Lucy (film)
Encyclopedia
Lucy is a 2003
television film directed
by Glenn Jordan. It is based on the life and career of actress and comedian Lucille Ball
.
- Desi Arnaz
Show (The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour
). It is evident that all is not well between television's most famous couple, who send scathing messages to each other through a nervous pageboy. Co-stars Vivian Vance
and William Frawley
(Rebecca Hobbs and Russell Newman) comment on the tense situation backstage. However, all performers put on their best front as Desi introduces the cast for the last time, with Lucille (Rachel York
) gratefully accepting the audience's welcome.
The story then flashes back to 1925, when young Lucy (Madeline Zima
) was living in Celeron, New York. Her desire to perform leads her to an acting school in New York
, where she encounters an icy and condescending pupil named Bette Davis
(Priscilla Bonnett) and an unreceptive instructor, who deems her no good and sends her home. Her grandfather is sued for all he's worth after a tragic shotgun incident involving a child. The injured child is left permanently paralyzed and the court leaves them penniless; declaring them bankrupt. Lucy does not give up, and spends the 1930s working as a model and cigarette girl in New York City before landing a job as a Goldwyn Girl
and beginning her Hollywood career
.
After going through a few studios without achieving star recognition, she befriends Carole Lombard
(Vanessa Grey) and brings her family out west to live with her. After hiring a maid called Harriet (La Chanze), she meets a fellow contract player Desi Arnaz (Daniel Pino), who is co-starring with her in her latest film. Lucy and Desi begin their relationship together.
After recovering from Lombard's death in 1943, she moves to Metro Goldwyn Mayer and becomes a red-head for her new picture DuBarry Was a Lady
, with fellow comedian Red Skelton
(Mark Clare). All is not well on the home-front, however, what with Desi away in the service and persistent rumors of his infidelity. The death of her grandfather, Fred Hunt, and a devastating miscarriage
only makes matters worse.
After being released from MGM, silent movie legend Buster Keaton
(Ian Mune
) takes Lucy under his wing, convinced of her talent as a clown
. Her comedic skills further gestate on her new radio program, My Favorite Husband
. Lucy not only becomes more convinced of her comedic abilities, but of her desire to work with Desi to keep them together.
Gathering the radio team together, the idea for I Love Lucy
is formed and pitched to CBS
. Although skeptical of the public's readiness to buy Arnaz as Ball's husband, the couple set out to prove them wrong by performing musical and comedy routines on the road, and the network gives way, convinced the show will flop.
It proves a huge success, however, and remains a favorite for the next six years, overcoming a communist scare and even incorporating Lucille's real-life second pregnancy into the show, forever changing the shape of television.
By 1958, their company, Desilu had bought the former RKO studio
where Lucille had once worked, and continued to expand as a television empire. Lucy and Desi's relationship problems increase, however, with Desi's worsening alcoholism
and Lucille's fierce commitment to her craft making her more and more difficult to work with.
By 1960, it was obvious they could not go on, and prepared to end their show along with their marriage. The film concludes after the taping has ended, with Lucy and Desi walking out of the studio, hand in hand, no longer a couple but still friends, bonded for life by what they had accomplished.
2003 in film
The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
television film directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Glenn Jordan. It is based on the life and career of actress and comedian Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
.
Plot
Lucy opens in 1960, at the filming of the final Lucille BallLucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
- Desi Arnaz
Desi Arnaz
Desi Arnaz was a Cuban-born American musician, actor and television producer. While he gained international renown for leading a Latin music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, he is probably best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo on the American TV series I Love Lucy, starring with Lucille Ball, to...
Show (The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour
The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour is a CBS television situation comedy. The show is a collection of occasional specials rather than a regular series and originally served as part of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse...
). It is evident that all is not well between television's most famous couple, who send scathing messages to each other through a nervous pageboy. Co-stars Vivian Vance
Vivian Vance
Vivian Roberta Jones was an American television and theater actress and singer. Often referred to as “TV’s most beloved second banana,” she is best known for her role as Ethel Mertz, sidekick to Lucille Ball on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, and as Vivian Bagley on The Lucy...
and William Frawley
William Frawley
William Clement "Bill" Frawley was an American stage entertainer, screen and television actor. Although Frawley acted in over 100 films, he achieved his greatest fame playing landlord Fred Mertz for the situation comedy I Love Lucy.-Early life:William was born to Michael A. Frawley and Mary E....
(Rebecca Hobbs and Russell Newman) comment on the tense situation backstage. However, all performers put on their best front as Desi introduces the cast for the last time, with Lucille (Rachel York
Rachel York
Rachel York is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in City of Angels, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Les Misérables, Victor Victoria, Kiss Me, Kate, Sly Fox, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels...
) gratefully accepting the audience's welcome.
The story then flashes back to 1925, when young Lucy (Madeline Zima
Madeline Zima
Madeline Rose Zima is an American actress. She is mostly known for her six years as Grace Sheffield on the TV series The Nanny or more recently as Mia Lewis on the Showtime dramedy Californication and as Gretchen Berg on Heroes.-Early life:Zima was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Marie and...
