Lucy in London

Infobox Film
name = Lucy In London

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image_size =
caption = Publicity photo of Lucille Ball & Anthony Newley
director = Steve Binder
producer = Steve Binder
writer = Ron Friedman
Pat McCormick
narrator =
starring = Lucille Ball
Anthony Newley
Dave Clark Five
music = Phil Spector
Irwin Kostal
release =
cinematography = Fouad Said
editing = John M. Foley
Bud S. Smith
released = October 24, 1966 (USA)
runtime = 60 minutes
country = United States of America
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
distributor = CBS
imdb_id = 0435693

"Lucy in London" is a 1966 prime-time TV special produced and directed by Steve Binder and sponsored by Monsanto. The program starred Lucille Ball, Anthony Newley and the Dave Clark Five and was filmed entirely on location in London.

Plot

Lucy Carmichael (Lucille Ball), an American secretary, arrives in London to claim a free day trip that she won in a dog food jingle contest. She is expecting a luxury limousine tour of the city, but instead is greeted by a tour guide named Tony (Anthony Newley) who escorts her in a motorcycle with an open sidecar. Their initial stop, for punting on the River Thames in an inflatable raft, ends disastrously when they collide with a rowing team and sink beneath the waters. Tony then takes Lucy to the heart of London's shopping district, where she models the latest mod fashions in a musical number based on the Phil Spector tune "Lucy in London." [http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=features&Id=2248 "The Bootleg Files: Lucy in London," Film Threat, September 12, 2008] ]

Lucy is then escorted to Madame Tussaud’s wax museum, where she is frightened by a curator whom she mistakes for a haunted wax statue that comes to life. She then visits a British manor, where she plays Kate opposite actor Peter Wyngarde in a scene from the William Shakespeare comedy "The Taming of the Shrew". Lucy and Tony return to the Thames, where they sing "Pop Goes the Weasel" as a duet. The Dave Clark Five turns up to sing "London Bridge is Falling Down".

Lucy and Tony then arrive at an empty theater, where Tony dons a tuxedo and sings a medley of songs from the Leslie Bricusse-Anthony Newley show "Stop the World, I Want to Get Off". Lucy follows him with a mime act and a song where she shows her appreciation of her London adventures.

Production history

"Lucy in London" came about as part of Lucille Ball's 1966-67 contract renewal with CBS. At the time, she was producing and starring in "The Lucy Show" for the network. The agreement gave her the option to star in three specials that would be produced independent of her weekly program. Ball originally planned a production where she would co-star with Mitzi Gaynor as two nuns touring Europe, followed by a French-based production called "Lucy in Paris" and a Middle Eastern comedy called "Lucy in Arabia". None of those projects gained footing, and instead Ball, through her company Desilu Productions, opted to shoot "Lucy in London".Sanders, Coyne Steven, and Gilbert, Tom. “Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz,” 1994. Harper Paperbacks. ISBN: 0688135145]

The concept for "Lucy in London" was set-up in an episode of "The Lucy Show" called "Lucy Flies to London." Much of that episode, which involved Lucy’s unfamiliarity with air travel, was based on an unsold pilot written and shot in 1960.Fidelman, Geoffrey Mark. “The Lucy Book: A Complete Guide to Her Five Decades on Television,” 1999. Renaissance Books. ISBN: 1580630510]

Laurence Olivier was signed to appear in "Lucy in London," but withdrew from the production prior to shooting.

Ball went through 15 different wigs during the production. Cleo Smith, Ball's cousin and the executive in charge of this production, later recalled that problems arose in photographing the star on the London locations, where the use of heavy stage make-up and filtered lighting that was employed for her studio-based program could not repeated. Ball's biographer Geoffrey Mark Fidelman would later remark that the actress "looked old" throughout the show due to difficulties in establishing flattering lighting for the outdoor sequences.

"Lucy in London" was broadcast on October 24, 1966. Reviews were poor, with "Variety" complaining: "What had promised to be one of the season's major specials turned out to be a major disappointment." Ball opted not to pursue the creation of the remaining two specials in her contract.

To date, "Lucy in London" has never been made available on DVD.

References