#Edmond Beloin

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Lucy and Bob Crane

S4;E22 ~ February 21, 1966

Synopsis

Actor Bob Crane opens a new account at the bank and asks Lucy out to dinner. When his new war film needs a stuntman, Mr. Mooney volunteers Iron Man Carmichael.  Although she wants to appear demur to Crane, she takes the job. 

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Gale Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney)

Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane Lewis) does not appear in this episode.

Guest Cast

Bob Crane (Himself) was born in 1928 in Waterbury, Connecticut.  After being a disc jockey for many years, he turned to acting at the age of 33.  He is best known as the clever Colonel Hogan in the CBS POW camp sitcom “Hogan's Heroes” (1965-1971) which was filmed at Desilu Studios. In 1975 he starred in “The Bob Crane Show” which lasted only 13 episodes.  In 1978 Crane was brutally murdered in a Scottsdale hotel room. His murder remains a mystery to this day. Crane's life and death were the subject of the 2002 film Auto Focus starring Greg Kinnear as Crane. This episode was Crane's only screen credit alongside Lucille Ball. 

John Banner (Sergeant Schultz) was born in Vienna in 1910.  He achieved television immortality for his portrayal of the Luftwaffe POW camp guard Sergeant Schultz in the TV series “Hogan's Heroes.” Ironically, Banner was a Jew and had been in a German concentration camp himself.  Like Crane, he was in all 168 episodes of the series, the only two cast members to have that distinction.  He also played the character in a sketch titled “Freddie's Heroes” on “The Red Skelton Hour” with Crane as Hogan.  His catchphrase as Schultz was “I know nothing!” which he repeats in this episode of “The Lucy Show.”  He died in his home city Vienna in 1973.  

Oscar Beregi (Wolfgang Schmidt the Director) was a Hungarian-born actor who made a career out of playing foreign bad guys.  He is most recognized for playing Eva Gabor's father on “Green Acres” despite being only a year older than her.  Beregi did two episodes of “Hogan's Heroes” with Crane and Banner, in 1966 and 1970.  This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.  

Beregi was probably cast for his resemblance to Werner Klemperer, who played Colonel Klink on “Hogan’s Heroes.”  He also wore a monocle. 

Larry Dean (Assistant Director) was a mime who specialized in playing a robot. He also did this on episodes of “Lost in Space” and “Bewitched.” He previously played the mechanical butler in Bigelow’s store window in “Lucy and the Ceramic Cat” (S3;E17). He returns to “The Lucy Show” in the next episode “Lucy and the Robot” (S4;E23).

Sid Gould (Sid, the Waiter) made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” all as background characters. He also did 40 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton.

Dale Van Sickel (German Soldier) was a Hollywood stunt man and actor whose career began in 1933. He appeared with Lucille Ball in the films Roberta (1935) and There Goes My Man (1937). He appeared in all three of the ‘Iron Man Carmichael’ episodes of “The Lucy Show.”

Joan Carey (Bank Customer, uncredited) was a frequent background performer on “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show” where she eventually became Lucille Ball’s camera and lighting stand-in. 

Other background performers play the bank customers, the diners at the restaurant, and the German soldiers.

This is the last episode of six written by Edmund Beloin and Henry Garson. This is also the last of the three 'Iron Man Carmichael' episodes they penned. The previous two were “Lucy the Stunt Man” (S4;E5) and “Lucy and the Return of Iron Man” (S4;E11).  

The script was dated January 4, 1966, and was originally titled “There's No Business Like the Iron Man Business.”  The action described in the above page varies significantly from the final edit.  

“Hogan's Heroes” was filmed at Desilu Studios.  Interiors were done at Desilu Culver City and exteriors at what was known as '40 Acre Lot.' During its six year run, “Lucy Show” cast that appeared on “Hogan's Heroes” included Doris Singleton, Parley Baer, Kathleen Freeman, Lou Krugman, Hans Conreid, and George DeNormand.

