#William Paley

[papermoonloveslucy]

LUCY & THE SWANS

BALL, CAPOTE & PALEY

The new FX series "Feud: Capote vs. The Swans" depicts a world that Lucille Ball knew all too well - wealth, fame and celebrity. Although she does not inhabit the New York Society of Babe Paley, Slim Keith, Ann Woodward, C.Z. Guest, Gloria Guinness and others, she and her Desilu empire lie just outside of it - her influence on the era keenly felt.

Episode 1 of the teleplay ("Pilot") begins in 1958, and takes us to the executive boardroom of CBS in New York. There, Bill Paley (Treat Williams) holds forth, a photo of Lucy and Desi prominently hovering over his shoulder.

In this room, the Paley and the CBS brass made programming moves played out on a schedule board. The Monday 9pm time slot is occupied by "I Love Lucy", with a small photo of Lucy and Desi (the same one that hung on the wall) tucked into the title card - as if they needed reminding of who they were! The only slight faux pas is that "I Love Lucy" (as a half hour series) did not run in 1958. Its final episode aired in May 1957. It then became an hour-long celebrity-driven musical comedy hour under the banner of "The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse." Paley and CBS probably wanted Lucy and Desi for a 7th season, but Desi had other plans. He wouldn't kill the Ricardos (metaphorically) but relegate them to specials, interspersed with Desilu productions of new drama and comedy. It is possible that the action of "Feud" in this scene lies somewhere in that murky period between Desi's plans, and Paley's wishes for a seventh season of the half-hour format.

In actuality, during 1958, the 9pm Monday time slot was occupied by "The Danny Thomas Show" (filmed at Desilu) and "The Ann Sothern Show" (produced by Desilu). Monday also featured the Desilu Western "The Texan," making the only half hour of CBS's Monday primetime NOT created by Lucy and Desi "Father Knows Best."

Episode 6 ("Hats, Gloves, and Effete Homosexuals") set in 1978 includes a luncheon conversation at La Cote that mentions Lucille Ball and Lucie Arnaz. Truman's new boyfriend Rick (Vito Schnabel) is a handyman who once fixed Ball's air conditioner in Palm Springs.

Truman has promised to bring Rick to see They're Playing our Song on Broadway starring Lucie Arnaz. Rick says that he met little Lucie while she was swimming laps.

BILL & BABE PALEY

The power and influence of William S. Paley cannot be underestimated. He literally built CBS (the Columbia Broadcasting System) from a small radio station to a multi-media conglomerate, serving as Chairman for much of its existence. He shepherded CBS from radio to television, and was responsible for giving the green light to Lucille Ball making the transition from "My Favorite Husband" to "I Love Lucy," bringing her real-life husband along for the ride. Without Paley and Lucy, CBS would not have gotten a foothold in an industry dominated by the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC).

Paley's second wife was socialite Barbara Cushing Mortimer, who he married the year before he met Lucille Ball. Mortimer is best known as Babe Paley, and she was Truman Capote's favorite of the Swans. In "Lucy's Barbershop Quartet" (1963), the group needs to find a replacement singer for the group and Viv suggests the unseen character of Barbara Cushing, who is a soloist in their church choir. Although Lucy, Viv, Thelma, and Dorothy were definitely not swans (more like Danfield Ducks) the writers were tipping their hat to the big boss's wife.

A few years later, in "Lucy Meets Danny Kaye" (1964), Kaye telephones Bill Paley to see if he has any spare tickets for his show to give fan Lucy. The best he can do is tickets to "The Jackie Gleason Show." Paley does not appear, nor do we hear his voice.

In real life, Paley and Ball were both in the first group of inductees to the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1984. Ball and Paley sat at the same table together at the ceremony.

In 1976, he joined those paying tribute to Lucy on "Lucy and CBS: The First 25 Years." Paley and his wife Babe had homes in Manhasset Long Island, and Squam New Hampshire, respectively known as Kiluna Farm South, and Kiluna Farm North, where they entertained a myriad of celebrities, Lucille Ball among them.

TRUMAN CAPOTE

On screen Lucille Ball had little to no interaction with writer Truman Capote. But in her personal life, Ball was guest at at least one of his lavish parties. Gary and Lucy's photo album included a photo of the Mortons at a December 13, 1975 party hosted by Capote, Allan Carr, and John O'Shea in Lincoln Heights, a wealthy neighborhood of Los Angeles. The 'mug shot' was part of a party game where guests were 'arrested' and forced to pay bail in order to get released. The money was usually donated to the host's favorite charity.

