MovieChat Forums > I Love Lucy (1951) Discussion > Lucy Goes to Scotland

Lucy Goes to Scotland

posted 6 years ago by [email protected] (1732)
5 replies | jump to latest

This has to be among the most controversial episodes of the series. People either love it,
or hate it.

Throughout much of my adult life, I would put myself more in the latter category. I almost
never watch it, and I completely ignore it when I'm watching the Europe shows.

However, I watched it last night, after watching it about six months ago, and, darn in it all,
it really isn't a bad entry. It's similar to "The Operetta", and actually features some fairly
funny lyrics. Also, because it's a dream, we don't have to wonder how Lucy "staged this",
or "how did she talk Ricky into doing another one of her club shows", etc. It's a dream;
the sky was the limit.

I had forgotten how funny Lucy's facial expressions are (really recalling her reactions to
things in the first two years of the series). I also find her little dance with the swords
very funny. She somehow gets already she's in trouble if she screws it up, yet THAT"s
what they're looking for!! This will never be a favorite, but it IS enjoyable every once in
a blue moon.

Two hilarious highlights: As they're going to sleep in the beginning, Ricky makes fun
of Lucy's Scottish ancestors. Lucy responds by saying HIS great, great grandfather
was probably named "Enchilada Ricardo." I actually laughed out loud, as I'd forgotten
the line (the line is repeated later in the dream, but it's not as funny the second time).

The other laugh out loud moment for me is when Ethel and Fred - dressed in that
OUTRAGEOUS dragon costume - bitch at each other (as always), then Ethel suddenly
sings her OTHER HEAD a lullaby! Her soft, gentle voice - which comes out of nowhere -
makes him fall asleep. Hilarious!

Thoughts?

[–] [email protected] (5497) 6 years ago

This was never a favorite of mine when I watched all the ILL episodes in syndication in my childhood. I thought it was okay, but I never loved it.

I've taken a different view of it since I got the DVDs. It's still not a "go to" favorite, but I have come to appreciate the merits of the episode.

The singing and dancing are pretty good for a little half hour sitcom. Lucille Ball could turn in a great performance even when she was acting like she had NO talent.

I've seen this episode colorized too. And it's pretty wild. Not sure if I really like it that way though.

One of those things I always wonder about...didn't her mother tell Lucy to try and visit "their" MacGillicuddy ancestors? How were they her mother's family? Or was Mrs. MacGillicuddy just speaking about her late husband's family and referring to them as "our family"? Either that or sometimes I wonder if she was a single mother and MacGillicuddy was her birth name. I've known some single mothers who use the title of "Mrs."

Of course a lot of the show reflected Lucille Ball's real life and she did lose her own father at a very young age. So Lucy never did have a father on her show. Of course she was close to Fred and Lucille Ball did have a brother named Fred.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

Lucy DOES mention her father - slightly, in "The Passports." When Lucy is trying to figure out "chum" Helen's
"second husband's last name", she says "she was like a sister to me..." "She used to watch me when my FOLKS
wanted to go out."

I know you don't think the same way, but my impression is that Lucy lost her father young (like Ball), and that Ethel
lost her mother in the early 1950's (Ethel goes "home" to her mother at the end of "Fred and Ethel Fight", but
her father is clearly (to me, anyway) a widower by the time the four are traveling to Hollywood.

As for "Scotland", I don't support colorization in any way, and I'm surprised CBS would bother to colorize an episode
that is NOT a classic offering. That said, there is REAL 8 (or maybe 16) MM silent color footage of this episode while
it was being filmed.

[–] [email protected] (5497) 6 years ago

Oh yes, now I remember that Lucy said Helen watched her when her "folks" went out. But to really split hairs, "folks" can refer to other family members, not just parents.

Maybe I was thinking about Lucille Ball and how she and her mom lived with her grandparents when her father passed away. They could all be called her folks.

I don't have any problem with your theory though. It's totally believable that Lucy's father passed away when she was young. There really IS nothing in any dialogue that would indicate that her mother had her as a single woman. Just a half baked idea of mine!

When it comes to Ethel, I always thought her mom was alive and living on the east coast. But that's mostly because I can't imagine cheapo Fred springing for a bus ticket out to New Mexico! Also, Ethel's Aunt Martha and Uncle Elmo were living in New York. I had a theory that they were from her mom's side of the family. Her mom was from the east coast and she returned there when she got divorced.

But like Lucy's missing dad, there is no dialogue to support my theory!

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

So much of it is our own imaginations, and ILL really pulls you into "her" world. If we don't know a fact, we
have to create it in our minds.

To me, Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel are than TV characters - they are FAMILY. I've known them since childhood
and cannot for the life of me tire of their antics. And I love it when I rediscover the merits of an ep I've
dismissed (and "Lucy Goes to Scotland" is one. It's not great, but it's good enough - and different enough - that
I will be watching it again sooner rather than later).

[–] Gubbio (3893) 6 years ago

The other laugh out loud moment for me is when Ethel and Fred - dressed in that
OUTRAGEOUS dragon costume...

I wonder if Viv had to increase her dosages of Prozac and Xanax to be stuffed into that costume with Bill -- who she hated ! 😬