Ricky by writing two versions of her article–one flattering to Ricky and the other not.

Not wanting bad publicity, Ricky concedes to Lucy’s demands. At first he asks her if she wants to do a musical number with him. He suggests a number where she sings “Humoresque” and he’ll sing “Swanee River.” Anyone familiar with these two songs will know that they both have the same medley, just different lyrics. The idea with this number is that the two performers will be singing their respective songs and then they’ll have moments of harmonization. However, Lucy keeps getting mixed up and starts singing Ricky’s song. Eventually, Ricky suggests a different number–a matador themed number. He’ll be the matador and Lucy will be the bull. Annoyed about her perceived demotion, Lucy decides to feminize the ferocious bull and steal Ricky’s thunder. She makes hilarious changes to the bull, including adding big eyelashes, lips, and a hat with flowers on it.

—

4. Ricky Thinks He’s Getting Bald. In this episode, Ricky starts becoming self-conscious that his hairline is receding. Lucy thinks he’s nuts; but he can’t be convinced. He’s driving her crazy, insisting on wearing hats inside to hide his perceived baldness. To try and cure him, she decides that she’s going to purchase the most disgusting, most painful hair restoration treatment she can find.

While at the hair restoration store, she meets Mr. Thurlough, the hair restorer man. Mr. Thurlough thinks that Lucy’s talking about herself when she explains that she needs to find a treatment for someone who thinks they’re going bald. After explaining to him that it really is for her husband and not her, he tells her an anecdote about another woman and her alleged balding husband. Apparently, to convince this man that he actually had a lot of hair, the wife invited a bunch of actually bald men so he could compare. Lucy decides to do the same thing and has Mr. Thurlough hook her up with some of his bald clients. This plan fails.

At her wit’s end, Lucy decides to follow through on her original plan, to make Ricky go through the grossest, smelliest, most painful hair restoration treatment. She sits him down and starts going to work. She essentially makes a salad dressing on top of his head with oil, vinegar, and eggs. Then, she makes a mustard plaster and has Ricky put a nylon over his head. This leads to the funniest scene in the episode when Ricky pulls the nylon all the way over his face–scaring Lucy. Eventually, he covers his head in the mustard plaster and puts a heat cap on top of it, so he can bake.

—

5. Lucy Raises Tulips. The penultimate episode features Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel living in the country in Connecticut. Lucy and Ricky own a large home with Fred and Ethel living in the good-sized guest home on the property. Lucy has entered the annual tulip competition, a competition which has been won by her neighbor Betty Ramsey, every year. Lucy is determined to win. The judges will be visiting her home in the next day or two and she wants Ricky to mow the lawn so that it looks nice. However, Ricky is procrastinating.

Lucy ends up trying to mow the lawn herself and runs amuck on the machine. After getting home from driving on the Boston Post Road against traffic, Lucy accidentally mows through Betty’s tulip garden. She comes up the idea to replace Betty’s yellow tulips with lifelike wax ones from the nearby store. Since Lucy was only able to mow half the lawn, Ricky opts to finish the job, however he does it in the dark, so dark it was darker than the inside of his sombrero. Unfortunately for Lucy, Ricky has accidentally mowed right through her tulip bed. To cover up his indiscretion, he decides to replace the flowers with lifelike pink wax tulips, resembling Lucy’s. Both Lucy and Betty are now competing with wax flowers.

Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Television

I Love Lucy Blogathon–“My Answers to the I Love Lucy Tag”

When I learned that “The Classic Movie Muse” was holding an I Love Lucy blogathon, I knew I had to participate. I knew I had to participate enough that apparently, I felt compelled to submit three, count ’em THREE articles. Fortunately, if there’s one thing I know, it’s I Love Lucy, so it’s not requiring a lot of research or time on my part. I thought I’d start with the answers to The Classic Movie Muse’s I Love Lucy tag, as it’d be relatively easy to do.

