The Star Upstairs – I Love Lucy episode 122, season 4, originally aired April 18, 1955
The Star Upstairs is truly hilarious episode. Lucy has seen 99 stars during her visit to Hollywood and is determined to make it an even 100. When she reads in the paper that an unnamed star is hiding out in a hotel in Beverly Hills, she decides that he must be in their hotel. Later, after grilling by Lucy, Bobby the bellboy spills the beans. Not only is Lucy right, the movie star is Cornel Wilde, who is in the penthouse directly above the Ricardos’ hotel room!
Cornel Wilde is the star upstairs
Unable to let this pass, Lucy blackmails Bobby to let her borrow his bellhop uniform in order to deliver Cornel Wilde his morning newspaper. Unfortunately, when she arrives, Cornel Wilde is in the bathtub, and asks ‘Bobby’ to bring him the newspaper! Shy Lucy doesn’t want to see her 100th celebrity naked, so she throws the newspaper into the bathroom from around the corner, and hears it land in the bathtub with a splash! Lucy beats a hasty retreat.
Lucy blackmails Bobby ..
Never one to give up easily, Lucy again blackmails Bobby the bellhop. This time, she will ride along on the cart (covered by the cloth) as Bobby delivers lunch to Cornel Wilde. When Cornel Wilde hears Lucy talking, he assumes that Bobby is ‘auditioning’ as a ventriloquist, and is amazed at how good he is! About to leave, Cornel Wilde asks Bobby to do that voice one more time. And this time it comes from behind his sofa! Poor Bobby exits, leaving Lucy in Cornel Wilde’s hotel room. This, incidentally, is one of the funniest scenes in the entire series.
Now to escape …
Lucy now has the problem of how to get out of Cornel Wilde’s apartment without being caught. She goes onto the balcony, and with the help of Ethel (in the Ricardos’ hotel room directly below) she ties together strips of towel and tries to climb down, only to have Ricky choose that moment to enter. It’s visually hilarious, as Ethel tries to keep Ricky from looking towards the balcony as Lucy dangles outside their window. But Lucy eventually falls immediately after Ricky leaves. Thankfully, her fall is broken by some palm trees, as is obvious from all of the palm leaves she’s covered with when she returns. Ricky also returns, and tells her that Cornel Wilde has invited them to come upstairs and play cards!
Lucy needs to get cleaned up, however, and just as she’s ready to meet Cornel Wilde, Ricky returns with bad news. It turns out that they found evidence of an intruder in Cornel Wilde’s hotel room, and as a precaution he’s moved to a different hotel!
The Star Upstairs is available as part of the I Love Lucy season 4 DVD collection.
funny quotes from The Star Upstairs – I Love Lucy
Bobby the bellhop: [referring to Lucy blackmailing him into borrowing his uniform] How can anybody be so pretty on the outside and so sneaky on the inside?
Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance): Isn’t it awful? It’s like smelling a rose and getting stung by a bee.
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): Whose lunch is that?
Bobby the bellhop: Nobody’s …
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): Bobby!
Bobby the bellhop: Seriously! It’s a practice lunch! I’m going to eat it myself!
[As Lucy is dangling from a rope outside their balcony window, Ricky is unaware]
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): Honey, I’m home.
Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance): Hi, Rick.
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): Hi, Ethel. Where’s Lucy?
Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance): I don’t know.
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): Probably hanging around the hotel somewhere.
Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance): You’ve got that right.