Lucy, the Rain Goddess
S4;E15~ January 3, 1966
Synopsis
When Mr. Mooney escapes to a dude ranch without signing some important bank papers, Lucy follows him and is mistaken for a rain goddess by a nearby Native American tribe.
Regular Cast
Lucille Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Gale Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney)
Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane Lewis) does not appear in this episode, although Lucy does have a phone conversation with her.
Guest Cast
Willard Waterman (Tex Critter) was a versatile voice actor who appeared on hundreds of radio shows in the 1930s and 40s. He is probably best remembered for playing 'The Great Gildersleeve' on both radio and TV. He previously played TV host Greg Gregory in “Lucy and the Plumber” (S3;E2).
Tex Critter is the Tumbleweed Inn's social director. The character's name is a pun on Tex Ritter, a country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s. Ritter is mentioned in “Lucy Goes to the Rodeo” (ILL S5;E8). He is the father of sitcom star John Ritter, one of Lucille Ball’s favorites.
Douglas Fowley (Chief, above left) was first seen with Lucille Ball in the 1935 film musical Old Man Rhythm. In 1952 he played movie director Roscoe Dexter in the film Singin' in the Rain.
The Chief is Dick's father.
Larry Blake (Medicine Man, above right) was a former vaudevillian who began doing movies in 1937. He will do eight episodes of “Here's Lucy.”
The Medicine Man is Vince's father.
Jamie Farr (Vince, above right) is probably best known as the cross-dressing Klinger on TV's “M*A*S*H” (1972-1983). This is his only appearance opposite Lucille Ball.
Vince's Indian name is ‘Wolf With Nose Like Anteater’.
Alan Reed Jr. (Dick, above left) is the son of Alan Reed, who voiced Fred Flintstone. Although this is his only appearance on “The Lucy Show,” his father appeared in “Lucy Visits the White House” (S1;E25).
Dick's Indian name is ‘Running Bear Who Smell Like Skunk’.
Marc Cavell (Herbie, Bank Office Boy) made his screen debut in 1949. This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.
Bennett Green (Ranch Guest, above right) was Desi Arnaz’s camera and lighting stand-in during “I Love Lucy.” He does occasional background work on “The Lucy Show.”
Hazel Pierce (Ranch Guest, above left) was Lucille Ball’s camera and lighting stand-in throughout “I Love Lucy.” She also made frequent appearances on the show. Of her many on-camera appearances on “The Lucy Show” only once was she given a character name and credited, in “Lucy Plays Cleopatra” (S1;E1). She was also an uncredited extra in the film Forever Darling (1956).
Renita Reachi (Ranch Guest, behind Lucy) was a costumer for “The Lucy Show” from 1966 to 1968. She was also Vivian Vance’s camera and lighting stand-in for “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show.” She was a costumer and/or made crowd appearances on “Here's Lucy” and the Lucille Ball films Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) and Mame (1974).
Joan Carey (Ranch Guest, uncredited, far right) was a frequent background player on “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show,” eventually becoming Ball’s stand-in on this series.
Bobby Gilbert (Ranch Guest) was born Robert Wolf in 1898. A vaudevillian, he was one of the first performers to play the South Pacific on USO tours during WWII. He was an extra in such hit musical films as Some Like It Hot (1959), How To Succeed in Business (1967), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) and Bednobs and Broomsticks (1971). This is the second of his two appearances on “The Lucy Show.”
Roy Rowan is the voice of the radio announcer. He generally voices any TV or radio broadcasts that are part of the plots of “The Lucy Show,” but has also appeared on camera.
Other Ranch Guests and Native Americans are played by uncredited performers.
This is the first new episode of 1966. The script was finalized on November 3, 1965. This is the first and only episode written by Brad Radnitz and Bruce Howard. This was Radnitz's first script for TV.
It sounds as if Gale Gordon is having vocal problems during the episode.
