#Art Carney | papermoonloveslucy (2024)

March 30, 1976

Directed by Charles Walters ~ Written by Sheldon Keller andLynn Roth

“Part Two: First Affair” based on a story by Milly Schoenbaum

Synopsis

Catherine Curtis (Lucille Ball) has divorced her husband and moved out on her own. In Part One, Catherine unpacks and muses about her new life. In Part Two, she flirts with a widowed handyman (Art Carney). In Part Three, Catherine falls in love with a younger man (Joseph Bologna), but is afraid their age difference will be their undoing.

Cast

Lucille Ball (Catherine Curtis) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.

Catherine Curtis is a recent divorcee.

Art Carney(Mr. Slaney in “First Affair”) is probably best remembered as Ed Norton on Jackie Gleason’s “The Honeymooners,” a character that won him five Emmy Awards. He also won an Oscar for the filmHarry and Tonto. He had played Lucille Ball’s husband in the 1967 filmA Guide for the Married Man. He was also married to Lucille Ball in the 1974 special “Happy Anniversary and Goodbye.” Carney died in 2003 at age 85.

Mr. Slaney is a carpenter installing bookshelves for Mrs. Curtis. We never learn his first name.

Joseph Bologna (Peter in “First Love”) makes his only appearance opposite Lucille Ball after writing her last special “Three For Two” in 1975. Bologna was a performer and writer, mostly with his wife, Renee Taylor. They were nominated for an Oscar for writing 1970's Lovers and Other Strangers and won an Emmy for “Acts of Love and Other Comedies.” He died in 2017 at age 82.

Peter was married for six years, but divorced ten years before the action begins. We never learn his last name.

DirectorCharles Walterswas an uncredited director onZiegfeld Follies(1945) which starred Lucille Ball, although not in the segment he staged. He also directed two episodes of “Here’s Lucy” and also directed “Three For Two” in 1975.

This was Lucille Ball’s fourth prime time special after the end of “Here’s Lucy” in 1974. They include“Happy Anniversary and Goodbye”(1974), “Lucy Gets Lucky”(1975), and “Three for Two” (1975), four months earlier.This special is available on DVD from MPI video or can be streamed online. It was originally aired on CBS in the USA.

This special was the #16 show for the week and won its time slot with a 22.6 rating and 36% share of the audience. Variety said,

“Lucille Ball delivers an outstanding performance.”

Writer Sheldon Keller makes his debut writing for Lucille Ball. He wrote two Art Carney specials in 1959 and won an Emmy Award for a 1966 Carol Channing special. Milly Schoenbaum was a press representative who worked on more than thirty Broadway shows between 1970 and 1985.

Like the previous Lucille Ball Specials, the show reunites many“Here’s Lucy”production staff, including hairstylist Irma Kusely, prop master Kenneth Westcott, costumer Renita Reachi, and script supervisor Dorothy Aldworth.

All three acts take place in Catherine Cutis's New York City apartment. The special was filmed in Hollywood at 20thCentury Fox studios and includes stock footage of a New York City street (at the start) and a jet flying through the clouds (at the end).

The surname Curtis is found in Lucille Ball's family tree ten generations back (1500's). It was more recently the first name of Gale Gordon's character on “Life With Lucy” (1986). In the special Lucille Ball's character is given both a first and a last name, while Art Carney only gets a last name, and Joe Bologna is only referred to by his first name.

Like the previous Lucille Ball Special, “Three For Two” (1975), this hour is divided into three distinct stories. The first is titled “First Night” and presents Lucille Ball as Catherine Curtis in a monologue. The second, with Art Carney, is titled “First Affair,” and the last, featuring Joseph Bologna, “First Love.”

Part I ~ “First Night” {19 minutes}

A voice over by Ball introduces Catherine Curtis, who was married for 23 years and has two daughters, Melinda and Elizabeth. Melinda is in college, while Elizabeth is married with a child named Stacy, making Catherine a grandmother (or, as she calls herself “Nana”). She is facing life alone for the first time.

The special opens with sepia toned photos of Lucille Ball drawn from her actual scrapbooks including baby and wedding photos of Ball's real-life daughter Lucie Arnaz and ending with a divorce decree between Catherine Curtis and Bennett Curtis, a character we never meet.

Catherine's new phone number is GRamercy 5-5525. On dial telephones, letters were often used to indicate neighborhoods. In this case, GR represents 47, so Catherine's number is 475-5525 in the Gramercy Park area of Manhattan.

Before the divorce, Catherine and her family lived in Connecticut, with her husband commuting to New York, which she calls “Fun City.”

