more like the tenth balcony ahaha

Vivian was Merman's understudy for "Anything Goes" in 1934

I loved Lucille Ball mouthing Ethel Merman - her movements were perfect and felt just like Ethel Merman's way of singing. Perfect - could watch this skit over and over - Great!!!

LOL 😆 my Irish friends tell me nuns don't approve of very much

We used to worry about nuns. Now we worry about Florida.

That’s funny! Could you see the nuns faces?

@@larss337Gypsy was about a young girl becoming a stripper so of course they would not approve. Present time, not many nuns left but millions of abortions, single moms, trans kids, gey ppl out the kazoo, etc. We need religion, we need nuns.

When I was 11, I saw the revival of Gypsy starring Bernadette Peters. I also went to a Catholic school, but my parents didn’t warn me not to mention it in school, and I did get reprimanded for it!

This song is dedicated to everyone who lost a loved one. God bless. "I'm calling out your name tonight" by Richie Levoikzfaq.info/get/bejne/gLmSeqqauMuXg2w.html

I want her shoes

The sad thing is, MOST women dressed elegantly back then. Unlike today where its stretch pants, tee and sweat shirts, sneakers and hair like rats nests! Makeup is becoming a thing of the past TOO it seems. My mother and aunts wouldn't leave the house without their makeup!

@@retroguy9494 That’s true! My mother used to be disgusted by woman who wore pants and high heels. She said they looked cheap. And she always wore gloves when she went into New York City.

@@wotan10950 My mother wore gloves back in the '60's as well. Although she would wear dress slacks when appropriate just as Lucy does here, my grandmother never wore pants/slacks in her life. Always a dress. Even at home.

Wow, she gave me chills, amazing voice.

She always sounded kind of like a ships foghorn to ME!

​@@retroguy9494Me too!

@@theravyshow2570 You too what? You agree with me? Or you sing like a foghorn? 🤔😂

Lucy was not only the star of The Lucy Show she was a producer too. She okay the script, acting etc.

It's the miracle of 3-D projection. Ethel was projection +1/2.

Bruce Marmy I know it’s fantastic.

@@the_jacobian4269 Truly a one-of-a-kind powerhouse voice. I belt out Roses regular, 'round the house, for exercise (Arms swinging, big sound (off key)). Then I need a rest

Well, she was very competitive. She was probably thinking "I'll show that record!"

Judy Garland used to do the same thing. When she was making a movie, she would record the soundtrack for playback during filming. She would have the soundman crank up the recording as loud as he could, then she would actually sing rather than just lip sync. And she would be louder than the recording.

ess2586, maybe explore some more show music. I think you'd surprise yourself. There are some incredible songs out there. More goosebumps coming your way.

Me too. The Merm.

You need to discover Judy garland.

Ethel and Judy were raised in the vaudeville tradition. Before microphones were used on stages, singers had to "belt it out" in order to reach the audience in the back row.

Actually she turned DOWN the music so her actual voice could be heard over her recorded one. But in the beginning, its obvious that Lucy had an orchestra on set that day because its clear it takes over for the recording at 1:28.

Very deadpan!

Her "Okay, you don't want to listen to me, fine", moment was wonderful too.

Moment of irony; on I love Lucy, Vivians name was Ethel.

@@markcadieux3445 I think naming her "Ethel" was a part of the whole making the character older than Lucy thing. On "The Lucy Show", Lucy and Viv were supposed to be about the same age.

I know. Lucy didn't want Viv to be more attractive than her.

@@markcadieux3445 There's a legend that Lucy would constantly get on the makeup department if she thought Vivian was looking too "pretty".

This song is dedicated to everyone who lost a loved one. God bless. "I'm calling out your name tonight" by Richie Levoikzfaq.info/get/bejne/gLmSeqqauMuXg2w.html

I don't think that Vance ever got the respect and kudos that she deserved. She was brilliant.

@@norahfarber1076 I don't get the comments I don't think she was beautiful or brilliant.

@@LJ-ht4zs of course not.... u r neither yerself...

The replacements they tried were ok (Mary Jane Croft, Ann Southern, and a few others) were ok, but no one knew how to play with Lucy like Viv did. Lucy should've done all she could to keep her. It was never the same after Viv left.

Mermen, as it were.

There is a video on KZfaq of Ethel Merman Ji singing There's No Business Like Show Business at different times all overlapping together in a lovely Tribute type little video of it.

No egos? Well, not Miss Vance.

@@tessdurberville711 On I Love Lucy - the cast I always call The Fabulous Four. However Lucille Ball was the linch pin

Lucille and Ethel, no ego? I assume now you're 16 years old.

That was common practice for Lucy. She did similar w Barbara Eden in the "I Love Lucy" Country Club Dance in CT episode....best clothes & lines, too.

There were very few retakes back then since it was still the era of live television.

No it was not. This is from season 2 of The Lucy Show and this aired in 1964. The show was never filmed through a live studio to home feed. They filmed in front of a studio audience but even today with large budgets at times an actor or actress just can't get through a scene without a laugh, chuckle, etc. and it has to be corrected in editing to the best of the editor's ability.

