Lucy the Stockholder
S3;E25~ March 29, 1965
Synopsis
When Lucy gets a small refund on her taxes, she intends to become a stockholder in Mr. Mooney's bank. As a new 'owner' she helps to get the account of a wealthy eccentric doctor but mistakenly becomes involved in one of his hypnotic regression experiments.
Regular Cast
Lucille Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Vivian Vance (Vivian Bagley), Gale Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney)
Guest Cast
Harvey Korman (Mr. Phillips, Stockbroker) previously played Mr. Slater, the Camp Director in “Lucy, the Camp Cook” (S3;E6). Korman is best known as a cast member of “The Carol Burnett Show” (1967-77), four episodes of which featured Lucille Ball. He will make two more appearances on “The Lucy Show.” In 1977 he had his own show on ABC which lasted just one season. At the time of this episode he was a regular on “The Danny Kaye Show” (1963-67) which aired Friday nights on CBS. Lucille Ball guest starred on the episode aired on Saturday, October 24, 1964, the night before her show, which generally aired on Mondays.
Joseph Mell (George, Bank Guard) previously played Bailiffs in “Lucy the Meter Maid” (S3;E7) and “Lucy is Her Own Lawyer” (S2;E23). His first role on the series was as a Butcher in “Together for Christmas” (S1;E13). Mell also appeared in a 1969 episode of “Here’s Lucy.” In 1964 he appeared in the TV special “Mr. and Mrs.” (aka “The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour”), which featured many of the Desilu regulars and was directed by Jack Donohue, who also directed this episode. In 1971, he was a Taxi Driver on “Lucy and the Lecher,” a cross-over episode of Danny Thomas’s “Make Room for Granddaddy” in which Lucille Ball played Lucy Carter, her character from “Here’s Lucy.”
Elliott Reid (Dr. Oscar Kurtzman) had previously appeared on the series in “Lucy Visits the White House” (S1;E25) and had played Edward Warren, a parody of Edward R. Murrow, in “The Ricardos Are Interviewed” (ILL S5;E7). He also made two appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”
Dr. Kurtzman represents a million dollar research foundation.
Lynne Allen (Miss Thompson, Dr. Kurtzman's Assistant) had only seven screen credits to her name, this being her last.
James Gonzales (Bank Teller) was a popular Hollywood extra who first acted with Lucille Ball in the 1953 film The Long, Long Trailer. He was previously seen on the series as Stan Williams in “Lucy Digs Up a Date” (S1;E2). He was seen in more than 20 episodes of “The Lucy Show” and 3 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”
Betty Lou Barto (Bank Teller) makes her one and only appearance on screen, according to IMDB. She was the younger sister of Nancy Walker, who made her film debut with Lucille Ball in “Best Foot Forward” (1954). Their father Dewey Barto made his only film appearance in “Broadway Thru a Keyhole” (1933), one of Lucille Ball’s early films.
Sid Gould (Mr. Sommers, Bank Customer) made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” all as background characters. He also did 40 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton. Gould was married to Vanda Barra, who also appeared on “The Lucy Show” starting in 1967, as well as on “Here’s Lucy.”
Carole Cook (Mrs. Valance, Bank Customer) makes her third appearance as Mrs. Valance. She was also seen as Lucy’s neighbor Thelma Green in four episodes. She was a protege of Lucille Ball’s during the Desilu Playhouse years. Although born as Mildred Cook, Ball suggested she take the name Carole, in honor of Lucy’s great friend, Carole Lombard. Cook also went on to appear in five episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”
During rehearsals for the episode, Cook was cast as Dolly Levi in the Australian premiere of “Hello Dolly”. She would be the first to play the role after Carol Channing. In “Lucy and the Undercover Agent” (S4;E10), Lucy pays tribute to Channing and “Dolly”.
Hal Taggart (Mr. Williams, Bank Customer, uncredited) makes his fifth and final appearance on “The Lucy Show” after having been seen in the Lucille Ball film The Facts of Life (1960).
George DeNormand (Bank Customer, uncredited) had appeared in three films with Lucille Ball from 1937 to 1963. This is the just one of his many appearances on “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.”
Hazel Pierce (Bank Customer, uncredited) 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).
Georgia Holt (Bank Customer, uncredited) was the mother of superstar Cher. She appeared as a fashion model in “Lucy Gets a Paris Gown” (ILL S5;E20). A frequent background player on “The Lucy Show,” she will also be seen as a fur model in “Lucy and Pat Collins” (S5;E11).
Alberto Morin (Bank Customer, uncredited) was born in Puerto Rico, and appeared in some of Hollywood’s most cherished films: Gone with the Wind (1939), Casablanca (1943), and Key Largo (1948). He was Carlos, one of Ricky’s “Cuban Pals” (ILL S1;E28) and the Robert DuBois in “The French Revue” (ILL S3;E7). His many background appearances on “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy” were all uncredited.
Douglas Deane (Radio Announcer, voice over) was previously glimpsed as a hotel guest in “Lucy Goes to Vegas” (S3;E17). Between 1945 and 1955 he starred in four Broadway musicals, including the original cast of Guys and Dolls.
An uncredited voice plays Mr. Phillips' secretary Miss Rose. Other background actors play additional customers and clerks at the bank.
This episode was intended to be the season 3 finale, but due to constant pre-emptions by the network, it turned out to be the second to last instead. It was filmed in color, but originally aired by CBS in black and white.
The episode opens with Lucy listening to an exercise program on her trusty transistor radio. The prop turns up on many other episodes and even makes the trip to California with Lucy!
