Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie

This summer, I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Jamestown, NY, Lucy’s hometown. It was a rather interesting trip as there’s a lot of Lucy (and Desi) stuff going on there. I would go as far as to say that Lucy is keeping that town alive. Jamestown boasts the Desilu Studios museum, the Lucy and Desi Museum, Lucy’s birth house and the house she grew up in, the Lucy statues (scary Lucy and upgraded Lucy), several large murals on the sides of some of the “downtown” buildings, an annual comedy festival (Joan Rivers performed there in 2011 for Lucy’s 100th Birthday Celebration) and the most poignant of all – Lucy’s grave and family plot at the Lake View Cemetery. You enter the cemetery and follow the hearts to the Ball and Hunt (her mother’s family) family plot. She was cremated and originally interred in California but her children had Lucy and her mother, Dee Dee, moved back to the family plot in Jamestown, where her brother, Fred, who passed away in 2007, is also buried.Anyway, seeing what I saw there really drove home Lucy’s impact on the world. Not just in the entertainment field but on the WORLD. She is still making it possible for her beloved Jamestown to employ and entertain people, which, in turn, helps the hotels, restaurants, young comedians, and on and on. She is alive in that town, even today, and making a difference in people’s lives.When I left Jamestown, especially after going through the two museums, I wanted to learn more about the woman I grew up with as well as about Vivian Vance (but that’s another review!) and I saw this documentary that was produced by her children, who seem to have grown into pretty normal people, not quite what you might expect from celebrity children of a legend like Lucy. This was an eye-opening viewing experience. And surprisingly, at the end of it, it was Desi Arnaz who impressed me the most. He was a genius, as far as I’m concerned. Until I saw this, all I really knew about Desi was his philandering and his innovations as far as the three-camera system of filming situational comedy was concerned. Desi was a lot more complex than I had imagined. I have come to understand that the philandering was partially due to cultural beliefs ingrained in him from his experiences in his own immediate family (not that this makes it at all okay in any way but, at the very least, it is an explanation). But, especially in the interview, Lucie and Desi Jr. give in the extra features of the disc, Desi Sr. emerges as a loving father, a genius producer and businessman as well as a lover of nature. He was a lot deeper than I had expected him to be. The other surprise was that Lucy was a bit harder than Desi in a lot of ways. Desi was still a philanderer and they even bring up prostitutes at one point, but he was a lot of other things, too. One thing that surprised me was when the children discussed how Desi, when home from work, was able to settle in and do things with them in ways Lucy wasn’t able to as she was always in a work frame of mind. And how much he appreciated things like a sunset or nature. Desi was also very patriotic and served in WWII.The entire documentary is composed of interviews from various family members, the kids, neighbors, other entertainers, etc. and through home movies, personal photos and historical locations.Vivian Vance is briefly mentioned and appears here and there and the impression that you get is that they were simpatico, but the reality is that they sometimes had a rocky relationship, though they respected (even loved) each other for the rest of their lives.While Lucy and Desi divorced when their children were still young, it is apparent that there was a lot of love between them that somehow seems to have lasted the rest of their lives (there’s some beautiful footage of the two playing with their grandson in a pool in their later lives) despite their marriages to other people.I am simultaneously reading the Vivian Vance biography and Meet the Mertzes, which I will review separately.I think this is a must-see for any Lucy fan.Recommend.

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-minutesVarious 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-minutesPromo for the DVD sets.WHAT'S MY LINE 1955 - 09:16-minutesOld 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-minutesCelebrity 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!

I had seen this on NetFl# some years ago. I rather enjoyed it ... I have been a big fan of the late Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz for decades. Their story is simply one for the record books... I Love Lucy has been on the air since the 1950's ..and I have watched it off and on about 20 years. What is sad about their marriage ..like their children remarked. They created a show that they could be involved in ..that would keep them closer to one another. With the success ..that caught them off guard. It turned their wildest dreams ..into Fame,Fortune and eventually destroyed their marriage... Very few women have even come close to Lucille Ball ...and she laid a foundation that many eager women should desire to follow? I'm so pleased that her children were willing to produce this special and allow the public access to such material. I recall when Lucille Ball died and her death was similar to a Micheal Jackson moment in 1989.. That's how famous she really was ... We miss you Lucy..

I am an "I love Lucy" (and Desi) fan forever. I grew up watching them on TV and passed it on to my children as they grew up. I enjoyed watching the home movies and seeing the family pictures. As some of the other reviews said- the sound is sometimes muffled. That didn't bother me too much. What saddened me though was Lucie Arnaz's almost constant criticism of her Mom as she narrates the DVD. "She was never around, she never played with us," etc etc. She repeats these comments over and over, throughout the interviews. I just feel she was a bit hard on her Mom. Lucy worked so hard and made millions of people all over the world laugh and laugh. She deserves a break!

If you have never seen this film on PBS or other cable networks, "Lucy and Desi, Home Movies" is a wonderful well documented film about this famous television couple. Produced mainly by Lucie Arnaz, she has recaptured many interviews with some of- Hollywood's leading personalities of the 40-50's and the golden age of television and the movies. Arnaz's research and work has uncovered new stories or events from the "Lucy and Desi years". Especially the bonus materials on the DVD that give further incite into this famous Hollywood couple and their eventual demise! Perfect collection for that "I Love Lucy" fan that wants to know more about Lucy and Desi. Recommend this DVD!

Outstanding for not only for fans of Lucy and Desi, but interesting for the casual observer as well. This is the second release for this DVD - this time with bonuses not found in the first run.

Great behind the scenes personal look at Lucy and Desi...

this is a excellent dvd. if you're a lucy fan, this is a must buy dvd.enjoy. sj.