In July 1978, Capote joined Lucille Ball at Westbury Music Fair to see Lucie Arnaz perform in "Annie Get Your Gun".

Capote's one foray into acting was in Neil Simon's Murder By Death (1976), a camp comedy send-up of Agatha Christie-style murder mysteries where Capote played the eccentric host, Lionel Twain. The film featured a few stars with close connections to Lucille Ball.

Peter Sellars (Sidney Wang) starred in Will The Real Mr. Sellars...?, an oddball film from 1969 with a very brief cameo by Lucille Ball courtesy of hidden camera footage.

Elsa Lanchester (Jessica Marbles) famously guest-starred on "I Love Lucy" as a woman who may - or may not be - a hatchet murderess. In 1973, she appeared on "Here's Lucy" as kooky bank robber Mumsie Westcott.

Although screen writer Neil Simon never wrote for Lucille Ball, or even appeared on the same screen with her, they did share credits on two television shows. He was a staff writer on “The Garry Moore Show,” which Lucy appeared on in 1960. Simon and Ball were both featured on “Bob Hope’s World of Comedy” (1976), but were not onstage at the same time.  It was Lucie Arnaz who worked closest with Simon. She starred on Broadway in They’re Playing Our Song (for which Simon wrote the libretto) in 1978. She then took over the role of Bela in Simon's Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play Lost in Yonkers in 1992.

MISC. SWANS

Vivian Vance doing an in-character commercial for Swan dish soap on "The Lucy Show." Swan was made by Lever Brothers, and was discontinued in 1974.

SWAN SONGS

LUCY: "Would you begrudge an expectant swan her song?" RICKY: "You seem to forget that this particular swan has no talent." ~ Lucy's Show Biz Swan Song (1952)

LUCY: “It’s time for that swan to hit the come-back trail.” FRED: “That swan’s got a little ham in it.”  ~ The Indian Show (1953)

#Capote and the Swans #Truman Capote #Swans #Feud #Feud: Capote vs the swans #Bill Paley #William Paley #Babe Paley #Capote #Paley #CBS #TV #Lucille Ball #Desi Arnaz #I Love Lucy #1958 #Murder By Death #Vivian Vance #Lucie Arnaz #Gary Morton #Danny Kaye #Treat Williams

[sesiondemadrugada]

Five Nights at Freddy's (Emma Tammi, 2023).

#five nights at freddy's #scott cawthon #emma tammi #josh hutcherson #piper rubio #lyn moncrief #william paley #marc fisichella

[wwwdotideasnmoredotnet]

It's that time of the month again . . .

. . . when we see and read what others have said that made an impact. May these quotes bring about an impact for you as well. Enjoy!   All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level. — William Bernbach, member, Advertising Hall of Fame The voyage of discovery is not in…

View On WordPress

#Arthur C. Clarke #Bill Bernbach #Dan Wieden #Joe Fournet #Thomas Edison #William Paley

[alevelrs]

The Teleological Argument for the Existence of God

Teleological arguments are design arguments, looks at the purpose of something and from that reasons that God must exist. Attempt to prove God through the concept of design, claims that the world displays God’s purpose or end goal. A posteriori and inductive because they look at experience of the world and draw inferences from it. Indictive because reach conclusions which are statements of probability rather than conclusive proofs.

Aquinas:

Aquinas believed that there are two ways God could be reached: through revelation, and through reason, therefore faith and reason could be combined to reach a better understanding of God. Aquinas put forward 5 ways to demonstrate the existence of God, and his 5th way is teleological.

In this, he argues that intelligent objects (like the arrow of an archer), can only be aimed towards a goal (like the target of an archer), with the guiding presence of an intelligent being (like the archer). This intelligent being, he argues, is God. Everything in nature which is moving but which has no intelligence must be directed to its goal by God. This is known as a design qua purpose argument because it seeks to show that the universe has direction and a goal (a purpose) enabled by God.

Aquinas’ teleological argument makes use of a belief that Aristotle held, that everything in the universe has telos (purpose). However, Aquinas argued that this telos did not come about naturally, but rather there must be an intelligent being behind this purposefulness. For example, Aristotle’s example that ducks have webbed feet for the purpose of swimming faster, Aquinas would argue someone designed the webbed feet. Aquinas thought about what Aristotle noted about nature exhibiting regularities, concluding that there is a guiding hand behind it.

