Part 3: Marriage proposal

Desi and Lucy were too often separated from each other because of movies and performances. They were both jealous and clashes of tempers. But their passion and love was very strong. Desi sent often telegrams and Lucy kept every one of his notes safely till the day she died.

Almost 6 months after they met, they were thinking to get married. After long discussions they come to the decision not to getting married, they were too different, marriage wouldn't work. But what Desi and Lucy didn’t knew was, that they both weren’t agree with the decision they had made, Desi and Lucy pick up their life’s and didn’t show how depressed they were.

After a while Desi could stand it anymore, he missed her very much, he phoned her constantly. He sent her a telegram that broke her hart, it was so touching: "Just wanted to say I love you, goodnight and be good. I think I'll say I love you again, in fact I will say it. I love you love you love you love you". Lucy missed Desi also terrible and promise Desi to come to New York immediately after her Milwaukee engagement. It was November and the weather changed quickly, it began to snow. The benefit that would take one night stretched in five nights. Desi became suspicions and angry, he thought she was having an affair with Joseph Cotton.

Desi phoned Lucy one midnight, they had a big quarrel on the telephone because Desi thought Lucy having affair with Joseph (a handsome actor that played in a scene with Lucy) and Lucy did not take the accusations lightly and said that he was involved with every woman in every town. But Lucy was forgotten that she was standing in the Hotel lobby, every one was listening to the telephone call. After the telephone call Lucy went to New York.

The next day when Lucy wake up, she was still mad on Desi. She wanted to keep Desi waiting so she gave an interview on the article "Why I Will Always Remain a Bachelor Girl". In the interview she cited all the reasons Desi and her were never going to get married. But she forgot her anger right the way when she saw Desi. They apologize for all the nasty accusations they had made about each other and how the behavior and made love.

The real reason of they quarrel was, that they hadn’t seen each other for a long time, and Desi had postponed the elopement 5 times. That was the reason Desi wanted Lucy to come New York as soon as possible. But Lucy didn’t knew that of course.

Desi had to do a show, however, when Desi was dressing to leaving, he said "This girl is going to have a hell of a time with that story."

"Why?" asked Lucy excited.

Desi: "Because I have everything arranged to marry you tomorrow morning, if you would like to marry me."

"Where?" Lucy didn’t know what to say.

Desi: "In Greenwich, Connecticut." (He explained her why he wanted her to come back to New York as soon as possible.)

Lucy: "But I thought we decided that we couldn't get married."

Desi: "That's right, but we are."

Lucy: "You're kidding, right?"

Desi: "No, I'm not kidding. I want to marry you and I want to marry you tomorrow."

Lucy: "Why couldn't we just live together?"

Desi: "No, I don't want to just live together. I want to marry you and I want to have some children with you and I want to have a home. I'm not like the image you have of me. Now, do you want to marry me or not?"

Lucy: "Of course I want to marry you, you idiot!” 
“But Aren't we supposed to wait for three days for a permit or something?"

Desi: "I got the whole thing straightened out. I've already gotten a permit, and the judge to give us an exemption. You love me, don't you?"

Lucy: "I love you very much."

Desi: "I love you very much too. So what the hell else is there? I have to go now. I'll be back after the next show."

It was a happy and beautiful day, a day they will never forget.

First wedding dress

This is what Desi and Lucy said about their (first) wedding day:

Desi: "Probate Judge Harold L. Nape waived the five-day wait required by connecticut law, and Justice of the Peace John P. O'Brien performed the ceremony at the Byram River Beagle Club at noon on Saturday, November 30, 1940."

Lucy: "Although Desi later gave me a platinum ring, that little discolored brass ring rested among the diamonds and emeralds in my jewel case for years ... After the short ceremony, we ate our wedding breakfast in front of a bright fire in the club's lounge. Outside, a fresh mantle of snow hung on the pine trees. After all the indecision we'd been through, Desi and I were dazed with happiness."

Desi: "It really was the most lovely setting. a rambling river going by, beautiful flowers and trees, the mountains in the background. There was a glass-enclosed area in back where the ceremony took place. The judge had called ahead and had them cool some champagne and put flowers all over the place. The view Lucy and I looked at during the wedding was a Christmas card.".

Source: their own biographies, Love, Lucy and A Book.

Lucy is enceinte - I Love Lucy

This is a video from youtube- the last part of the episode.

“Lucy is enceinte" is my favorite episode. Because the emotions are so real, it’s so touching.