The I Love Lucy Tag:

Q: When did you first start watching I Love Lucy?
A: I started watching “I Love Lucy” at around age 10-ish, so 1994, when I discovered it one evening on Nick at Nite. The first episode I saw was “L.A. at Last!” with guest star William Holden. I thought the episode and Lucy in particular, was HILARIOUS. From then on, I was a Nick at Nite devotee, I watched ‘Lucy’ every night, and then the “Whole Lotta Lucy” Saturdays, with two episodes of ‘Lucy’ and an episode of the “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” I also loved Nick at Nite’s Block Party Summer, because ‘Lucy’ was always featured, meaning that there were 3 hour blocks of ‘Lucy’ every week, AND “Whole Lotta Lucy Saturday.”

Q: What are your favorite I Love Lucy episodes?
A: My favorite I Love Lucy episodes are:

  1. L.A. at Last! (the burning nose episode with William Holden)
  2. Ethel’s Birthday (the infamous hostess pants episode)
  3. Lucy Wants a Paris Gown (Lucy and Ethel get faux Jacques Marcell Parisian dresses made of burlap)
  4. The Black Wig (Lucy tries out the “New Italian Haircut”)
  5. The Million Dollar Idea (Lucy and Ethel try to sell Aunt Martha’s Old Fashioned Salad Dressing)
  6. Fred and Ethel Fight (Lucy and Ricky try to get the feuding Mertzes back together and end up in a fight themselves)
  7. Tennessee Ernie Visits & Tennessee Ernie Hangs On (I love Ernie Ford, he’s hilarious)
  8. Home Movies (Lucy and the Mertzes make their own Western-themed television pilot)
  9. The Star Upstairs (CORNEL WILDE IS IN THE PENTHOUSE)
  10. In Palm Springs (Would you like a piece of Rock, Mr. Candy?)

Q: What’s your favorite Lucy disguise or costume?
A: I love all of the ridiculous rubber masks she wears in the “Harpo Marx” episode when Carolyn Appleby visits Hollywood (enroute to Hawaii) and wants to meet all the stars that Lucy has been hobnobbing with, per the postcards she’s written to friends back home. After getting Carolyn’s glasses away from her, Lucy disappears. While she’s gone, big stars like Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, and Jimmy Durante stop over (obviously all Lucy in a rubber mask). The entire thing is absurd, but is the showcase for my favorite Lucy impression–her Clark Gable impression. “Gotta little laryngitis, baby!” This also leads into Lucy’s fabulous Harpo Marx costume (and actual costume, not a mask), where she ends up reenacting the famous mirror bit from “Duck Soup” with Harpo himself. Harpo just happens to be at the hotel performing in a benefit.

Q: If you could own one prop from the show, what would it be?
A: I want to own that bizarre device from “The Marriage License” that Lucy finds while she’s cleaning out her desk. Neither she nor Ethel know what it is; but Lucy can’t throw it away “because it might be something I need!”

Q: Which secondary character do you enjoy the most?
A: I love Tennessee Ernie. He is hilarious. “Normally I toss and turn, but not in that thing!”

Q: You’re planning a get together with Lucy, Ricky, Fred & Ethel. What is the order of the day?
A: This is assuming that I am alive in the 1950s and lived in the I Love Lucy-universe, obviously. I would plan this party while the gang is still in Hollywood. This is an all-day extravaganza. First we’d go down to the pool, to see who’s hanging out, since all the stars seem to be poolside at the Beverly Palms. Then we’d go to the Brown Derby so that I could be a “Johnny Jump Up” with Lucy and Ethel. I want to try the famous Derby Cobb Salad. I would also be like Lucy and look at all the caricatures on the wall. I would hob with every nob that was worth hobbing with. Then, we’d all go down to Grauman’s Chinese Theater, so that I could sit on Bill Holden and maybe see a movie. After that, we’d go back to the hotel and hope that we run into Bobby the bellboy. Then, because I always wanted to go to one of those big Hollywood clubs, we’d all go to the Mocambo, using Ricky’s clout of course to get in. I’d play “Mother, May I?” when choosing between Fred or Ricky to dance with, obviously, after I was done saying “My mother told me to pick YOUUUU!” I’d dance with Ricky. Hopefully, Ricky will be summoned to the stage to sing a couple numbers, preferably “Babalu.” By then, it’ll be time to return to the hotel and call it a day.