Both Lucille Ball and Bob Crane were nominated for 1966 Emmy Awards. She lost to Mary Tyler Moore (“The Dick Van Dyke Show”) and he lost to Dick Van Dyke.  “Hogan's Heroes” was nominated for Best Comedy Series (“The Lucy Show” was not) but again lost to “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”  

Lucy has a new responsibility at the bank running a huge, loud punch-card driven computer. After the computer sprays shredded paper in Mr. Mooney's face, Lucy is re-assigned to ‘new accounts’ and must move her things from one desk in the lobby to another. 

Previously, Lucy's desk was in Mr. Mooney's office. In addition to the punch card machine, her new location features a painting titled “The Half Way House” (1848) by English painter William Shayer. 

Instead of entrance applause, Crane gets applause when Lucy recognizes him and says his name.

Although Crane was essentially playing himself on this episode, for the purposes of creating a flirtation with Lucy, Crane is single.  In reality he was married to Anne Terezian, with whom he had three children.  They divorced in 1970.  

Lucy says Crane is his favorite solider since Captain Kangaroo.  “Captain Kangaroo” was a children’s television series that aired weekday mornings on CBS from October 1955 to December 1984. Captain Kangaroo was previously mentioned in “Chris’s New Year’s Eve Party” (S1;E14) and “Lucy Teaches Ethel Merman to Sing” (S2;E18).  

Bob Crane knows the work of Iron Man Carmichael, having seen him in the movie Bad Day at Laredo. This is a direct reference to “Lucy the Stunt Man” (S4;E5) although the cowboy movie had no title during the episode.  Mr. Mooney references Lucy as Iron Man being shot out of a canon, a direct reference to the big stunt Lucy did in “Lucy and the Return of Iron Man” (S4;E11), a pirate movie that was also untitled.  

Lucy: “If a man like Bob Crane thinks I'm shy and demur, then I'm going to be just as shy and demur as Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.”

Mr. Mooney: “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm? You are more like The Unthinkable Molly Brown!”

Mr. Mooney is making a pun on the 1960 stage musical and the 1964 film The Unsinkable Molly Brown, about Margaret Brown who survived the sinking of the Titanic.  The Broadway production ran at the same time as Wildcat starring Lucille Ball. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm  is the title of a 1903 children’s novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin that tells the story of Rebecca Randall and her two stern aunts in a village in Maine. The hallmark of Rebecca’s character was her cheerful optimism in the face of adversity.  Mr. Mooney previously mentioned the book / character in “Lucy and the Winter Sports” (S3;E3).

Lucy lives at the Glenhall Apartments. This is the first time in 22 episodes that the complex has been named.  Crane says he owns a home on 993 Elm in Beverly Hills.  This would be about a mile from where Lucille Ball actually lived on Roxbury Drive.  

New depositors to the bank get a calendar, a piggy bank, a pen wiper, a pencil sharpener, and a little speedy electric shoe polisher!  

When Mr. Mooney asks Schmidt if he has ever heard of Iron Man Carmichael, Schmidt replies “Has Huntley ever heard of Brinkley?” Newscasters Chet Huntley (1911-1974) and David Brinkley (1920-2003) were co-hosts of the NBC evening news show “The Huntley-Brinkley Report” from 1956 to 1970.    

In return for getting Iron Man Carmichael for Crane's new film, Mr. Mooney is given the part of General Van Plump. The movie is a World War One epic with Crane playing the lead as an American aviator.  John Banner's cameo as Sergeant Schultz is handled by Crane saying: “Schultz! You're in the wrong war!”

For their dinner date, Lucy wears a powder blue garden party dress, matching gloves, and wide-brimmed hat.  She resembles Little Bo Peep more than Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. She says her perfume is called ‘Breath of Daisy Dew.’

As Iron Man Carmichael Lucy crashes through the ceiling hanging from her parachute strings. Lucille Ball will repeat this stunt in “Lucy, the Skydiver,” a 1970 episode of “Here's Lucy.”  

