Lucille Ball had "a face seen by more people, more often, than the face of any human being who ever lived." So concluded TV Guide when she retired from series television in 1974. With that exposure, Ball probably made more people laugh than anyone in history. What a legacy!
Television gave the Queen of Comedy her greatest role, Lucy Ricardo, but the movies were her training ground. And a rocky track it was.The actress went from wisecracking second banana to glamour girl (nicknamed "Technicolor Tessie") to gifted comedic actress. Yet Ball, who died in April, never received a film role that fully displayed her genius. The movies often misused or wasted her.
In a career of 75 films, Ball made some good ones, many mediocre ones and one of the biggest turkeys of all time.
STAGE DOOR (1937) is good early Lucy, with a tart-tongued Ball supporting Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers in a backstage comedy-drama. In THE AFFAIRS OF ANNABEL (1938), a film industry satire, Lucy plays an actress who goes to jail as a publicity stunt. Both are available on video, but three of her best film comedies are not.
THE FACTS OF LIFE (1960) has Lucy and Bob Hope contemplating adultery; it is generally considered the best of the four Ball-Hope films. "I Love Lucy" fans will cherish THE LONG, LONG TRAILER, a 1954 comedy about newlyweds co-starring Desi Arnaz. YOURS, MINE AND OURS, a 1968 comedy with Lucy and Henry Fonda playing parents to 18 children, contains a drunk scene by Lucy that rivals her classic Vitameatavegamin bit on "I Love Lucy." (MGM/UA Home Video has announced it will release "Yours, Mine and Ours" in November.)
How good an actress was Lucy? Probably the greatest comic actress of all time, and you can see this in the "I Love Lucy" episodes available on video. But before playing wacky Lucy Ricardo, Ball was a good dramatic actress. THE BIG STREET (1942), available on video, contains her showiest role. In this Damon Runyon story, she plays a crippled nightclub singer who mistreats the man who loves her, busboy Henry Fonda.
One film to avoid: MAME. The excruciating 1974 film of the Broadway musical, with a miscast Lucy croaking her songs, is, to be polite, terrible.
Some other Lucy movies you might want to consider renting:
ROOM SERVICE (1938): A farce about stage producers, with Lucy playing a supporting role to the Marx Brothers.
FIVE CAME BACK (1939): A plane with 12 passengers crashes in the Amazon jungle. The title gives away the plot.
TOO MANY GIRLS (1940): The Rodgers-Hart musical, directed by Broadway great George Abbott. Lucy and Desi met during the film's production.
A GIRL, A GUY AND A GOB (1941): Lucy is romanced by George Murphy and Edmond O'Brien.
BEST FOOT FORWARD (1943): One of Ball's best. Lucy, playing herself, visits a military school in this hilarious musical. Nancy Walker and June Allyson co-star.
DU BARRY WAS A LADY (1943): The splashy MGM musical jettisons a lot of Cole Porter's material. Lucy takes the role Ethel Merman played on the stage. With Red Skelton and Gene Kelly.
THOUSANDS CHEER (1943): A huge MGM cast in the story of a talent show. Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Red Skelton and many more are here.
MEET THE PEOPLE (1944): Lucy, playing an actress, wants to prove to playwright Dick Powell that she's no snob. So she takes a job in a shipyard.
ZIEGFELD FOLLIES (1946): A big MGM musical, the one in which Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire danced together. Lucy's in there, too, looking glamorous in a big production number.
EASY LIVING (1949): A football drama, with Lucy playing the team secretary. She loves player Victor Mature, but he's married to Lizabeth Scott. Lucy's good here, but her movie career didn't pick up any extra yardage because of this film.
SORROWFUL JONES (1949): Lucy and Bob Hope team in this Damon Runyon story about a bookie and a nightclub singer. It was a remake of a Shirley Temple movie, "Little Miss Marker."
THE FULLER BRUSH GIRL (1950): Lucy plays a salesgirl, a warm-up role for Lucy Ricardo.
A GUIDE FOR THE MARRIED MAN (1967): A sex comedy full of vignettes. Walter Matthau is the star. Lucy and Art Carney play a couple in one of the vignettes.