Vanda Barra Movies
- 1982
When Tom Willis (Franklin Cover) makes a small fortune in the stock market thanks to financial advice provided by George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley), Florence (Marla Gibbs) is quite impressed. She prevails upon George to give her a few tips, but he is reluctant to do so since she has very little money to start with. Undaunted, Florence pools her savings with those of several other maids in the building -- leading to a humongous headache for our man Jefferson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, (more)
- 1968
Entertainer Phil Harris capitalizes on his public image (largely fabricated!) as an amiable boozer in the role of alcoholic cocktail-lounge pianist Phil Stanley. Hoping to help Phil succeed as a composer, Lucy (Lucille Ball) brings him to her apartment to "dry out" while he writeshis newest sing. Unfortunately, Lucy's efforts to sing the ballad are enough to drive a man back into the bottle--and that's just what happens when Phil suffers through our heroine's off-key wailings! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phil Harris, Lew Parker, (more)
- 1968
Unable to sleep unless her television set is on, Lucy (Lucille Ball) borrows Mr. Mooney's TV while hers is on the blink. Predictably, she breaks the set, forcing her to moonlight as a carhop at a drive-in restaurant in order to purchase a replacement. While on the job, Lucy champions the cause of a young cyclist (played by Philip Vandervort, soon to be the husband of Ball's daughter Lucie Arnaz) who has been wrongly accused of stealing and stripping cars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Roberts, Mary Jane Croft, (more)
- 1968
Making her first visit to the local pool hall upon its redecoration, Lucy (Lucille Ball) enters a tournament in hopes of winning the $100 prize. Her main competition is formidable indeed: A heavily rouged and perfumed female pool hustler named Laura Winthrop. Only the audience knows that "she" is a "he"--Laura is actually a man named Ace (played by comedian Dick Shawn), who has entered the tournament because he needs the money even more than Lucy. At the time this episode originally aired, Lucille Ball's husband Gary Morton described the script as a heady combination of The Hustler and Some Like It Hot. Well, sort of... ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Shawn, Stanley Adams, (more)
- 1967
Singer Robert Goulet appears both as himself and as his exact double, truck driver Chuck Willis. When Mooney (Gale Gordon) turns Chuck down for a loan, Lucy (Lucille Ball) takes pity on the guy and enters him in a Robert Goulet lookalike contest, for a $5000 prizes. Unfortunately, Chuck loses the contest--but then, so does the real Goulet! Somewhere along the line, Robert Goulet sings his own composition, "Why Be Ashamed?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Goulet
- 1967
To cover up a 48-cent bank shortage, Lucy (Lucille Ball) secretly takes the missing money out of her own pocket. Unfortunately, when the shortage is revealed, Mr. Cheever (Roy Roberts) becomes convinced that Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon) is responsible for the coverup, and promptly fires Mooney. To get her boss' job back, Lucy concocts an elaborate ruse to convince Cheever that he will literally go insane if Mooney is not reinstated! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Roberts, Mary Jane Croft, (more)