With Lucy / Iron Man hanging in the air and Bob Crane is turning on a wheel, Mr. Mooney / General Von Plump and the German soldiers do a bit of the “Schnitzelbank,” a German call and repeat song or chant (Mr. Mooney speaks it).  It is similar in structure to the American song “Must Be Santa” by Mitch Miller. William Frawley (Fred Mertz) performed an English version of this song in the 1942 World War II propaganda musical The Yankee Doodler. A version without lyrics was played by the Swiss Band that rescued the Ricardos and the Mertzes from the avalanche in “Lucy in the Swiss Alps” (ILL S5;E21).  

Callbacks!

Playing a German solider give Lucy the chance to be the misfit who does the opposite of the formation and what the commander says.  She first did this in “Lucy and the Military Academy” (S2;E10) and then again as one of the doormen in “Lucy Goes to a Hollywood Premiere” (S4;E20).  

Lucy hanging in air with the broom is visually reminiscent of when Lucy Ricardo played the Witch in “Little Ricky's School Pageant” (ILL S6;E10).  

Blooper Alerts

The nautical restaurant is really Lucy's apartment re-dressed with different walls.  This is obvious from the two steps up in the back and the green wall-to-wall carpet, identical to those found in Lucy's flat at the Glenhall Apartments.  

“Lucy and Bob Crane” rates 4 Paper Hearts out of 5

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Lucy the Stunt Man

S4;E5 ~ October 18, 1965

Synopsis

When Lucy needs money to buy a fur coat, she takes a job as a Hollywood stunt man.

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Gale Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney)

Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane Lewis) does not appear in this episode.

Guest Cast

Joan Blondell (Joan Brenner) was born into a family of vaudevillians in 1906. She made her New York theatre debut with the Ziegfeld Follies and appeared in several Broadway productions.  She made her film debut in 1930. She was nominated for an Oscar for 1951's The Blue Veil. In 1978 she had a small role in the film Grease. Although she was active in Hollywood concurrently with Lucille Ball, this (and the previous episode) is the first time she has appeared with her on screen. This is her final appearance on the series.  She died of leukemia in 1979.  

Don Magowan (Chuck Casey) worked on many westerns during his career, but was a regular on “The Beachcomber” (1962) playing Captain Huckabee. He will do one episode of “Here's Lucy” in 1970.  

Lou Krugman (Mr. Wilson, Director) was born in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1914. He made a memorable debut at Desilu as the ever-patient film director in “Lucy Gets Into Pictures” (ILL S4;18). After that episode was filmed, Lucy sent him a telegram telling him how impressed she was with his acting. She rewarded him with appearances in “The Great Train Robbery,” (ILL S5;E5) and the role of the Club Babalu’s Manager in “Lucy and Bob Hope” (ILL S6;E1) and “Lucy Meets Orson Welles” (ILL S6;E3). He previously appeared in “Lucy in the Music World“ (S4;E4) and “Lucy Takes Up Chemistry” (S1;E26). This is his last appearance on the show.

Eddie Quillan (Mr. Briggs) was born in Philadelphia in 1907. At the age of seven he was already performing in vaudeville with his sister and three brothers in an act called "The Rising Generation.” He made his screen debut in 1926 in a Mack Sennett short and went on to appear in such classic films as Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), and Brigadoon (1954). He previously appeared in “Lucy Buys a Sheep” (S1;E5). In 1964 he was seen in Advance to the Rear starring Joan Blondell. He also made two appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”

Burt Douglas (Slim Jones, below left) appeared in more than sixty films and TV shows from 1956 to 1992.  This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.  

Chuck Hicks (Buzz Perkaby, above right) was a stunt man and actor who's career began in 1953. Hicks was a long-time stunt double for Brian Dennehy. He will appear on “Here's Lucy” in “Lucy and Wally Cox” (S2;E21).  

Jack Perkins (Saloon Brawler) was often cast for his ability to play drunk.  He also has quite a few credits as a brawler and a bartender.  He will appear in two more episodes of “The Lucy Show.”

Dale Van Sickel (Saloon Brawler) was a Hollywood stunt man and actor whose career began in 1933.  He appeared with Lucille Ball in the films Roberta (1935) and There Goes My Man (1937).  He will also appear in both of the upcoming 'Iron Man Carmichael' episodes of “The Lucy Show.”

A few additional background performers take part in the saloon scene.  