William Paley:

Paley argued that the way things work seem to have been put together deliberately with a purpose, e.g. the eye seems to be constructed deliberately with the purpose to see, which is evidence of design. He puts forward the analogy of the watch: if we found a watch on a heath there would be no natural explanation: after observing how well the watch worked, we would assume that it has some designer, e.g. a watchmaker because of the cogs and springs, this design is not a result of chance. By analogy, we could say the same of nature. This designer is God.

Looking at a watch was similar to looking at the world, or at the human body, and noticing how it all works together – so intricately that one can only infer that there must have been a divine intelligence ordering it.

Paley also argued:

We do not have to have ever seen a watch being made in order to realise that there must have been a maker.

The watch does not have to work perfectly for us still to realise that it must have been designed. (in the same way the universe…)

Even if the watch is broken, there is enough design to suggest a watchmaker: he is not commenting on the quality of the design

Even if we didn’t fully understand the watch, we could still identify design.

Hume’s Criticisms of the Teleological Argument

Hume predates Paley and said that the world is not like a watch - it might be true that a watch looks like it is designed, but it is harder to say that the world has these characteristics.

We only conclude that the watch has been designed because we can conclude that it is different to other things in nature – what can we compare the world to? The world is nature.

Just because we recognise order in this world, doesn’t mean it came from a Divine Creator. We have no standards of order, nothing to compare it to, maybe our world isn’t as ordered as we think. Therefore: analogy isn’t suitable.

Order is just a necessary part of the world’s existence – if everything was random, the world could not exist. This order could have come about by chance.

The world could be said to be more like a vegetable that has the characteristics of intricacy (a complex natural object) rather than a machine like a watch. BUT a vegetable only grows because the laws of biology work- where do these laws come from?

Instead Hume said that given an infinite amount of time all the particles in the universe would be able to combine in every possible combination. Eventually, a stable environment would be created and that would be the world in which we live, therefore the universe is due to randomness rather than a designer.

Hume says we cannot make inferences about the cause (God) by looking at the effects in the world: our world is finite and imperfect, why should God be infinite and perfect? He used the example of a pair of scales: just because we know one side is heavier than the other, doesn’t mean we know the exact weight of the other side. Therefore, just because we see evidence of a designer doesn’t mean we know anything about the nature of the designer. The designer could create the world through trial and error, or could be an infant deity who then abandoned the world, or there could be many designers, or could be immoral – how can we suggest that it is the Christian God? BUT just because we cannot fully understand God, doesn’t mean the argument isn’t logical

Chance Arguments

Chance arguments suggest there are better, more plausible explanations for the apparent design in the world: chance. Ockham’s razor: perhaps chance is a better explanation than God: it is simpler.

The theory of evolution: Mutations allow animals to evolve this happens by chance rather than because of a designer: Darwin’s theory of evolution.  Survival of the fittest: better evolved animals will survive, so nature is responsible for the world rather than God.

BUT F.R. Tennant argued against this with the anthropic principle: there has been too much that has gone right in the world leading to the existence of humankind for it to be chance. For example: in many fundamental laws of nature, if anything was just slightly different, human life could not have happened.  Also, the aesthetic principle: why can we recognise beauty, no evolutionary advantage, must be a divine creator. Perhaps Ockham’s razor? Easiest explanation is that there is a God.

But no matter what happens in the world, the odds are always against it: the odds are against your parents meeting, you being born etc. This doesn’t not rule out the possibility of chance.

#a level religious studies #a level revision #a levels #ocr religious studies #ocr rs #religious studies #ocr religious studies essay #philosophy #teleological argument for the existence of god #existence of god #william paley #aquinas

[spockvarietyhour]

Mitchell Ryan as William Paley

#Dark Skies #Dark Skies 1996 #To Prey in Darkness #Mitchell Ryan #William Paley #Dark Skies Rewatch

[oceancentury]

Naomi Watts and Treat Williams as Babe and Bill Paley in Feud: Capote vs The Swans 🦢.

#feud #naomi watts #babe paley #bill paley #treat williams #feud capote vs the swans #capote #truman capote #ryan murphy #my gif #gif #gifset #gifs #tv gifs #oceancentury #tv and film

[marquisevonobst]

Had the great pleasure to visit Paleis Het Loo with @acrossthewavesoftime and @kattestrophe

Absolutely stunning building.

#william iii #william iii of england #mary ii #mary ii of england #het loo #history #paleis het loo #lets get ready to ramble #willem iii van oranje

[buildinggsr]

I think that Grissom fell for you because...you got him. You know? And...and you got me, too.

