Lucy and Desi Movie Review

This film releases exclusively to AMAZON PRIME streaming beginning this Friday March 4.

“Lucy and Desi” is a wonderful heartwarming documentary of the most unusual couple in Hollywood history. The Comedian and the Cuban, both minor stars on their own, had teamed up to become a powerhouse of early television.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez had a way to make audiences happy and the show’s sponsors contented with their work. They broke the mold of the ‘acting family’ and made way for a new successful business. It was based on their marriage and their commitment to work.

Lucille Ball was born in New York state in 1911. She was part of a very poor family, and her parents died early. She was raised by her grandfather. She was load and boisterous and wanted to do something big so she could help her family during rough times. After a short time in New York City, she was headed out to Hollywood. RKO Pictures put Ball under contract, and she made many movies there. Mostly they were low-budget “B” movies with no real stars. But the studio was full of talent, and Lucille Ball learned as much as she could from anyone willing to teach her.

Desi Arnez was born in Cuba, in 1917, to a well-off family. His father was a local Mayor, and his family was involved in the start of Bacardi Rum. He was really on a fine track in life, until the Cuban Revolution. His family was targeted and they needed to leave. Desi made his way to America to live in Miami. Famous Cuban bandleader Xavier Cugat taught Desi Arnez to put on a great show, and how to properly entertain the audience.

Desi Arnez finally made it to Hollywood. He was signed on to the same studio as Lucille Ball. As fate would have it, they both worked on the same movie. They met and it was an instant romance. Desi would remark to a friend that Lucy was “one hunk of a woman”. Within two months, these two love-birds were married. But life together was pretty slow to start. Both of their movie careers fizzled out, and they fell back on the things that they learned how to do. For Desi, that was touring the country with a Cuban band. For Lucy, it was finding steady work in Hollywood in different directions.

Lucy became the biggest name of radio comedy. She became very popular and became a star again. Desi and his band had a lot of success on the road. But being apart was not that much fun. Desi came up with any idea, and Lucy thought it would work. She would wait until the season of the radio show was over, and then she would meet up with Desi on the road. They came up with a little comedy show before the Cuban band’s big performance. The audience could not get enough of Desi and Lucy together, clowning around.

Lucy and Desi went back to Hollywood. They pitched the idea of a comedy show on TV. It would be a big musical celebrity (Desi) married to the wonderfully wacky wife (Lucy) who would like to trade places with her husband. The studios were in shock. American audiences would not accept a sweet American woman would be married to … GASP — a Cuban. Oh, yeah? Just look the popularity of Desi’s shows on the road when he and Lucy were up together on stage.

The studios were still a little wary. But Desi came up with a plan. Together they brought about the TV series “I Love Lucy”. Desi and Lucy would be their own company, “Desilu Productions”. In this way, Desilu became the owners of the TV series rights, before most other people gave that any thought. Desi Arnez pushed hard for the best quality, so he got the TV show filmed in front of a studio audience. There were three cameras on the set, and everything was setup in practice beforehand. This setup, the first of its kind, became a template for most all the TV sitcoms that came later.

“I Love Lucy” was the first time a real-life pregnancy was written into the scripts of the sitcom episodes. Lucy and Desi had their second child in the second season. It was planned so perfectly, that — right after the TV show aired where ‘on-screen Lucy’ was going to give birth, the real-life Lucy had her child that weekend. The co-stars of “I Love Lucy” were Vivian Vance and William Frawley. They did not care for each other in real life. But on the show they played a married couple. Is that an example of Art imitating Life?

Desi Arnez was stressed out of many years of the show. So “I Love Lucy” ended after its sixth year. There was an attempt to have a new show that was hour in length. But they only made a limited number of these called “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”. This kept the two of them active, and they were able to spend more time with the two children. But the hard-driving and hard-drinking lifestyle of Desi was taking a toll on Lucille Ball. Lucy was done, because Desi was not motivated to be with the family like he used to. Lucy and Desi divorced at that point. But they still had a very good working relationship.

Lucy went on to perform in other, less successful, TV shows. Desi stayed at the helm of Desilu Productions, and he was over an empire of TV productions. Even though Desi was no longer married to Lucy, they still could work together on occasion. Lucy finally remarried some years later. Then, so did Desi. They never again attained the totally magic touch that happened during those exciting early years. But the two of them broke a lot of new ground. They laid out a plan for sitcom productions and a business model that has been copied for many years.

“Lucy and Desi” is a very well-made documentary. It has so much historical footage that is fun to watch repeats of the Lucy and Desi antics. There are interviews with their daughter, and with a few other giants in the TV industry (Lucie Arnaz, Bette Midler, Carol Burnett, and Norman Lear). Plus, it has the wonderful attribute that it was directed by a woman who might know a little about comedy. Amy Poehler has been in comedy for a long time, going back to her days on Saturday Night Live.

“Lucy and Desi” is fun thing to watch, and it makes it worthwhile to check out the “Lucy” reruns. It’s a fun time spent learning about very interesting people.