The episode is about that when Lucy learns that she's going to have a baby, she tries to find the right way to tell this to Ricky. Lucy was five months pregnant at the time this episode was filmed.                                                                                             
The CBS broadcast standards refused to allow the word "pregnant" to be uttered by any of the characters, so they said that Lucy was "expecting" instead. While this episode title uses "enceinte", the French word for "pregnant", the following episode uses the forbidden word in its title.

They were so happy with their first baby,  they had to wait so long. Because Lucy had 3 miscarriages before Lucie was born. But now 1,5 years later they blest with a second child, they thought that would never happened.

You can see the emotions when it came time for Desi to sing "We're Having a Baby, My Baby and Me" to Lucy. He is overcome with emotion long before he and Lucy shed tears of bliss together. First, while he's singing "Rockabye, Baby" when trying to find out which woman in the audience is pregnant, he messes up the lyrics and sings the "cradle will fall" part twice. Then, when it came time for him to sing "We're Having a Baby, My Baby and Me" to Lucy, he forgot what he was supposed to do next. The orchestra had to shout, "Sing the baby song!" for him to remember his next move.

The script said for both Ricky and Lucy to be overjoyed and extremely happy. Ricky had to jump of joy when Lucy said the news. But when the cameras rolled, however, Lucy and Desi both were overcome with the intense emotion they felt when they found out they were finally pregnant with first child Lucie.

The husband and wife cried tears of happiness during the scene instead of acting cheerful. Lucy and Desi were embarrassed afterwards about having cried on camera. They reshot the scene the way it was written. When the happy version was compared with the personal, real-life version, there was no question- the take where they cried was so much more poignant and memorable.

When we did this scene before an audience, Desi was suddenly struck by all the emotion he’d felt when we discovered we were finally going to have Lucie. His eyes filled up and he couldn’t finish the song; I started to cry, too. Vivian started to sniffle; even the hardened stagehands wiped their eyes with the backs of their hands. The director wanted retakes at the end of the show, but the audience stood up and shouted, “No, no!” - Lucille Ball

‘I Love Lucy’ is so special, no series, show or anything what come on TV can surpass ‘I Love Lucy’. I Love Lucy is a global treasure. ‘I love Lucy’ is a great, unique kind of comedy and romance in one.

This are one of the Quotes like in the episode:

v  Lucy: I've been feeling real dawncey.

Ø  Ethel: "Dawncey"?

v  Lucy: Yeah, that's a word my grandmother made up for when you aren't really sick but you just feel lousy.

v  Lucy: A baby?!

Ø  Ethel: Yeah, "baby." That's a word my grandmother made up for "tiny, little people."

v  Lucy: Ethel, we're going to have a baby!

Ø  Ethel: (excitedly) We are?! Oh, isn't that wonderful? I never had a baby before! I mean, I've never been let in on it so soon!

v  Lucy: "Let in on it"? Well, you knew iteeven before I did. This whole thing was practically your idea!

Ø  Ethel: Did the doctor say what it's gonna be?

v  Lucy: It's gonna be a baby!

Ø  Ethel: No, I mean, I wonder if it's going to be a boy or a girl? Oh, I can't wait to find out whether I'm gonna be a godmother or a godfather!

v  Lucy: I'll sit on his lap and I'll put my arms around his neck, and I'll say, "Ricky, darling, our dream has come true. You and I are going to be blessed with something that means more to us than anything in the whole world."

o   Ricky: (about Lucy making him swallow his food too quickly) My stomach is gonna think I lost my teeth!

o   Ricky: Believe me, if you traded places with me, you'd be surprised.

v  Lucy: Believe me, if I traded places with you, YOU'D be surprised!

o   Ricky: Now, how can nobody ring the doorbell? Nobody's necktie is caught in the door!

v  Lucy: But, Ricky, I want to talk to you about something.

o   Ricky: Now, look, sweetheart, whatever it is, use your own judgment. Now, if you think it's a good idea, go ahead with it.

§  Fred: (gives Lucy a baseball for the baby) And wait'll you see the name on this! That's the name of the best ball player the Yankees ever had.

v  Lucy: Oh, "Spaulding"!

§  Fred: No, honey! Turn it around!

v  Lucy: "Joe DiMaggio"!

§  Fred: You betcha! Ol' Joltin' Joe himself!

v  Lucy: Ricky's gotta know, and if I don't tell him soon, I might as well wait and let the baby tell him!

