Desi Arnaz, Jr. Movies

As Westport gears up to celebrate its annual "Yankee Doodle Day," the Ricardos and the Mertzes are swept up in the patriotic fervor. Despite his thick Cuban accent (or maybe because of it?), Ricky (Desi Arnaz) is selected to give the dedication speech at the unveiling of a new Revolutionary War monument, the centerpiece of which is a stone sculpture of a kneeling Yankee soldier. Alas, Lucy (Lucille Ball) accidentally breaks the statue, forcing her to take drastic action (and adopt yet another "clever" disguise) for the unveiling. This 180th and final half-hour I Love Lucy episode features Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz' four-year-old son, Desi Arnaz Jr., as an extra in the climactic sequence (but not Desi Jr.'s six-year-old sister, Lucie Arnaz, despite previously published reports). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's no secret that Lucy (Lucille Ball) and Viv (Vivian Vance) are the loudest and most demonstrative fans of the Little League team in which their respective sons are playing. Unforrtunately, the girls get a bit too loud and demonstrative while razzing the umpire, and are unceremoniously expelled from a ball game. Now Lucy and Viv must device a clever scheme to sneak back into the ballpark unnoticed. William Schallert (you remember him as Patty Duke's sitcom dad) appears as team manager Mr. Cressant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The local Cub Scouts are prepared to head for a major camporee when one of the boys' fathers is forced to pull out of the festivities. Thus it is that den mothers Lucy (Lucille Ball) and Viv (Vivian Vance) sub for the absent father, as their Scout pack enters into a series of competitions for a swell first prize: an all-expense-paid trip to the New York World's Fair. Unfortunately, the girls are pretty clumsy campers, and before the episode is over they have managed to get themselves and Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon) hopelessly lost in the woods. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, based on a novel by Richard Bradford, an adolescent boy and his mother are sent to live in New Mexico after his father goes off to fight WW II. The move is hard on both mother and son. The boy, one of the few whites in the area, must deal with making friends, the strange new land, and first love. Meanwhile, his mother becomes increasingly withdrawn. When they learn that his father has been killed, the son must fight with his mother's lover to become the real head of the household. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Though Desi Arnaz plays the title role, Gregory Peck is top billed in Billy Two Hats. Arnaz plays a thief who teams up with Scottish bank bandit Peck. A botched robbery results in a tiny amount of cash and an accidental killing. Peck rescues the captured Billy, enduring a leg wound in the process. While resting in the home of an old rancher, Peck goes off in search of a doctor, while Billy enjoys the sexual favors of the rancher's young wife. This interruption in the bandits' escape enables Indian-hating sheriff Jack Warden to catch up with Arnaz and Peck. A last-reel shoot-out ensues, involving sheriff's deputies, the rancher, and a band of Indian renegades. Billy Two Hats (reissued as The Lady and the Outlaw) was the first American western to be filmed in Israel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This colorful, lively musical employs a combination of live action and animation to chronicle the great journey of Marco Polo to the mysterious Orient. Much of the story centers on Polo's relationship with the powerful Kublai Khan. Songs include: "By Damn," "Walls," "A Family Man," and "Spaghetti." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Originally titled Giving Birth, Having Babies was the first of three pilot films for a TV series that eventually appeared under the title Julie Farr MD. In omnibus fashion, the film focuses in on four couples and their reactions to impending parenthood. Essentially, this is a feature-length "commercial" for the Lamaze method of natural childbirth. Adrienne Barbeau plays Lamaze-class supervisor Allie Duggin, while the mommies-to-be are portrayed by Karen Valentine (as tennis pro Beth Paterno), Jessica Walter (as middle-aged Sally McNamara), Linda Purl (as teenager Laura Gorman) and Vicki Lawrence (as unwed mother Grace Fontrell). Having Babies was originally telecast October 17, 1976. It was followed by Having Babies II in 1977, Having Babies III in 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In a rare dramatic appearance, Desi Arnaz Jr. appears as B.J. Palmer, the lead singer of a popular rock group. When the group's avaricious manager David Breen (Conrad Janis) is bludgeoned to death, B.J. is convinced that he himself is the guilty party. After all, the troubled young singer suffers from congenital insanity--or at least, that is what he has been led to believe by certain other parties! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama a single mother and her lover try to keep an illegal adoption outfit from taking their baby. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Though not readily apparent, Flight to Holocaust is the feature-length pilot film for a potential TV series. Crashing into the side of a high-rise building, an airplane is precariously wedged in the structure's 20th floor. Dispatched to rescue the survivors are a team of acrobatic troubleshooters, played by female circus performer Fawne Harriman and combat veterans Chris Mitchum, Patrick Wayne, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Paul Williams. As can be gathered by a perusal of the cast list, the film's gimmick was the presence of three second-generation Hollywood stars. After the initial telecast of Flight to Holocaust on March 27, 1977, NBC invited viewers to mail in their opinions of the film. Evidently the verdict was unanimous, since no weekly series resulted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robert Altman's over-frenetic satire on American marriage rituals and hypocrisy concerns the upper-crust marriage between Dino Corelli (Desi Arnaz Jr.) and Muffin Brenner (Amy Stryker). As the film begins, a senile bishop forgets the lines to the wedding ceremony and Nettie Sloan (the groom's grandmother) drops dead in an upstairs bedroom. Nettie's death is not disclosed to the two families who converge at the wedding reception. As the two sets of in-laws slam into each other, the bride and groom disappear in the ensuing whirlwind of chaos as both extended families vie for sexual favors and try to keep hidden never-discussed family secrets. Regina Corelli (Nina Van Pallandt) is revealed to be a drug addict, while Luigi, is endeavoring unsuccessfully to keep his Mafia connections under wraps. Meanwhile, the bride's family, although more down to earth, are revealed to be no better. Tulip Brenner (Carol Burnett) begins to flirt with one of the wedding guests, Mackenzie Goddard (Pat McCormick), while Snooks Brenner (Paul Dooley) acts like a lout and drinks heavily. And flying around the edges of the action like Tinkerbell is Buffy Brenner, the Brenners' youngest daughter, who is pregnant by the groom. As other characters bang into each other -- sexual degenerates, hard-nosed radicals, raw-boned emotional wrecks -- the wedding reception heads for its inevitable nuclear explosion. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This film is a failed TV pilot. The action drama chronicles the lives and exploits of Air Force test pilots. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV farce, the urban phenomenon of the traffic jam and the effect it has on the lives of the participants is examined. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide