(Pics) 1955 Pontiac convertible by SunStar

Posted by: @chris

@mikedetorrice Well Mike, being the TV Nerd  that I am, you're "forcing me"  to reveal a few little known I Love Lucy  TV facts. 

Since you brought up the subject of "raw footage, around the town,"  renowned Desilu film editor, Dann Cahn created what is considered to be the first "process shot"  in TV history when he matted  a fixed foreground with film of a moving background during this famous scene of the Ricardos & the Mertzs driving to California in their 1955 Pontiac convertible.

LOL, with as many times as "Ricky" took his eyes off the road while singing that song, it's a miracle they didn't crash.  Loved "I Love Lucy"!  

Posted by: @charles-rockett

@mikedetorrice I recently saw 'colourised' footage of a drive through West Hollywood / Beverly Hills from the early 1940s.  It was a side piece of a programme on some starlet or other and was fascinating in and of itself, to spot the cars and architecture / street scene of the day (though colourisation wasn't great). Now I realise it must originally have been one of these rear-view projections.

Very cool ! I saw some footage like that on youtube, also and it's is extremely interesting.

Posted by: @chris

Well Mike, being the TV Nerd  that I am, you're "forcing me"  to reveal a few little known I Love Lucy  TV facts. 

Since you brought up the subject of "raw footage, around the town,"  renowned Desilu film editor, Dann Cahn created what is considered to be the first "process shot"  in TV history when he matted  a fixed foreground with film of a moving background during this famous scene of the Ricardos & the Mertzs driving to California in their 1955 Pontiac convertible.

 

It's a great car and a really neat scene using a rear-projected moving image for a background for this technique. Special-fx wizard Ray Harryhausen used stop-action animation for many of his works and was inspired by the 1931 classic "King Kong" and the background film posted on youtube is really fascinating, not the least for all the great automobiles shown !

Posted by: @georgeschire

LOL, with as many times as "Ricky" took his eyes off the road while singing that song, it's a miracle they didn't crash.  Loved "I Love Lucy"!  

Lol, that's Hollywood film magic at work !

@georgeschire Great post, George:  Lucy & co. sing Al Jolson - What's not to like : )

Speaking of "I Love Lucy" on this thread, I think it should be also be mentioned that it was Desi Arnaz that invented the "rerun".  As producer of the show, he began using a "two-camera" filming method that allowed for reruns.  That's the short of the story, but a fascinating fact for sure.  This method was used with all of the other shows that Lucy and Desi's company, "Deslu" produced in the 50's and early 60's, and there were many.  

@georgeschire Actually George, Desi has been credited with inventing the 3 camera set-up that is, as you point out, still in use. However, evidence exists that proves 3-camera production was used as early as 1947 and two cameramen working for Desi, Karl Freund & Al Simon, really deserve the credit for I Love Lucy's  3 camera operation.

Reruns of the show were possible because Desi insisted on keeping ownership of each show's tapes. CBS, at the time, didn't care about those tapes and without hesitation allowed Desi full rights. 

Obviously, many books have been written about Desi's off screen production acumen. Lucy & Desi were absolute TRUE TV pioneers! Since October of 1951, I Love Lucy  has never been off the air. Simply incredible!

Here's a scale model (that I did NOT build ) of the I Love Lucy  set. Pretty cool! 😎 

Posted by: @bob-jackman

@ben-lampson Ben, I also have the Lucy version. Since I never sell models I had no idea that the model was worth that much today.

Sun Star did a version with Lucy, Dez, Ethel and Fred in the car, and then they did a version of the one I posted with just Lucy and Dez in the front seat.

I was very tempted to buy the one with all 4 figures because I like models with figures, but I don't collect 1/18.

Which version do you have Bob?

Posted by: @chris

@georgeschire Actually George, Desi has been credited with inventing the 3 camera set-up that is, as you point out, still in use. However, evidence exists that proves 3-camera production was used as early as 1947 and two cameramen working for Desi, Karl Freund & Al Simon, really deserve the credit for I Love Lucy's  3 camera operation.

Reruns of the show were possible because Desi insisted on keeping ownership of each show's tapes. CBS, at the time, didn't care about those tapes and without hesitation allowed Desi full rights. 

Obviously, many books have been written about Desi's off screen production acumen. Lucy & Desi were absolute TRUE TV pioneers! Since October of 1951, I Love Lucy  has never been off the air. Simply incredible!

Here's a scale model (that I did NOT build ) of the I Love Lucy  set. Pretty cool! 😎 

THANK YOU Chris for the corrections to my "rerun" story.  It was years ago that I remembered reading about the innovations of Desi Arnaz.  And yes, it is amazing that "I Love Lucy" has never left the airwaves.  If nothing else, that is a monumental achievement.  Both Lucy and Desi were pioneers to the success of television.