Lucille's Many Talents

[Madame X]

Lucille Ball was a gorgeous woman, as we can see by Rick's generous photo contributions, and she was a slapstick clown who would stop at nothing to make people laugh. She was a convincing dramatic actress way before most of us were born.

One other thing people don't usually mention is what a great dancer she was. I really enjoyed her talented dance routines with Van Johnson and King Cat Walsh, as well as her many routines as a "wannabe" that loused things up!

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Madame X

One other thing people don't usually mention is what a great dancer she was. I really enjoyed her talented dance routines with Van Johnson and King Cat Walsh, as well as her many routines as a "wannabe" that loused things up!

I love watching her dance with Van Johnson. She was so graceful. As for the "blind" dancing with King Cat Walsh, to be able to do that sort of comical dancing, I think you first have to know how to do it right before adding the comic touches.

[Madame X]

Originally Posted by NOVARick

As for the "blind" dancing with King Cat Walsh, to be able to do that sort of comical dancing, I think you first have to know how to do it right before adding the comic touches.

Exactly.

We do get an idea of her jitterbug talent during the rehearsal before her eye exam.

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Madame X

Exactly.

We do get an idea of her jitterbug talent during the rehearsal before her eye exam.

Oh yes, that's true. I think it's hilarious watching her during that initial jitterbug as she's being slung around.

[Madame X]

One of my favorite comical dances is in "Ricky's Life Story." Ricky wants to discourage Lucy from show biz, so he stages a challenge dance where he makes a few moves and then Lucy has to dance her brains out! She finally collapses.

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Madame X

One of my favorite comical dances is in "Ricky's Life Story." Ricky wants to discourage Lucy from show biz, so he stages a challenge dance where he makes a few moves and then Lucy has to dance her brains out! She finally collapses.

Oh yes! That cracks me up. I think that episode is underrated. It's one of my personal favorites, from beginning to end. And speaking of comical dances, I also like the scene at the end of "Dubarry Was a Lady" where Lucy, Red Skelton and Gene Kelly are dancing and singing to "Friendship," and Lucy's getting twisted up in the process. You can already see Lucy's keen sense of comic timing and physical comedy abilities on display at that early stage.

[Madame X]

Originally Posted by NOVARick

Oh yes! That cracks me up. I think that episode is underrated. It's one of my personal favorites, from beginning to end. And speaking of comical dances, I also like the scene at the end of "Dubarry Was a Lady" where Lucy, Red Skelton and Gene Kelly are dancing and singing to "Friendship," and Lucy's getting twisted up in the process. You can already see Lucy's keen sense of comic timing and physical comedy abilities on display at that early stage.

I haven't seen that movie yet (from 1943). Is the song "Friendship" the same one Lucy and Ethel sing in "Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress?"

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Madame X

I haven't seen that movie yet (from 1943). Is the song "Friendship" the same one Lucy and Ethel sing in "Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress?"

Yes, same song by Cole Porter.

[OH Nuts!]

Lucy was a fine dancer and what legs! She also had been a chorus girl, amongst other things, before she hit it big with comedy and TV. And, as long as we're talking about her many talents, let's not forget that she was an astutue businesswoman, who, after I.L.L., ran a big studio and grew it even more (much more1)

[Mikado]

Heres a Q...on ILL Lucy was the worlds worst singer, my Q is, was she really a terrible singer, or was that just a part of the "Lucy Ricardo" persona; does anyone know?

[drewfussclass101]

i think that was just written into the character. After all she did movies like Mame and the broadway musical WildCat. I just watched a movie a couple days ago with her in it and she is singing and i though wow. the name of the movies escapes me but i will post it later when i remember it.

[Mikado]

Thats pretty much what i figured

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by drewfussclass101

i think that was just written into the character. After all she did movies like Mame and the broadway musical WildCat. I just watched a movie a couple days ago with her in it and she is singing and i though wow. the name of the movies escapes me but i will post it later when i remember it.