Part 2: After the first date

A few day after the first date Desi saw Lucy on the beach. He was with Freckles, Freckles had arrived in New York, he brought her to a party on the beach. When Desi was walking on the beach alone he spotted Lucy. “Hi! How is my rumba teacher?” she said. “Hello!” said Desi. Desi loved that Lucy remembered his cheesiest excuse for asking her out for a date.

Lucy: "I had a wonderful time at El Zarape the other night," (Desi said later: “She looked right through me with her beautiful big bleu eyes.”)

Desi answered: "Thank you, and so did I."

Lucy: “sit down” Lucy patted the sand next to her. He went to sit beside her. They spent the entire day together. They went to her apartment that night, that would be their first night together. From that time he called her ‘Lucy’ instead of Lucille.

The next thing in the morning, Lucy called Al: "I’m really sorry… I'm moving out, Al. I'll send somebody to pick up my clothes. I'll explain it to you another time." she said.

So did Desi to Freckles, It was the hardest thing Desi ever had done: "I don't know what made me do what I'm going to do, I’d not want to hurt you. You know I was in love with you."
Freckles: "Yes, but you're not now, are you?"
Desi: "Freckles, I don't know how a thing like this can happen. It's unnatural, it has no reason."
Freckles: "Everything that happens in life is natural and has a reason. Good luck, Desi."

Too many girls was their first film together. There was so much happiness en joy on the set.  “You could tell the sparks were flying with Lucy,” says Eddie Bracken, a costar in the film.

Friends if Lucy warned her against Desi. They said that he was to young for her and that he was a playboy. But Lucy was so in love that she didn’t care.

 “It happened so fast it seemed it wouldn’t last. Everybody on the set made bets about how long it would last.” said Eddie Bracken. “When we got married, nobody gave it more than two weeks. There were bets all over the country, with astronomical odds against us” – Desi Arnaz

 “She talked about Desi all the time,” recalls her friend, actress Maureen O’Hara. “I said, ‘Go ahead and marry him if you love him.’”.

“The best thing that happened to me that year was meeting Lucille.” said Desi to a friend.

Too Many Girls 1940

Part 1: First meeting

One day when Lucy was going to New York, the head of the studio (RKO) told her: “When you catch the musical “Too Many Girls” on Broadway, you might be given a starring role in the film version later”. But when Lucy did a stunt on ice for a movie, she felt and hurt her sacroiliac joint. She spent many days in the hospital recuperating from her injury, she had missed the musical. The musical Many Girls was a great hit, and there would make indeed a movie of the musical. Show business friends who visited Lucy at the Hospital told her about Desi Arnaz, a 22 year old Cuban, who was the greatest hit of the musical. He was attractive, charming with much talent, every women had fallen for him. Lucy wasn’t impressed but it make her curious. Lucy said later: "When I was asked to do an ice-skating publicity stunt, I readily agreed. Back then, like any other aspiring youths, I thought I was indestructible. I ended up recuperating from a fall in the hospital for 10 days, and missed the Broadway show of Too Many Girls; particularly, I missed seeing the sexy Cuban man that my friends had told me about."  

After recovering from her fall, Lucy finally saw the musical Too Many Girls. She couldn’t take her eyes off him, Lucy said: "Then Desi opened his mouth and began talking in his own peculiar brand of broken English, and a great belly laugh burst out of me. Now it's hard to make me laugh. I observe, I smile, but when I'm really amused you can hear me a block away. Here was a stunning-looking male who was not only thrilling but funny. What a combination!"

But Lucy didn’t get the chance to be introduced to Desi, she was disappointed and went back to Hollywood. Lucy was given the starring role in a movie called Dance, Girl, Dance.

It took a few months before she met Desi in real. The day she first met Desi Arnaz:  There was a scene were Lucy and Maureen characters het into a fight. After the scene, Lucy wanted to say hello to the director of Too Many Girls so she went to the to the meeting room (full of cast members of ‘To Many Girls’ including Desi Arnaz). She had a black eye, a torn dress, her hair was wild, every cast member look at Lucy.

When she was in the meeting room, she looks worse than here.

There weren’t many sparks between them at this first encounter. Desi described her: "She looked like a two-dollar whore who had been badly beaten by her pimp, with her hair all over her face and a black eye, and she was dressed in a cheap costume".

“Desi was in greasy makeup and old clothes, and I thought he wasn’t so hot,” Lucy later recalled.

When Lucy had left the meeting room, Desi asked the director: “Who the hell is that woman?”