#csiedit #csi cbs #csi #gsr #william petersen #jorja fox #csi paley center #gil grissom #sara sidle

[cutesynamehere]

It’s October 20th and my fave’s birthday so it’s that day that I write the exact same thing from previous October 20ths. It’s fine…

When I was a kid I had a crush on the mean guy in a bunch of movies and then decades later that mean guy turned out to be one of the best actors on television and that mean character he is best known for is now my favorite person on my favorite show. Usually your childhood crush doesn’t wind up being your favorite actor decades later but here we are and it’s amazing. Plus…I was boy crazy so, honestly, there were options and this one is the only one that stuck, man!

Happy birthday to that guy today, who is always kind and patient and makes every fan feel seen. That’s not the norm and it speaks volumes.

Also, he refrains from ever saying “what is wrong with you?” or “why?” or “settle down already!” I appreciate that.

Enjoy these pictures of him waving his arms around dramatically.

#billy zabka #william zabka #cobra kai #johnny lawrence #personal #happy birthday #Atlanta comic con #paley love #SDCC #funko

[fayegonnaslay]

Slim Hayward (Slim Keith) and Richard Avedon at Bill and Babe Paley's Round Hill estate in Jamaica, 1950s.

#slim keith #richard avedon #swans #jet set #high society #ladies who lunch #truman capote #capote vs the swans #feud #babe paley #bill paley #kate paley #paley #leland hayward #1950s #slim aarons #william s paley #jamaica #round hill

[flowercrown-hobbit]

Paleis het Loo, Apeldoorn

It was a beautiful sunny day to visit paleis het Loo. It has been renovated and it's gorgeous inside. Here used to live the royal Dutch family but especially Mary II of England together with William the third (for us). Their gardens are absolutely amazing. These have been reconstructed in the seventies. One side is the old private garden of queen Mary. The inside is beautiful as well.

I highly recommend it

#paleis het loo #visiting museums #the netherlands #mary and william of orange #Mary II of England #palace #light academia

[papermoonloveslucy]

TV on TV!

Part 2 ~ The TV Shows of the Lucyverse

Although it may seem redundant, the worlds created by Lucille Ball on radio and television frequently created and mentioned other TV shows!  Here are a few from “The Lucy Show” (1962-1968).

“Lucy Puts Up a TV Antenna” (1962)

When Lucy's TV set doesn't work, she discovers that the antenna has blown off the roof. Refusing to spend extra money to have one professionally installed, she talks Viv into helping her replace it. As the episode opens, Sherman and Jerry are excited that the All-American Football Team is going to be on TV. When the reception is poor, Lucy engages in the old practice of  banging on the side of the set, something she claims she learned from her late husband. 

LUCY: “What did we do before television?”  VIV: “We used to hit the radio.”

With Lucy on the roof, Viv yells up the chimney, “I got carried away watching Art Linkletter. Come on down Lucy. He's about to go through a lady's purse.”  “The Linkletter Show” (also known as “Art Linkletter's House Party”) was seen on CBS from 1952 to 1970. Lucille Ball appeared on the show in February 1965.

“Lucy and Viv Put in a Shower” (1963) 

“Where’s Lloyd Bridges when you need him?” ~ Lucy Carmichael    

Bridges starred “Sea Hunt” from 1958 to 1961, a series about a scuba diver which featured extensive underwater filming, so much so that his name become synonymous with underwater adventures. Bridges was seen in all 155 episodes of the CBS series. He was also mentioned in the same context in “Lucy Buys a Boat” (1963). Lucy says she bought the boat with the hull in the water so she didn’t notice the poor shape it was in. She adds that she didn’t have Lloyd Bridges with her at the time!  

“Lucy’s Sister Pays a Visit” (1963)

Lucy’s son’s lunchbox features images from the television western “Lawman,” which ran on ABC from 1958-1962.  A “Lawman” lunchbox is now part of the collection of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. The lunchbox shows up again in “Vivian Sues Lucy” (1963). 

“Lucy Gets Locked in the Vault” (1963)

Danfield TV is on the scene when Lucy and Mr. Mooney finally get out of the vault. 

“Lucy and the Safe Cracker” (1963)

Demonstrating how she got locked in the vault for Larry McAdoo (William Woodeson) of Danfield TV, Lucy accidentally locks Mr. Mooney back in the bank vault again!  Taking advantage of the air time, Lucy gets in a commercial for Grandma’s Candy Shop, owned by the safecracker (Jay Novello).   

