Does anyone remember the 1991 CBS tv movie called:Lucy and Desi before the laughter?
I remember hearing that Lucie didn't like the movie and that it was false......or was it?
Lucie has said that she thought that the protrayal of her parents was inaccurate. Well recently, I heard her say that Lucy and Desi never mentioned the bad stuff in their relationship. Well my question is how does she know that? In an authorized biography by Michael Mc Clay, who has met Lucy, a lot of what was written in the book was true. I have left questions to answer about it on the Lucie website and she always skpis it. In April of 2001, I got a notice that Lucie was working on the Witches of Eastwick and she will answer your question when she finds time. Today, I searched through the most recent batch of questions, and it wasn't there. Do you think that Lucie just doesn't want to believe some of the truth or that the truth was mixed too much with fiction? I know in the movie that the woman who played De de was a very friendly personality and in real life, she was said to have racial discomfort in Desi marrying Lucy. huh, which one again raises my question. What do you think?

Originally posted by RWCTV
Does anyone remember the 1991 CBS tv movie called:Lucy and Desi before the laughter?
I remember hearing that Lucie didn't like the movie and that it was false......or was it?
Lucie has said that she thought that the protrayal of her parents was inaccurate. Well recently, I heard her say that Lucy and Desi never mentioned the bad stuff in their relationship. Well my question is how does she know that? In an authorized biography by Michael Mc Clay, who has met Lucy, a lot of what was written in the book was true. I have left questions to answer about it on the Lucie website and she always skpis it. In April of 2001, I got a notice that Lucie was working on the Witches of Eastwick and she will answer your question when she finds time. Today, I searched through the most recent batch of questions, and it wasn't there. Do you think that Lucie just doesn't want to believe some of the truth or that the truth was mixed too much with fiction? I know in the movie that the woman who played De de was a very friendly personality and in real life, she was said to have racial discomfort in Desi marrying Lucy. huh, which one again raises my question. What do you think?

I think that TV movie was a piece of crap. The way Lucy was portrayed, totally sweet and innocent, wasn't like anything I've ever read about her, or even like the way she used to come across in interviews (i.e., not always terribly sweet and certainly not innocent). As for Lucie not answering your questions, I'd have to see those questions to have an opinion on it. If they were asked in a completely non-accusatory way and didn't come across as if you were already taking a position (like anti-Desi, pro-Lucy), which would make it appear you didn't really want an honest answer from her, then I don't know why she wouldn't answer. On the other hand, if they were asked in that manner, then I would understand her passing on them. From what I've seen on that site, she pretty much answers peoples' questions; I've never heard of her ignoring any until now. But again, I haven't seen your questions, so I don't know.

I have the Lucy & Desi bio tv movie in my collection. The movie is actually kind of funny. So badly acted !!! The actor playing Desi saying"...Luuucy You jus dunt understan " I remember hearing radio stations use that line for their funny promos.

As far as the stories told in the movie being true or not, I would guess that a lot of it must be to some degree. If not then Lucie and Desi Jr. could have sued and to my knowledge they didnt. But this brings up another thing, when did Lucie & Desi Jr. begin their company called Desilu 2 ? Didnt the people of this movie had to get Lucie & Desi Jr. OK to do it? I wonder if thats why the kids formed Desilu 2?

Lucy & Desi Before the Laughter I put in the same file as Mommy Dearest. The good thing about the Lucy-Desi film was that even though it showed "the other side" of the famous couple it didnt destroy the image of them as Mommie Dearest did with Joan Crawford.

Even today if I see any film with Joan Crawford in it I cant help but picture her with those wild eyes shouting ......

" CHRISTINA........NO MORE WIRE HANGERS...EVER !!!!!! ".

Originally posted by bb
As far as the stories told in the movie being true or not, I would guess that a lot of it must be to some degree. If not then Lucie and Desi Jr. could have sued and to my knowledge they didnt.

Only the subject of the stories can sue. That would be Lucille and Desi. But they were already. Once a person dies, anything can be written about them. Nobody can sue on their behalf. Sad, but true.

I did NOT like this movie. WAYYYYYY too many factual errors. I think it was kind of a half-assed project by some people that thought that they could make some money by raising a few eyebrows. If people are going to make a movie about Lucy and Desi, they should get the facts straight, not focus on all the negative stuff, and get Lucie and Desi Jr. involved with production and final approval of everything.

