Customer Reviews

Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Granted, I am partial to writing a good review for this documentary as I do indeed love Lucy, but I gave it 5 stars for another reason altogether: As a student of film and fan of documentaries regardless of subject, I have to report that "Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie" succeeds as fine filmmaking due to its frank treatment of the subject matter - romance and dissolution of a marriage in Hollywood - as well as its emotional (but not overly sentimental) portraits of both Lucy and Desi. In addition, the film's engrossing, captivating use of Ball-Arnaz home movies and audio recordings is unprecedented.

This review is written based off of the original video (from 1992) of the film and not related to the DVD itself in regards to quality or production, so please take that into note when ordering... but do order it if you, like me, love Lucy - as it is probably the best and most honest portrait of she and Desi you'll ever see - or are a fan of biographies, Hollywood history, or great documentaries.

When I originally saw the initial broadcast of this great program on Lucy & Desi, it put the crown on the truth. Their lives are presented to us with absolute love and affection by Lucie Arnaz's direction, her commentary, as well as commentary by Desi Arnaz, Jr, Fred Ball, family and friends both personal and professional. This is the ultimate Lucy and Desi story from those in the know. I've worn out my VHS copy when I need a refresher. Glad it is on DVD in pristine quality. The "blooper" bonus is worth the price alone. I hadn't laughed so hard in a long time. Other bonuses included are several end-of-show commercials for Westinghouse products by the cast of the later Lucy-Desi Hour specials (those that would fit in after final announcements, etc in the bonus features of "I Love Lucy, Seasons 7-8-9"). What I call an "extra taste" is the "Here's Lucy" promo, which I thought before I pressed play was a commercial used to promote the show on CBS. Lo and behold, it was a long promo indicating that MPI will put out all six seasons of "Here's Lucy" in the future, plus the Lucille Ball Specials from 1974-80 that followed this series, and haven't been seen since original broadcast on CBS. I was flabbergasted, especially when I didn't see the second special with Dean Martin called "Lucy Goes To Vegas". The promo also shows beautiful picture and sound for all snipets of the episodes represented. Cannot wait until these come out. Will "The Lucy Show" and "Life With Lucy" soon follow? I sure hope so. Bravo, MPI.

LUCY AND DESI: A HOME MOVIE first aired on CBS-TV on Valentine's Day, 1993. As stated at the outset of this Emmy-winning documentary, it was an answer from family and friends of the famous couple to a 1991 TV movie exposé entitled: LUCY & DESI: BEFORE THE LAUGHTER. (VHS only)

Factually correct, this tribute glosses over only a couple of points:
Desi's womanizing is dismissed as part of Cuban culture, besides, he couldn't help himself-- those girls threw themselves at him (yah sure).
Lucy's relationship with Vivian Vance is described as loving and sisterly. Maybe so in later years, but during the run of I LOVE LUCY Vance highly resented that she was forced to look dowdy and decades older than the show's star, when in fact there was only a two year difference in their ages.

The program is hosted by daughter Lucie and features commentary from Desi Jr., Gale Gordon (still vital in his late-80s), Van Johnson, Ann Miller, scripters Bob Weiskopf, Bob Schiller, Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis, Jackie Cooper and author/editor James Bacon. Contributing family members include Lucy's brother Fred and her cousin Cleo Morgan.

Highlighted are many clips of beautifully-preserved full color home movies, plus scenes from pictures that Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz appeared in, both individually and as a team. They're younger in their privately-shot films than they are during the TV show years, and so obviously in love. These marvelous glimpses (courtesy of the Arnaz kids), plus the personal recollections make a for fine Valentine card to America's all-time favorite TV couple.

Recommended to all!

"Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie" radiates with an amount of caliber that I've never seen in a documentary. I believe Lucy and Desi's children had very strong reasons for creating this documentary, and they dedicated their hearts, and their time into making a high-quality show.

There have been many, many documentaries created that seem as though you're reading a gossip column or tabloid magazine in the grocery store. The other documentaries made about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz have been, compared to this DVD, frankly--disappointing.

This DVD is a gem.

Lucy and Desi and their kids have intrigued me for many many years. This documentary was very well done, except
for the sound, which I thought could have been better. I would have loved to have seen a little more of Vivian Vance, since I thought she and Lucy were very close during and after the show. My main disappointment was in the bloopers! There is an Outakes section, but it is of Lucie and Desi, Jr making the documentary, not of the I Love Lucy Show, which is what I thought the bloopers would be from, since that is what the description leads you to believe.

I just recently bought this movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a lot of information on Lucy and Desi as a couple and Luci and Desi, Jr. went into great detail about their lives with their parents. I would definitely recommend this for any one who wishes to learn more about this famous family.

That's really all I have to say.. AMAZING. Her kids did an amazing job with this one! It's truly wonderful.. And I love Carole Cook - no wonder Lucy loved her so much, hilarious! Overall - AMAZING movie! Just amazing. Lots of insight into Lucille Ball, the personal - and of course, the professional.

The most interesting thing on this DVD, to me, is in the bonus features. There is a game show called 'I've got a secret' that Lucy is on. The show has a guest who has a secret and must answers questions from the celebrity panel. The guest whispers in the ear of the host the secret, to which they display on the screen(or something along the lines of): 'witnessed the assassination of President Lincoln.' This show was in the mid 1950's and this man is in his late 90's. He was 5 years old when he witnessed the assassination. After the panel had guessed who he is, the old man said that as a kid he was concerned about the guy who fell from the balcony. Obviously he did not know about the President being shot as John Wilkes Booth jumped from the balcony to escape!

