I Love Lucy: The Movie and Other Great Rarities (2011) Review

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(More customer reviews)I received the "I Love Lucy" complete boxed set for a birthday present, and this "I Love Lucy" movie was included, along with the "lost" pilot, several promos and commentaries, and a colorized version of "Lucy Goes to Scotland". What this is, (and I'm sitting here watching it right now)is three episodes of "I Love Lucy",-- "The Benefit" "Breaking the Lease", and "The Ballet"-- filmed totally separate ( and that you've already seen 1,000 times), "bridged" together with "tag" scenes, filmed at a later date, with the actors doing exposition, such as "remember the time when..." and so forth. For instance: one of the "tag" scenes has "Ethel" sitting at a table in her living room with "Fred", totaling up how much money their Woman's Club made after putting on one of their shows. Ethel wants to give Ricky an "appreciation tea" to thank him for helping them, and she discovers that this severely depletes the profits- which leads her to remember another time she and Lucy needed money.
The highlight of this "movie", to me, is that we actually get to SEE what an "I Love Lucy" audience looks like, as the movie opens with the ticket-holders to the show standing on-line outside, waiting to enter the "Desilu Playhouse." An (obvious) actor couple are ushered in, marveling at the sights. The announcer intros Desi Arnaz, who is as gracious and charming as ever. Desi, in smoking jacket, explains the technical stuff to the audience,cracks a few jokes to put them at their ease, then introduces the cast, ending with his favorite Red-head, (or "Rett- Hett", ala Desi) Lucy. You see the cast take their places, and wait to hear "action!", which, to my recollection, is the only filmed occasion where the actors broke character and acknowledged the audience.
I should add that this "movie" was made before Lucy had "Little Ricky", so all of it takes place during the first season. It's also interesting to see the sets from the audience's point of view. This film WAS intended for nationwide release, but, as the Arnazes were about to sign the contracts for the film "The Long,Long Trailer" (not released until 1954, AFTER Lucy had the baby), Desi Arnaz decided that they would only be competing with themselves at the box office, so this movie was shelved.
If you're a "Lucy" fan, it's a must see if only because it's lost footage of Lucy doing "Lucy". I don't know if I'd have purchased this independently, had it not been included with my boxed set, but it IS an unearthed treasure in the archeological dig for fossils of great pop culture....

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In 1953, three classic first season I Love Lucy episodes ("The Benefit," "Breaking the Lease," and "The Ballet") were edited together with newly-filmed connecting scenes to create this never-before-released feature-length film. The film had only a single "test" screening in 1953 at a small theatre in Bakersfield, attended by the Arnazes. But Lucy and Desi had just signed a deal with M-G-M to do "The Long, Long Trailer", and M-G-M, fearing competition, insisted that they shelve the film. And that's literally what happened. I Love Lucy: The Movie was put back on a shelf, in a mislabeled can, and was lost for nearly half a century, until it was discovered in the Paramount vault by Dann Cahn in 2001.

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