What I'm Watching: Lucy Redux

Of course I love Lucy - who doesn't?  I'm not obsessed with her as some people are - I once knew a fellow who had a whole room of his house devoted to Lucy memorabilia.  (I knew another fellow who turned his whole house into a Wizard of Oz wonderland.  It's a gay thing.)  But even after 70 years of reruns - the first I Love Lucy episode was broadcast on October 15, 1951 - I still laugh out loud at all of Lucy's comic turns and jibes, even though I know the routines by heart.  Few other comedians are still quite so funny after so many years have gone by.  A welcome antidote to the all-pervading sour-pussism of the deadly serious modern world.

So I note here a couple of new productions that extend our interest in Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz (without whom there would be no "Lucy") even further.  The first is a podcast on Turner Classic Movies by Ben Mankiewicz, successor to longtime TCM host Robert Osborne.  There have been nine weekly pocasts already and at least one more is yet to come.  You can listen to them for free on TCM, or on YouTube, as of the date of this post.  These are fascinating because TCM has scrounged up numerous never-before-heard sound clips of Lucille, as well as family, friends, and co-workers, talking about her life and career from childhood to old age.

 

And on December 21st comes the debut of Being the Ricardos, an Amazon Prime production starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem.  I am always a bit wary of such latter-day reinterpretations, but I will reserve judgment until I've seen it.  Here is the trailer, and a backstage interview with the principal players broadcast a few days ago on CBS Sunday Morning.  Enjoy.

 

P. S. -- A few words from Lucie Arnaz:

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Sunday Drive: Summertime in Venice

The poignant theme from the movie Summertime (1955), starring Katharine Hepburn and Rossano Brozzi, is as beautiful as the film. If you've never seen it, you should.



The original trailer for the film gives an idea of the glorious cinematography that shows the city and the stars at their best:

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Bulletin, 12 Noon:  Olivia de Havilland dead at age 104.  The beloved actress died in her sleep at her home in Paris yesterday.  She is survived by her daughter, Giselle, a journalist.

By sad coincidence, I just last week posted an interview with Miss de Havilland from 2016.

The last star of the Golden Age has fallen, one of the loveliest.  May she rest in peace and rise in glory.

The BBC reports:



Turner Classic Movies remembers:



And the late Robert Osborne, longtime host of TCM, was a close friend of Miss de Havilland's for many years until his death in 2017: