Although their material seems tame by today’s standards, Lucille “Lucy” Ball and her husband, Desi Arnaz were entertainment titans during the 1950’s. They owned Hollywood and even formed a formidable production company called Desilu. There’s a rumor going around that the shock in this clip is genuine. The question is… who knew what? Was it the audience that learned late? Or was it the father-to-be?
Arnaz is at the Tropicana club, about to entertain people. He gets a note from the maitre’d and reads it to them. It’s from a woman who says she’s pregnant and her husband doesn’t know. Could he sing a song about it so that the husband can find out? Sure, why not? Desi’s a good sport. He’ll sing the song. In a few seconds he’s got the band up and going and they launch into it.
Arnaz starts making his way around the room while singing “We’re Having a Baby.” When he reaches a table, he indicates the woman as if to say, “You wrote this?” Each time, no. He’s getting more consternated by the second with each rejection. Then he sees Lucy sitting in the middle of the room at a table. He says, “Hi, Honey” and continues singing. A few seconds later, realization crosses his face. He looks at Lucy and she nods, “Yes!” They continue the song together to applause.
The two of them did not have a happy marriage, by any stretch of the imagination. But this was a sweet moment between the two of them. Was it sanitized to Hollywood standards? Of course – this was an era where ANY controversy was to be avoided. I’m not sure if this baby wound up being Lucie Arnaz or Desi Arnaz Jr., but it was one of the two. I wonder how they feel watching this footage now knowing how their parents got along.
Whatever happened behind the scenes, I think Arnaz’s face when he realizes it’s Lucy is priceless. If it’s not a genuine “Wait a minute…” moment, then he was a heck of an actor. What did you think? Tell us your theories about what happened there in the comments section!
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