Q: Which I Love Lucy catchphrase do you find yourself using the most?
A: I don’t know if it’s a catchphrase per se, but I find myself using the “are you having trouble with your liver?” line from “Lucy Writes a Play” a lot. I also use Lucy’s “Mertz?!” line from “In Palm Springs” a lot. Finally, I enjoy the entire exchange in “Home Movies,” with “Smile when you say that,” “no man can say that to me,” and “Are you accusin’ me of cheatin’?”

Q: What’s your favorite musical moment from the show?
A: I love the “I’m an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande” song from “Home Movies” as well as Lucy’s lip-syncing to Carmen Miranda’s “Mamãe Eu Quero” from “Be a Pal.”

Q: If I Love Lucy had a “lost episode” that you could watch, what kind of plot would you want?
A: I would love to see an episode featuring Albert and his wife from apartment 4B. “Albert! Albert! Are you coming?” “I told you I’d be there in a minute!” OH FOR HEAVEN’S SAKES ALBERT, GO EAT YOUR LUNCH!

Q: What’s something you’ve learned from I Love Lucy about comedy, relationships or life?
A: That good friends are worth keeping and investing in the relationship. To this day, I have never been friendless. I have friends.

Q: Why do you think I Love Lucy has remained popular for so many generations?
A: I think it has remained popular because Lucy’s humor is timeless. Even as crazy as Lucy Ricardo can be, all of her schemes start from a plausible premise and go awry–something that could conceivably happen to anyone. Take “Million Dollar Idea” as an example. Lucy makes good salad dressing. She and the Mertzes think that there’s money to be made. Lucy and Ethel figure out that they can use their connections with Carolyn Appleby and her husband to get on TV to market the dressing. Only they underestimate the cost of overhead and production and don’t markup their product enough. They also underestimate their demand. They try to “unsell” it, only to get MORE orders.

Also, save for the occasional reference to a 1950s figure like Kinsey, or Harry S. Truman, or Mamie and Dwight Eisenhower, I Love Lucy isn’t topical. There aren’t episodes talking about the Red Scare, or the Korean War or anything like that. That’s why shows such as All in the Family from the 1970s that very much dealt which issues at the time can feel outdated and younger generations can’t even connect with it. I Love Lucy doesn’t have that issue. Lucille Ball and I Love Lucy are like the famous silent film comedians (Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd) who have all endured, even 100 years later. Funny is funny, no matter the time period.

Finally, I think that Lucy and Desi’s decision to film the show versus using kinescope is one of the biggest reasons that the show endures. Look at The Honeymooners, a show considered to be groundbreaking and a major sitcom of the 1950s. However, it was filmed on kinescope, so the quality is really really poor. While The Honeymooners is known and episodes can probably be seen here and there, nobody is clamoring to rewatch old episodes of a 70-year old show on kinescope.

What is this thing?
Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Movies (Pre-1980)

Favorite Stars in ‘B’ Movies Blogathon–“The Comedy of Terrors” (1963)

A ‘B’ movie is typically a low-budget film, often sharing half of a double bill with the ‘A’ movie. The ‘B’ movie would be screened first, assuming that the audience would sit through it to get to the ‘A’ movie. ‘A’ movies starred the A-list actors, like Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Cary Grant, to name a few. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, Westerns, Science Fiction, and Horror were popular ‘B’ movie genres. One of the biggest stars of the 1950s-1970s wave of ‘B’ horror movies was Vincent Price.

Price was an A-list actor during the 1940s appearing in such films as Laura (1944), Leave Her to Heaven (1945), and Dragonwyck (1946), all co-starring Gene Tierney. Price also appeared in other A-list films like The Three Musketeers (1948) with Gene Kelly and Lana Turner, and Song of Bernadette (1943) with Jennifer Jones. During the late 1950s, Price segued into the B horror movie part of his career with films like The Fly (1958) and House on Haunted Hill (1959).

Vincent Price during the 1940s

What I love about Vincent Price’s B movie career is that he looks like he’s having so much fun in his roles. In interviews he made it clear that he appeared in these films to fund his main hobby and interest, which was collecting art. During his lifetime, Price was a world-renowned art collector and commissioned custom works from artists such as Salvador Dali. Price didn’t particularly set out to be an A-list, highly respected actor. He used his acting talents to fund the other pursuits in his life. I am confident that this is why Price appeared to be having fun in his films, because he didn’t care whether the film was seen as “good.” He knew the film would make him money, which was his goal. This isn’t to say that Price phoned in is performances. His natural charisma, screen presence, and fantastic voice made him an entertaining actor to watch on screen.