Oh yeah, the rest of the dvd, that has Lucy and Desi on it: Very good, very interesting. A lot of pictures and home videos and more than I thought it would be when I bought it. A lot of interviews from family members, including thier 2 kids who made this documentary, and celebrities(Lucy's brother, neice & cousins are on here). There are a ton of bonus features: Lucy & Desi commercials for kitchen appliances that are not on the I Love Lucy or Lucy-Desi comedy hour DVDs), appearances on game shows, photo gallery, etc. The only real dissapointment for me was the often muddled sound of, well, EVERYTHING since its all so old. But I did not expect the documentary, made in the mid 1990's, to sound that way. Unfortunately it does. It sounds like someone ran a VHS copy off and put it on the DVD with no effort to improve the sound. However, this DVD is worth buying. I was just expecting better sound since it is on a DVD.

The LUCY AND DESI: A HOME MOVIE is a wonderful documentary, directed by daughter Lucie Arnaz, and shows color home movies of the famous television couple as newlyweds, during the "I Love Lucy" run, and even as seniors citizens long after their divorce. It also shows other family members and has interviews with family and friends, and includes clips from both their respective movie careers.

One serious flaw in this production is the sound quality on some of the interviews. I'm not talking about sound bites taken from old interviews or television appearances by Ball or Arnaz, which cannot be helped, the sound issues present are on some of the then current interviews with friends and family members. Some voices are muffled to the point that it's very hard to understand what the person is saying. It's like someone forgot to take the cap off the microphone or something.

I'm almost deducted two-stars because of this. It's not on all the interviewees, just on some, so it's not terrible throughout, but someone really dropped the ball on this one. It's a shame because it really seems like a labor of love for Lucie Arnaz to uncover and share some of the most private home movies with the fans, not to mention the interviews that both Ball and Arnaz did on shows like on Johnny Carson and other talk shows so you get their side of the story as well.

Luckily there are captions, so you can turn them on to understand what is being said. Still, it's a glaring error and I'm surprised that it wasn't caught in time before being shipped out on DVD.

It's funny because the extras on the DVD do not suffer from this problem, so it must have been an issue when they tapped the interviews themselves.

Anyway, the special features on the DVD are plentiful:

****** DVD EXTRAS ******

INTERVIEW WITH LUCIE & DESI, JR. ARNAZ - 31:09-minutes - Unedited interview with Desi, Jr. & Lucie about growing up in Hollywood, etc. Desi, Jr. tends to ramble but it does give one insight into what it was like growing up with the famous TV couple.

OUT TAKES - 20:33 - These are out-takes and bloopers from the making of this documentary and not of "I Love Lucy." There are also other stories presented here as well that didn't make the final cut.

LUCY & DESI COMMERCIALS - 12:51-minutes
Various commercials for Westinghouse that feature Ball and Arnaz as "Lucy" and "Ricky," along with Vivian Vance and William Frawley as "Ethel" and "Fred" and Keith Thibodeaux as "Little Ricky." These must have been done for the Christmas season and I enjoyed watching these. The picture and sound is pristine.

HERE'S LUCY PROMO - 02:03-minutes
Promo for the DVD sets.

WHAT'S MY LINE 1955 - 09:16-minutes
Old TV show with Lucy & Desi as the "mystery guests" were the panel try and guess who it is.

I'VE GOT A SECRET 1956 - 23:49-minutes
Celebrity panel including Lucy and they try and guess what the secret is. Desi makes an appearance, too. This is funny because the contestants get some prize money and a carton of cigarettes, LOL. Oh how times have changed!

Anyway, aside from the sound issue, the DVD is well worth it for Lucy fans. I just wished they fixed the sound!

LUCY AND DESI: A HOME MOVIE first aired on CBS-TV on Valentine's Day, 1993. As stated at the outset of this Emmy-winning documentary, it was an answer from family and friends of the famous couple to a 1991 TV movie exposé entitled: LUCY & DESI: BEFORE THE LAUGHTER. (VHS only)

Factually correct, this tribute glosses over only a couple of points:
Desi's womanizing is dismissed as part of Cuban culture, besides, he couldn't help himself-- those girls threw themselves at him (yah sure).
Lucy's relationship with Vivian Vance is described as loving and sisterly. Maybe so in later years, but during the run of I LOVE LUCY Vance highly resented that she was forced to look dowdy and decades older than the show's star, when in fact there was only a two year difference in their ages.

The program is hosted by daughter Lucie and features commentary from Desi Jr., Gale Gordon (still vital in his late-80s), Van Johnson, Ann Miller, scripters Bob Weiskopf, Bob Schiller, Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis, Jackie Cooper and author/editor James Bacon. Contributing family members include Lucy's brother Fred and her cousin Cleo Morgan.

Highlighted are many clips of beautifully-preserved full color home movies, plus scenes from pictures that Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz appeared in, both individually and as a team. They're younger in their privately-shot films than they are during the TV show years, and so obviously in love. These marvelous glimpses (courtesy of the Arnaz kids), plus the personal recollections make a for fine Valentine card to America's all-time favorite TV couple.

Recommended to all!


LUCY AND DESI: A HOME MOVIE is available on DVD.