"Lucy and Desi" on Amazon Prime

[nuxvomica]

If you liked Being the Ricardos you might want to check out this new documentary by Amy Poehler. It's slick and comprehensive, following the two stars' careers and delineating their considerable legacies. The Arnazes weren't just a photogenic couple that had somehow struck a chord with the public; both were hard workers and intrepid innovators. I still marvel at the fact that Desi hired Karl Freund, the legendary cinematographer who developed the unchained camera technique, to film his goofy domestic comedy. And Lucy was a model-turned-serious actress who insisted on repeated rehearsals until the comic timing of something like grape stomping was perfect and natural, aiming for what Max Reinhardt called "the enchanted sense of play." Together they created the largest television studio of the 1950s and 60s, producing everything from The Untouchables to Star Trek to Make Room for Daddy. And all along the film follows their romance, giving viewers some real insight into the powerful chemistry that brought them together and eventually tore them apart.

I really enjoyed this documentary, which unlike many nowadays is short on people just sitting there and reminiscing to the camera, and long on footage from home movies, newsreels, TV shows, and live appearances. Kudos to Poehler for crafting a documentary as entertaining as its subjects.