Many of Vincent Price’s most memorable 1950s-1970s horror films were made with producer Roger Corman, who produced dozens of memorable films at American International Pictures (AIP). Corman and Price collaborated on a series of films based on Edgar Allan Poe films including House of Usher (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), my personal favorite, The Raven (1963), and The Tales of Terror (1962).

Peter Lorre and Vincent Price

The stars of The Tales of Terror, Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone, reunited in 1963 for The Comedy of Terrors. Boris Karloff, a major star in his own right, joined the trio. Lorre, Rathbone, and Karloff all regularly appeared in A-list productions and were stars in their own right. The Comedy of Terrors is so zany, it had to be a fun production for all four of the actors. 1930s comedian Joe E. Brown has a cameo as a graveyard employee. The cherry on top is director Jacques Tourneur, who had experience directing horror films such as the Val Lewton-produced films, Cat People (1942), I Walked with a Zombie (1943), and The Leopard Man (1943). He also directed the moody film noir Out of the Past (1947) and the snow-covered Nightfall (1956).

In The Comedy of Terrors, Vincent Price and Peter Lorre play Waldo Trumbull and Felix Gillie, respectively. Trumbull and Gillie are a pair of undertakers who run the funeral parlor, Trumbull and Gillie. Their operating funds are limited, so limited in fact, that they only have one coffin. When someone dies, Trumbull and Gillie show up with their coffin. The decedent’s burial ceremony takes place and their coffin is lowered into the ground. At night, Trumbull and Gillie return to dig up the grave, dump out the body, and take back the coffin to reuse on a future customer. However, “future customers” are comprised of people killed by Trumbull.

Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and Vincent Price

Boris Karloff plays Amos Hinchley, the elderly and senile former owner of Trumbull and Gillie’s funeral parlor. Trumbull is also Hinchley’s son-in-law as he is unhappily married to Hinchley’s daughter, Amaryllis (Joyce Jameson). A running gag throughout the film is Trumbull’s attempts to poison Hinchley via some “medicine” dumped into his drink. Trumbull’s medicine bottle is clearly labeled with the word “poison.” He eagerly wants to inherit Hinchley’s fortune, but needs him out of the way.

Eventually, Trumbull and Gillie discover that their rent is in arrears and their landlord, John Black (Basil Rathbone), is demanding payment, otherwise they’ll be evicted. To kill two birds with one stone (so to speak), Trumbull and Gillie come up with a plan to kill Black. By killing him, they’ll solve their eviction issue as well as their money issue. However, there’s a problem–Black just won’t die.

The Comedy of Terrors is hysterical. Between Basil Rathbone’s refusal to die and Trumbull and Gillie’s constant attempts to kill him, the story is just non-stop insanity and nonsense. Adding to the comedy is Trumbull’s constant drunkenness. The story is definitely on the macabre side; however Vincent Price’s dry delivery of his lines and Peter Lorre’s constant disbelief at what is happening, makes the film. Adding to the hilarity is just how unscrupulous Price’s character is. He drums up business by murdering wealthy people so that he can apply for the job as undertaker and conduct his coffin scam. He then receives the payment, spends it all on booze, then drinks all of it without sharing.

Buddy the Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure was not a fan of Joyce Jameson’s operatic singing!

I recognized Joyce Jameson as one of the “Fun Girls” on The Andy Griffith Show. In The Comedy of Terrors, her character, Amaryllis, is an aspiring opera singer. She practices her operatic singing throughout the film–much to Trumbull’s chagrin. Also, much to my bird’s chagrin as well. He kept screaming in anger every time she sang. Boris Karloff as Amaryllis’ father is hilarious. His character’s senility lends to humorous moments, such as when he delivers the eulogy at Mr. Black’s funeral. His eulogy is long-winded, stammering, and completely all over the place. Later, he delivers Trumbull’s comeuppance in a very funny scene.

The Comedy of Terrors is a bit of a misnomer, as there is no terror in this film. There is nothing scary whatsoever about this film. However, it is full of comedy and a fun late career film for the four leads. Three of the film’s stars, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, and Basil Rathbone, would pass away within six years of the film’s release. Vincent Price would continue making films for almost the next 30 years, until his passing in 1993.

