Mike Mayer Movies

As high school graduation draws near, four high school seniors put their futures on the line to help a friend in desperate need of financial assistance. With a key to the bank and a foolproof plan, how difficult could it be to simply waltz right in, collect a quick $200,000, and disappear before anyone even realized what happened? Unfortunately for these criminally-inclined teens, the local police are quicker to respond than they ever anticipated. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Thanks to the somewhat inadequate managerial skills of Fred Mertz (William Frawley), the Ricardos and the Mertzes are booked into a fourth-class Florence hotel during the Italian leg of Ricky's European musical tour. This means that Lucy (Lucille Ball) is unable to make telephone contact with Little Ricky back in the states on the occasion of the boy's birthday. Possessed with homesickness, Lucy "adopts" an Italian shoeshine boy named Giuseppe (Bart Bradley), who claims that it is his birthday as well -- and who turns out to be a first-class con artist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The opening episode of I Love Lucy's fifth season is a continuation of the story arc in which the Ricardos and the Mertzes are visiting Hollywood, where Ricky (Desi Arnaz) has been signed to make picture for MGM. During her last week in Tinseltown, Lucy (Lucille Ball) is determined to get her hands on a valuable souvenir. This she does when she "borrows" the footprints of John Wayne, which have been immortalized in a slab of cement in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theater. But grabbing Wayne's prints isn't as difficult a task as returning them, as Lucy and Ethel (Vivian Vance) learn to their dismay. The outcome of this little escapade will not be revealed until the next episode, so stay tuned. ~ All Movie Guide

Rock Hudson makes a rare pre-McMillan and Wife TV appearance in this episode, in which Lucy (Lucille Ball) and Ethel (Vivian Vance) take a trip to Palm Springs without Ricky (Desi Arnaz) and Fred (William Frawley). This is part of a strategy to avoid the "boredom" of too much marital togetherness, but before long the girls are yearning to be reunited with their husbands -- and vice versa. Of course, Lucy and Ethel could never admit that they were wrong to take a trip alone, nor are Ricky and Fred willing to admit that they're lonely. It takes the timely arrival of movie star Rock Hudson for the boys and the girls to get back together again with a minimum of muss and fuss. ~ All Movie Guide

Kathryn Card makes her first appearance as Mrs. MacGillicuddy, the flamboyant mother of Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball). Upon learning that Lucy and Ricky (Desi Arnaz) are preparing a motor trip to Hollywood, Mrs. McGillicuddy shows up at the Ricardo apartment, insisting on going along for the ride. Through a series of mirthful misunderstandings, Fred (William Frawley) and Ethel (Vivian Vance) become convinced that they've been "uninvited" to accompany the Ricardos to California -- and when this happens, Lucy refuses to go as well. Even more complications ensue before the trip can get under way with the now-famous rendition of "California, Here We Come," performed by Lucy, Ricky, Fred, and Ethel in front of I Love Lucy's first-ever "rear projection" shot. ~ All Movie Guide

Now that Ricky (Desi Arnaz) has purchased a car for their trip to Hollywood (yes, it's the famous 1955 Pontiac convertible that has shown up in so many TV retrospectives), Lucy (Lucille Ball) insists upon learning to drive. Reluctantly, Ricky agrees to teach her, but then reneges on the deal after Lucy tries to make a U-turn in the Holland Tunnel! This doesn't stop Lucy from passing on what little she knows about driving to Ethel (Vivian Vance), resulting in not one but two crackups. But that's not the worst of it: Lucy has forgotten to purchase an insurance policy for the new car. ~ All Movie Guide

No sooner have the Ricardos and the Mertzes boarded the Union Pacific Domeliner train for New York than Lucy (Lucille Ball) has accidentally pulled the emergency brake -- and rest assured, it isn't for the last time in this episode. As for the plot, Lucy becomes convinced that a traveling jewelry salesman (Lou Krugman) and a detective (Joseph Crehan) are a pair of crooks, and that a genuine jewel thief (Harry Bartell) is an FBI agent! In the course of events, Fred (William Frawley) and Ethel (Vivian Vance) are splattered with mashed potatoes -- no fewer than three times. ~ All Movie Guide

