‘I Love Lucy: The Movie’ Has an Odd Story
These days, many TV shows have made the transition from the small to the big screen, but back in the day, such a practice was uncharted territory. Yet, I Love Lucy was unafraid of trailblazing. The thought was that, to bring the Ricardo’s to the big screen, it would work best to simply transition three episodes from the recently wrapped first season into a conjoined format. The chosen episodes were “The Benefit,” “Breaking the Lease,” and “The Ballet.”
“The Benefit” sees Ethel and Lucy try to coax Ricky into participating in their clubhouse play, while “Breaking the Lease” follows a battle between the Ricardo’s and the Metz’s. “The Ballet” is one of Lucy’s many attempts to get into show business, as she sets her sights on becoming a ballerina. While all three are iconic episodes in their own right, the three plots are so obviously different that they don’t fit together cohesively. However, the idea faced another unique issue because these episodes were filled in front of different live studio audiences. In an effort to accommodate the varied story elements and changes in the audience’s laughter, the picture goes for a movie within a movie trope.
Breaking the fourth wall, Ann Doran and Benny Barker star as a married couple attending a taping of I Love Lucy. They even filmed a sequence featuring Arnaz welcoming the audience to the tapping and introducing the set-up before the film transitions into the episodes. The segments themselves remain largely intact, except for their opening credits and closing sequences, which were obviously cut. While it’s certainly a lot of fun to see any additional footage of the legendary performers, they play more as bumpers than an actual story. In many ways, it can be a little jarring to see the picture jump between its “reality” and “episode sequences.” Still, the film was set for a full-fledged release until its studio became nervous about its own competition.
‘I Love Lucy: The Movie’ was Shelved
Per the LA Times, the studio felt nervous about the prospect of releasing two films starring the iconic couple. The film’s editor, Dann Cahn, worked for Desilu for a decade and said MGM thought that it “was not smart exploitation.” Because of this, Desilu had to shelve I Love Lucy: The Movie. On the bright side, The Long, Long Trailer became a huge hit when it was released in 1953. According to TCM.com, the movie received rave reviews, did fantastic business at the box office, and led to the studio treating Arnaz and Ball like major movie stars of the day. However, due to the unfortunate overlap in timing, it created a mystery that would last decades for I Love Lucy: The Movie.
‘I Love Lucy: The Movie’ Went Missing
After I Love Lucy: The Movie was shelved, it was put into the infamous film vaults. However, which vault it ended up in was something of a mystery even to those involved with the film. As stated by the LA Times, Dann Cahn never forgot about the venture. “I was determined to find it,” said the editor. “I looked at every vault in Hollywood.” But it took some time to locate it. Finally, he tracked it down in one of Paramount Pictures’ vaults, which was located in the San Fernando Valley. Interestingly, a mistake had been part of the reason it was so hard to find.
Though it may never have received the theatrical release that was intended originally, I Love Lucy: The Movie is a fascinating, not to mention slightly odd picture. But after being shelved in lieu of another collaboration between Ball and Arnaz, it finally made a grand debut thanks to Dann Cahn. Now, it lives on with the rest of I Love Lucy lore and serves as a reminder of the power the franchise holds so many years after its conclusion.