Rhubarb the cat, who also played “Cat” in Breakfast at Tiffanys has a memorable role in The Comedy of Terrors

Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Television

11th Annual Favorite TV Show Episode Blogathon–Mama’s Family, “The Big Nap”

The character of Thelma “Mama” Harper originated as a reoccurring skit, “The Family,” on The Carol Burnett Show. Mama and “The Family” made their debut in 1974 in the skit entitled, “Phillip’s Visit.” The original iteration of Mama featured her as a ill-tempered, somewhat senile, and very quick to insult anyone, even members of her family. Vicki Lawrence, then in her 20s (!) played Mama, with Carol Burnett as Eunice and Harvey Korman as Eunice’s husband, Ed.

The 1983-1984 cast of “Mama’s Family.”

In 1983, “The Family” sketch was spun-off into a television sitcom, Mama’s Family, starring Vicki Lawrence, now in her 30s, playing the 60-something Mama. Korman appeared at the beginning of each episode as “Alistair Quince,” to introduce the next installment of Mama’s Family. Korman and Burnett would appear sporadically as Eunice and Ed. New family members were added, including Mama’s son, Vinton aka “Vint” (Ken Berry), neighbor and soon-to-be Vint’s new wife, Naomi (Dorothy Lyman), and Vint’s teenaged children, Buzz (Eric Brown) and Sonja (Karin Argoud). Future stars of The Golden Girls, Betty White and Rue McClanahan, played Mama’s daughter Ellen and Mama’s sister Fran, respectively.

The 1986-1990 cast of “Mama’s Family.”

This iteration of Mama’s Family ran for two seasons until it was canceled. The first two seasons were put into reruns and unexpectedly performed well. A couple years later, in 1986, show producer Joe Hamilton (also Carol Burnett’s ex-husband) revived the series for first-run syndication. Hamilton retooled the series. The character of Mama was softened to be less mean and more caring towards her family. However, she was still quick with a smart and witty retort. Vint’s children were removed from the series and never mentioned again. In the original series, Vint was more intelligent and more apt to stand up to his mother. In the new version, Vint is a bit of a dope; but is more loveable. The Naomi character was changed from being sassy and also willing to stand up to Thelma to being a bit of a bimbo and more shrill.

By now, Betty White and Rue McClanahan were busy on The Golden Girls, so their characters did not make an appearance in the new version of the series. Carol Burnett and Vicki Lawrence were somewhat estranged during this time, so Burnett’s character, Eunice, was only mentioned by name. White’s character, Ellen, was also only mentioned by name. McClanahan’s character, Fran, was killed off in the first episode of the new series, with the group arriving home from her funeral. Fran died after choking on a toothpick at the local watering hole, The Bigger Jigger. New characters were added to the series, neighbor Iola (Beverly Archer) and Mama’s grandson (Eunice’s son), Bubba (Allan Kayser). In my opinion, the second version of the series is the best version of the series.

Naomi, Vint, and Mama in “The Big Nap.”

Now onto the episode of Mama’s Family I wanted to discuss, “The Big Nap.” This episode originally aired on January 20, 1990. Throughout the second iteration of the series, Mama is established to be a big fan of classic film. She and Iola watch Bette Davis in “Now Voyager” in an episode on Valentine’s Day and in another episode, Mama falls asleep in the middle of a Deanna Durbin marathon. In “The Big Nap,” Mama is ready to settle in for another evening of the “Private Eye Film Festival,” featuring a triple feature of private eye films. Mama says that she’s planning to watch “Danger My Lovely,” “Murder My Pretty,” and “Kiss Me, Vicious.” The previous night she watched “Kiss of Danger,” “Murder My Vicious,” and “Kill Me, My Lovely.” These films are obviously all fictitious titles, but are similar to well-known film noir titles (“Murder My Sweet,” “Kiss Me Deadly,” “Kiss of Death,” etc.).

Detective T. Harper in “The Big Nap.”