Once again, Lucy (Lucille Ball) decides to play matchmaker. This time her victims are middle-aged bachelor and bachelorette Sam Carter (Milton Frome) and Dorothy Cooke (Sarah Selby). Determined to demonstrate the joys of married life, Lucy uses her own "blissful" relationship with Ricky (Desi Arnaz) and Little Ricky as an example. Unfortunately, things go terribly awry as Lucy tries to entertain Sam and Dorothy in her home, with neither her husband nor her son in any mood to cooperate. The evening turns into an unmitigated disaster -- to which Sam and Dorothy react in an entirely unanticipated fashion. ~ All Movie Guide

One of the most famous of all I Love Lucy story arcs gets under way when a Hollywood talent scout (Frank Nelson) arrives at the Ricardo home to discuss a possible screen test for Ricky (Desi Arnaz). It seems that MGM is planning a musical version of "Don Juan," and Ricky would seem to be a natural choice for the role. Naturally, everyone wants to get into the act, and before long Fred (William Frawley) and Ethel (Vivian Vance) are parading around in Spanish costumes, Lucy (Lucille Ball) dolls herself up to look like Marilyn Monroe, and even old Mrs. Trumbull (Elizabeth Patterson) lifts her voice in song. ~ All Movie Guide

When Ricky (Desi Arnaz) discovers that he holds the "bonus buck" sought after in a radio contest, he generously plants the dollar bill (worth 300 dollars) in Lucy's purse, anticipating the thrill when Lucy (Lucille Ball) finds it. Unfortunately, Lucy uses the bill to pay the grocery boy (Don Garner) -- who in turn passes the bonus buck along to Ethel (Vivian Vance) as change. A battle over possession ensues, leading to the bill being torn in half, with the Ricardos and the Mertzes intending to share the prize (or at least that's what the couples tell each other!) One thing leads to another, and by episode's end, Lucy's half of the bill ends up at the local laundry, where in her zeal to retrieve the dollar Lucy is given the "starch treatment" to end all starch treatments. ~ All Movie Guide

When Lucy (Lucille Ball) complains that Ricky (Desi Arnaz) is too busy to spend any time with their son, Ricky magnanimously rearranges his vacation so he can devote all his attention to Little Ricky. Unfortunately, Ricky and Fred (William Frawley) become so engrossed in a TV football game that they fail to notice when Little Ricky decides to go for a little walk in the hallway. Lucy (Lucille Ball) decides to teach Ricky a lesson for his negligence...and further elaborations on the plot are surely unnecessary. The episode's highlight occurs when Ricky regales his son with a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood -- in Spanish. ~ All Movie Guide

Offended when the Mertzes express boredom while watching his home movies, Ricky (Desi Arnaz) huffily declares that he'll never force them to watch anything of his again -- not even the TV pilot he is going to star in. Teaming up with Lucy (Lucille Ball), Ethel (Vivian Vance) and Fred (William Frawley) decide to prove to Ricky that it is indeed possible to make an entertaining home movie...though the results, an epic "Western musical drama," are hardly up to Academy Award standards. Unfortunately, this amateur production is spliced into Ricky's pilot film, just as TV producer Bennett Green (Stanley Farrar) shows up to assess Ricky's potential as a video star. ~ All Movie Guide

Intending to spend their summer vacation in Maine, where Ricky (Desi Arnaz) and his band have been booked into a lodge engagement, the Ricardos sublet their apartment to Mr. Beecher (Jay Novello), a nervous chap who has a phobia about loud noises. Unfortunately, the Maine gig falls through, and the Ricardos return home, only to find that Mr. Beecher refuses to leave. After a disastrous attempt to move in with Fred (William Frawley) and Ethel (Vivian Vance), Lucy (Lucille Ball) comes up with a plan to force Mr. Beecher to vacate -- and did we mention that Mr. Beecher has a phobia about loud noises? This was the final episode of I Love Lucy's third season. ~ All Movie Guide