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LUCY AND DESI – Review – We Are Movie Geeks

Review

LUCY AND DESI – Review

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(Original Caption) Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz going over business matters. Picture from Lucy’s personal file.

So here’s the perfect companion to one of the big feature film “docudramas” from the last weeks of 2021. You may even consider it a “super bonus extra” for a proposed home video release. Ah, but it’s so much more than that. It delves into the history and legacy more thoroughly than any “squeezed into a brief timeline” big-screen treatment. Sure there are lots of clips from this duo’s greatest collaboration, which is still being adored by fans all over the planet every day, but there are historical artifacts that many of us have never seen and heard before. And happily, there are the early, early”pre-superstardom” snippets as the careers of these two began to converge and meld. These gems along with archival footage have been assembled by a talented comic actress who might be considered a “spiritual offspring” of the feminine half of the couple in question. Hey, these two still come to mind when examining their main medium’s history. In the arena of real-life couples who worked together, you’ve got Lunt and Fontanne on stage, in the movies there’s Bogie and Bacall and in television, particularly comedy, it all begins with (and some say is still dominated by). LUCY AND DESI.


It all starts with the enduring images of the two, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. There are countless clips of the Ricardos: Lucy trying to share the stage with Ricky at “the club”, Ricky exploding with a barrage of Spanish as he reveals Lucy’s newest scheme, Lucy hatches said plot with BFF neighbor Ethel Mertz. Then the filmmakers take us back to the duo’s modest, even desperate early times. Brother Fred (in an archival interview) tells of his sister Lucy almost becoming the head of the household when a target practice accident nearly takes everything from their grandfather’s Jamestown NY home. She’s determined to be a star, trying out for Broadway shows, modeling, and even creating a “wild west” persona “Montana” Ball to try and jumpstart a hopeful film career as she heads to LA. Not far from the US, young Desi flees the Cuban Revolution of 1933 and barely makes it to Miami, eking out a living by cleaning canary cages before his musical skills attract the attention of Xavier Cugat, leading to the formation of Desi’s own band. Fans only familiar with the sitcoms will be dazzled by the early images of the two, Lucy, a Technicolor flaming-red-haired movie goddess at MGM, and Desi, a gorgeous exotic untamed congo drum-pounding heartthrob. Home movie scenes and audio recordings (Desi on seeing Lucy for the first time, “Now, thas’ some hunka’ woman!”) chronicle their fiery romance, courtship, and marriage. We’re treated to an amazing montage of Lucy’s screen roles, many of which couldn’t quite capture her talents (leading lady or wisecracking supporting player). And there’s that TV show that never “went away”. We see the foundation being built for the Desilu empire, and its demise as the divorce almost derails the entertainment juggernaut. Though the heads of the company wouldn’t perform on camera, they still had a behind-the-scenes working relationship…for a time. The film provides an overview of their solo lives and careers leading up to their final days in the late 1980s.

Oh, that talented comic actress I mentioned earlier is none other than the “pride of Pawnee” Amy Poehler, known for her memorable TV work on SNL and “Parks and Recreations” in her impressive feature documentary debut. Though much of the story and materials are familiar, she brings a real vitality to the legend via access to those family treasures. Hearing the duo’s voices paired with the keenly selected clips adds an unexpected poignancy. Footage shot on the set of the 1960s “The Lucy Show” gives us Desi’s unexpected visit to the Studio, surprising the guest star (another show biz superstar), though Ms. B doesn’t look that pleased (maybe just indifferent). We get Ball’s work ethic, hinted at in Sorkin’s biopic, as she shockingly states that, “I’m not funny…I just work very hard”. And though he professionalism often caused many to label her the “B word’, I’d think that stands for “boss” as we see her presiding over a board meeting of Desilu shareholders just after Desi was bought out. .Ms. Poehler know when to sparingly utilize some great “talking head” subjects. Carol Burnett gushes over her “gypsy pal, Bette Midler tells of Lucy’s mentoring, while Charo (yes the “gootchie-gootchie gal”) sings the praises of Desi while strumming a guitar. Most prominently daughter Lucie Arnaz offers insights and anecdotes, while we only hear from brother Desi Junior. Plus we’re treated to news interviews with TV writers Madelyn Davis and Bob Carroll Jr., along with Lucy’s brother Fred, though it’s a shame that the last surviving TV cast member, Richard Keith (“Little Rick”) doesn’t appear. We really get a sense of the Desilu domination of early TV as Desi was the major force behind the three-camera filming setup (still used today) and (for better or worse) the rerun., That’s one of the sadder aspects of the tale as Desi had to remind folks that he wasn’t just the “lucky stiff’ riding the apron strings of his comic firebrand wife. And this helped accelerate the breakup that devastated fans. My only complaint with the film is its omissions of the post “I Love Lucy” careers of the two. Yes, Lucy’s follow-up sitcoms are here, but no mention of her feature film work: two comic romps with Bob Hope, the surprise hit YOURS MINE AND OURS (recently spoofed in LICORICE PIZZA), and the “megaflop” MAME (reportedly Desi tried to warn Lucy of the bomb, but she didn’t listen). Oh, and no mention of the mid-80s misfire sitcom comeback on ABC, “Life with Lucy” (perhaps that’s a good thing). Plus Desi stayed active behind the scenes in the late 60s show “The Mothers-In-Law”. Maybe it’s not a “knock” to wish this engaging and often moving non-fiction film was a bit longer. And really, couldn’t the world right now use a lot more of LUCY AND DESI? Babalooooo!!

3.5 Out of 4

LUCY AND DESI is now streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video

Jim Batts was a contestant on the movie edition of TV's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in 2009 and has been a member of the St. Louis Film Critics organization since 2013.