Actress Betty Hutton Dead At 86

Actress Betty Hutton, best known for her roles in "Annie Get Your Gun," "The Greatest Show on Earth" and "The Perils of Pauline" passed away today at the age of 86.

Desilu was responsible for Hutton's short-lived sitcom "The Betty Hutton Show" in 1959. Turner Classic Movies will be pre-empting its previously scheduled programming on Thursday to run a mini-festival of Ms. Hutton's films. Here is the schedule:

12:00 PM MGM Parade Show #27
12:30 PM The Stork Club
2:15 PM The Perils of Pauline
4:00 PM The Greatest Show on Earth
7:00 PM Private Screenings: Betty Hutton



Source: http://www.tcm.com/movienews/index/?cid=158719


Our condolences to the family, friends and fans of Betty Hutton.

Related Links:
Wikipedia: Betty Hutton
Betty Hutton's Filmography
Episode listing for The Betty Hutton Show

Lucy & Desi's Lost Christmas Special

One of my favorite TV websites, TVParty!, has a super article up about Lucy & Desi's Lost Christmas Special. This 1959 special has never been re-broadcast and stars the cast of "I Love Lucy" along with a gaggle of celebrities including George Murphy, Danny Thomas, Ann Sothern, Hedda Hopper and Lassie.

This Desilu Christmas special was produced and (essentially) directed by Lucille Ball herself. This is the only Desilu production I can think of that features the I Love Lucy cast members playing "themselves."

Read the article (and see clips) here:
http://tvparty.com/xmaslucy.html

Lucille Ball, Career Woman

On November 8, 1962, Lucille Ball purchased Desi Arnaz's shares in Desilu Studios for more than two million dollars. This bold move made Lucille Ball the first woman to head a major studio.

Tonight on Turner Classic Movies you can see Lucille Ball play a working woman in several movies.

All times listed are Eastern.
November 8
8:00PM The Fuller Brush Girl (1950)
A daffy door-to-door saleswoman blunders into a murder investigation.

9:30PM Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949)
An inept secretary goes to work for a bogus real estate firm thinking it's real.

11:00PM A Girl, A Guy, and A Gob (1941)
A stuffy boss tries to steal his secretary from her sailor boyfriend.

November 9
12:45AM Beauty For The Asking (1939)
A jilted woman makes her fortune in cosmetics.

2:00AM Look Who's Laughing (1941)
A radio star plans to build an airplane plant in a sleepy small town.

3:30AM Easy Living (1949)
An aging football star risks his health when his greedy wife won't let him retire.

5:00AM Valley of the Sun (1942)
A government spy goes after a crooked Indian agent in Arizona.

6:30AM Next Time I Marry (1938)
To secure a huge fortune, an heiress has to find a husband fast.

7:45AM Seven Days' Leave (1942)
A serviceman has one week to wed an heiress and inherit $100,000.

9:15AM Having Wonderful Time (1938)
A New York girl finds love at a summer resort.

10:30AM Easy To Wed (1946)
In this remake of Libeled Lady, a tough newspaper editor hires a gigolo to compromise a woman suing his paper for libel.

12:30PM Without Love (1945)
A World War II housing shortage inspires a widow to propose a marriage of convenience with an inventor.

2:30PM Joy of Living (1938)
A Broadway musical star falls for an eccentric millionaire.

Movie descriptions taken from The November 2006 issue of Now Playing Guide.

Complete Schedule of Lucy's Movies on TCM

Read about Lucy's role in the making of Mame and other great stories by LLL member morethanonesubject (Claude).

Laurence Luckinbill Speaks About Lucy Selling Star Trek

Mr. Luckinbill can trace his Star Trek roots back to the show’s inception. He is married to Lucie Arnaz, daughter of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. Ms. Ball’s production company, Desilu Studios, produced the original Star Trek TV series in the 1960s.

Mr. Luckinbill recounted his mother-in-law’s story of the sale of Star Trek to the brass at Desilu Studios: “Gene Roddenberry came into Desilu and gave one of the shortest and greatest sales pitches ever. He stood up and said, ‘It’s Wagon Train to the stars,’ and sat down. They bought it!” Wagon Train was an enormously popular TV western in the 1960s. But it was Mr. Luckinbill’s work as Lyndon Johnson that convinced the film’s director, William Shatner, to cast Mr. Luckinbill.

This is an excerpt. Read the full article:
http://www.acorn-online.com/news/publish/article_8953.shtml

'Mission: Impossible' Not Going Anywhere

By Roger Friedman

No matter what anyone says, has said or will say in the next little while, Tom Cruise is not taking the "Mission: Impossible" series with him anywhere.

The movie series — and the TV series upon which it was based — belongs to Paramount Pictures. It has belonged to the studio since Lucille Ball’s Desilu Studios, which created the TV show, was sold to Gulf + Western in the 1960s and was ultimately combined into Paramount Pictures.

This is an excerpt. Read the full article here:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,210746,00.html