I Love Lucy (film)

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I Love Lucy
Directed by	Edward Sedgwick
Written by	Bob Carroll Jr. Madelyn Davis Jess Oppenheimer
Starring	Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Vivian Vance William Frawley Ann Doran
Release date(s)	October 23, 2007
Running time	80 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

I Love Lucy was a 1953 feature film spin-off of the immensely popular sitcom I Love Lucy. Except for one test screening in Bakersfield, California, the film was never theatrically released and was shelved.

The film consisted of three first-season episodes edited together: "The Benefit", "Breaking the Lease" and "The Ballet". In the opening scene, Desi Arnaz speaks to the studio audience and introduces the cast, just as he would do at every filming of the show. Additional scenes featuring the cast were filmed and put between the episodes to tie them into one cohesive story. Eight minutes of newly shot footage (including actress Ann Doran as an audience member on her way to the taping) were added for the beginning of the film and an additional five minutes were added to the end.^[1]. Just as he would always do, Arnaz thanks the audience at the end and brings the cast out for a curtain call.

A test screening in Bakersfield, California went very well and Desilu prepared to release the film. But MGM demanded the movie be shelved because they felt it would diminish interest in The Long, Long Trailer which Lucy and Desi were contractually bound to promote. The I Love Lucy movie was ultimately forgotten.

But in 2001, the film was found and clips of it were featured in I Love Lucy's 50th Anniversary Special. A screening was held in August 2001 at the 5th Loving Lucy fan convention in Burbank, California.^[1]