This is the first episode written by Edmond Beloin and Harry Garson.  The two will pen five more episodes together.  This is the first of three ‘Iron Man Carmichael’ episodes, all written by Beloin and Garson. The other two are "Lucy and the Return of Iron Man" (S4;E11) and "Lucy and Bob Crane" (S4;E22).  

The date this episode first aired (October 18, 1965) actor Henry Travers died. Best known as Clarence the Angel in It's a Wonderful Life (1946), he co-starred with Lucille Ball in A Girl, A Guy, and a Gob (1941).  

A clip from this episode was part of the season four 'kaleidoscope' opening credit sequence.  

“The Lucy Show” stunt coordinator was Jesse Wayne who amassed over 500 credits as a stunt performer and actor. Due to his small stature he started out as stunt double for Hollywood's young actors. He wrote an e-book titled Confessions of a Hollywood Stunt Man.   

The casting of Joan Blondell was another attempt to replace Vivian Vance as Lucy's 'partner in crime.' Ball and Blondell did not get along off stage, resulting in heated arguments. After the final shot of this episode, with the studio audience still present, Lucy made a 'flushing' motion in Blondell's direction. Blondell shouted, 

“Fuck you, Lucille Ball.” 

The two never reconciled. The very next episode Lucy brought back Ann Southern as the Countess Framboise.

Lucy brings up Danfield where she and Mr. Mooney used to live.

Lucille Ball resurrects her famous toaster gag that was so often seen on “I Love Lucy”: grabbing a piece of toast mid-air as it popped out of the toaster. She also did it on “The Lucy Show” in “Lucy Takes a Job at the Bank” (S2;E21), but with passbooks instead of bread!  

Lucy gets a laugh by saying the line “Jiggle it a little, it'll open” very quickly. When Mr. Mooney said it there was no reaction from the studio audience.

Lucy Carmichael previously had trouble with her refrigerator back in Danfield in the episode “Lucy the Disc Jockey” (S3;E26).  It is possible that this is the same set piece she ruined back east but repainted apple green. Despite deliberately wrecking the fridge to con Mr. Mooney into giving her money, the refrigerator is till in the kitchen in the next episode.

Lucy wants to spend $99.50 on a new leopard coat from Felix Franco the Friendly Furrier. Adjusting for inflation, this is more than $800 today. Back in Danfield, Lucy's friendly Franco furrier was Madame Fifi (Fifi D'Orsay).  

'Iron Man Carmichael' says he's been out of the country working in Lawrence of Arabia. His gruff voice is attributed to being kicked in the throat by a camel. Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 historical film based on the life of T.E. Lawrence and taking place mostly in the desert. It won seven Oscars including Best Picture. The film was previously mentioned in “Lucy the Disc Jockey” (S3;E26). 

Lou Krugman (Mr. Wilson) also played a film director in “Lucy Gets Into Pictures” (ILL S4;18), his first job with Lucille Ball. It is fitting that he bookends his Desilu experience by playing another one.

When Gale Gordon addresses Lou Krugman as “Mr. Wilson” it is a bit of deja vu since Gordon played Mr. Wilson on “Dennis the Menace” just before he joined the cast of “The Lucy Show.”

As a dance hall girl in the saloon scene, Joan Blondell wears the same can-can style dress that Lucy wore in “Lucy and the Beauty Doctor” (S3;E24).  

Mr. Mooney jokingly tells Joan that he's testing for the male lead in Liz Taylor's next picture. Elizabeth Taylor will appear with her husband Richard Burton (playing themselves) in a 1970 episode of “Here's Lucy.” Gale Gordon (Mr. Mooney) is also in the episode.  

Callbacks!

The plot of this episode starts off very similar to “The Fur Coat” (ILL S1;E9), including the scene where Lucy Ricardo does dishes while wearing her cherished fur. 

Lucy's drag cowboy stuntman looks nearly identical to the one she created in “Home Movies” (ILL S3;E20) in 1954.

