#Charles Lane

[contemplatingoutlander]

Current times in the U.S. are NOT as similar to 1776 as they are to 1932 Germany

I've been saying for a long time that America is currently in its Weimar Republic stage, and if we don't stop the creeping neofascism now, we will go the way of earlier fascist nations. Probably, we will never be as extreme as Nazi Germany, but we might very soon look much like a neofascist contemporary nation like Viktor Orbán's Hungary.

Given this, I was happy to see the comment below made in response to an opinion column in the WaPo by Charles Lane: U.S. institutions are polling about as well as King George III did in 1776

"No, not 1776 at all. Far more like Germany in 1932, when a demented clown and his party of bigots and bullies told millions they’d been stabbed in the back by liberals and socialists, that they could make Germany great again and have anything they wanted, that everything they wanted made sense — if they would only elect a demented, debauched political party and its scheming head to lead the country and join in a hysterical campaign of demonization and vilification of less than 1% of the population. "These same people pretended to be a movement espousing family values, where a woman’s place was solely in the kitchen, raising children and going to church. They held mass rallies where they encouraged their followers to jail their opponents and use violence against people who got in their way. Once in power they outlawed abortion, homosexuality, and jazz, suspended constitutional and legal rights, and claimed only white, blue-eyed people were deserving of life and liberty. "Democracy is so very fragile. Turns out it only takes only a witches brew of fear and demonization to undo in a flash what institutions and constitutions have worked to create and sustain over many generations. When brutish, loud-mouthed bullies promise to make your country great again, this is really what they have in mind." --cbl55 Sylvester the Cat, commenting on a WaPo opinion column: U.S. institutions are polling about as well as King George III did in 1776

[countesspetofi]

Today in the Department of Before They Were Star Trek Stars, Majel Barrett guest stars in "Lucy is a Kangaroo for a Day," episode 7 of the first season of The Lucy Show (original air date November 12, 1962). Barrett plays Lucy's supervisor at a temp job.

Other Trek connections: Star Trek was produced by Lucy's Desilu Studios, and she was an early and passionate advocate for the show when the networks didn't think it was a viable concept.

[citizenscreen]

Classic curmudgeon Charles Lane was #botd in 1905

[cladriteradio]

Here are 10 things you should know about Charles Lane, born 119 years ago today. Lane was ubiquitous in the movies of the 1930s and '40s and on television from the ‘50s into the ‘90s.

[davidhudson]

Happy 70th, Charles Lane.

With Sandye Wilson in Sidewalk Stories (1989).

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Ball of Fire (1941) Howard Hawks

February 18th 2023

[ufonaut]

I uncovered who you were using logic and reason. I cross-referenced Opal City astronomers with wealthy guys... playboys... seeing as developing that rod of yours must have cost a bundle. Then I noted your absence. Your time away from crimefighting... it mirrored Ted Knight's time spent in... sanitariums.

Starman (1994) #46

(James Robinson, Gene Ha)

[kwebtv]

Dear Deductible - NBC - November 9, 1966

Season 4 Episode 7 of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theater

Comedy

Running Time: 60 minutes

Stars:

Peter Falk as Mike Galway

Norman Fell as Eddie Carr

Janet Leigh as Virginia Ballard

Christopher Cary as Cornell De Haven

Bara Byrnes as Beverly Beaumont

Marianne Kanter as Bryce Coberly

Charles Lane as Charles Eckhardt

Herb Vigran as George Burke

[papermoonloveslucy]

LINE!!!

Lucille Ball: Scripts, Cue Cards, and Teleprompters

As a film star, Lucille Ball only had to memorize dialogue in short, bite-sized chunks. On radio, Lucille and her cast-mates read from scripts. But on television, in a realistic situation comedy, Ball needed to memorize a full thirty minute script a week!  

CUE CARDS & PROMPTERS & SCRIPT SLIPS!

Credit for developing the cue card (sometimes derisively called ‘idiot cards’) is genereally given to John Barrymore, who had them tucked in out-of-the-way places during his stage performances in the 1930s. 

Ed Wynn placed cue cards in the orchestra pit when he worked in vaudeville, then brought the practice to television with “The Ed Wynn Show” (1949-50), on which Lucille Ball got her first taste of the new medium, and was introduced to the concept of cue cards. 

