May 14, 1970
"Those who had told us that Lucille Ball was 'very wearing' were not exaggerating. She is a monster of staggering charmlessness and monumental lack of humour....I am coldly sarcastic with her to the point of contempt but she hears only what she wants to hear."
I remember that episode well! Lucy got Elizabeth Taylor's famous diamond ring stuck on her finger.
I recall reading that the Burtons were not exactly thrilled with their guest appearance on Lucille Ball's show. I wonder if she was always such a tough task master? Or was it the years of running Desilu that hardened her?
Lucy was wrong to expect everyone to be a perfectionist--or be capable of being one. Liz quoted "Miss C-unt". That's what a director is for, but I think Lucy directed her shows, except for technical aspects. And since marks are used for blocking, Lucy does not need to inform Liz to stand here, stand here (again, that's the director's job)
She ran Desilu for only a few years. That doesn't necessarily harden a person, unless they are hardened to begin with. I think her ego and becoming spoiled hardened her, like having to divorce Desi and accept him for who he was. She needed to remember her humble roots. There are many reasons to be hardened-- being a lucky rich, famous movie-star is not one of them
Perfectionists can be tough to deal with and even harder to work with. From what I've read, Lucille Ball knew every aspect of the production of her show down to knowing where to locate specific props.
One person on The Lucille Ball Show tells an anecdote where the scene called for a certain type of table. Lucille Ball told them where to find one, in the storeroom, on the bottom shelf, on the left side,etc.
It's fine to have high expectations for oneself, but you can't expect everyone to have the same standards. Of course she was the boss and expected a lot from her employees. But when she had superstar guest stars, she should not have been bossing them around. There was an instance where Joan Crawford was a guest and Lucy was so hard on her, she made her cry.
I think perfectionism was part of Lucille Ball's personality. That and being somewhat OCD. Also, Lucille Ball was so closely identified with Lucy Ricardo and later Lucy Carmichael, that it's hard for fans to see her as a tough businesslike professional. Fans tend to think that she is was just like her somewhat scatterbrained and sweet natured alter ego.
Lucie Arnaz said that her father never wanted her mother to make appearances on game shows and talk shows during the run of ILL. She said that her mother's personality was so different from Lucy Ricardo that fans would be disappointed.
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Oh yes of course I know that episode was not from "I Love Lucy"! I should have said so in my post. I was just making the connection to the actress, not the show.
From everything i have read about Lucille Ball, she was already a tough boss during her ILL years. Vivian Vance was quoted that she was determined "to learn to love that b#tch". lol
And nobody is pointing out TWO big issues here. Not only was "Here's Lucy" a fairly dreadful (and now horribly
dated) series, the scene with the ring is just a rip-off of the (much funnier) 'Handcuffs' episode from "I Love Lucy."
The second issue is Burton himself. He was in no position to comment on Ball's being a "monster", when his
reputation - with Taylor, and without - was equally bad, if not worse. A sick, horrendous alcoholic, his tirades
and antics were far more unprofessional than Ball's. He was a brilliant actor, but an all-around JERK!
Interesting side note: When Liz guested on Rosie O'Donnell's show in the late '90's, she commented on that
episode, saying something like, "well, I know everyone is supposed to 'love' Lucy, but I couldn't handle someone
who kept physically moving me around the set, saying, 'you stand here; then do this; then do that.'"
I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist of it all.
Liz Taylor was really on the way down when she and Burton did Lucy. Her best film work was behind her, and I
can't think of anything else she was famous for in the '70's except her escapades with Burton (divorcing him
and remarrying him), gaining all that weight, and marrying a political figure. She got her act together in the
'80's and '90's, doing much hard work for AIDS, but she was pretty much a joke in the '70's.
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"His complaints seems to center on the issue that she was a meticulous performer who wanted to make sure everything was done perfectly. That is hardly a great fault."
I would credit Ball with this on "I Love Lucy", when she was still an ARTIST. By 1970, she was a mechanical
performer, who screamed all of her dialogue, which was read off cue cards. Burton was (understandably)
embarrassed to be involved in such an awful script (Burton would really take the time to pretend he's
a plumber????). This aging couple appeared only to give themselves some exposure.
Yes it was a fairly pedestrian script for Richard Burton who had performed Shakespeare! He is one of my favorite actors, but I agree that he should not have been throwing stones. He was known to be difficult to work with.
And at that point in Elizabeth Taylor's career, I think her big diamond was more famous than she was! That seemed to be the whole point of the episode. Like you pointed out, it was a ripoff of the ILL handcuffs episode. I doubt if Lucille Ball would have asked the Burtons on her show if it wasn't going to be all about Lucy getting the ring stuck on her finger.
The difference between Ball and Burton, as far as character was concerned, was that she seemed to him to lack any self-awareness. If you read his journal entries, you get the sense that he was painfully aware of his shortcomings and had a sense of humor about himself.
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Six of one; half dozen of the other.
Both were extremely difficult, complex legends. But, really, Burton was in NO position to trash anyone - he
himself was considered monstrous. But brilliant, he was. Great, great actor.
I merely quote. I do not judge. I never met Ball, Burton, or Taylor.
However, my dad was a radio DJ and announcer in 1951 in San Bernardino, California. One afternoon he was assigned to go to the Santa Fe station to greet Lucille Ball and do a short interview. She was passing through on the way from Los Angeles to New York. He said that in person she was stunningly beautiful.
I can believe that! She was great looking.
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