I mean Ricky was an OK bongo player, but he was a terrible singer and I highly doubt that he would ever be desired as a Hollywood actor. So all these storylines where he's a big deal were pretty vain if you ask me. Like him being invited to meet the Queen of England to represent America? Yikes.
he was a good singer not a great one, the type of singer you would hear at a local food festival or county fair.and yes if it wasnt for lucy he would have been a very minor actor.and dont forget he was a complete nobody in hollywood and yet overnight hes hobnobbing with all the big stars like hes known them for years.
shareYup! And he wasn't exactly a spring chicken either, which made it even more bizarre. There is a saying, 'no birthday candles after 25 in hollywood' for new actors, and he was pushing 40 when he made it as a 'big deal' in tinsletown.
shareI'd rather listen to Cousin Ernie singing at a local food festival or county fair than Ricky Ricardo!
sharedesi arnaz was a successful actor, singer and bandleader. his music might not appeal to you, but he was popular enough in his day. there is nothing unlikely about his character being succesful either.
shareYeah, he was so successful that the network begged lucy to NOT work along side Desi, wanting a better actor. Personally I think him being cuban attributed to the appeal and uniqueness of the show but him being a star in his own right without lucy? That's a stretch. What was his career post Lucy? I rest my case.
sharetheir reluctance to accept Desi as Lucy's husband so i have always understood was more because he was foreign than because they didn't think he had talent. they had envisaged lucy with a more conventional American husband, as she had in the radio series that preceded I Love Lucy.
And his Cuban American orchestra was succesful at the time, however much tastes may have changed since then.
Take for example when they are in LA and want to cast him as Don Juan. Him? The love God? Come on.
shareDon Juan being Spanish makes Ricky quite a good choice for the part i would say. it doesn't look like a very good film, but then if it did it wouldn't be funny.
shareRicardo Montalban would have been a MUCH better choice.
I thought Ricky was awful in his screen test, even without Lucy's interference.
In fact, during the rehearsal, before the cameras rolled and she did her "shtick", Lucy's line reading was far better than Ricky's.
In fact, if that director had any sense at all, he would have cast Lucy in the movie based on her vocal delivery alone.
but as Ricardo montalban wasn't in i Love Lucy that wouldn't have made much sense. they wanted to get the ricardos to Hollywood.
sharebut as Ricardo montalban wasn't in i Love Lucy that wouldn't have made much sense. they wanted to get the ricardos to Hollywood.
I find her a bit baffling. She doesn't seem to understand that this is a sitcom. it isn't supposed to be a slice of real life.
shareI find her a bit baffling. She doesn't seem to understand that this is a sitcom. it isn't supposed to be a slice of real life.
it is weird, especially as most of the time Lucy seems to get her own way.
shareThere's no need to speculate a user's personal life on the boards just because you all don't agree. Just let it be.
share"Would that I would cut these ties, that bind me."
They should have turned row picture into a screwball comedy and co starred Lucy as Queen Isabella!
Is there a part for for a Spanish dancer? Ethel has experience.
The most important thing is being sincere, even if you have to fake it. -Cesar Romero
they are in LA and want to cast him as Don Juan. Him? The love God? Come on.
Thank you for stating what I was going to say. Desi/Ricky could NOT sing. Quivering, shaky voice that could not hold a note. He should have tried to just sing in Spanish, as that maybe would have helped, but I doubt it.
"Which one do you want, Biff? Doug? Skippy? No, don't take Skippy, he has asthma."
Quivering, shaky voice that could not hold a note.
Thank you for stating what I was going to say. Desi/Ricky could NOT sing. Quivering, shaky voice that could not hold a note. He should have tried to just sing in Spanish, as that maybe would have helped, but I doubt it.His voice sounded nice to me, and not due to his looks or being famous. If you're used to speak-singers like James Taylor, then he's "shaky". share
If you're used to speak-singers like James Taylor, then he's "shaky".