“Lucy and the Plumber” (1964)

Lucy and her plumber (Jack Benny) appear on the television program “Talent Discoverer's Show”.

Hosted by Greg Gregory (Willard Waterman), the show is sponsored by Kiddie Cookies, baked beans, and varnish! 

Lucy was already on the show once, so this time she disguises herself as Lucretia Carmucci, the talent discoverer of the title, presenting her plumber Harry Tuttle, who plays an arrangement of Donizetti on the violin. 

“Lucy Meets Danny Kaye” (1964) 

Lucy writes away for tickets to “The Danny Kaye Show” but is turned down.

Kaye offers to give her a walk-on role in the telecast – but Lucy manages to steal the spotlight anyway. In 1962 and 1964 Lucille Ball guest-starred on Kaye’s CBS TV program “The Danny Kaye Show.”  

Kaye telephones Bill Paley to see if he has any spare tickets to give Lucy. William S. Paley (1901-90), was the chief executive who built the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) from a small radio network into one of the foremost radio and television network operations in the United States.

“Lucy and the Beauty Doctor” (1965) 

When Lucy hears about a $25 beauty treatment, she tells Mr. Mooney the money is for a doctor. When the treatment turns out to be a hidden camera show named “Boiling Point”, Lucy must do whatever she can to stop it from airing and revealing her secret to Mr. Mooney.  

“Boiling Point” hosted by Dick Patterson is modeled loosely on “Candid Camera,” a TV show that started in 1948 and continues (in some form) to this day. Its heyday was from 1960 to 1967, when it was a ratings winner for CBS on Sundays at 10pm.  

“Lucy in the Music World” (1965)

When Lucy takes a job in a music producer's office, she wangles her new neighbor Mel Tinker (Mel Torme) into a gig on the musical variety television show “Wing Ding”.  

“Wing Ding” is hosted by Reb Foster and presents The Six Bare Feet, The Torch Bearers, The DDTs, and The Tear Ducts (Lucy and Mel) singing the plaintive ballad "My Trousseau Just Lies on the Shelf.”

“Lucy Helps Danny Thomas” (1965)

When Mr. Mooney hires Lucy to get some important papers signed at a TV studio, she finds herself dancing on Danny Thomas's TV special instead!   

Although this is not a real TV program, Thomas did host “The Danny Thomas Hour” for 22 episodes in 1967. Thomas was a Desilu regular, appearing in “Make Room for Daddy” (later “The Danny Thomas Show”) as well as doing a cross-over episode with “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”.

“Lucy and Art Linkletter” (1966)

Lucy is picked from Art Linkletter's studio audience and challenged not to utter a sound for 24 hours to win $200. In January 1966, CBS aired new episodes of “Art Linkletter’s House Party” daily at 2:30pm while “I Love Lucy” was in reruns at 10:30am.   

During the 24 hours, Linkletter arranges for a one-armed man to burst into Lucy's apartment waving a gun and say that a guy has been chasing him for three years. This is a reference to the hit ABC series “The Fugitive” (1963-67) on which David Janssen was on the trail of a one-armed man who killed his wife. Three weeks after this episode of “The Lucy Show” was filmed, Doris Singleton (Ruth Cosgrove on “Lucy and Art Linkletter”) guest-starred on “The Fugitive.” The series was a Quinn Martin Production. Quinn Martin was a producer at Desilu and also married Madelyn Pugh, one of Lucille Ball’s longest lasting writers.

“Lucy and the Soap Opera” (1966)

Lucy disguises herself in a number of outrageous get-ups to gain access to the reclusive writer of “Camden Cove,” her favorite soap opera, to learn how the show will turn out.  

Camden Cove is described at “the typical American town” so it was probably inspired by “Peyton Place,” a prime-time soap opera which aired on ABC from 1964 to 1969. Like “Camden Cove,” it aired three nights a week and dealt with the tangled relationships found in a small American town. Danfield was compared to Peyton Place in “Lucy and Joan” (1965).

“Lucy Goes to a Hollywood Premiere” (1966)

LUCY (to Edwards): “Oh, doctor!  Oh, doctor!”

Lucy disguises herself as an usher to meet celebrities. On the reception line, she asks Vince Edwards for his autograph. Vincent Edwards (1928-96) was probably best known as the title character on ABC TV’s “Ben Casey” (1961-66) which was filmed on the Desilu lot. A new episode of “Ben Casey” aired on ABC at 10pm on the night this episode of “The Lucy Show” premiered. It was directed by Marc Daniels, one of the directors of “I Love Lucy” and Jesse Wayne was the stunt coordinator, as he was for “The Lucy Show.”  

