"Two Smart People [is] the bittersweet story of two co artists (Lucy and John Hodiak) who fall in love on a train taking him off to prison." [Loving Lucy]

RUNNING TIME
    93m's

MONTH OF RELEASE
    December 1946

STUDIO
    MGM

COLOR/B&W
    B&W

DIRECTOR
    Jules Dassin

WRITERS
    Leslie Charteris
    Ethel Hill
    Allan Kenward (story)
    Ralph Wheelwright (story)

CINEMATOGRAPHER
    Karl Freund

FILM EDITING
    Chester W. Schaeffer

ART DIRECTORS
    Cedric Gibbons
    Wade B. Rubottom

PRODUCER
    Ralph Wheelwright

Two Smart People, originally titled Time for Two, was Lucy's last film before the end of her MGM contract.  She made it at a reduced salary of $1,750.  Lucille Ryman Carroll, who headed Metro's Talent Department, later said "We knew she had talent, but not the quality expected of a big star.  When I told her [she was being dropped by MGM], she said, 'Oh dear, what'll I do now?  We won't have any money and Desi will go out with the band.'"

Filming was done in a little over a month, beginning in October 1945, and ending on November 15.  The picture didn't reach theaters until more than a year later.  The film recieved terrible reviews, and did largely tepid box office.

After Two Smart People, Lucy began to free lance, still a risky form of employment at that time in Hollywood.  She felt better knowing, however, that a film was already waiting for her, The Dark Corner.

"...[a] dog-eared tale about love and the confidence racket.  Lucille Ball plays the beauteous dame who falls for the guy she started out to fleece.  She is painfully defeated by the script at every turn.  But in addition to its pedestrian plot, Two Smart People suffers from a lack of competent direction." [New York Times]