Trying to do exercises while making breakfast, Lucy breaks a few eggs. Raw eggs were responsible for the longest laugh on “I Love Lucy” in “Lucy Does the Tango” (ILL S6;E20) as well as for comic effect in “Men Are Messy” (ILL S1;E8), “Ricky Thinks He’s Going Bald” (ILL S1;E34), “Ricky’s Hawaiian Vacation” (ILL S3;E22), “Lucy, the Camp Cook” (S3;E6), and “Lucy The Robot” (S4;E23).
Lucy gets a letter from the Internal Revenue which turns out to be an income tax refund of $38.23. That would be the equivalent (adjusting for inflation) of more than $300 today. Lucy decides to invest it all in the stock market and pays a visit to a nervous broker (Harvey Korman). When he finally hears that she has just $38.23 he nearly has a nervous breakdown.
LUCY: “Are you sure you feel alright, Mr. Philips?” PHILLIPS: “Oh, fine. I haven’t felt this way since 1929.”
Mr. Phillips is referring to the stock market crash of October 1929 that plunged the United States into the Great Depression.
After buying a single share of the Danfield Bank for $32, Lucy the stockholder pays the bank a visit. She warns the lackadaisical guard (Joe Mell) that she has a nine year-old nephew who is quicker on the draw than him. Lucy Carmichael only ever mentioned one sibling, Marge, who was seen in “Lucy's Sister Pays a Visit” (S1;E15) in 1963. In that episode she eloped, and no child was ever mentioned – certainly none that could be 8 years old in 1965. Of course, power hungry Lucy may be fibbing to the Guard to scare him into keeping his job!
Lucy is so grateful for her refund that she wants to send “Lyndon” a thank you note. To further extend the joke, there is a large framed portrait of President Johnson over Mr. Mooney's desk. Lyndon Baines Johnson was the 36th President of the United States, assuming office from the Vice Presidency after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He was re-elected in November 1964 by an overwhelming majority. Two weeks earlier, “The Lucy Show” was pre-empted for his televised address to Congress.
We learn that Mr. Bainbridge is Chairman of the Board of the Danfield Bank.
Viv unfavorably compares Mr. Mooney to her ex-husband (Ralph), although she does not use his name.
In return, Mr. Mooney calls Lucy “The Lady Wolf of Wall Street” and Viv “Typhoid Mary.” Real-life financier Bernard Baruch (1870-1965) was known as “The Lone Wolf of Wall Street.” Mary Mallon (1869-1938) was a cook known as “Typhoid Mary” because she was an asymptomatic carrier of the typhoid virus. She is said to have infected 22 people, three of whom died. Mr. Mooney's analogy of Lucy with Baruch is obvious given her new-found ownership in the bank, but equating Viv with Mallon seems to indicate that she is not a welcome person to have around.
To land the account of a wealthy but eccentric doctor (Elliott Reid), Lucy and Viv pay him a visit - only to be mistaken for volunteers for his experiment. Lucy and Viv play along to get the account.
This is not Lucy's first brush with hypnosis. In “Lucy Conducts the Symphony” (S2;E13) she remembers that Harvey Simmons hypnotized a man during a party so she then does the same thing to hypnotize Wally Cox. In season five, Lucy will have an encounter with Pat Collins “the hip hypnotist,” a real-life nightclub performer.
A publicity image of Lucy and Viv riding the large hobby horse during the age regression experiment was used on the Season 3 DVD cover.
VIV (child-like): “My name’s Vivian. I take dancing lessons. I can kick over my head.” LUCY (child-like): “Okay. Kick it over here and I’ll kick it back.”
When pretending to be hypnotized, Lucy walks on stilts, something she previously did in “Lucy's and her Electric Mattress” (S1;E12) and will do again in “Lucy Bags a Bargain” (S4;E17). Naturally, the studio audience rewards her skills with applause.
Discovering that Mr. Mooney is really hypnotized, not faking, Viv says “He's stiffer than Dean Martin.” Dean Martin was a well-known singer and actor who had a reputation for drinking (getting ‘stiff’). He will play himself on an episode of “The Lucy Show” in season four. In 1975 he appeared with Lucille Ball in a TV movie titled “Lucy Gets Lucky.”
Lucy calls Mr. Mooney out for being dressed like Little Lord Fauntleroy. This is the name of a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden). The Fauntleroy suit (also known as the Buster Brown suit), created a fad for formal dress for American middle-class children. This look was widely parodied in both film and television. The book was filmed in 1936 (above).
Callback!
Fred Mertz dressed like Little Lord Fauntleroy in “Lucy Hires an English Tutor” (ILL S2;E13). In “Changing the Boys' Wardrobe” (ILL S3;E10) Fred calls Ricky Little Lord Fauntleroy. Ricky responds saying,
RICKY: “Nobody's gonna call me little Fontle-roo-ey"!”
In “The Kleptomaniac” (ILL S1;E27) Lucy Ricardo is hypnotized by a psychiatrist (Joseph Kerns) and regresses back to her childhood.
Lucy Ricardo acts childish by filling the apartment with kids toys in “The Ricardos Change Apartments” (ILL S2;E26).
In “The Business Manager” (ILL S4;E1) Ricky thought Lucy was playing the stock market, but she was actually just buying groceries from the corner market! He confuses Lucy’s purchase of a can of All Pet for Mrs. Trumbull’s cat with a listed stock!
Desilu was a publicly traded company and as such sold stock. Above is a sample stock certificate for 100 shares of Desilu signed by Lucille Ball and Edwin Holly.
Blooper Alert!
Giggle! When the Doctor is undoing the hypnotic spell, one single studio audience member loudly chuckles, despite the fact that it is not a funny line.
“Lucy the Stockholder” rates 2 Paper Hearts out of 5