Before Mama starts watching her films, neighbor Iola shows up with some startling news: her notoriously large and reclusive mother is missing. While Vint, Naomi, Bubba and Iola are out looking for her, Mama settles in her her movie marathon. Soon, we hear some stereotypical film noir music and typical private eye type narration. It’s obviously fake audio made for the episode, but it sets the tone for the type of film Mama is watching. Mama then starts to feel guilty for not spending her time looking for Iola’s mother. She is then reminded of another private eye film she watched. This then segues into Mama daydreaming about being a private eye.

The scene transitions into sepia tone. Mama provides the narration for the story. She is “T. Harper,” Private Eye. She dons a fedora and trench coat and begins investigating her new case. She works from her home, aka her “showplace,” because she prefers it. Mama’s narration is very funny and uses a lot of the common film noir tropes: slang, metaphors, a jaded tone, her personal thoughts as to what’s going on, a feeling of weariness, etc.

“Things got so bad, I took up hitting the sauce. Just my luck, it needed oregano and I was out.”

Mama then says this funny line:

“This was a job for my girl Friday. Her name was Tuesday. She started on a Monday, and by Wednesday, she’d asked for Thursday off.”

Miss Neighborly

Very cleverly, all the other family members and Iola are seen as characters in Mama’s dream, sporting their familiar character traits. Naomi is Tuesday, Mama’s Girl Friday. She speaks with a thick Brooklyn accent and is a complete bimbo. She’s seen perched at a typewriter, which is what she was doing in the episode prior to Mama’s daydream. Tuesday’s boyfriend, is Vint aka “Johnny Deadbolt,” a take-off of Vint’s job as a locksmith. Johnny is a typical dimwitted gangster. Mama’s neighbor, Iola, shows up in the femme fatale role, as “Miss Neighborly,” a take-off of Mary Astor’s “Miss Wonderley” from The Maltese Falcon. Miss Neighborly has hired Mama to find her mother. Iola’s tendency to whip up meals on the fly is spoofed with her randomly making an eggplant parmigiana in Mama’s kitchen. Throughout Mama’s dream, Miss Neighborly keeps making random meals. She also pays Mama for her work on the case in coupons. Finally, Bubba is Miss Neighborly’s brute of a “chauffeur,” a local hood named Lucky. He also uses a New York-esque accent. All the characters are suspects in Mama’s eyes.

“Coupons. More coupons than I’d ever seen in my whole life. Thirty-cents off cornflakes. Fifty cents off ground chuck. Why, there was even a two-for-one on oregano?”

Mama’s dream ends with her identifying Miss Neighborly as the culprit. She also figures out that Miss Neighborly’s mother wasn’t missing–in fact, she had no mother. Tapping into Iola’s homemaker traits, Miss Neighborly is revealed to have invented a mother who developed fantastic recipes that were shared with the world. Her mother was a sensation, and Miss Neighborly became tired of not getting any credit, so she concocted this story to get rid of her mother.

“I wanted to be more than an orphan. I wanted to be the finest cook in America and make a fortune on my recipes…I was tired. Tired of her getting all the glory. They were my recipes. It was my book. She didn’t create caramel crab cake surprise. I did. Me, the daughter. But mother said, ‘The daughter had to stay in the background.’ But I am the mother. And the daughter. Mother, daughter. Mother, daughter…”

The episode ends with Naomi, Vint, Bubba, and Iola returning, stating that they’d located Iola’s mother. It seems that she heard the ice cream truck and had followed it, until realizing she was three blocks away. Tired, she stopped in the Donut Hut, seated on the first three stools. Mama decides that she’d be better off watching a Shirley Temple Film Festival, instead of a Private Eye Film Festival.

Categories
Blogathon Favorite Classic Movies (Pre-1980) Favorite Performers

The Silent Pioneers Blogathon–“Safety Last!” (1923)

Mention the name “Harold Lloyd” to anyone even remotely acquainted with classic film, and it will instantly conjure up the image of a bespectacled man, sporting a straw boater hat, hanging from a large clock. I would argue that this image of Lloyd hanging from the clock in Safety Last! (1923) is one of the all-time most iconic images of the silent film era. It is up there with Charlie Chaplin’s “Tramp” playing with the dinner rolls in The Gold Rush (1925) and Buster Keaton’s “Stoneface” standing on the front of a train’s cowcatcher in The General (1926).

