"Susan and Lorenzo have been married for over five years and they are starting to drift apart. So into her life comes an angel,
which only Susan can see, to tell her that there will be trouble ahead if they do not work out their problems. Lorenzo is
developing insecticide #383 at Finlay Vega Chemical Co. and plans to test it on a camping trip that he takes with Susan, but the trip becomes a an obstacle course for him." [Tony Fontana] 

RUNNING TIME
    96m's

DATE OF RELEASE
    February 9, 1956

STUDIO
    MGM
    Zanra

COLOR/B&W
    Color

DIRECTOR
    Alexander Hall

WRITERS
    Helen Deutsch
    Bob Carroll, Jr. (uncredited)
    Madelyn Pugh (uncredited)

CINEMATOGRAPHER
    Harold Lipstein

MUSIC
    Bronislau Kaper

FILM EDITING
    Dann Cahn
    Bud Molin

PRODUCER
    Desi Arnaz 

After the huge success of The Long, Long Trailer, MGM wanted the Lucy-Desi team back on the screen - but fast.  However, this time Desi had more clout, and told MGM he was going to produce the film, using the I Love Lucy television staff, at Desilu.  Instead of the Desilu banner, though, Desi produced the film as Zanra (Arnaz spelled backwards) Productions.  MGM would finance and release the film.

On March 7, 1956 it was announced that Desilu had dug up a comedy script by Helen Deutsch called Guardian Angel, which had been written in 1944.  Under that title, it was considered as a vehicle for the team of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.  An earlier version, titled The Woman Who Was Scared, had been written as a potential vehicle for William Powell and Myrna Loy.  Later, in a silly MGM publicity stunt, the studio tried to sell a story to the press that Deutsch had written the story as a Lucy-Desi vehicle originally -- in 1942!

The role of the angel was intened for William Powell in the Hepburn-Tracy script, and the Arnazes wanted Cary Grant for the part.  Instead, however, they settled for James Mason.  Married couple Judy Garland and Sid Luft had also intended for Cary Grant -- in the role of the suicidal movie star Garland marries -- in their 1954 musical-remake of A Star is Born, but they, too, had to settle for James Mason.

Forever, Darling director Alexander Hall had once been romantically linked to Lucy, and they had almost gotten engaged.  However, his hiring wasn't the best idea.  Bernie Weitzman in Desilu: "[Lucy] had a lot of sentiment about people.  Al Hall was an old-time director who couldn't get a job with anybody else.  She made him the director because she liked him and he was nice to her when she was a nobody.  She had great sentimental feeling about people who were good to her when she was down.  Desi did, too.  She surrounded herself with people who knew her for years and years who were really througfh in this industry, but for her they were very important.  She had tremendous loyalty -- even if it wroked against her."

Being used to television -- where time was of the essence -- Desi didn't waste time the way most movie-makers did.  One of his ideas was simple, yet hadn't been thought of in the 25 years of movie making since Technicolor began.  Martin Leeds, also in Desilu: "At the end of the first day [of production], I got a call from Ben [Thau], asking how we were doing.  'We are ahead two days,' I replied.  'What is with you,' he said.  'Are you drunk?'  I explained that when we started our color tests, we shot script at the same time, and the two days of tests came out first quality, great.  MGM had never thought of that, but we television people knew that you should never waste anything."

Production on the film ran from May 31 to July 14, 1955.

Radio City Music Hall deemed the film "substandard" and declared that it wouldn't priemere the film at it's movie house.

MGM priemered the film on February 9, 1956, at New York's Loew's State Theater.  The Arnazes flew to the Big Apple for the event, stopping in Lucy's hometown of Celeron for a reunion.

The film met with critical blahs and mediocre box-office.

Forever, Darling is available on home video from MGM/UA Home Video.  You can buy the video online from Ted's Lucille Ball Bookstore (in association with Amazon.com).  Click here to order.

"I haven't been in many flops in my life, but this one was petty bad.  Desi played a scientist working on a new insecticide; I was his screwball wife who went along on a field trip to help.  The picture was made hastily with a poor script; both critics and public pannied it.  But at least it inspired a beatuiful song...." [Love, Lucy] 

"1/2. ....Contrived but enjoyable." [Leonard Maltin]

"...silly..." [Newsweek]

"...garbled story...not until the final reel does Lucy het around to taking the pratfalls that are her television specialty." [Time]

"The script is heavy and the jokes are bad.  This is quite a switch on the entertainment pattern of the day -- the two stars devote their best energies to television and toss off a quickie for the movies.  Movie fans deserve a better break." [Uncredited critic, quoted in Desilu]

"In several studio close-ups of Miss Ball, both camera and lighting are notably unkind." [Variety] 

"Lucille Ball and Desi Aranz at there best." -- Paul Dawson

"Not as great as Long, Long Trailer but still Lucy.  It proves that television makers can't beat movie makers at their own game." - Carol Burnett