LUCY'S MOVIE INDEX
Movie #43:
Beauty for the Asking
Film Date: 1939
Film Type: comedy/drama
Movie #44:
Twelve Crowded Hours
Film Date: 1939
Film Type: crime/drama
Notes: Keep an eye out for a blond Lucille Ball as a fashion model. Alice Duer Miller's novel "Gowns by Roberta" was adapted into the 1933 Broadway musical Roberta, with music by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach. The 1935 filmization of Roberta was slightly adapted to accommodate the dancing talents of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, though their roles are secondary to the characters portrayed by Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott.
Movie #45:
Panama Lady
Film Date: 1939
Film Type: drama
Movie #46:
Five Came Back
Film Date: 1939
Film Type: drama/adventure
Movie #47:
That's Right-You're Wrong
Film Date: 1939
Film Type: musical/comedy
Movie #48:
The Marines Fly High
Film Date: 1940
Film Type: action/drama
Movie #49:
You Can't Fool Your Wife
Film Date: 1940
Film Type: comedy
Movie #50:
Dance, Girl, Dance
Film Date: 1940
Film Type: comedy/drama
Notes:The best parts of the film are with Lucille Ball demonstrating comic ability well established before she teamed up with Desi Arnaz. Lucy gets two musical numbers which appear to have been largely inspired by Gypsy Rose Lee. One number involves parts of her clothing blown away. There's enough show of leg, plus a hint of cleavage to make one temporarily forget the housewife and mother that became a television institution.
Movie #51:
Too Many Girls
Film Date: 1940
Film Type: comedy/musical
Notes: Now immortalized as the film on which Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz met. You can also spot a young Van Johnson among the chorus boys, especially since he shows up on-screen even before the opening credits!
Movie #52:
A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob
Film Date: 1941
Film Type: comedy
Movie #53:
Look Who's Laughing
Film Date: 1941
Film Type: comedy
Notes: Lucille Ball is largely wasted as Bergen's secretary, while Fibber McGee and Molly's radio announcer Harlow Wilcox shows up in a character bit.
Movie #54:
Valley of the Sun
Film Date: 1942
Film Type: western/comedy
Movie #55:
The Big Street
Film Date: 1942
Film Type: drama/romance
Notes: Lucille Ball delivers the finest dramatic performance of her career in this satisfying adaptation of Damon Runyon's The Big Street.
Movie #56:
Seven Days' Leave
Film Date: 1942
Film Type: comedy/musical
Notes: Victor Mature and Lucille Ball top the star-studded cast of RKO Radio's Seven Days Leave.
Movie #57:
Du Barry Was a Lady
Film Date: 1943
Film Type: comedy
Movie #58:
Best Foot Forward
Film Date: 1943
Film Type: musical
Movie #59:
Thousands Cheer
Film Date: 1943
Film Type: musical
Movie #60:
Meet the People
Film Date: 1944
Film Type: drama
Notes: This movie was shown overseas to servicemen before it was released in the United States. Also keep an eye out for the Cowardly Lion from the "Wizard of Oz" fame, Bert Lahr. Some sources mistakenly list Edward Dmytrk as the director of this film.
Movie #61:
Without Love
Film Date: 1945
Film Type: drama
Movie #62:
Abbott and Costello in Hollywood
Film Date: 1945
Film Type: comedy
Notes: Lucille Ball, Jackie "Butch" Jenkins, Preston S. Foster and Robert Z. Leonard make guest appearances.
Movie #63:
Easy to Wed
Film Date: 1946
Film Type: comedy
Notes: The film marks the film debut of beloved comedian Red Skelton.
Movie #64:
Ziegfeld Follies
Film Date: 1946
Film Type: comedy/musical
Notes: The opening number, "Meet the Ladies", spotlights a whip-wielding Lucille Ball, a bevy of chorus girls dressed as panthers, and, briefly, Margaret O'Brien. Kathryn Grayson and "The Ziegfeld Girls" perform "There's Beauty Everywhere."
Movie #65:
Two Smart People
Film Date: 1946
Film Type: comedy/crime
Movie #66:
Lover Come Back
Film Date: 1946
Film Type: comedy
Notes: Lucille Ball has one delightful comic scene involving an attempt to smoke a cigar.
Movie #67:
The Dark Corner
Film Date: 1946
Film Type: film-noir
