1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: Hollywoodland is a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:18,280 Speaker 1: Lucille Ball are insane. She was investigated by the United 3 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 1: States government over her ties to the Communist Party. Her 4 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:26,080 Speaker 1: grandfather was a brazen left wing radicalist. Her high school 5 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: sweetheart was a man with ties to the mob. Her 6 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: first husband was a one time political refugee. The FBI 7 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 1: was so suspicious of her that her confidential government files 8 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:41,240 Speaker 1: swelled to one hundred and fifty six pages. But even 9 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:45,559 Speaker 1: when McCarthyism and political paranoia threatened to torpedo her career, 10 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:51,480 Speaker 1: Lucille Ball made great television television that was literally more 11 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: popular than presidential inaugurations. 12 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 2: Unlike that clip I played for you. 13 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: At the top of the show that wasn't great television 14 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: that it was a fair youth sample from the Library 15 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: of Congress of the Knickerbocker Orchestra performing an old fashioned 16 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: girl in a Gingham gown from nineteen twenty two. I 17 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: played you that clip because I can't afford the rights 18 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 1: to Fred Zinnerman's From Here to Eternity? And why would 19 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: I play you that specific slice of beach makeout Cheese? 20 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 1: Could I afford it? Because that was the number one 21 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: film in America on September sixth, nineteen fifty three, and 22 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: that was the day that Walter Winchell proclaimed that Lucille 23 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: Ball was a Communist, nearly burying everyone's favorite redhead at 24 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: the bottom of the Hollywood Blacklist. On this episode, Mobster Boyfriends, 25 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: Massive FBI Files, Hollywood Blacklists, and Lucille Ball. I'm Jake 26 00:01:49,120 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: Brennan and this is Hollywood Land. Her grandfather made it 27 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: look easy. Frederick Hunt held the rifle with poise. He 28 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: squinted until the tin can was in his crosshairs. He 29 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 1: stopped breathing for a moment, just long enough to pull 30 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: the trigger without letting a shaky exhale butcher. 31 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:43,079 Speaker 2: His aim, and then. 32 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,639 Speaker 1: The tin can danced around on its post. It dropped 33 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: to the ground like a wounded soldier, next to all 34 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: the other dented cans from past demonstrations. Lucille Ball and 35 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: her younger brother Freddy watched with awe. It wasn't every 36 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 1: day your grandma father turned your backyard into a makeshift 37 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: firing ranch. It wasn't every day that you got a 38 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,919 Speaker 1: shiny twenty two caliber rifle for your twelfth birthday either. 39 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: Freddie fidgeted with excitement over his new toy, that all 40 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: American Birthday gift for an all American holiday. July fourth, 41 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:22,960 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty seven, Freddy leaped to his feet. It was 42 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: his turn. He adored his gift from his grandfather Hunt, 43 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: or Daddy, as Lucy and Freddie called him. Their actual 44 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: father had succumbed to typhoid fever when Lucy was three 45 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: years old and Freddy was still in utero. Their mother, Didi, 46 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: married a man named Ed a few years later, but 47 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: Ed was just that Ed. He had no interest in 48 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: stepping up to the plate as a stepfather, so grandfather 49 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: Hunt scooped up the role. 50 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 2: Of Daddy instead. 51 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: His duties today included giving his grandson, a man the Man, 52 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: lesson on marksmanship, and chaperoning a girl named Joanna, who 53 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: was Freddie's age while she visited from a nearby neighborhood. 54 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: There was an unwelcome guest at the range too, a 55 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: boy from down the street named Warner Ericson crouched at 56 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: the edge of the backyard. Daddy spotted him sneaking around 57 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: a few shots ago. It wasn't his place to shoot 58 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 1: the kid away. Instead, he scolded, if you're going to 59 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 1: creep and get out, of the way and stay there. 60 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,360 Speaker 2: Lucy was sixteen years old. 61 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: She watched her brother fire away at the tin cans 62 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,839 Speaker 1: lined up along the backyard, one miss after another, the 63 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: scent of hot dogs and hamburgers swept across the neighborhood. 64 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: Celear On, New York was a swell place. 65 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 2: To vacation if you had the money. 66 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 1: Lucy's family didn't have the money, but they did have 67 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 1: rent to pay, so Lucy worked at the local hamburger stand, 68 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: tempting wealthy tourists with her signature, pitch, don't stand over there, 69 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 1: She cried, stand over here and get yourself a hamburger. 70 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:58,240 Speaker 1: While dedy Ed and Daddy worked during the day, Lucy 71 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,359 Speaker 1: was the woman of the household, ard of delegating chores. 72 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:05,040 Speaker 1: In her rare moments of downtime, she'd zip around town 73 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: with her twenty three year old boyfriend, Johnny. Her mustachioed 74 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,840 Speaker 1: beau had a reputation for trafficking alcohol to thirsty folks 75 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: who couldn't stay dry during Prohibition. There were whispers around 76 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: town that he was tied to the mob. 77 00:05:17,839 --> 00:05:18,719 Speaker 2: Lucy didn't care. 78 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: Johnny treated her well and he kept her safe. He 79 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:24,839 Speaker 1: even carried a gun under his coat at all times. 