The Director (George Abbott) answered: "that's the girl who is going to play the ingénue. That's Lucille Ball."

Desi: "That's Lucille Ball and she's gonna do the ingénue thing? You gotta be kidding," How could she play an ingénue?!”

George Abbott: "Well, now, wait a minute. She was in makeup for something else right now."

Desi: "I think you've blown your top, George. There is no way they can change her back to look like an ingénue. No way."

Later in the day when Lucy had changed into her own clothes and makeup, she was wearing a tight slacks and a yellow sweater and had tied her blond hair neatly with a feminine bow. She walked to the meeting room again while Desi was rehearsing a song with his piano player.

Desi was impressed of her extraordinary beauty, he said to the piano player: "Man, that’s a hunk of woman!"

His piano player was puzzled, he said: "You met her today."

Desi: "No, I never met her. I've never seen her before."

His piano player: "That's Lucille Ball!"

Desi: "THAT'S LUCILLE BALL?! You gotta be kidding. She sure doesn't look anything like she did this morning." He was totally mesmerized.

Lucy walked to him and said “Hello”, she knew of course who he was, she saw him perform in the musical Too Many Girls. She could finally talk with him.

Desi was still shocked and unsure: "Miss Ball?"

Lucy: "Why don't you call me Lucille and I'll call you Dizzy."
Desi: "Okay, Lucille, but it's not Dizzy."

Lucy: "Oh? How do you say it, Daisy?"

Desi: "No, Daisy is a flower. It's Desi, D-E-S-I."

Lucy: “Of Course ‘Desi’” and she smiles.

Desi: “Would you like me to teach you how to Rumba? It may come in handy for your part in the movie.”

Lucy accepted. They went to a nightclub, they danced a while and then sat at a quiet corner and just talked and talked hours. They didn’t join the conga line like the rest did. Lucy said: "there was only one thing better than looking at Desi, and that was talking to him."

Yes, it was really love at first sight. "I might as well admit it here and now I fell in love with Desi wham, bang! In five minutes," Lucy said.

The night ended innocently. He drove her home, she thanked him for a wonderful evening and they said good night. They were both totally in loved but thought it was the end. Lucy was engaged with Alexander Hall (he was 20 years older than Lucy) and Desi had a steady girlfriend, Freckles. It was his first love and he wanted to marry her. Both, Al and Freckles, were very sweet, kindest, understanding persons.

But it wasn’t the end of their story, it was the beginning….. of almost 20 years marriage and love that never died.

Books about Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball

There are many books written about Lucy and Desi, I have read many of those. Some are very beautiful and touching but NO book or movie could EVER capsize the love they felt for each other.

I recommend everybody to read Desi and Lucy’s own autobiographies (A Book and Love, Lucy). The book Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz touched me deeply, it was so pain full, how the turned into after their divorce. (But highly recommended.)

But bear in mind that Lucy and Desi were kindest and sweetest people. Desi was simpler to analyze: he was outwardly nice, sweet and romantic. You couldn’t have a better boss. He didn't become high and mighty (the same applies to Lucy). Lucy was complicated: She actually has built a wall around herself, but when you look behind that wall you will see a very soft, sweet, loving, nice person, how haven’t so much self-confidence, as everyone thinks. And not everybody saw that person inside.

Here are some books about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. 

(There are not many books written about Desi Arnaz.)

v  A Book – by Desi Arnaz

v  Love, Lucy – by Lucille Ball

v  Lucy & Desi

v  The life of Lucille Ball

v  Ball of Fire

v  Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz

v  I Loved Lucy/ I had Ball: My Friendship with Lucille Ball

v  Lucille Ball FAQ

v  Lucy A to Z

v  I love Lucy

v  Lucille: The life of Lucille Ball (do NOT read this book, Lucie Arnaz herself said this book is full of false statements and it is).

v  Laughing with Lucy: My Life with America's Leading Lady of Comedy

v  The I Love Lucy Scrapbook

v  Lucy at the Movies

v  The Lucy book

v  Lucille Ball pioneer of comedy

v  Lucille Ball Treasures

v  Lucy & Desi: The Real Life Scrapbook of American's Favorite TV

v  Lucy and Desi: The Legendary Love Story of Television's Most Famous Couple

v  The best of Desi Arnaz

Must see Movies:

v  Too Many Girls

v  The Long, Long Trailer

v  Forever Darling

v  Finding Lucy (Doc.)

v  Lucy & Desi: A home Movie (Doc.)