“Lucy the Stunt Man” rates 3 Paper Hearts out of 5

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Lucy and the Return of  Iron Man

S4;E11~ November 29, 1965

Synopsis

Lucy and Mary Jane spend a day at the track.  When they place a bet for Mr. Mooney, they mistakenly rip up his bet slip, so Lucy must go back to work doing stunts as Iron Man Carmichael in order to pay Mr. Mooney his winnings. 

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Gale Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney), Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane Lewis)

Guest Cast

Saul Gorss (Rusty) was a Hollywood actor and stunt man whose career began in 1931 with The Front Page. This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.  

Ross Elliott (Director) also played the director of Lucy's famous Vitameatavegamin commercial in 1952.  He played Ross, Ricky's publicity agent in three other episodes. From 1961 to 1964 he played another TV director on “The Jack Benny Program.”  He will do one episode of “Here's Lucy.”  

Sid Gould (Waiter) made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” all as background characters. He also did 40 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton. Gould was married to Vanda Barra, who also appeared on “The Lucy Show” starting in 1967, as well as on “Here’s Lucy.”

The Racetrack Patrons are played by:

Monty O'Grady was first seen with Lucille Ball in The Long, Long Trailer (1953) and played a passenger on the S.S. Constitution in “Second Honeymoon” (ILL S5;E14). He was a traveler at the airport when “The Ricardos Go to Japan” (1959). He made a dozen appearances on the series and a half dozen more on “Here’s Lucy.”

George Hoagland was an uncredited extra in hundreds of movies and TV shows, including Lucy and Desi's film The Long, Long Trailer in 1953.

Kenner G. Kemp appeared in seven films with Lucille Ball between 1936 and 1960.

Mike Lally was seen in two episodes of “I Love Lucy” and eight films starring Lucille Ball.  

Arthur Tovey was seen in the Lucille Ball film Critic's Choice in 1960 and the TV special “Swing Out, Sweet Land” in 1970 in which Lucille Ball is the Statue of LIberty.   

Other uncredited background performers play the racetrack patrons and the pirates. 

This is the second of three Iron Man Carmichael episodes where Lucy gets to do stunts, this time in a pirate movie. The first (S4;E5) was a western and the last (S4;E22) will be a war picture.  All three episodes were written by Edmond Beloin and Harry Garson and were directed by Maury Thompson. Jesse Wayne was “The Lucy Show” stunt coordinator. In this one and the first, the Directors were played by actors who had also played directors on “I Love Lucy.”

We learn that Mr. Mooney and his (never seen) wife Irma have been married for 25 years.

At the track, Mr. Mooney bets on Banker's Dream, with odds of 25 to 1. Lucy and Mary Jane bet on Redhead Mary.  

Mr. Mooney says that a banker at the racetrack is as conspicuous as Yul Brynner standing among The Beatles. Actor Yul Brynner was known for being bald while The Beatles were a rock group known for their long, shaggy hair. The Beatles were mentioned in several episodes of “The Lucy Show.”  On “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” follicle-challenged Fred Mertz (William Frawley) often compared himself to Yul Brynner.

Mary Jane has taken a job as a script girl at the studio.  

The beach party movie being filmed on an adjacent sound stage is titled Who's the Dirty Meanie Who Stole Grandmother's Bikini?

Before Iron Man Lucy is shot out of the canon, she says “It's the only way to fly.” This was the advertising slogan of Western Airlines a US carrier that was in operation from 1926 to 1987, before merging with Delta Airlines. In 1965 R&B singer Jewel Akens (“The Birds and the Bees”) released a song titled “It’s the Only Way to Fly.”  The slogan was previously uttered in “Lucy Gets the Bird” (S3;E12).  

Callbacks!

Lucy Ricardo spent a good deal of time at the horse track – as a jockey – in “Lucy Wins A Racehorse”, a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”  

Blooper Alerts!

Blooper?  After Lucy / Iron Man is shot out of the canon, the camera pans over too far and a stage lighting instrument is in the frame!  Because we know that a movie is being shot, it is not really a blooper. 

Door is Ajar! Once again, Mr. Mooney enters Lucy's apartment but fails to shut the front door.

“Lucy and the Return of Iron Man” rates 3 Paper Hearts out of 5