“Lucy and Bob Crane” (1966)

Crane was best known as the clever Colonel Hogan in the CBS POW camp sitcom “Hogan's Heroes” (1965-1971), which was filmed at Desilu Studios.

In the episode, Crane is making a World War One film. A one-line gag features an appearance by John Banner, who played Sergeant Schultz on “Hogan’s Heroes”. He utters his famous catch-phrase from the sitcom. 

SCHULTZ: “I know nothing!”  CRANE: “Schultz! You're in the wrong war!”

Oscar Beregi plays Wolfgang Schmidt the director of the film. Beregi did two episodes of “Hogan's Heroes.” He was probably cast here for his resemblance to Werner Klemperer, who played Colonel Klink on “Hogan’s Heroes” who also wore a monocle.

“Lucy the Robot” (1966)

Jay North plays Mr. Mooney’s spoiled brat nephew Wendell. North was best known as the star of “Dennis the Menace” (1959-1963). During the show's final season, North played opposite Gale Gordon (Mr. Mooney) as John Wilson. 

“You will keep that MENACE subdued for the next eight days!” ~ Mr. Mooney to Lucy about Wendell

“Dennis the Menace” also included a character named Theodore Mooney! 

“Lucy the Gun Moll” (1966)

RUSTY: “So ya see, no one is really untouchable!” 

The episode is a parody of “The Untouchables” (one of Desilu’s biggest hits) starring most of the original cast. Lucy plays a gun moll named Rusty. Robert Stack (who originally played Elliott Ness), agreed to appear as long as the character names were not the same as the original. Stack was joined by Walter Winchell, Bruce Gordon, and Steve London. 

“The Untouchables” started out as a two-part pilot episode of “Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse” in April 1959. The show was introduced by Desi Arnaz and starred Robert Stack and the voice of Walter Winchell, both of whom were cast in the series, which began in October 1959 on CBS. The final episode was aired in May 1963.

“Lucy Puts Main Street on the Map” (1967)

To bring attention to the plight of the town of Bancroft, Lucy stages a spectacle on Main Street, calling all the television news programs to witness the event. 

Dan McGowan (Dan Rowan) is a TV reporter with the National News Service.

“Lucy Meets Sheldon Leonard” (1967)

Mr. Mooney allows TV producer Sheldon Leonard to film a hold-up scene at the bank. Lucy thinks he is really a gangster and is determined to foil his robbery.  

Over the telephone, Mr. Cheever tells Mr. Mooney that Sheldon Leonard produced “The Danny Thomas Show,” “Dick Van Dyke” and “I Spy.” Leonard himself adds “Andy Griffith” and “Gomer Pyle” to his credits. All of these shows were filmed at Desilu Studios. 

The end of the episode Leonard says:

“I suddenly got this idea for a new television series. It would be about this kooky red headed girl. She works in a bank and she gets into all sorts of impossible situations and... forget it.  Nobody would ever believe it.”

“Lucy Helps Ken Berry” (1968)

A dance instructor (Ken Berry) is about to default on his loan until Lucy arranges for him to be on “Ralph Story’s Los Angeles”, a local television show.  

Ralph Story was well known in the Los Angeles area as a local TV personality as host of “Ralph Story’s Los Angeles” from 1963 until the late 1970s. 

Ken and the his students perform “Steppin’ Out With My Baby” by Irving Berlin. For the finale, everyone sings “Pick Yourself Up” by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields.

Stay Tuned for Part 3!  Same Time, Same Station!

#The Lucy Show #Lucille Ball #Gale Gordon #Vivian Vance #Ken Berry #Ralph Story #Sheldon Leonard #Dan Rowan #Jay North #John Banner #Bob Crane #Art Linkletter #Danny Thomas #Mel Torme #Danny Kaye #Vince Edwards #Lloyd Bridges #William Paley #TV #CBS #Jack Benny #Lawman #Hogan's Heroes #The Fugitive #Dennis the Menace #The Untouchables #Ben Casey #Sea Hunt #House Party

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

Today in Christian History

Today is Tuesday, August 30th, the 242nd day of 2022. There are 123 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

1533: Repose (death) of Alexander the abbot of Svir. He had led a saintly existence as a hermit and had built a church dedicated to the Trinity.

1637: A synod is called in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to deal with Anne Hutchinson, who is charged with “traducing” (i.e., slandering) the ministry.