Catherine: (talking to herself, imitating her ex-husband) “Catherine, we'll move to Connecticut. You'll love the country. (as herself) Well, I hated the country, Ben. I hated the crabgrass. I hated the mulch. I hated the compost heap. And I hated you, Bennett Curtis. Damn you!”

Lucy Ricardo and her family also moved to Connecticut (above photo) while her husband worked in New York City and, although it took some time to adjust to, she eventually was happy with her new home in the country. Later in the special Catherine says,

Catherine: “We lived in Westport, Connecticut. It was not zoned for screaming.”

While unpacking, Catherine turns on the radio and immediately hears “One less man to pick up after. I should be happy, but all I do is cry” before she angrily switches stations. This is the song “One Less Bell To Answer” by Burt Bacharach and Hal David written in 1967 for Keely Smith, who sings it here. Not coincidentally, Keely’s original version was arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, who is credited with music for this special.

Oops! When Catherine's daughter Elizabeth calls her on the phone and turns the conversation to her father, Catherine says “Elizabeth, I did not call to discuss that” when Elizabeth clearly called her, not the other way around.

Part II ~“First Affair” {13 minutes}

Part Two opens with Ball's voice-over and pans the now fully decorated and brightly lit apartment. It takes place three months after she moved in during Part I.

Mr. Slaney tells Catherine he finds it a crying shame “How people who share a wall can't even share a hello.” He admits it is not original; he heard Merv Griffin say it. “The Merv Griffin Show” was a talk and variety program hosted by Griffin from 1962 to 1986. He interviewed Lucille Ball in 1973 and 1980.

Mr. Slaney: Give me the old ways every time. People today, with their speed and their instants and their jiffies and their speedies, it's getting crazy. With their shake-a-bakes and your bake-a-shakes and your minute mix and your quickie mix and your ready mix and your here-a-mix-there-a-mix everywhere a mix-mix.” Catherine: “What are you talking about Mr. Slaney?” Mr. Slaney: “I don't know. Just poke around there and you'll find out I said something.”

Mr. Slaney is a widower who lived in an apartment building Rego Park with his wife Grace. They knew all their neighbors:

• Tom and Emma Dole (1A)
• Willhelm and Colleen Luft (1B)
• Max and Florence Booberman (1C)
• Sy and Annie Booberman (1D)
• Frank and Sally Booberman (1E)

The three Booberman Brothers ran the Booberman Foam Rubber business.

Catherine: “That's a lot of Boobermans.”

Catherine: “My husband and I never raised our voices to each other in over 23 years.”Mr. Slaney: “Honest to God? How could you live like that? Being married all those years there's bound to be some aggravation that stores up in side of you. I mean, if you don't let it out, you could get herpes.”Catherine: “Or a divorce.”

Part III ~ “First Love” {19 minutes}

Ball's voice over introduces the segment, which picks up almost a year after Part I. Catherine has now found a job and fallen in love with a younger man.

Peter is 14 years younger than Catherine. In reality, Joseph Bologna is 25 years younger than Lucille Ball.Catherine facetiously calls Peter a “40 year-old virgin” when he says that there were no women before her. Based on this comment, Catherine Curtis is age 54. At the time of filming, Lucille Ball was 65 and Joseph Bologna 42.

As the segment begins, Peter and Catherine are coming home to her apartment after seeing a play.

Peter: “It was the worst single play I have ever seen in my life but I loved it because an English actor can read graffiti off a wall and make it sound like Shakespeare.”Catherine: “I agree.”Peter: (affecting a broad English accent) “For a rollicking good time, call Kinky Kitty; Stratford two, double seven, naught naught.”

Peter proposes they remain in their formal wear for a month, sipping champagne on the subway, singing “Begin the Beguine” at the automat, and tap dancing their way into the hearts of millions. He then sings a few bars of “Puttin' on the Ritz,” a song written by Irving Berlin in 1927.

“Begin the Beguine” (which Peter doesn't sing) was written by Cole Porter in 1935. The automat was a dining establishment comprised primarily of vending machines. The first automat in the United States was opened by Horn and Hardart in 1902. Their last New York City location closed in 1991.

Peter then suggests flying to his favorite city, London, and staying at the Connaught on Grosvernor Square, lunching at the White Elephant, going to the theatre every night, and having late supper at the Tramp. He then launches into a few bars of “A Foggy Day (in London Town),” which was written by George and Ira Gershwin in 1937.

