"I Love Lucy" Lucy and John Wayne (1955)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Director:

James V. Kern

Writers:

Bob Carroll Jr. (writer)
Madelyn Davis (writer)

TV Series:

"I Love Lucy" (1951)

Original Air Date:

10 October 1955 (Season 5, Episode 2)

Genre:

Comedy | Family

Plot:

Ricky receives a phone call from the police; they intend to prosecute Lucy and Ethel if John Wayne's footprints are not returned intact...

Plot Keywords:

Bandleader | Friendship Between Men | Product Placement | Cult TV | Friendship Between Women

Cast

Lucille Ball	...	Lucy Ricardo
Desi Arnaz	...	Ricky Ricardo
Vivian Vance	...	Ethel Mertz
William Frawley	...	Fred Mertz
John Wayne	...	Himself
Ralph Volkie	...	George
Joseph A. Mayer	...	Little Ricky Ricardo
Michael Mayer	...	Little Ricky Ricardo

Runtime:

30 min

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Ren-Mar Studios - 846 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Desilu Productions

Movie Connections:

References The High and the Mighty (1954)

John Wayne's Footprints

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

To this day I still remember Lucille Ball's line when she met John Wayne in her character of Lucy Ricardo. Remarking about how his latest film affected her she said that when his motor conked out in The High And The Mighty her motor conked out.

This episode is the sequel to the previous week's episode where Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance got the bright idea to take John Wayne's cement block footprints for a souvenir of Hollywood. It's certainly a more durable souvenir you would think that the grapefruit she took from Richard Widmark's orchard in a previous episode.

But of course the nasty old police get involved as the theft is considered news. And of course Desi Arnaz suspects his movie star crazy wife.

But they're dropped and shatter and the rest of the episode is spent trying to get John Wayne to donate his footprints without his suspicion. He and Arnaz at different points get a face full of cement as Lucy visits the set of the film he's currently shooting which is Blood Alley.

It all gets resolved in the end by the rather exasperated Duke and the harried Desi.

A really classic episode from one of television's great shows.