I thought that making Ricky a "big star" was a plot device. It was a way to bring in some Hollywood A-list actors as guest stars with a somewhat plausible explanation. If Ricky remained a small time band leader how would he have met people like John Wayne?
www.HumansofSiliconValley.com
Quit a suspension of belief to facilitate some A-listers.
shareWhen he says "I can call Duke" (or something like that) in the Lucy & John Wayne episode, that really bugged me because it was so unrealistic for Ricky to be that tight with John Wayne. Come on, he was John Wayne!
shareHe was a succesful musician with a popular band. it isn't that unrealistic that he would know john wayne, assuming Wayne liked his music.
shareOutside of NYC, he was a complete unknown.
Maybe the A-list stars in these episodes did listen to him on the radio or bought his records, but I doubt that any of them would have been interested in knowing him personally.
And I agree with the posters who said he was a so-so performer.
Yeah, I just don't buy he was such a pal of John Wayne's that he called him "Duke" and could just ring him up at anytime. It's a show but that was kind of a stretch for me.
shareYeah, the whole "Ricky is a big star" thing was just a plot device to get them to Hollywood. He was pretty small potatoes. And yeah, he wasn't a great singer. As Lucille herself said, "Desi has more volume than tone".
But I can't imagine anyone else playing Lucille's onscreen husband. They had great on-screen chemistry, which real-life acting couples don't always have.
Yup, and it's great that a latino actor could get such a big gig. But I could tell that he had memorized a script because latino people don't use the kind of language he did.
shareNotice that Ricky never made another movie, except for an appearance in some documentary that also featured Claude Akins.
In fact, after the family moved to Connecticut, he seemed to spend more time managing Club Babalu than actually performing.
Where you a fan of the suburban era? I felt it lost its believe-ability with Fred and Effel apparently leaving their jobs as Landlords to continue as the Ricardo's live-in neighbours.
shareInteresting point about Fred and Ethel.
Actually they didn't have "jobs" as landlords. They owned the apartment building. It was a testimony to their love for Lucy and Ricky that they would leave their home so quickly to move into the Ricardo guest house.
I always felt that the explanation they gave in order to be able to leave could have been a LOT better. It's explained away with one line as Ethel says that Mrs. Trumbull's sister wants to move in and manage the building.
Uh, Mrs. Trumbull was about eighty, so I hope she had a much younger sister! It's hard to believe that an elderly woman would want to take on a big job like that. I doubt if she would even be capable. Fred acted as the janitor of the building. In different scenes we saw him burn the trash, take care of the furnace, put new locks on the doors, fix the Ricardo's sink, etc. He mentioned some of his chores in other scenes.
I think it would have been a lot more logical for Ethel to say that they advertised the same way the Ricardos did (when they were looking for someone to raise chickens) and found a young couple to move in and run the apartment building.
As far as the OP, I never really minded Ricky as the "star" at the club. It was New York City and he was somewhat of a local celebrity. He performed in a Night Club and was well known in the city. He did have some fame with his records. Remember in the handcuff episode, he listed some of the songs he had recorded? Also he was appearing on a variety show in that episode. He appeared on other shows in the city.
In some way I think of him like Don Ho (although Don Ho was a much better singer!! imho). He was a local celebrity at his club in Honolulu and with his records like "Tiny Bubbles", he became nationally known.
Do you remember Al Harrington who was on the original Hawaii Five-O as Det. Ben Kokua? For years he was an entertainer in Waikiki. I remember some friends saw his show. He was called "The South Pacific Man." Very popular in Hawaii but not a huge star on the mainland. So it's not so unusual for someone to be a "big star" locally.
I suppose Ricky caught the attention of someone at MGM who thought he'd make a good "Don Juan", although it did get shelved and we never found out what film he DID make. Obviously he never became a huge star because he wasn't asked back to Hollywood to make any more movies.
Uh, Mrs. Trumbull was about eighty, so I hope she had a much younger sister! It's hard to believe that an elderly woman would want to take on a big job like that. I doubt if she would even be capable. Fred acted as the janitor of the building. In different scenes we saw him burn the trash, take care of the furnace, put new locks on the doors, fix the Ricardo's sink, etc. He mentioned some of his chores in other scenes.
Yes I know that they are two different things!