Wynn’s cards were prepared by Barney McNulty (1923-2000), known as the ‘King of Cue Cards’. He went on to form a company named Ad-Libs, a cue card company whose clients included many early TV stars, including Lucille Ball. McNulty later praised Ball for her cue card savvy: 

“Hardly anyone realizes that the madcap redhead has cue cards on the set!”

McNulty claimed to have flipped cards for the “I Love Lucy” pilot episode. But “I Love Lucy” was quite different from shows starring Milton Berle, Ed Wynn, and Bob Hope, who did not use the convention of the fourth wall. Ball and her cast were performing a realistic teleplay that required them to make eye contact with their fellow actors, not look to cue cards. For this reason, cue cards were virtually unknown during “I Love Lucy.”  Of course, there were exceptions...

For her Vitameatavegamin spiel in “Lucy Does A TV Commercial” (1952) every slurred word and syllable was written in the script. To be letter perfect, and just to be on the safe side, Ball had cue cards set up in case she forgot her lines. Performing physical comedy in front of a live audience gets less laughs after the first take. Plus, re-takes were time consuming and expensive. It was hardly necessary. Lucy didn’t miss a beat and nailed it in one take. 

On December 14, 1953, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were the first to use a new teleprompting system developed by their producer, Jess Oppenheimer, although it was not the first in-camera system. Fred Barton had developed one as early as early as 1948.  A forerunner to the modern video teleprompter, Oppenheimer’s “through the roll system” was later granted a US patent.  

Lucy and Desi did not use it for the main show, which that night was “Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined”.  Oppenheimer did not like that it obstructed the view of the live audience, but it was used for the Philip Morris commercials, which were filmed without an audience. The sponsors wanted their message clearly communicated, so it was important that the script be delivered verbatim. With the memorization of a weekly script, Lucy and Desi did not need the burdon of also memorizing commercial copy. 

In “Lucy’s Mother-in-Law” (1954) the Ricardo closet door is wide open and it looks like there is a cardboard box of used cue cards stored in there!  Even if they weren’t used on “I Love Lucy,” they might have been scared up from the Desilu prop room to “dress” the closet.  

Bob Hope was notorious for his regular use of cue cards. When he guest-starred as himself on “I Love Lucy” in 1956, he read his lines from cue cards. It was prop man Jerry Miggins who was in charge of holding them for Hope. 

When “I Love Lucy” morphed into its hour-long format, cue cards were sometimes used, especially when the tensions of a failing marriage and running Desilu took Lucy and Desi’s time away from script memorization and busy guest stars did not have the time for extensive rehearsals. The above photo was taken during rehearsals for “The Star Next Door” (1957). 

When Lucy launched “The Lucy Show” in 1962, she was also trying to run Desilu. Along with her adminsitrative duties, she still had to find time to learn a 30-minute script every week. She was also a newleywed and mother of two children, so time was precious. 

Tony Mendez, who famously flipped cards for David Letterman and often appeared on camera as well, was interviewed by New York Magazine in 2001 and recalled how he got started in the business:

It seems that Lucille Ball was not the only one relying on cue cards. According to Mendez, Lucy merely needed a prompt, but Vivian needed the entire line!

In fact, the DVD extras for “The Lucy Show: Season One” include footage of Vivian using cue dards to do the show’s in-character commercials. They are positioned just behind Ralph Hart’s head! 

Lucy was was still adamant that her cast try and memorize their lines. When Charles Lane (banker Barndsdahl) stumbled over his dialogue, impatient Lucy used this as a reason to replace him. In reality, this may have been just the “for publication” story of what was actually Ball’s long-held desire to cast Gale Gordon. When the series began, Gordon was under contract to “Dennis the Menace” and couldn’t commit to Lucy. As soon as he became available, however, Lucy was not about to het him get away again - even if it meant dismissing Lane. 

By “Here’s Lucy” - Ball’s third TV sitcom - she was using cue cards more often than not - espeically if the episode demanded a lot of rehearsal of music and dance. 

Tommy Tucker was the name of the “Here’s Lucy” cue card coordinator. Tucker and Lucy enjoyed playing word games together during lulls in shooting. As a tribute to him, the toy vendor played by Wally Cox in “Lucy Sublets the Office” (1972) was named Tommy Tucker.  Tucker was interviewed for the short film “Lucy Meets The Burtons: A Comic Gem” which is included on the “Here’s Lucy: Season 3″ DVD. 

