I Love Red Lucy

Did you know that Lucy was a Commie? Perhaps somewhere in the recesses of our collective mind, "Red Lucy" rests somewhere, but it took the new 34-disc complete I Love Lucy set (with all 194 episodes beginning with the rare, 1956 pilot, plus gazillions of extras, digitally remastered and restored), to jar it free in my case. The box set is not only guaranteed to put you in a good mood. It can also get you thinking. ...

What was it about Lucy that made her the most beloved woman in America during the fifties -- and that allowed her to survive the potentially devastating revelation that she had registered to vote as a Communist in 1936? Writing in Cinema Journal in back in 2003, Susan M. Carini explains "The story unfolded in the fall of 1953 when newspaper and radio columnist Walter Winchell accused Ball of being a Communist Party member. Ball was actually tuned into Winchell's radio broadcast at the time. As she read over the script for her next show, Ball heard: "The top television comedienne has been confronted with her membership in the Communist Party."" The Los Angeles Herald-Express reported the story with a banner headline in red ink, and soon press interest became frenzied. One week later, the couple drove in the back gates at the Motion Picture Center to begin filming I Love Lucy episodes for the year. The front offices were jammed with reporters; hundreds of calls had been logged at Desilu production.

It turns out that that Lucy had registered as a CP member to please her grandfather, Fred Hunt. When the news broke, her husband, co-star, and tyrannical boss at Desilu Productions, Desi Arnaz talked to CBS President Frank Stanton, as well as to advertisers and decided to spend $30,000 of their own money to buy the I Love Lucy time slot, at a cost of $30,000, so he could take his case to the American people, which turned out to be a pretty easy sell. Desi saw it as an advertising opportunity. He explained to the studio at the time:

"Lucy and I will go on the air and tell the story about Grandpa and all the goddarn things Lucy had to go through. I have got to let the American people know what this is all about. She is not going to be crucified by malicious insinuations, distorted facts, and false accusations. Besides, Lucy and I telling all the stories about Grandpa could be our funniest show

Here's how it sounded on the air: : "Welcome" to the first I Love Lucy show of the season. We are glad to have you back and glad to be back ourselves. But before I go on, I want to talk to you about something serious. You all know what it is. The papers have been full of it all day. Lucille is no Communist! Lucy has never been a Communist, not now and never will be. [Note: This was a lie.] I was kicked out of Cuba because of Communism. [Note: this was also a lie] We both despise the Communists and everything they stand for. [cue: tears] Lucille is 100 percent American. She is as American as Barney Baruch and Ike Eisenhower. Last November, we both voted for Ike. Tomorrow morning the complete transcript of Lucille's testimony mill be released to the papers and you can read it for yourself. Then you will know this is all a pack of lies. Please, ladies and gentlemen, don't believe every piece of bunk you've read in today's papers! [Cue applause.] And now, I want you to meet my favorite wife-my favorite redhead-in fact, that's the only thing red about her, and even that's not legitimate-Lucille Ball." Funnily enough, Carini notes, Lucy's FBI file "appears to have been assembled by a Lucy worshiper, replete as it is with positive press clippings that dilute the sting of her association with communism."

There collection also includes plenty of fan stuff, footage of many of the characters accepting Emmy awards from the earliest existing Emmy telecast, flubs, and lost scenes, though my God, with all those episodes, I dunno how anyone would have the time to get to it. The Amazon page for the set is here.

Comments

[3fingerbrown]

The oft-told tale of Lucy and Grandpa Fred is a staple of Lucy lore, recounted in at least a dozen books about Lucy and Desi, including their respective autobiographies.
Lucy and Desi also told the story in many TV interviews over the years. I remember Desi telling it to Johnny Carson--the "and even that isn't legitimate" line got a big laugh from the studio audience, as it did on the night he first used it some 20 years before. Why bother recounting this old wheeze unless there's something new to add?
Also, referring to Desi as tyrannical is a bit of a cheap shot. I'm sure he was no cream puff and that he stepped on some toes, but the same can be said of any successful Hollywood producer. Nobody working on a successful TV show then or today expects the boss to be anything less than tough and driven. I've read accounts from "I love Lucy" staff members who said that he had a combustible temper but was fair, democratic, and likable.
Finally, the whole Commie dust-up is ironic because Lucy was probably one of the most apolitical major stars of her time. I don't think she ever voiced a strong political opinion in public during her 50 or 60 years of stardom. It's interesting to note that two of her best friends in showbiz were Bob(right-wing Republican) Hope and Henry (staunch Democrat and father of Jane) Fonda.

[TheWesternBreed]

It's a good thing, not a bad one, not to have been a Communist, or if you ever had been, to have left the Party--particularly back when Joseph Stalin was its reigning Lord Sauron. Does Mr. Alterman have a problem with anti-Communism?

[hip dibler]

she could have been a republican for all i care.

i love the lucy.

[Ryerson]

"The papers have been full of it all day. Lucille is no Communist! Lucy has never been a Communist, not now and never will be. [Note: This was a lie.] I was kicked out of Cuba because of Communism. [Note: this was also a lie] We both despise the Communists and everything they stand for. [cue: tears] Lucille is 100 percent American."

Not that it really matters what or who Lucy chose to believe in or vote for, but can you point to some other source that proves or shows that in fact "[Note: This was a lie.]"?