) was living in Celeron, New York. Her desire to perform leads her to an acting school in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where she encounters an icy and condescending pupil named Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
(Priscilla Bonnett) and an unreceptive instructor, who deems her no good and sends her home. Her grandfather is sued for all he's worth after a tragic shotgun incident involving a child. The injured child is left permanently paralyzed and the court leaves them penniless; declaring them bankrupt. Lucy does not give up, and spends the 1930s working as a model and cigarette girl in New York City before landing a job as a Goldwyn Girl
Goldwyn Girls
The Goldwyn Girls were a musical stock company of female dancers employed by Samuel Goldwyn. Famous actresses whose career included a stint in the Goldwyn Girls include Lucille Ball, Paulette Goddard, Betty Grable, Ann Sothern, Jane Wyman, Virginia Bruce, Virginia Grey, Mary Meade, and Virginia...
and beginning her Hollywood career
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
.
After going through a few studios without achieving star recognition, she befriends Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard was an American actress. She was particularly noted for her comedic roles in the screwball comedies of the 1930s...
(Vanessa Grey) and brings her family out west to live with her. After hiring a maid called Harriet (La Chanze), she meets a fellow contract player Desi Arnaz (Daniel Pino), who is co-starring with her in her latest film. Lucy and Desi begin their relationship together.
After recovering from Lombard's death in 1943, she moves to Metro Goldwyn Mayer and becomes a red-head for her new picture DuBarry Was a Lady
DuBarry Was a Lady
DuBarry Was a Lady is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Herbert Fields and B.G. DeSylva. The musical starred Bert Lahr, Ethel Merman and Betty Grable, and the song "Friendship" was one of the highlights...
, with fellow comedian Red Skelton
Red Skelton
Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...
(Mark Clare). All is not well on the home-front, however, what with Desi away in the service and persistent rumors of his infidelity. The death of her grandfather, Fred Hunt, and a devastating miscarriage
Miscarriage
Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...
only makes matters worse.
After being released from MGM, silent movie legend Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
(Ian Mune
Ian Mune
Ian Barry Mune, OBE is a New Zealand character actor and director. He co-wrote and starred in Roger Donaldson's first film, Sleeping Dogs. He also directed Came a Hot Friday, which featured comedian Billy T. James as the Tainui Kid, and What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?, the sequel to Once Were...
) takes Lucy under his wing, convinced of her talent as a clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
. Her comedic skills further gestate on her new radio program, My Favorite Husband
My Favorite Husband
My Favorite Husband is the name of an American radio program and network television series. The original radio show, co-starring Lucille Ball, was the initial basis for what evolved into the groundbreaking TV sitcom I Love Lucy. The series was based on the novel Mr. and Mrs...
. Lucy not only becomes more convinced of her comedic abilities, but of her desire to work with Desi to keep them together.
Gathering the radio team together, the idea for I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
is formed and pitched to CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. Although skeptical of the public's readiness to buy Arnaz as Ball's husband, the couple set out to prove them wrong by performing musical and comedy routines on the road, and the network gives way, convinced the show will flop.
It proves a huge success, however, and remains a favorite for the next six years, overcoming a communist scare and even incorporating Lucille's real-life second pregnancy into the show, forever changing the shape of television.
By 1958, their company, Desilu had bought the former RKO studio
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
where Lucille had once worked, and continued to expand as a television empire. Lucy and Desi's relationship problems increase, however, with Desi's worsening alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and Lucille's fierce commitment to her craft making her more and more difficult to work with.
By 1960, it was obvious they could not go on, and prepared to end their show along with their marriage. The film concludes after the taping has ended, with Lucy and Desi walking out of the studio, hand in hand, no longer a couple but still friends, bonded for life by what they had accomplished.
Cast
- Rachel YorkRachel YorkRachel York is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in City of Angels, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Les Misérables, Victor Victoria, Kiss Me, Kate, Sly Fox, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels...
- Lucille BallLucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy... - Danny PinoDanny PinoDaniel G. "Danny" Pino is an Cuban American actor. 2002 saw him appear in London's West End in the theatre play called Up for Grabs with Madonna. In May 2003, Pino played Desi Arnaz in a CBS special on the life of Lucille Ball, Lucy: The Lucille Ball Story. Pino was born in Miami, Florida...
- Desi ArnazDesi ArnazDesi Arnaz was a Cuban-born American musician, actor and television producer. While he gained international renown for leading a Latin music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, he is probably best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo on the American TV series I Love Lucy, starring with Lucille Ball, to... - Ann DowdAnn DowdAnn Dowd is an American actress.She decided to become an actress while a premed student at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. She graduated in 1978 and went on to study at The Theatre School at DePaul University. In 1993 she won the Clarence Derwent Award for her performance...
- Dede - La Chanze - Harriett
- Madeline ZimaMadeline ZimaMadeline Rose Zima is an American actress. She is mostly known for her six years as Grace Sheffield on the TV series The Nanny or more recently as Mia Lewis on the Showtime dramedy Californication and as Gretchen Berg on Heroes.-Early life:Zima was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Marie and...
- Teen Lucy - Rebecca Hobbs - Vivian VanceVivian VanceVivian Roberta Jones was an American television and theater actress and singer. Often referred to as “TV’s most beloved second banana,” she is best known for her role as Ethel Mertz, sidekick to Lucille Ball on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, and as Vivian Bagley on The Lucy...