Coincidentally, one of the guest actors in this episode was Richard Deacon. His eyes can frequently be seen looking at the cue cards.  

Another guest actor who’s eyes were usually seraching for the cue cards is Lyle Talbot, who played Harry’s lawyer in “Lucy Takes Over” (1970).

Not being an actor, Lawrence Welk’s eyes often distractingly glance over at the cue cards for his lines during his appearance on “Here’s Lucy” (1970). He smiles at his own jokes, and anticipates rather than reacts.

The webiste ‘Everything Lucy’ points to “The Bow-Wow Boutique” (1973) as when Lucille Ball started to rely almost exclusively on cue cards. Ball said that one of the hardest things to do was to erase the previous week's script from her mind to make way for a new one. After all, she was walking around the same set every week, having dialogue with the same people.

Filming a promotional spot with Bobe Hope, Ball squints at distant cue cards and quips, 

“Well, let’s use the bigger ones. I can see the little ones, but why the hell not use the bigger ones?”

CHEAT SHEETS, SCRIPTS & CUES 

Sometimes, a script - or a few pages of script - made it onto the set. A close-up of the Swiss cheese sandwich in “First Stop” (1955) shows a couple of pages of script on the table. A few lines have even been crossed out!

In “Lucy in the Music World” (1965) the verbose but funny album names were taped to the back of the record sleeves! 

“He Wears a Hubcap for a Halo” (about a teenage girl whose boyfriend got run over by a police car) 

“I've Got Tears in My Ears from Lying on My Back in My Bed While I'm Crying Over You” 

“I Lost You to the Arms of Another” (about a girl whose boyfriend goes skin diving and gets tangled up with an octopus 

In “Lucy, the Matchmaker” (1968) Mr. Morton (Dick Patterson) reads Harry’s computer dating punch card. His match’s number is written on the card in red marker and the ink has bled through to the other side!  Perhaps Patterson had trouble memorizing the number correctly? 

PROTESTING CUE CARDS

Sometimes the materials that were used to create the cue cards were also used for other purposes. They were the perfect size for protest signs when “Lucy Goes on Strike” (1968).

The distinctive all caps handwriting in bold black ink was a hallmark of cue card writers.  

At the end of season five of “Here’s Lucy” in 1973, Ball had decided to end the series. She filmed an ending to the final episode where she hangs an “Out of Business” sign on the door of the Unique Employment Agency.  But at the last moment, CBS convinced her to do a sixth season, so the ending moment was re-filmed with Lucy tacking a sign reading “Temporarily” above the “Out of Business” sign. The addional sign was obviously made from the same cardboard used for the cue cards - and by the same hand.  

By the season six finale of “Here’s Lucy,” “Lucy Fights The System” in 1974, it was obvious that Ball was nearly completely dependent on the cue cards. Luckily, the storyline was basically carried by Lucie Arnaz, and Lucy’s scenes were mainly sitting at her desk. 

During her final series, “Life With Lucy” (1986), it was well known that Lucille Ball read her lines from cue cards. She was 75 years old and in failing health, so it is an understandable accommodation. 

[tcmparty]

@tcmparty live tweet schedule for the week beginning Monday, May 2, 2022. Look for us on Twitter…watch and tweet along…remember to add #TCMParty to your tweets so everyone can find them :) All times are Eastern.

Monday, May 2 at 9:45 p.m.

GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 (1933)

Three chorus girls fight to keep their show going and find rich husbands.

[oldshowbiz]

Character actors in the wind

[raynbowclown]

Blondie Plays Cupid

Blondie Plays Cupid (1940) starring Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake In Blondie Plays Cupid, the Bumsteads are off to visit relatives in the country when Blondie runs into Charlie and Millie, an eloping couple needing her help. (more…) “”

[badmovieihave]

Bad movie I have Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1920

[citizenscreen]

One of my favorites for #NationalGrouchDay - Mr. Charles Lane

[davidhudson]

Happy 69th, Charles Lane.

Sidewalk Stories (1989).

[letterboxd-loggd]

The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) Henry King

August 16th 2022