As far as the stories go.....well, I've heard SO many different things over the years that sometimes it's hard to tell what's real and what's not. Maybe there are some things that just shouldn't be talked about?? Who knows. I bet we'll know the answer someday.

I agree that this was a horrid film. The only good part of the whole thing was Francis Fisher.

Originally posted by JaneTVFan


Only the subject of the stories can sue. That would be Lucille and Desi. But they were already. Once a person dies, anything can be written about them. Nobody can sue on their behalf. Sad, but true.

You mean that if someone wanted to make a movie about Lucy & Desi and feature scenes of Desi slapping Lucy across the face and have an affair with Vivian Vance and punishing Desi Jr. by burning him with his Phillip Morris cigarette and shows Lucy as a lesbian who smokes crack ,there is nothing Lucie Arnaz or Desi Jr. could do, even if those scenes were nothing but pure lies?

That IS sad. Also this can open the door to far more outrageous "bio" movies. If this is true I am surprised we havent seen "The Bob Crane murder movie" or Sal Mineo.

If one can say anything about someone who is no longer with us in films, does that rule only applies to tv or does it include to regular movies as well? Reason I ask is that I remember years ago a film that starred Bette Midler called The Rose. The Rose was supposed to have been based on the life of Janis Jopin. However the producers of the movie had to change the story quite a bit because the estate of Janis Joplin threatend to sue.

If you can say anthing about the dead then I wonder why the people who made The Rose even bothered to change the stories as the estate of Janis Joplin didnt have a say in the matter anyway.

Originally posted by melluvslucy
I did NOT like this movie. WAYYYYYY too many factual errors. I think it was kind of a half-assed project by some people that thought that they could make some money by raising a few eyebrows.

Very well put. I swear I laughed so hard through half the movie. The part that drives me crazy is that scene where Lucy's trying on her wedding gown (for her second wedding) and she shows her grandfather. What!!!! He was dead by 1949! Sheesh, what a bunch of morons!!!

Originally posted by bb
That IS sad. Also this can open the door to far more outrageous "bio" movies. If this is true I am surprised we havent seen "The Bob Crane murder movie."


Oh, now that would be one sick movie. I've heard several different takes on just him alone, not even getting into what he did.

Sorz but nobody can replace Desi & Lucy.

Originally posted by bb


You mean that if someone wanted to make a movie about Lucy & Desi and feature scenes of Desi slapping Lucy across the face and have an affair with Vivian Vance and punishing Desi Jr. by burning him with his Phillip Morris cigarette and shows Lucy as a lesbian who smokes crack ,there is nothing Lucie Arnaz or Desi Jr. could do, even if those scenes were nothing but pure lies?

That IS sad. Also this can open the door to far more outrageous "bio" movies. If this is true I am surprised we havent seen "The Bob Crane murder movie" or Sal Mineo.

If one can say anything about someone who is no longer with us in films, does that rule only applies to tv or does it include to regular movies as well? Reason I ask is that I remember years ago a film that starred Bette Midler called The Rose. The Rose was supposed to have been based on the life of Janis Jopin. However the producers of the movie had to change the story quite a bit because the estate of Janis Joplin threatend to sue.

If you can say anthing about the dead then I wonder why the people who made The Rose even bothered to change the stories as the estate of Janis Joplin didnt have a say in the matter anyway.

Cristina Crawfords sisters claim her depiction of their mother was a lie. But they couldn't do anything about it. Have you noticed how often tabloids start posting outrageous stuff about people after they die? Yeah, I know they do it when they're alive, but it's even worse after they're dead. If someone did a movie depicting Lucy burning Desi Jr. with a cigaretter, however, that would be a different story. Desi Jr. could sue because that involves him.

Originally posted by dawsongirl


Very well put. I swear I laughed so hard through half the movie. The part that drives me crazy is that scene where Lucy's trying on her wedding gown (for her second wedding) and she shows her grandfather. What!!!! He was dead by 1949! Sheesh, what a bunch of morons!!!

OMG I know!!!! That drives me out of my mind!!!! And they should've made DeDe and Grandpa Hunt more like they actually WERE in real life (you know, one spitfire and the other eccentric). Not to mention getting the personalities of Lucy & Desi at least a little bit more accurate. Better yet, how about making ALL of the people in the movie a little more realistic?