In many of his films, Harold Lloyd plays a fictional version of himself. The “Harold Lloyd” character features a young man wearing round horn-rimmed glasses, a straw boater hat, and a suit. Unlike Chaplin’s Tramp character which conveyed his character’s destitution, via a disheveled, ill-fitting suit, too-large shoes, and a bowler hat, designed to illicit sympathy, Lloyd’s character was meant to be more innocent, more boyish, more romantic. Whereas Chaplin’s Tramp was always trying to find work, make a living, find romance, Lloyd’s character never had those same struggles. He almost always already has a job, girlfriend, etc. His comedy comes from his character’s naivete, which leads to him getting into some crazy situations. Keaton’s “Stoneface” character is somewhat in the middle, not as pathetic or as sweet as Chaplin’s “Tramp,” but not as friendly and innocent as Lloyd. His characters were often just struggling to fit in–leading to him getting into some wild situations.

Harold Lloyd hangs from the clock in “Safety Last!”

Harold Lloyd’s name is often mentioned alongside Chaplin and Keaton’s, but it always seems to be listed as a distant third. There’s Chaplin and Keaton…then Harold Lloyd. I would like to argue that this isn’t fair and Lloyd deserves to be mentioned alongside both Chaplin and Keaton in the same breath. Lloyd’s unique brand of physical comedy, while different than Chaplin and Keaton’s, was innovative and furthered the way that physical comedy was filmed and portrayed on screen. One of Lloyd’s most innovative and impressive physical comedy stunts was captured in what is arguably his most famous film–Safety Last!

Safety Last! opens with Harold Lloyd and his fiancée, Mildred (Mildred Davis to whom Lloyd would be married from 1923 until her death in 1969) at the train station, saying goodbye. Harold is leaving their small town of Great Bend and moving to the big city–in hopes of making it big. His goal is to be successful, send for Mildred, and marry her. Harold arrives in the big city and manages to find work at the fabric counter at De Vore Department Store. There is a floorwalker, Mr. Stubbs, from whom Harold often has to hide or conduct some tomfoolery to stay out of trouble. Mr. Stubbs seems to have it in for Harold from the get-go.

Months pass and Harold still hasn’t been promoted from the fabric counter. Day in and day out he cuts fabric for the picky female clientele–and heaven help him if there’s a sale. To maintain the charade of becoming both successful professionally and financially, Harold has been spending his meager earnings on expensive gifts to send to Mildred. He cannot even afford to pay rent on his apartment and has resorted to pawning his personal belongings.

Harold Lloyd tries to maintain order at the fabric counter during a sale at De Vore Department Store.

Harold’s fibbing about his finances and success backfires when Mildred arrives in town on the train, hoping to marry the successful Harold. To save face, he pretends to be the store manager. While retrieving Mildred’s purse from the manager’s office, Harold overhears the store manager proclaiming that he would pay someone $1000 ($18,900 in 2025) if they could come up with a plan to attract attention to the department store.

Harold comes up with a plan. He is going to call his friend Bill, who recently scaled the side of a multi-story building to escape from the police. Harold offers to give Bill half of the $1000 payout if he will perform the stunt and scale the side of the 12-story building that De Vore Department Store occupies. However, on the day of the stunt, Bill is detained by police and doesn’t show up–leaving Harold to perform the stunt himself.

Harold horrifyingly starts swinging by his ankle from the top of the building.

Harold Lloyd performed the stunt himself. However, he was not climbing an actual 12-story building; but that does not mean that his stunt was any less dangerous. A series of different building facades were built on the rooftops of buildings of varying heights in downtown Los Angeles. Lloyd would then climb the facade. The facades were constructed near the edge of the building’s rooftop for purposes of the photography. There was a platform for Harold Lloyd should he fall, however, it provided a very small safety net as it would be very easy for Lloyd to fall and miss it completely, and he’d plummet to the ground. Trick photography was used to give the illusion that Lloyd was climbing the outside of the building. While Lloyd did perform most of the stunts himself, stuntmen were employed such as in the long shots of Harold on the outside of the building and when he is swinging (by his ankle) on the rope.

The famous clock scene was the last scene filmed. The clock was constructed on the rooftop of the Broadway Leasehold Building, a seven-story building in downtown Los Angeles. As of 2025, this building is still standing.