You're both right, though. Transitional period.

I felt she was Supposed to find it a bit amusing, in the scene.

Any skit with Lucy is priceless. Imagine the two together!

Also I loved Lucy's movements paying "The Term"and mouthing the words.

Now go check out Dame Shirley Bassey. Start with a good listen to "Goldfinger". :)

Lucy was incredible mimicking Ethel Merman - think Vivian Vance was okay.

Ethel Merman obviously was not a performer who took herself too seriously; and the world is just a little happier because of that.

@@majkus She was so convincing as a top-notch B in Mad Mad World, I disliked her as a child... Til I matured enough to really appreciate talent

"What's his problem?" " . . . thinks he's Ethel Merman." (singing) "You'll be swell! You'll be great! Gonna have the whole world . . . everything's coming up rooosssess. " "War is hell."

@@kev7161 even Mel Brooks couldn’t top that.

Me too!!! 😂 YOU'LLLLLLL BE SWELLLL YOU'LL BE GREAT

Coincidentally not ironically.

Lucille Ball and Ethel Merman were legends - Vivian Vance - she played her part well (as did Wm Frawley) in I Love Lucy. He by the way after that show played in My Three Sons for several years. Vivian Vance, did not hear much about her after she left The Lucy Show after 3 seasons. On an interview with Dinah Shore, Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance traded funny stories - however, when asked by one of the guests what Vance was doing - she was doing commercials for a coffee company. (her words)

Ethel Merman was truly a living legend on Broadway.

I had a very sad 25th birthday....February 15, 1984.

RIP Vivien Vance ,July 26, 1909- August 17, 1979 and Lucille Ball August 6, 1911- April 26, 1989

@@joryadamson7854 funny how they were born all around the same time and died around the same time and all had extraordinary film/TV careers

This song is dedicated to everyone who lost a loved one. God bless. "I'm calling out your name tonight" by Richie Levoikzfaq.info/get/bejne/gLmSeqqauMuXg2w.html

She sure did. And it came up in the first scene (not shown here) as well.

It took a minute for me to get that.😊

BWAAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! 🤣😂

she was actually on her way to sing at some event when she had the stroke!

@@mediterraneanworld I don't know where you got your info from dude but it isn't true. She was planning on traveling to Hollywood to attend and appear at the Oscars but she collapsed in her apartment in New York City. The doctors THOUGHT she had a stroke but it was really a brain tumor. They tried to operate but once they got in there, they discovered the tumor was inoperable and like less than a year later she died of brain cancer.

WOW What a powerful voice!!!!!!

Ahhhh I was with you till you called them broads. No.

They DID look awesome! When this aired, Lucille Ball was 52, Vivian Vance was 54 and Ethel Merman was 55! And considering that Merman smoked and drank heavily until eventually stopping, its amazing she looked that good at 55!

@@norahfarber1076 keren... goo awayyy....

"actually"

That's the power of a timeless icon like Ethel Merman. I've always known she was a singer and actress, but I'd never even heard her sing until this episode of "The Lucy Show"! When Ethel lowered the volume on the record player and started to sing, chills went up my spine! And I'm 26 years old!

@@donaldsimmonsjr for real though.

Vance was Merman's understudy in the original production, 1934 of Anything Goes. Vance was also had a small role in Red Hot and Blue. Both show had Cole Porter scores and starred Merman

Yes, I agree...total class!!!! We just don't have that any more.

Allan Cuseo so true

They changed class for crass!

@@joepeterson2819 It wasn't television that changed. It was PEOPLE!

I agree. She stole the show!

Broads, a word used regularly in the day and it offended no woman...Frank said the word best...

she looked beautiful

This was originally supposed to be a single episode, but they were having so much fun and there was so much going on they decided to make it a 2 part episode. However, the two episodes were filmed several ,months apart. I remember reading that so many things had changed between the two times.

Watch the movie Gypsy with Natalie Wood and Ethel Merman. A classic.

I remember when she was alive and still performing!

@@norahfarber1076 Uhhhhh...Rosalind Russell played the mother in the film version of Gypsy, not Merman. Natalie Wood and Ann Jillian played the daughters.

kzfaq.info?search_query=klea+blackhurst+Everything+The+Traffic+Will+Allow

I have posted a link to Kleah Blackhurst, a wonderful cabaret and stage performer who was/is just NUTS about Ethel Merman and who performed an act and recorded an album featuring stories and songs strictly from her broadway career. I think you'll like it if you take the time. Of course, KZfaq itself has kinescopes and videos of her TV appearances from the 1950s. You're in for a treat.

Much funnier than the crap we have today.

That's before "competence" became one of "The Three Evil Forbidden 'C's Of Hollywood"

Which are the other two?

Now that's talent

Wasn't that old back then, you know. when it happened..

Right on brother !

randolph patterson mm

What movie is there about Merman?

As a child I watched this show mainly for Vivian Vance. Glad to see in these reviews that she's getting well deserved recognition. It takes 3 to tango in this bit and all three were in top form. Yes, I got gossebumps from Ms. Merman's singing. Was not a fan of hers until I was old enough to realize what she was doing. A unique, great talent.