Lucy Gets in Pictures – I Love Lucy season 4 – originally aired 2/21/1955
In Lucy Gets in Pictures, Lucy is feeling depressed and left out. Ricky is going to star in Don Juan, and Lucy would like to be in a movie, too. However, no sooner does Ricky convince her that she’s better off not having to work from morning to night at the studio but instead has free time to enjoy her vacation, then Fred and Ethel burst in, announcing that an old vaudeville pal has just gotten them roles in a movie.
Lucy tries to get discovered
After that, Lucy decides to sit in the same drugstore that Lana Turner was discovered in, but she isn’t discovered – only sick from all of the malts and shakes that she had while she was waiting. Ricky tries to pull some strings, and has a friend of his, Mr. Williams, give Lucy a bit part in a movie he’s shooting.
A show girl, who has to wear an impossibly big (and heavy) headdress. After spoiling the first four takes, Mr. Williams has the idea of having the scene shot with Lucy’s character already dead, on a gurney … with her face covered. But resourceful Lucy still finds a way to make sure that her friends back home will know it was her on-screen.
Lucy Gets in Pictures is a very good episode, with some wonderful clowning by Lucille Ball in her oversized headdress, proving that she was indeed the queen of physical comedy. This episode is available on the I Love Lucy season 4 DVD.
Funny quotes from I Love Lucy – Lucy Gets in Pictures
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): Mr. Williams, can I be the one who gets killed?
Mr. Williams: Mrs. Ricardo …
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): Wouldn’t you like to see me die?
Mr. Williams: Don’t tempt me.
[Lucy slides down the railing]
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): I’m sorry. I tripped on my train. It was sort of a train trip.
Mr. Williams [after Lucy pretends to be shot, and does an extended death scene]: Mrs. Ricardo, what are you doing? That shot was for the other girl.
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): Well, he missed.
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): How’s Lucy?
Mr. Williams: She’s fine. I’m a nervous wreck.
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): I refuse to discuss anything with a sneak.
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): [with Cuban accent]: A snik?
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): All right, a snik.
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): I’ve been waiting for you ever since we came to California to try to get into the movies. What took you so long?
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): I was lulling you into a false sense of security.
Bobby the Bellboy: No, I got a part in a picture.
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): You have?
Bobby the Bellboy: Yeah. Remember last time I was a stooge. This time I got a line to say!
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): I’m feeling like the ugly duckling.
Fred Mertz (William Frawley): Why, that’s ridiculous. You’re prettier than all of us.
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): And talented, too!
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): My light will be hid under a bushel.
Bobby the Bellboy: Can’t your husband get you into pictures?
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): You mean Ricky Ricardo, the Cuban bushel?
Fred Mertz (William Frawley): Nobody did any discovering?
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball) [referring to all of the shakes and malts she ate while waiting to be discovered at a drugstore]: Only me. I discovered I was turning green.
Fred Mertz (William Frawley): Well, at least she’s not blue anymore.
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): I’ve got a date with Mr. Minelli, so I’ve got to go.