Other than Mame, she usually had her voice dubbed in movies where there was singing involved. The only exception I'm aware of is when she and Desi sang "Singin' Along with the Breeze" in The Long, Long Trailer. Lucille Ball was an adequate singer. In Wildcat, she did just fine for what was required of her. But in the years that followed, the quality of her singing voice did deteriorate and was not good at all by the time of Mame. They tried to minimize her singing in that film as much as they could get away with by having her sing only a few bars, and then having a chorus or other cast members join in and pretty much take over. But for intimate songs, like My Best Boy, they couldn't do that, so she was on her own. And the result was not good. I'm not trying to knock the movie (enough people have already done that) -- I actually enjoy Mame -- but I cringe a bit when she sings solo. The fact is, she did not want to do her own singing in that film. She thought she could have her voice dubbed as had been done in her musicals back in the '40s. But Warner Brothers insisted that movie audiences in the '70s were too sophisticated for dubbing and insisted she had to do her own singing. And it terrified her. She claimed that on the days she had to sing, she would lock herself in her dressing room trying to avoid the whole ordeal. In November 1973, several months before Mame was released, she talked on The Merv Griffin Show about her singing in Mame and acknowledged that she couldn't sing, but somehow felt that the music in Mame lent itself to non-singers. Incidentally, in musical episodes of Here's Lucy, her voice was usually dubbed by Carole Cook.

[Madame X]

Originally Posted by NOVARick

Other than Mame, she usually had her voice dubbed in movies where there was singing involved. The only exception I'm aware of is when she and Desi sang "Singin' Along with the Breeze" in The Long, Long Trailer. Lucille Ball was an adequate singer. In Wildcat, she did just fine for what was required of her. But in the years that followed, the quality of her singing voice did deteriorate and was not good at all by the time of Mame. They tried to minimize her singing in that film as much as they could get away with by having her sing only a few bars, and then having a chorus or other cast members join in and pretty much take over. But for intimate songs, like My Best Boy, they couldn't do that, so she was on her own. And the result was not good. I'm not trying to knock the movie (enough people have already done that) -- I actually enjoy Mame -- but I cringe a bit when she sings solo. The fact is, she did not want to do her own singing in that film. She thought she could have her voice dubbed as had been done in her musicals back in the '40s. But Warner Brothers insisted that movie audiences in the '70s were too sophisticated for dubbing and insisted she had to do her own singing. And it terrified her. She claimed that on the days she had to sing, she would lock herself in her dressing room trying to avoid the whole ordeal. In November 1973, several months before Mame was released, she talked on The Merv Griffin Show about her singing in Mame and acknowledged that she couldn't sing, but somehow felt that the music in Mame lent itself to non-singers. Incidentally, in musical episodes of Here's Lucy, her voice was usually dubbed by Carole Cook.

Interesting, Rick. Thanks for the info!

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by NOVARick

Other than Mame, she usually had her voice dubbed in movies where there was singing involved. The only exception I'm aware of is when she and Desi sang "Singin' Along with the Breeze" in The Long, Long Trailer. Lucille Ball was an adequate singer. In Wildcat, she did just fine for what was required of her. But in the years that followed, the quality of her singing voice did deteriorate and was not good at all by the time of Mame. They tried to minimize her singing in that film as much as they could get away with by having her sing only a few bars, and then having a chorus or other cast members join in and pretty much take over. But for intimate songs, like My Best Boy, they couldn't do that, so she was on her own. And the result was not good. I'm not trying to knock the movie (enough people have already done that) -- I actually enjoy Mame -- but I cringe a bit when she sings solo. The fact is, she did not want to do her own singing in that film. She thought she could have her voice dubbed as had been done in her musicals back in the '40s. But Warner Brothers insisted that movie audiences in the '70s were too sophisticated for dubbing and insisted she had to do her own singing. And it terrified her. She claimed that on the days she had to sing, she would lock herself in her dressing room trying to avoid the whole ordeal. In November 1973, several months before Mame was released, she talked on The Merv Griffin Show about her singing in Mame and acknowledged that she couldn't sing, but somehow felt that the music in Mame lent itself to non-singers. Incidentally, in musical episodes of Here's Lucy, her voice was usually dubbed by Carole Cook.

Oh, I just remembered she was not dubbed when she did "Friendship" in DuBarry Was a Lady. However, she was singing along with Red Skelton and Gene Kelly, and that's sort of a goofy, comical song not intended for beautiful voices. So there was no need to dub her there. If you want to know what her singing voice was actually like during the I Love Lucy years, check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17ARYV_wG8c