Lucy jokingly calls Mr. Mooney Captain Bligh. William Bligh (1754-1817) was a British navy captain of the HMS Bounty whose crew staged a mutiny in rebellion of his tyranny. The story is the basis four five films and a stage musical. Lucy is probably thinking of the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty starring Trevor Howard as Bligh and Marlon Brando as Mr. Christian.
The office boy's transistor radio is blaring “Do the Watusi.” The music, without lyrics, was also heard in “Chris's New Year's Eve Party” (S1;E14).
Trying to figure out where Mr. Mooney might have gone for his secret get-away, she reads newspaper ads for the Tyrol Room, the Round-Up, Spanish Hacienda, Lazy Days, and Shady Nook Nudist Colony. Lucy rejects the idea of the nudist colony because she says Mr. Mooney used to blush when he watched “Naked City.” “Naked City” (1958-63) was a TV series about the cases of New York's 65 precinct. The metaphorical title comes from the final lines of the show: “There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.” Lazy Days was also the name of the health farm in “Lucy and the Countess Lose Weight” (S3;E21).
The painting over Lucy’s desk is Vincent Van Gogh's “Houses in Auvers” (1890). The painting over Mr. Mooney’s desk across the room is titled "La chiesa della Salute" (1947) by Filippo de Pisis, an Italian painter known for his still life and cityscapes. Desilu props were stocked to the rafters with reproductions of masterworks.
Mr. Mooney's secret getaway is the Tumbleweed Inn in Indian Rock (not to be confused with the Indianweed Inn in Tumblerock), two hours outside of Los Angeles, where he is known as 'Hopalong' and dresses in black cowboy duds.
To convince the Chief and the Medicine Man she is friendly, Lucy says: “Me hate John Wayne.” John Wayne played a cowboy in most of his films. He played himself on “I Love Lucy” in 1955 and will do so again on a season 5 episode of “The Lucy Show.”
When asked to do a rain dance, Lucy asks the Native American drummer: “Do you know 'Stormy Weather'? How about 'April Showers'? 'Singin' in the Rain'?” "Stormy Weather" is a 1933 song written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler. Ethel Waters first sang it at The Cotton Club in Harlem. In 1965 it was covered by Bing Crosby. "April Showers" was written by Louis Silvers and B.G. De Sylva and introduced by Al Jolson in the 1921 Broadway musical Bombo. "Singin' In the Rain" is by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown published in 1929. It became the centerpiece of the 1952 musical film of the same name. Coincidentally, Douglas Fowley (the Chief) played a supporting role in the film.
For her improvised rain dance, Lucy does pantomime and a few steps of the Charleston. She earns a round of applause from the studio audience. To the rhythmic beat of the drum, she then launches into bumps and grinds like a stripper, even miming removing gloves and tossing them away. Instead of a cloud burst, they are showered with oil when Vince and Dick strike a nearby gusher.
As was usual with films and TV shows of the time, the Native American characters were played by white and mixed race actors of dark complexion. The script also indulges in humor derived from stereotypical speech patterns of Native Americans, although the presence of two tribe sons (Dick and Vince) who speak and act like most modern teens, helps keep the comedy in perspective.
Callbacks!
This is not the first time Lucy was atop a totem pole. The April 17, 1953 edition of TV Guide (the third national edition ever) had Lucy and Little Ricky atop a TV totem pole featuring Cid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Milton Berle, and Arthur Godfrey, all TV icons of the early 1950s.
Lucy dressed like a Native American squaw in both “Lucy and the Scout Trip” (S2;E26) and “The Indian Show” (ILL S2;E24) wearing the same exact outfit. This costume is different – it is powder blue, a color that favored Lucille Ball.
Blooper Alerts!
In the prop newspaper, an ad for the Palace Theatre uses the same font seen in a newspaper in “Ricky's Old Girlfriend” (ILL S3;E12) in 1953!
“Lucy, the Rain Goddess” rates 3 Paper Hearts out of 5
