Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter

The lady who plays Lucille Ball did a fine job; the gentleman who plays Desi Arnaz, well ... that's another story. His accent is so grating and so phony that it was laughable. Yet I must ask myself: Why am I even bothering to comment about this movie? What is it about this movie that caught my interest? The answer is this: "I Love Lucy." TV sitcoms come and go and are quickly forgotten. Yet this show, with it s improbable cast of characters, lingers on in the collective memory of American TV memorabilia. A "B" movie actress and her band leader husband become American TV icons. I watched this movie to find out how could this happen. How could these two individuals attain such a high status? There seemed to be absolutely nothing about them that suggested that they would become the most popular and famous TV couple in history. According to the movie, Lucille was vain, insecure, temperamental and at times hysterical while Desi is portrayed as being a shallow, cheating philanderer who is totally dependent on Lucille for financial support. Yet this improbable couple made entertainment history.

When will there be a movie about Vivian Vance and William Frawley?

I looked forward to this film in advance of its presentation, and suspected Lucie Arnaz's negative comments were un-founded. Ms Arnaz, I do apologize.

The story line made for a "C" average Television movie at best. Unfortunately, the subject matter was one the most viewed and known in the 20th century. When the presentation of re-created scenes and actors from "I LOVE LUCY", the grade fell to a D-. The portrayals of "Lucy", "Ricky", "Fred" and "Ethel" were an insult to "Ball", "Arnaz", "Frawley", and "Vance". Fisher's attempt to re-create the "Lucy Ricardo" bits were sloppy. Immediately after its initial TV Presentation, the local TV station did a news segment on it. They cut back and forth between Fisher's Lucy and Ball's Lucy.... it was night and day.

Let me close by saying that the performers in this piece are "quality" professionals, and should be commended for many of their past performances....just not this one.

Nostalgic, entertaining, well-done effort about Lucy and Desi, is a fine piece of film-making. Colorful behind-the-scenes look at the real lives of the Hollywood couple, played very convincingly by the principals. However, Frances Fisher is the real star of this marvelous film, with her uncanny resemblance to the real Lucille Ball, and her excellent performance which makes you believe she IS Lucy. Her makeup and hairstyles are impeccably detailed and true to life. Lucille Ball would have been proud of this dramatization of her life, just as she was the real star in many of their films. However, the casting of Benard as Desi leaves something to be desired. There wasn't enough attention given to his makeup and hairstyles, and his performance is less than inspired, and downright lethargic and insipid in some scenes, and his accent is not authentically Cuban. What makes the movie work is the well-written script and marvelous acting by Fisher. The supporting cast are all just so much window dressing - and as others have also noted, the performers cast as Vivian Vance and William Frawley as Fred & Ethel Mertz are not that believable either. Brilliant casting of one lead, Fisher does not justify poor casting of other equally important roles. I for one would have loved to see Desi Arnaz Jr. portray his own father in this film, as he did so well in The MAMBO KINGS (1992). Now that would have made this picture a real piece of art! Even as it is, the film works well, was well-produced, and the color cinematography is first-rate. One outstanding scene is their comedy act in front of Desi's orchestra, with Lucy (like Judy Garland had also done) in clown makeup, another is a remarkable black & white re-creation of a scene from a TV episode of "I Love Lucy". My rating is 7 stars out of 10, mostly for Frances Fisher's excellent performance in the role of a lifetime as that bottle-redhead ball of energy from Jamestown, New York.

When I was four years of age, my parents and I were very much excited about the forthcoming premier of "I Love Lucy" on our "new" television set in 1951. I remember how excited our neighbors, who (with my parents) had been fans of Lucy and Desi during the 1930s and the Big Band Era, were at the prospect of seeing their favorite entertainers in a situation comedy on television. As a result, I found "Lucy and Desi: Before the Laughter" a great nostalgic film that explains the backgrounds of these entertainers, already legendary in 1951.

Far from being a third-rate performer, Desi Arnaz discovered innovative techniques still used in television and film production today; he also invented different types of cameras that led to great improvements in the television and motion picture industries. In addition, he was an excellent musician and vocalist, and prior to the "I Love Lucy" debut he had considerable experience as a motion picture actor.

In conjunction with their television and motion picture work, Mr. Arnaz and Miss Ball formed Desilu Productions and produced many outstanding television series that dealt with a variety of topics and scenarios.

As another credit to the late Mr. Arnaz, he helped his family escape from the Cuban revolution led by Dictator Battista in the 1930s. With the family wealth lost, Mr. Arnaz and his family made a new life for themselves in New York City. Mr. Arnaz willingly did menial work to support his family and his dream of becoming a U.S. citizen and an entertainer. In his autobiography, he expressed his gratitude to the United States and the American people for his chance to rebuild his life and become a success.

At the time the "I Love Lucy" program debuted, it was highly unusual for a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant like Miss Ball to marry a Roman Catholic man from Cuba. Among WASPS there were sharp divisions among those who believed Hispanics were Caucasian and those who believed Hispanics (and other people of Mediterranean origin) were "not quite white" or acceptable in the mainstream of American society. The premise of the Ball-Arnaz marriage and the "I Love Lucy" program, that opposites attract and can have a happy marriage, was a new idea in the pre-civil rights era (before 1961). At the same time, Hispanic migrant workers began moving to my hometown in the Midwest for seasonal farm work, and some chose to make permanent homes in the area. The "I Love Lucy" series helped local residents become broad minded enough to accept the Hispanic people in the community and count them among their friends.

I am sorry the Arnaz children did not appreciate this film. Maurice Benard's acting may have been campy, but Frances Fisher did an excellent job in portraying Lucy. In spite of the overacting by Mr. Benard, this film explains the backgrounds of Miss Ball and Mr. Arnaz and brings back precious memories of my childhood in the early 1950s. The film also is one I treasure and would love to have on DVD.