Do you guys think that there will ever be a big feature film on them instead of just a TV movie? I'm telling ya, if there IS going to be one, they'll have a helluva time with casting. You just can't replace the real people!

Originally posted by melluvslucy
Do you guys think that there will ever be a big feature film on them instead of just a TV movie? I'm telling ya, if there IS going to be one, they'll have a helluva time with casting. You just can't replace the real people!

IMO, if you wanted to do an accurate, total telling of Lucy & Desi's lives, the movie would be 12 hours+ long, much in the vain of Roots or Rich Man, Poor Man. At least in my head it's that long.

I agree with what most of you have said regarding the Lucy TV movie. I liked the recreation of the ILL sets, and a few of the costumes, but as a whole.....well.... let's just say that I don't think people should see this movie before reading up about Lucy and Desi in the appropriate sources (not the Brochu book!!). And the fact that Brochu was involved in the making of this movie... need I say more??

As far as Lucie not answering your question, she hasn't answered it yet because she hasn't read your question. Notice there has only been one set of questions answered since you posted yours, and that was in July (and most of those questions were from the previous year!). Lucie is having a break from a very busy year and will tackle the questions again in the new year. Thanks for your patience! :)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JaneTVFan
[B]

Have you noticed how often tabloids start posting outrageous stuff about people after they die? Yeah, I know they do it when they're alive, but it's even worse after they're dead.

I have noticed that too. Robert Reed from the Brady Bunch is a perfect example. A week or two after his death one of the tabloids did a story about how Reed would go to gay bars and on purpose infect young gay men with HIV. Of course the story went on and on and of course had to get very crude. I know a few who actually stopped watching the Brady Bunch because of this.

Gay & lesbians must be a hot subject for the tabloids as every week they try to link some big star as being gay or lesbian. Chelsea Clinton is their latest target as a "possible gay".

And if I am not mistaken one of them ( Globe I believe ) tried to say that Lucy & Vivian were "...more than friends". Guess if two people of the same sex are friends then to the tabloids they got to be gay. Just like some paper tried to say the same thing about Ben Afflick and Matt Damon. They made a big joke out of it however.


My late mother used to read them, my grandmother still does.
Such a waste of money !!!

Tabloids are pretty vicious. The stories are usually blown all up out of proportion and make a mountain out of a molehill, and there are usually some things added from unreliable sources. Yellow journalism. :rolleyes: I do not believe most of what I read in gossip rags. As for that horrible bit about Lucy & Viv in that gossip rag (I've seen it before)....that was NOT right of Globe at all---they shouldn't do it to anybody! It's like it's impossible to have friends anymore without some smear journalist thinking that you're more than just friends with them. How appalling!!! :eek:

I think you're right, dawsongirl. A movie like that would probably be longer than Pearl Harbor, Braveheart, etc....all those movies they have to squeeze on to two videotapes. I bet one of these days somebody will attempt it. And if it IS done, it better be done right!!!!!

Didn't Lucy die in 1989? How would she know about a CBS movie that came out 2 or 3 years after she died?

Hi,
No, you have the wrong Lucy. I was talking about Lucie Arnaz, Lucille Ball's daughter. She was the one who had a fit after CBS made that Lucy and Desi before the laughter movie. From all the documentaries I have seen, at least most of the information matched what the movie had contained. The only thing is that Lucie Arnaz said that her parents were happier together than what the movie had. I asked Lucie Arnaz on luciearnaz.com and her manager told me that she will answer my question and that it is waiting for her. After over a year, I noticed that she answered questions after I had asked that question and came to the conclusion that she is avoiding the question. I wrote back and for the first time, the administrator avoided the question as well. Maybe the movie is more true to life than we thought.

Oh sorry. I should have realized that by the way you spelled lucy with an ie instead of a y.

Oh that's okay. I got an e-mail from Lucie's administrator and she assured me that Lucie will answer my question about the CBS tv-movie soon. I am very anxious to see why she hated it. Anyway, I will write the reason from her mouth on this message board and not what the reporters reported back in the day.

I READ ENQUIRER... IT'S THE ONLY TABLOID THAT ELVIS STILL TALKS TO..