The third hour-long Lucy story is set in Las Vegas, Nevada and the surrounding desert. The Ricardos and the Mertzes are on a train en route to Sin City where Ricky’s band has a gig at the Sands Hotel.
From the first moments on the train Lucy is fiddling with a geiger counter, excited about hunting for uranium in the desert. For some historical background, Wikipedia sez:
While uranium is used primarily for nuclear power, uranium mining had its roots in the production of radium-bearing ore from 1898 from the mining of uranium-vanadium sandstone deposits in western Colorado. The 1950s saw a boom in uranium mining in the western U.S., spurred by the fortunes made by prospectors such as Charlie Steen. The United States was the world’s leading producer of uranium from 1953 until 1980.
Ricky has told Lucy that uranium hunting is off limits. But she’s got a geiger counter and two Mertzes as accomplices. Lucy explains to the Mertzes that the “click-click-click” they hear is just a sample to test the counter. (Foreshadowing!) Soon thereafter Fred MacMurray makes the scene. Lucy and Ethel are overjoyed and show their affection to MacMurray with a symphony of pokes, pulls and nudges. When MacMurray bends down to tie his shoes, his watch sets off the geiger counter Lucy has stored under her seat.
Lucy puts on her geiger counter headphones just as Ricky returns to their hotel room:
RICKY: So the minute that my back was turned you were going to go uranium huntin’. And I thought I told you distinctly you co’nt.
LUCY: Well nothing personal dear, but you’ve never told me anything distinctly in your whole life.
(ETHEL and FRED MERTZ enter. Fred is wearing a pith helmet.)
ETHEL: What’s up?
LUCY: The jig.
Lucy shows her phony headline to Ethel, who is not impressed.
ETHEL: I think some of that henna has seeped through and rusted your brain.
LUCY: Whaddya mean? I thought that was kinda good!
ETHEL: Oh, that’s the worst idea you’ve ever had. Ricky will never fall for a phony story like that!
LUCY: Well…at least you’ll have to give me an “E” for effort.
ETHEL: All I can give you is “P” for punk.
(One of the definitions of “punk” in Webster’s Dictionary is “very poor; inferior”. Know your word power!)
- Lucy encounters Fred MacMurray in the hotel lobby. His wife June is also his financial supervisor, and Fred is concerned that he’s gone over his gambling allowance. 2. Lucy offers to simulate a phone call as June so Fred can practice admitting to his shameful overspending. 3. The news of the (fake) headline about the uranium strike has spread throughout the Sands…
The little scene between Lucy and Fred MacMurray is rather charming and cute…Lucy and Fred sit in adjoining phone booths and do a dry run…
FRED: Hello…is that you, Junie Bug?
LUCY: Yes, is that you….uh…what does she call you? - FRED (hushed): Freddy Bear.
LUCY: What?
FRED: Freddy Bear.
LUCY: FREDDY BEAR!!?!?
FRED: Shhhhh.
LUCY: Is that you, Freddy Bear? What’s new?
FRED: Well, Junie Bug, I have something to tell you
LUCY: What it is dear?
FRED: Well…Freddy Bear has been a naughty boy.
COMMERCIAL BREAK! We’ll return after a word from our pea-pickin’ lil’ ol’ sponsor.
In addition to appearing in well-remembered episodes of “I Love Lucy”, “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy”, Tennessee Ernie Ford’s NBC variety series bears the distinction of featuring the first animated appearances of the Peanuts comic strip characters, years before “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
A bit of a diversion there but what the hey.
As we move into the second half of “Lucy Hunts Uranium” the show becomes a combination of “Wacky Races”, “The Cannonball Run” and “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” The comedy is broadly visual, even more so than usual for a Lucy story. In some sense, this may be another case of stretching things out to make the 60-minute run time.
The Mertzes fiddle around with a detour sign…Fred MacMurray finds an alternate form of transportation…when the Ricardos stop at a little inn to refuel, the Mertzes tie their car to the Ricardos’. Eventually, the whole gang gives up motor vehicles for burros and finally arrive back at the Sands.
This is the first of the 60-minute Lucy shows to use extensive on-location shooting, in this case in the Mojave desert. According to Geoffrey Mark Fidelman’s “The Lucy Book”:
:…the crew has a problem manuevering one of the cars to come to a skidding stop in the needed manner. Frustrated by the time and money wasted, Desi gets in the car and does the stunt himself–perfectly. Although he received crew applause for his effort, it is soon discovered there is no film in the camera. Arnaz blows his top while the cast gets hysterical.”
Future episodes in the one-hour series will film in front of a live audience less frequently, because of the use of location shooting and elaborate settings which required more soundstage space and special effects.
And here we are, ladies and gentlemen, the big finale! June Havor, at long last, makes her appearance! She has just enough time to scold Fred MacMurray about his gambling debts, take it back when she finds out he’s getting rich on uranium, then gets mad at him again when the uranium thing falls out. What a hoochie!
Oh, about the uranium…well, there is none in Nevada. The newspaper led everybody astray. Lucy, once again, has some ‘splainin’ to do.
RANDOM NOTES:
-Early in this episode Ethel remarks on Lucy’s new hairstyle. “Oh! You got a new hat with your new hairdo!” Lucille Ball would wear this particular do for the remainder of her career.
-Fred MacMurray and William Frawley would continue working together two years after this episode was broadcast. Frawley played the role of Bub on “My Three Sons” in the first four seasons and change.
-Familiar Faces: Bobby Jellison, who played a bellboy in the classic Hollywood episodes of “I Love Lucy” is back in this show as…..a bellboy. And Louis Nicoletti, who has a bit part here, also played bit parts in 16 “I Love Lucy” episodes. He also held the title of Assistant Director on “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy”. Maxine Semon played small roles in two “I Love Lucy” episodes and played the maid in this hour-long show.
-Charles Lane played the Customs Officer in this episode. Lane, best known as grumpy old Homer Bedloe on “Petticoat Junction”, had roles in four episodes of “I Love Lucy”, and four episodes of “The Lucy Show.” His role on “The Lucy Show” was brief because he had difficulty remembering his lines in front of a live audience. Poor fella. He was only able to get work another 33 years.
Oh, and one more thing: I love impressions, and this one is pretty darn tricky.
NEXT: Betty Grable, Harry James and a horse.