{"id":38058,"date":"2022-10-14T19:18:41","date_gmt":"2022-10-14T23:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=38058"},"modified":"2022-10-14T19:19:33","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T23:19:33","slug":"the-bootleg-files-all-star-party-for-lucille-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2022\/10\/14\/the-bootleg-files-all-star-party-for-lucille-ball\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: All-Star Party for Lucille Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 816:<\/strong> \u201cAll-Star Party for Lucille Ball\u201d (1984 television special with an extraordinary A-list line-up). <\/p>\n

LAST SEEN: <\/strong>On YouTube.<\/p>\n

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:<\/strong> None.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS:<\/strong> It fell through the cracks.<\/p>\n

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE:<\/strong> Not likely.<\/p>\n

When I was watching the 1984 television special \u201cAll-Star Party for Lucille Ball,\u201d the same thought kept rotating through my mind: they don\u2019t make them like this anymore. Not only is today\u2019s televised entertainment so completely devoid of the level of star power that was gathered for this one-shot offering, but the feel-good quality and genuine sincerity that permeated the production offers a reminder that there was a time (not so long ago) when broadcast television was a genuinely friendly place to visit.
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Lucille Ball was the honoree for a party coordinated by Variety Club International, a show business charity that donated funds to hospitals and medical centers. Variety Club International presented its donations in tribute to a Hollywood star with a history of humanitarian and charitable works. For 1984, television\u2019s funniest redhead was chosen to have a research library opened in her name at the Barbara Davis Juvenile Diabetes Hospital in Denver.<\/p>\n

I assume that Variety Club International funded its efforts by selling the television rights to this event to CBS \u2013 it was also broadcast in Canada on CTV. If that\u2019s correct, the networks certainly got their money\u2019s worth because the stellar line-up for this production took the meaning of \u201call-star\u201d to a new apex.<\/p>\n

For starters, this special was an unofficial Rat Pack reunion. Frank Sinatra serenaded Ball with a cover of Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cYou Are the Sunshine of My Life\u201d and praised her by stating, \u201cYou\u2019re the best thing that\u2019s happened to Adam\u2019s rib.\u201d (Ball\u2019s puzzled response to that cryptic remark was priceless.) Dean Martin came out in his drunken persona, kissing Sinatra\u2019s wife Barbara while saying \u201cCongratulations, Lucy!\u201d before doing a version of \u201cWhen You\u2019re Smiling\u201d with new lyrics highlighting Ball\u2019s televised ubiquity (\u201cWhen you\u2019re Lucy, when you\u2019re Lucy, you\u2019re never off TV. When you\u2019re Lucy, that\u2019s all you see.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Sammy Davis Jr. did not sing or joke, but instead gave a profoundly serious speech that observed how people around the world could find happy comfort through televised reruns of \u201cI Love Lucy.\u201d As Davis claimed, \u201cBe proud, Lucy, of your legacy. Very proud. Be aware, as you sit here among your grateful friends, the sun never sets on Lucille Ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most interesting guest star on the show might have been Cary Grant, who rarely appeared on television. Introduced by Sinatra as \u201cCharlie Charm,\u201d Grant did an unexpected bit of self-parody by opening his segment with \u201cLucy, Lucy, Lucy\u201d \u2013 a riff on the \u201cJudy, Judy, Judy\u201d line wrongly attributed to him. Grant read a letter to Ball from President Ronald Reagan commended the tribute she was receiving. <\/p>\n

A few tributes came from stars who never worked with Ball, but were considered TV royalty at the time and, thus, were brought in. James Stewart pointed out Ball and her husband, comic Gary Morton, were celebrating their wedding anniversary. Joan Collins was the most distinguished in her presentation, and was also the funniest by noting how Ball was among the zillions of women who auditioned for the role of Scarlett O\u2019Hara. Collins deadpanned: \u201cNot even Clark Gable could look into that face and say \u2018Frankly, my dear, I don\u2019t give a damn.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

Shelley Long and John Ritter also made flattering remarks about her impact on the acting profession, Burt Reynolds jokingly claimed that Ball didn\u2019t want him dating her daughter, while Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner did a skit reminiscent of their \u201cYour Show of Shows\u201d halcyon days with Caesar as a crazy German professor with dubious expertise on Ball\u2019s televised work.<\/p>\n

One misfit in the show was Vicki McClure, a then-unknown singer who performed \u201cReach Out and Touch\u201d during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics opening ceremony \u2013 her vocalizing wasn\u2019t special. Ball\u2019s husband Gary Morton and her children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. also tendered tributes, with Morton presenting her a gold medal \u2013 she chided him for putting it on backwards and he wisecracked \u201cShe\u2019s always directing!\u201d \u2013 and her children singing the \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d theme with new lyrics.<\/p>\n

Monty Hall, who served as master of ceremonies for the special, brought Ball to the podium and she was genuinely moved by what transpired, with worries that her false eyelashes would be washing down her face from the tears of gratitude she shed. She also extended commendation to film producer Mike Frankovich for his work on behalf of Variety Club and asked him to take a bow and then had the evening\u2019s last laugh by playfully stating, \u201cTo everyone who said such wonderful things about me tonight, I just wish you were all under oath.\u201d<\/p>\n

The audience for this event represented some of Hollywood\u2019s best-loved stars \u2013 the camera picked up James Caan, Dionne Warwick, Lloyd Bridges, Roddy McDowell, Charles Durning, Beatrice Arthur, Betty White, Farrah Fawcett, Eva Gabor, Mike Connors, Alex Trebek, Karl Malden, Hal Linden, Bernie Koppel, Ted Lange and Donna Mills.<\/p>\n

CBS broadcast \u201cAll-Star Tribute to Lucille Ball\u201d on December 9, 1984. It hasn\u2019t been seen since, either as a rerun or in a commercial home entertainment release, but someone was wise enough to record it on their VCR back in the day and the special can be found on YouTube in an unauthorized posting. Fans of old-time Hollywood will appreciate this warm and amusing production, and those who still love Lucy will want to add this to their viewing list.<\/p>\n