1743: Baptism of William Paley, who becomes a famous Christian apologist, noted for his argument of watch and watch-maker.

1900: Boxer rebels in China execute missionaries Willie and Helen Peat, their children and associates.

1916: Mexican evangelist Juan Lugo preaches the first-known Pentecostal message in Puerto Rico. In 1920 he will found Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal in Puerto Rico.

#Today in Christian History #August 30 #Death of Alexander the abbot of Svir #oxer rebels in China execute missionaries #Baptism of William Paley

[scobbe]

“Therefore, when miracles are related to have been wrought, the promulgating of a revelation manifestly wanted, and, if true, of inestimable value, the improbability which arises from the miraculous nature of the things related is not greater than the original improbability that such a revelation should be imparted by God.”

I don’t expect anyone to get anything out of that, I just wanted to share what reading Philosophy of Religion is like.

#William Paley 1794 #people been thinking deep about this stuff a long time #religion #Christianity #philisophy

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Louise Brooks (Pandora's Box, Diary of a Lost Girl)—Louise Brooks started off as a dancer and went to work in the Follies before going to Hollywood. Disappointed with her roles there, she went to Germany and proceeded to make Pandora's Box, the first film to show a lesbian on-screen (not her but one of her many doomed admirers in the film), and Diary of a Lost Girl, both of which are considered two of the greatest films of the 20th century. She helped popularize the bob and natural acting, acting far more subtly than her contemporaries who treated the camera as a stage audience. After the collapse of her film career and a remarkably rough patch as a high-end sex worker, she was rediscovered and did film criticism, notably "Lulu in Hollywood," which Rodger Ebert called "indispensable." Also, christ. Look at her.

Vilma Bánky (The Son of the Sheik, The Eagle)—She's famous now for being a silent star ruined by the transition to talkies, unlike her frequent co-star Ronald Colman. I think that's a shame, as she has a real vivaciousness and charm in The Winning of Barbara Worth. In this *checks notes* western about environmental engineering, she rides around the desert and gets wooed by both Colman and a young Gary Cooper (good for her dot gif.) Even in stills from films that are sadly lost, I think there is a distinctive warmth and individuality to her. Also she is extremely hot in her extremely pre-Code dress in The Magic Flame.

This is round 2 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Louise Brooks:

"Defined the style of the modern flapper. A gaze that could make a stone fall in love."

"Louise Brooks left a legend far greater than her real achievement as an actress, but even today few people have seen her films. In our own time, the fascination with Brooks seems to have begun in 1979 with a profile by Kenneth Tynan in the New Yorker, which revealed that the actress who made her last movie in 1938 was alive and living in Rochester, N.Y. Such was the power of Tynan's prose that people began to seek out her existing films, primarily this one, to discover what the fuss was about. What we see here is a healthy young woman -- she was 23 when the film was released -- with whom the camera, under G.W. Pabst's influence, is fascinated. There is a deep paradox in Brooks and her career: the American girl who found success in the troubled Europe between two wars; the vivid personality who briefly dazzled two continents but faded into obscurity; the liberated woman who had affairs with such prominent men as CBS founder William S. Paley as well as with women including (by her account) Greta Garbo but wound up a solitary recluse. And all of this seems perfectly in keeping with her most celebrated role in Pandora's Box. For despite her bright vitality, her flashing dark eyes and brilliant smile, Brooks's Lulu becomes the ultimate femme fatale, careering her way toward destruction, not only of her lovers but eventually of herself."

"She invented having bangs to indicate that you have borderline personality disorder"

"chances are if youve ever seen a "flapper girl" character or even just art of a generic flapper type made after the 20s it was based on her appearance - particularly the bob hairstyle! she had some pretty rough experiences through her life before during and after her tumultuous acting career which ended in 1938 but she made it to the 80s, wrote an autobiography and did a lot of interviews that she was never afraid of being honest in about her own life or peers of the age, and apparently was unabashed about some affairs she had with well known women (including greta garbo!!)"

"She read Proust and Schopenhauer on set between sets. She was one of the original flappers/new women of the 1920s. She had a one night stand with Garbo and was the inspiration for Sally Bowles in Cabaret. Truly a stone cold fox."

"on her wikipedia page it says her biographer said she "loved women as a homosexual man, rather than as a lesbian, would love them" and while i have no idea if this is true or not i thought that was very gender of her"

"despite being american she was big in german expressionist films and thus her aesthetic was unmatched!!"