TheConnaughtinMayfair, centralLondon, is a five-starhotelfirst opened in 1815. The name was taken from the title ofQueen Victoria’s son,Prince Arthur, the firstDuke of Connaught. The White Elephant on the River was first opened in the 1960s on Curzon Street and quickly became the hot dining spot for celebrities. It has since closed. Trampis a private, members only nightclub located onJermyn Streetin centralLondon. Founded in 1969, Tramp is considered to be one of the most exclusive clubs in the world and is a regular haunt forcelebrities.

Lucy Ricardo, Lucy Carmichael, and Lucy Carter all enjoyed trips to London, although only in the prime time special “Lucy in London” (1966) did Lucille Ball actually film there.

Peter, tired of Catherine's obsession with their age difference, sarcastically suggests they instead go to Sun City, where he'll buy her a Gucci corset and a sequined cane. Sun City, first opened in 1960, is a location in Arizona popular as a retirement community. It was first mentioned in “Lucy and Joan Rivers Do Jury Duty” (HL S6;E9) in 1973.

Catherine: (about Sun City) “You won't like it there. They don't get 'Sesame Street'.”

“Sesame Street,” a popular children's television program on PBS, first hit the airwaves in November 1969.The show was mentioned in 1970's “Lucy and Donny Osmond” (HL S5;E11). In 2007 “Sesame Street” mentioned “ILove Lucy,” although they were referring toLucythe Lazy Lizard. During the reference, the background music was similar to the “ILove Lucy” theme. In the bookSesame StreetUnpaved it is pointed out that Snuffy shares his astrological sign, Leo, with Lucille Ball.

Catherine would rather play backgammon than talk about going away with Peter. Lucille Ball was a games enthusiast, and backgammon was her favorite game for much of her later years.

Catherine: “You can have any young chick in the world. Why me?”Peter: “In the ten years since my divorce, you're the first woman I've gone out with who knows who John Garfield is.”Catherine: “Oh, for God's sake!”Peter: “Hey, I'm serious. Do you know what it's like to go out with a girl who thinks that Joe DiMaggio is a veal dish?”

When Catherine breaks down in tears, Peter imitates Clark Gable as Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind.

Catherine: “Stop wallowing in the past: Garfield, DiMaggio, Gable, Catherine Curtis. You're a nostalgia freak, that's what you are. I just don't want to be added to your collection of antiques.”

John Garfield (1913-52, above left) was an actor nominated for two Oscars for his films Four Daughters (1938) and Body and Soul (1947). Joe DiMaggio (1914-99, above right) was a baseballcenter fielderwho played his entire 13-year career for theNew York Yankees.He also was briefly married to Marilyn Monroe. DiMaggio was mentioned on “I Love Lucy” in “Lucy is Enceinte” (ILL S2;E10) in 1952. Clark Gable (1901-60, above center) was an Oscar-winning actor for his role in Gone With the Wind (1939). Lucille Ball was on the short list to play opposite Gable in the film and did a screen test for the role. The film was mentioned in 1954's “Lucy Writes a Novel” (ILL S3;E24) and in 1971's “The Hollywood Unemployment Follies” (HL S3;E22). On “Here's Lucy” the film was satirized in a sketch on “Lucy and Flip Go Legit” (HL S4;E1).

Peter impulsively offers to fly Catherine to San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf for seafood. He sings a few bars of “San Francisco,” a song from the 1936filmSan Francisco written byBronislaw KaperandWalter Jurmann, with lyrics byGus Kahn.

Catherine: (to Peter) “San Francisco, London, marriage! Just once I'd like you to suggest something that doesn't require a passport or a Wasserman Test.”

The Wasserman Test (named for its innovator) was a blood test that screened for syphilis. In the first half of the 1900s, many people in the United States who wanted a marriage license had to take a blood test first, depending on which state they lived in. However, strides in medical care and a convincing body of evidence have now eliminated this marriage license requirement in all but a handful of states. Regarding passports, Lucy Ricardo had trouble with hers throughout her trip to Europe. Catherine does not, of course, need a passport to go to San Francisco.

In the end, Catherine and Peter fly away on a jet plane to San Francisco. In “Lucy Gets Lucky”(1975) Lucy also boarded a plane with her male lead (Dean Martin) and flew off into the sunset.

This Date in Lucy History – March 30th

Superstitious Lucille Ball took to heart the old axiom that good things come in threes. This special, even more than“Three for Two”, is a well-written balance of drama and comedy. Lucille Ball shows off her acting chops in a nearly 20 minute-long monologue. This is one of the best of serio-comic Lucy.