Lucille Ball is widely regarded as one of the most legendary comedians in history, famous the world over for her zany Vitameatavegamin mispronunciations, hilarious grape-stomping escapades and overzealous chocolate-gorging abilities. Far lesser-known than her countless comic feats, though, is the fact that the iconic redhead and her longtime husband/”I Love Lucy” co-creator and co-star, Desi Arnaz, turned the world of television programming on its head by pioneering countless revolutionary techniques that are still in use today! It is because of the innovative couple, for instance, that sitcoms are shot in front of a studio audience. Though the concept was completely foreign at the time “I Love Lucy” debuted, Ball enjoyed the immediate feedback and palpable energy live assemblages provided, so the couple modeled the soundstage for their new series after a theater, with an open fourth wall facing an audience. They also elected to shoot episodes in sequence, much like a play, and to utilize a three-camera system to capture the action from multiple angles simultaneously, so that scenes would not have to be reset and reshot countless times – all for the benefit of the viewers present. Incredibly, sitcoms are still utilizing these same techniques today, 70 years later!
Even more radical was the couple’s exclusion of kinescope. Not familiar with the term? You have Arnaz and Ball to thank for that! Prior to “Lucy,” shows were typically broadcast live on the East Coast while concurrently being recorded via kinescope – essentially a camera pointed at and taping a video monitor as it aired the feed. That kinescope recording was then later broadcast to other areas around the United States. As explained by The Take, “The result was a grainy, fuzzy, and distorted picture which looked quite poor. As this was the only method of documentation available to stations of the time, this is the format from which many programs would be rebroadcast to locales outside the reach of the originating station’s antenna.” Desi convinced CBS to instead shoot “Lucy” on high-quality 35mm film, agreeing to a large pay cut to make up for the difference in cost but, in turn, securing full ownership rights to all episodes. The move paved the way for syndication, as it allowed shows to be rebroadcast in their original format time and time again. Yes, that’s right – you have the duo to thank for the creation of the rerun, too!
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Image Credit: Amazon Studios But none of those revolutionary concepts are the focus of Amazon Studios’ new biopic about the couple titled “Being the Ricardos.” Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, the movie, which hit theaters and Prime streaming last month, instead focuses on one particularly tumultuous week in “I Love Lucy’s” early years, with several flashbacks thrown in showcasing the origin stories of both the show and the pair’s relationship.
While based on real events, Sorkin plays a bit fast and loose with the facts, condensing several hurdles the couple faced over the course of “I Love Lucy’s” six-year run into an easy-to-digest five-day period. During the film’s 131-minute runtime, the famed comedienne (played by Nicole Kidman) is publicly accused of being a communist, Desi (Javier Bardem) is branded a philanderer and the two have to announce Lucy’s pregnancy to the network, all in the midst of filming the season two episode titled “Fred and Ethel Fight.” (In reality, that episode aired at the end of the show’s inaugural season, over a year before Lucy faced communism charges. The episode actually lensed during the star’s red scare, according to “Lucille Ball FAQ: Everything Left to Know About America’s Favorite Redhead,” was season three’s “The Girls Go Into Business.”)
The scenery, though, stuck a bit closer to reality. Renowned production designer Jon Hutman, who created the famous White House sets for the pilot of Sorkin’s beloved series “The West Wing,” was tasked with bringing “Being the Ricardos’” 1950s-era backdrop to life. Set and filmed in Los Angeles, the movie made use of several iconic La La Land sites.
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Image Credit: Amazon Studios Though Lucille Ball is most commonly associated with RKO Pictures, the studio for which she was a longtime contract player and then eventually purchased with Desi in December 1957, filming of “I Love Lucy” did not take place at either of the production company’s two L.A. lots, as the couple did not acquire the enterprise until several months after the show ended its run. The series instead made use of three other area studios. While the “I Love Lucy” pilot was shot at CBS Columbia Square (now NeueHouse Hollywood), located at 6121 Sunset Blvd., once it was picked up by CBS, the production moved about a mile and a half away to General Service Studios (now Sunset Las Palmas Studios) at 1040 N. Las Palmas Ave. The first two seasons were captured on the lot’s Soundstage Number 2, which was renamed “Desilu Studios” in honor of the couple’s eponymous production company. Two years later, the show relocated once again, this time about half a mile southeast to Motion Picture Center Studios (now Red Studios Hollywood) at 846 N. Cahuenga, where it finished out its remaining four seasons.
None of those locations made it into “Being the Ricardos,” though. The Desilu Studios featured onscreen is actually a conglomeration of three different spots. The “I Love Lucy” sets, where the cast and crew fastidiously rehearsed “Fred and Ethel Fight,” were re-created on a soundstage at Hollywood’s Sunset Gower Studios at 1438 N. Gower St.
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Image Credit: Amazon Studios The scenes involving the Desilu Studios offices and dressing rooms, however, were captured at The Ebell of Los Angeles, a historic women’s club located at 743 S. Lucerne Blvd. in the Mid-Wilshire area. The Italianate-style complex, which is comprised of a theater and a clubhouse, was designed by architect Sumner P. Hunt in 1927 and has since become both a popular wedding venue and filming location, appearing in everything from “Hacks” to “Gilmore Girls” to “Never Been Kissed.”