So far ahead of her time in regard to portraying complicated women. Timeless elegance. "I learned to act by watching Martha Graham dance, and I learned to dance by watching Charlie Chaplin act.” - Louise Brooks

Vilma Bánky:

I love Vilma Bánky! She was called "the Hungarian Rhapsody" and apparently had a thick Hungarian accent which I think is cute. Several men fighting over the same women can be very cliche but when I saw her in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) I got it because my god she really is that drop dead gorgeous. She's also a wonderful actress though, expressive yet natural. I read once that seeing her in The Dark Angel (1925)—a film now seemingly lost—inspired Merle Oberon to become an actress :)

This is more of a factoid but she was apparently the women's golf champion at Wilshire Country Club through the 1940s. [link] I just think she's neat.

I love herrrrr she’s my everything. Watching her kiss Rudolph Valentino in Son of the Sheik made me so flustered I had to pause the movie to cool down. She’s the prettiest the most beautiful the most incredible woman I’ve ever seen. I could look at a picture of her for hours

#vilma bánky #louise brooks #hotvintagepoll #fuck that old woman #ladies 2

[weclassybouquetfun]

In 2021 the limited series on the career of designer Halston (Roy Halston Frowick, portrayed by Ewan McGregor) waltzed down Netflix's catwalk. Now we have at least three series chronicling the lives and careers of designers.

Currently on Disney+ in Europe is the exquisite CRISTÓBAL BALENCIAGA centering on, guess who? Spanish designer Cristobal Balenciaga, starring Alberto San Juan (Reyes De La Noche) as Balenciaga.

It's an interesting story about this enigmatic fashion genius that shows his steadfastness in his devotion to fashion to the sacrifice, some may say, of ethics due to the fact that while other fashion houses were shut down during Germany's occupation of some parts of France, he readily made clothes for the significant others of German soldiers.

The series also shines a light on Balenciaga's relationship with his creative partner and love-of-his-life Wladzio d'Attainville (played by Thomas Coumans).

Among the designers who appear or are name-checked in CRISTÓBAL BALENCIAGA is Christian Dior and Coco Chanel. These two fashion legends will appear in AppleTV+'s upcoming mini-series THE NEW LOOK with Ben Mendelsohn as Dior and Juliette Binoche as Coco Chanel and takes place during Germany's occupation of France.

THE NEW LOOK will feature covers of classics by Florence + and The Machine, Lana del Rey, The 1975, Perfume Genius and more.

Sometimes this year (at least I hope this year) will be KAISER KARL (apparently the title may be changed) starring Daniel Brühl as Kunty Karl Lagerfeld

centering on him as a 38-year old trying to break into the Parisian world of high fashion where he finds himself in competition with he finds himself in competition with French fashion giants like Yves Saint Laurent.

The only Yves Saint Laurent depiction worth a damn. RIP beautiful Gaspard Ulliel 

What is fashion if there's no one to wear it? For example, the high society ladies that will be depicted in the upcoming installment of FX's FEUD: CAPOTE VS. THE SWANS.

Hopefully this series will do justice to the mythos behind writer Truman Capote's nuclear fall out with the so-called Swans - a moniker Capote gave the socialites whose company he kept and whose secrets he didn't.

Playing Capote is Tom Hollander

Naomi Watts as Babe Paley, wife of CBS founder William S. Paley (which the annual PaleyFest is named after), Diane Lane as Slim Keith, ex-wife of famed director Howard Hawks, producer Leland Hayward amongst others; Calista Flockhart as Lee Radziwill, sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Demi Moore Ann Woodward who got her place in society by being the wife of a banking heir,

Demi, that looks like a flamingo, not a swan.

Chloe Sevigny as Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali muse C.Z. Guest, Molly Ringwald as JoAnne Carson, ex-wife of late-night talk show host Johnny Carson and the only Swan who remained friends with Capote after his ouster from their social circle.

TBT Elle magazine getting animated with fashion.

Goofy as Kunty Karl Lagerfeld.

#cristobal balenciaga #the new look #tv talk #ben mendelsohn #alberto san juan #daniel brühl #feud: capote vs the swans #long post #kaiser karl #disney #designers #fashion #fashion designers #cartoon characters #christian dior #coco chanel #yves saint laurent #daniel bruhl #chloe sevigny #demi moore #donatella versace #marc jacobs #dolce & gabbana #juliette binoche #gaspard ulliel #truman capote #capote vs the swans #lana del rey #florence and the machine #john galliano