For all intents and purposes, THE LONG, LONG TRAILER was the feature version of I Love Lucy. In it, Desi and Lucy get married and buy a gigantic trailer home so the two don't have to live apart whenever Desi is on assignment as a construction engineer. The complications of owning such a massive rig make the perfect launch pad for comedy. The film also features some amazing scenery in splendid Technicolor. The film was a massive success, as you might imagine, and another Lucy/Desi feature was short in coming. Unfortunately, FOREVER DARLING, originally written as a Groucho Marx vehicle, lacked the charm of THE LONG, LONG TRAILER. The film didn't fare as well financially, which was a blow to Desi -the film was his first as a producer. The couple would split in a few years, preventing any further features as a team. No longer restricted to the grind of television scheduling, Lucy made a come-back in pictures (frequently opposite Bob Hope, with whom she'd worked before) before again plunging into the smaller screen. Reportedly, Desi and Lucy remained close despite the end of their marriage. I believe I heard that Desi would even do audience warm-ups before filmings of The Lucy Show in the 60's.
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