Product Details

• Actors: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Marjorie Main, Keenan Wynn, Gladys Hurlbut
• Directors: Vincente Minnelli
• Writers: Albert Hackett, Clinton Twiss, Frances Goodrich
• Producers: Pandro S. Berman
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Warner)
• VHS Release Date: November 4, 1994
• Run Time: 103 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301972279
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,353 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Success in that newfangled television business prompted Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz to bring their slapstick chemistry to the big screen, courtesy of a 28-foot monster of a trailer home. The Long, Long Trailer is one of those domestic nightmare movies, in which an ordinary couple has their existence upended by a new contraption: in this case, a lemon-yellow motor home. They make the mistake of towing said behemoth to Colorado, a honeymoon journey fraught with tilted axles and Lucy's ill-advised collection of large souvenir rocks. One disaster follows another, with the action rarely rising above the level of a sitcom (MGM's top director of musicals, Vincente Minnelli, is overqualified here). One notable exception: the climactic sequence, a funny-nervous crawl up an 8,000-foot mountain pass. The film was a box-office hit, proving that moviegoers would go to theaters to see a TV star's hair in its natural red color. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY..., July 7, 2002

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Long, Long Trailer [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Directed by Vincent Minelli, this comedy, starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez, was filmed at the height of the popularity of their television show, "I Love Lucy". In this film, Lucy was never funnier, and Desi was never better as her comedic foil.

The plot is surprisingly simple. Tacy Collins (Lucille Ball) and Nicholas Carlos Collini (Desi Arnez) are about to be married. Tacy persuades him that having a trailer home would be ideal, since he has the type of job that takes him away so often. This way, she could always be there to take care of him no matter where he is working, as their home would always go with him, wherever he may be. Nicky buys into her logic, and the rest is history.

They purchase a top of the line trailer home, a new car to tow it, and get married. Tacy and Nicky then hit the road and have a number of very funny adventures. They will have you belly laughing, as the personas of their film characters do not differ greatly from that of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, the characters of their television show. If it ain't broke, why fix it?

Keenan Wynn has a small role as a traffic control cop whose path briefly crosses theirs. Don't blink, or you may miss him. Some of the footage is shot in gorgeous Yosemite National Park and the cinematography is a treat, with beautiful scenic vistas replete with mountain views.

Not only was this film a hit for MGM in 1954 and the best grossing comedy of the year, but it was also their best grossing comedy to date, beating MGM's previous record holder, "Father of the Bride". If you are a fan of Lucy and Desi, or if you simply want a film that would be fun for the whole family, you cannot go wrong in choosing this one.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Movies Ever!!, March 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Long, Long Trailer [VHS] (VHS Tape)

When you need a genuinely good laugh, slip "The Long, Long Trailer" into your VCR. It's sort of an extension of "I Love Lucy" except the characters are Nicky & Tacy Callini instead of Ricky & Lucy Ricardo and it's filmed in glorious AnscoColor instead of boring black and white. This hilarious movie is given the full MGM treatment, with the studio's premiere director at the time, Vincente Minnelli, directing. Starring as well are some of Hollywood's greatest character actors, particularly the fabulous Marjorie Main. Also featured are some beautiful scenes of Yosemite National Park and the mountains of California. And that yellow 1953 Mercury Monterey convertible is one of my personal favorites of the film. Another amusing highlight is hearing Lucy and Desi sing "Breezing Along With the Breeze", accompanied by the lush, 100-piece MGM symphony orchestra. This is one classy motion picture! "The Long, Long Trailer" was one of 1954's top box office hits and was MGM's most successful comedy in the studio's then 30-year history. That's quite impressive considering people could stay home and watch Lucy and Desi for free on television. So DO get this video. You'll watch it- and laugh- over and over again. In fact, I'm gonna go watch it right now. HEY, Warner Home Video -- hurry up with the DVD version of this 1954 MGM sensation. (Warner owns the entire pre-1986 MGM library.)

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Trailer brakes first! Trailer brakes first!" (Squeal!), June 26, 2005

By 

M. Hart "Sci-Fi Fan" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Long, Long Trailer [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Into the third season of their highly successful TV sitcom "I Love Lucy", the then married Lucille Ball (1911-1989) and Desi Arnaz (1917-1986) starred together in a hilarious 1954 film entitled "The Long, Long Trailer". Lucy played the character Tacy Bolton, who is engaged to Desi's character named Nicholas 'Nicky' Collini. Because Nicky's job involves a lot of travel, Tacy believes that the best way for them to be together is for them to live in a trailer. Begrudgingly, Nicky goes along with Tacy to a trailer show, but the trailer that Tacy had seen advertised is much smaller than she expected. However, across from it is a 40-foot monster that Tacy insists that she & Nicky just go and look at. Not long thereafter, Nicky is signing the purchase agreement for the then very expensive trailer. Since Nicky's car isn't heavy enough to pull such a large trailer (it weighs over three tons), Nicky has to then trade in his car for a much larger and expensive one that he must then have customized with a large trailer hitch. The mechanic that installed the hitch (played by Jack Kruschen, 1922-2002) gives Nicky a driving lesson to learn how to operate the trailer brakes with the car. Nicky is so traumatized by the experience that he can't stop hearing the mechanic saying, "Trailer brakes first!", as well as the squealing brakes.

Once the trailer is loaded, Tacy & Nicky drive off with their "forty feet of train" behind them and are heckled by passing cars. When they stop at their first trailer park (which seems highly idealized), instead of having their wedding night to themselves, other trailer park residents invite themselves over. They include Mrs. Hittaway (Marjorie Main, 1890-1975, better known as the character "Ma Kettle") and Mr. Hittaway (Howard McNear, 1905-1969, better known as "Floyd" from the 1960-1968 TV sitcom "The Andy Griffith Show"). Later, Tacy and Nicky are slated to stay with her Aunt Anastasia (Madge Blake, 1899-1969, who played "Aunt Harriet" in the 1960's live action "Batman" TV series); but Nicky has some difficulty backing the trailer into their driveway, so their stay isn't as pleasant as expected. Two of the most entertaining scenes include Tacy trying to prepare dinner in a moving trailer and Nicky & Tacy driving the trailer on a narrow road over an 8000-foot Colorado mountain pass, which is made more difficult with Tacy's heavy rock & jar collection.

Overall, "The Long, Long Trailer" is a hilarious, entertaining and engaging film that I wholeheartedly rate with 5 out of 5 stars. It was also one of the most successful films released in 1954 and is still just as funny today as it was then. The film ending is also very endearing. I can't wait for this film to be released on DVD. Hopefully, that won't be too long from now.