I was thinking about how "frugal" Fred was and he did the job of janitor in his building to save money no doubt. If Mrs. Trumbull's sister managed the building, he'd also have to pay a janitor. I can't imagine Fred wanting to do that. I think he'd prefer a two for one deal, i.e., hire someone to manage the building AND do all the chores that he did.
He did leave Mrs. Trumbull in charge of the building, basically to collect the rents, while they were in Hollywood. But remember when they returned? Mrs. Trumbull told him that they had a cold snap the week before and she turned on the furnace. But she didn't know how to turn it off!
Fred went running inside when he realized that the furnace had been running all that time. I think he'd hesitate to leave his building in the hands of some other elderly woman.
Actually I just don't like it when sitcoms come up with some "instant" solution to a problem. All of a sudden Mrs. Trumbull's sister wants to move in and manage the building. Of course in a thirty minute episode the writers had limited time to explain things.
No, I don't like the episodes set in the suburbs.
IMO, the last season of ILL was the weakest.
BTW, who the hell is "Effel"???
I have no trouble believing Ricky as a big star. Ricky is a 10/10 looks-wise, and 99.9% of the time, looks are by far the #1 factor - and the only factor that is necessary - to make someone into a star.
shareI have no trouble believing Ricky as a big star. Ricky is a 10/10 looks-wise, and 99.9% of the time, looks are by far the #1 factor - and the only factor that is necessary - to make someone into a star
We are referring to being a movie star, that was why he went to Hollywood, to make pictures. Although I can't remember what movie he made after the Don Juan thing was shelved. Regardless, Desi Arnaz was a big TV star but never a big movie star. And Liberace was on TV too. Obviously the most well-known movies he was in were with Lucy. I would not put Ricky or Desi in the same category, film-wise, as say Fernando Lamas. He was probably the most well-known Latin film star in the 50s and he married a couple of famous actresses. If Ricky were a big star wouldn't he be called back to read another script or they would extend his contract? The Hollywood thing was just a short plot but those were some of the best Lucy episodes.
shareWell, the thread is about Ricky being a "big star," not solely about his being a movie star. And the fact that Ricky's movie (the unnamed one that replaced the shelved "Don Juan") didn't result in him getting a slew of follow-up roles indicates it didn't do particularly well at the box office. And it's possible the Ricky Ricardo character decided to stick with his nightclub work (which appeared to bring in a steady income) rather than try his luck with the uncertainties of a movie career.
But yes, it's a plot device in a sitcom, and we're talking about a sitcom that deals with reality that's exceedingly heightened. Aspects of it COULD have happened, but no one ever said "I Love Lucy" was kitchen sink reality. You take it as seriously as you want to - or choose to.
Yeah they had to go back to NY because Fred and Ethel were landlords and they had the building to look after etc. But it was kind of apparent Ricky wasn't going to take off in film or television even though they did the take-off on Person to Person with Lucy and Ricky in NY. I liked the Hollywood episodes even though I didn't buy Ricky being a movie star.
share That Person to Person episode was so funny! The Ricardos and Mertzes, best friends, and fighting on a live show! What a foursome.
But it always bugged me that Ricky never mentioned the name of the film that he FINALLY made after Don Juan got shelved. Seriously? The writers couldn't make up a movie title?
And have you ever heard of an actor who goes on a show to promote his latest film and DOESN'T mention the title at least ten times? lol
Maybe that's why Ricky's film career tanked. The MGM bosses watched the interview and said, "That Ricardo has NO idea how to promote a film! He never mentioned the name once. No contract for him!"
Of course after he finished his film, Ricky seemed anxious to get back to New York and his band. It might've been possible that the studio offered him another picture but Ricky was a band leader and singer, not an actor. He might have decided that he didn't really enjoy making movies.
Just because someone is a performer, it doesn't mean that they don't prefer certain types of performing. Back in the sixties the whole cast of Bonanza thought Pernell Roberts was nuts to walk away from a hit show and all that money. But he was very unhappy with episodic television and longed to get back to stage performing (even with the big pay cut!).
He was famous in New Yprk, but his show had many acts and talent. He seemed to switch it up like Lucy's birthday singing I love Lucy. So he kept it fresh.
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