Numerous “Being the Ricardos” sets were created on the premises, such as Lucy’s dressing room, Desi’s wood-paneled office and the Writer’s Room. Though most were fabrications constructed inside the Ebell’s existing spaces, some actual areas of the property appear onscreen as well, including the theater, which masquerades as the radio studio where Ball records “My Favorite Husband,” and the upstairs sunroom (pictured above) which stands in for the hallway outside of the “I Love Lucy” stars’ dressing rooms. The latter is an oft-filmed spot, most famous for its portrayal of the hospital where Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) recovers from injuries sustained during the Vietnam War and learns to play ping pong in the 1995 Best Picture Oscar winner of the same name.
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Image Credit: Amazon Studios The exterior of Desilu Studios can be found back in Tinseltown, a good three and a half miles away from The Ebell at 6650 Hollywood Blvd. The rear side of the Shane Building, an Art Deco masterpiece designed by S. Tilden Norton and F.H. Wallis in 1930, makes a very brief appearance as the outside of the production facility as William Frawley (J.K. Simmons) and Lucy exit the studio and head across the street to landmark watering hole Boardner’s for 10 a.m. cocktails mid-film.
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Image Credit: Amazon Studios Originally established in 1942, the beloved Boardner’s was certainly a Hollywood fixture during the “I Love Lucy” days, though, contrary to what was depicted in “Being the Ricardos,” the cast could not have quickly popped over there from any of the three studios where the series was lensed. In reality, the lounge can be found at 1652 N. Cherokee Ave., just steps from the Walk of Fame. Featuring a decidedly retro aesthetic, the historic site has long been a location manager favorite, popping up in such productions as “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Ed Wood,” “L.A. Confidential,” “Bosch” and “Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles,” among many others.
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Image Credit: Amazon Studios In the early years of “I Love Lucy,” Ball and Arnaz called a sprawling five-acre ranch at 19700 Devonshire St. in Chatsworth home. Though the property was razed to make way for a new subdivision in 1976, “Being the Ricardos” producers found a suitable alternative for the couple’s residence at a popular special events venue/filming location in the Simi Valley town of Santa Susana. Known as Hummingbird Nest Ranch, the massive 123-acre facility, located at 2940 Kuehner Dr., consists of a 17,000-square-foot main house, a 20,000-square-foot barn, three riding arenas, a solar farm, a helipad, a large pond and 16 guest and staff properties.
One of those guest properties, a 1920s-era Spanish-style pad named Sitting Bull, was pegged to stand in for the exterior of Lucy and Desi’s place. (Interiors were filmed at a house on Lombardy Rd. in Pasadena.) The charming red-roofed residence is no stranger to the screen. The very same dwelling also played the Sedona home belonging to Mitchell (Andy Garcia) in the 2018 rom-com “Book Club,” Gregory Sumner’s (William Devane) ranch on “Knot’s Landing” and the Palm Springs hotel where Ace Amberg (Rob Reiner) trysted with Jeanne Crandall (Mira Sorvino) on the Netflix series “Hollywood.”
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Image Credit: Amazon Studios West Hollywood’s landmark nightclub Ciro’s, where Desi regularly performed, is another location that has long since been lost to time. So Hutman and his team re-created the once-jumping hotspot (formerly located at 8433 W. Sunset Blvd.) aboard The Queen Mary in Long Beach. The group had to do very little to turn back the clock on the ship’s grand Art Deco-inspired Queen’s Salon, making it a convenient spot to portray the bustling cabaret. Boasting towering ceilings, three onyx fireplaces and eight massive lighting sconces, the gorgeous venue, which originally served as the vessel’s music salon, game room and first-class ballroom, perfectly encapsulated Ciro’s gorgeous draped interior.
“Being the Ricardos” made use of several additional areas of The Queen Mary, as well. The office of RKO Head of Production Charles Koerner (Brian Howe) was also created on the ship, as was the CBS studio commissary and the network’s conference room, where Ball informs executives she won’t do “I Love Lucy” without her husband as co-star. And the present-day interview with writer Bob Carroll (Ronny Cox) was lensed aboard, as well, in the ship’s stunning Observation Bar.
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Image Credit: Amazon Studios For the rear entrance of Ciro’s, “Being the Ricardos” producers made use of the back alley of downtown Los Angeles’ Palace Theatre at 630 S. Broadway. The oft-filmed spot, originally founded as a vaudeville hall in 1911, is most famous for being the venue where Michael Jackson and Ola Ray took in a werewolf flick in the King of Pop’s iconic 1983 “Thriller” music video.
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Image Credit: Amazon Studios The present-day interview with “I Love Lucy” head writer Madelyn Pugh (Linda Levin) was captured by the pool of West Hollywood’s legendary Mondrian Los Angeles hotel, located at 8440 Sunset Blvd. The sparkling oasis, which also appeared on “Entourage,” is surrounded by glass walls gifting swimmers, sunbathers and “Being the Ricardos” audiences alike stunning panoramic views of the surrounding Los Angeles skyline.
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Image Credit: Amazon Studios Easily the movie’s most romantic location, a picturesque section of Mt. Hollywood Dr. in Griffith Park stands in for Mullholland Dr., where Lucy and Desi meet early each morning while making their way to and from work, respectively. The exact spot where the two park, a gorgeous turnout overlooking the sparkling lights of Hollywood, can be found just south of where the road intersects with Mulholland Trail, about a half a mile away from Cathy’s Corner, the famous switchback where Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) danced to “A Lovely Night” in “La La Land.” Unfortunately, the meandering roadway, which offers striking views of the city at nearly every point, is closed to cars, so if you want to check this location out in person, unlike Lucy and Desi, you’re going to have to do it on foot!