80 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:31,359 Speaker 1: To Lucy, this rifle stuff looked like child's play. She 81 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 1: stretched out in the July sun. As Freddy handed the 82 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,679 Speaker 1: rifle to Joanna, the visiting girl. She set her sights 83 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: on an old soup can and lined up the shot 84 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: with shaky hands, a dud. Joanna's cheeks flushed. She hoisted 85 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:49,040 Speaker 1: the rifle up to her eyes and squinted again. She 86 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 1: wasn't gonna miss this time. 87 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 2: Don't say there. 88 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 1: A cry from across the neighborhood broke her focus. Warner 89 00:05:58,000 --> 00:05:59,719 Speaker 1: get home this minute. 90 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:01,680 Speaker 2: Warner knew it, that tone man. 91 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,360 Speaker 1: He bolted from the backyard that instant, the same instant 92 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: with Joanna fired the rifle. Warner darted across the firing 93 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: range in front of the soup cans. He fell to 94 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:15,480 Speaker 1: the ground like wounded prey, and Warner moaned into the grass. 95 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 2: I'm shot, I'm shot. 96 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 1: Daddy scoffed, No, you're not get up. But Warner couldn't 97 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: get up. A patch of red spread across his shirt. 98 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: Joanna hadn't missed this time. The bullet pierced Warner's back, 99 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: severed his spinal cord, and entered his lungs. Daddy scooped 100 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:34,640 Speaker 1: him up and rushed the boy back home, but the 101 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: damage was done. Warner was paralyzed from the waist down. 102 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 1: He would never walk or skulk around anyone's backyard again. 103 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,799 Speaker 1: After the incident, Warner his mother developed a new habit 104 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:50,479 Speaker 1: to make sure Daddy paid his dues and kill. She 105 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,679 Speaker 1: paraded wheelchair bound Warner up and down the street, taking 106 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 1: care to make a show of it in front of 107 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:59,120 Speaker 1: Lucy's house. Her display sent a clear message, You're taken 108 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:03,359 Speaker 1: everything away from my son. So the Ericson family was 109 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: prepared to take everything away from Lucy's family too, their house, 110 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: their furniture, Daddy's life savings, his insurance money. After two 111 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: arduous trials, the Ericksons did take everything but fred Hunt's spirit, 112 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: but that was never the same either. The Ericson family 113 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: hired a lawyer who twisted the accident into a finger 114 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: pointing sob story. He swore that Daddy had used Warner 115 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: for target practice. 116 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 2: That afternoon. 117 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: The accusation shattered Lucy's perception of justice. Warner chose to 118 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: creep into their yard that day. He chose to disobey 119 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 1: Daddy and run in front of the firing range. Daddy 120 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: hadn't done anything wrong. No one would hear the truth. 121 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: No one wanted to hear the truth. The lawyers fabricated 122 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: a story that was too gripping to ignore. The situation, 123 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 1: planted to seed a suspicion in Lucy's heart. If this 124 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: was how the law treated innocent people, then she had 125 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: no reason to trust the law. Daddy was suspicious of 126 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: the law to begin with. Fred Hunt was a socialist 127 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: with a capitalists He quoted his favorite activist and organizer, 128 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,440 Speaker 1: Eugene Vat Devs like he was quoting the Bible. Fred 129 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: insisted the working man in America was beaten down by capitalism, 130 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:19,680 Speaker 1: workingmen just like him who hunched over a lathe every 131 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: day to support his family, only to lose it all in. 132 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 2: An instant over a lie. 133 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: And the more life beat Fred Hunt down, the more 134 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 1: his politics leaned to the left. When the entire family 135 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,440 Speaker 1: relocated to California in the nineteen thirties, Fred brought his 136 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: radical ideas along with him. The open mindedness of the 137 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: West Coast emboldened him, so did the spare time afforded 138 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: by his recent retirement. Fred crapped on capitalism to anyone 139 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,959 Speaker 1: who would listen. The garbage collector and the milkman got 140 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 1: earfulls on a regular basis. So did Fred's fellow retirees 141 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:57,080 Speaker 1: around town. In his old age, Fred's vocabulary was reduced 142 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: to fighting words like the exploited and living weight. Eventually 143 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 1: he located a few. 144 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:04,200 Speaker 2: Like minded leftists. 145 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:08,080 Speaker 1: When Fred wasn't hosting political meetings at the ball Hunt residence, 146 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:11,680 Speaker 1: he was attending them elsewhere. Their West Hollywood home at 147 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: one three four to four North Augton Drive rumbled with radicalism. 148 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:22,960 Speaker 1: After a while, Fred Hunt started using the sea word communism. 149 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:24,199 Speaker 2: Fred saw red. 150 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: Everything fired him up, the countless meetings, the articles and 151 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 1: the Daily Worker, the Roosevelt's Goddamn Capitalism worship, and that 152 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:36,040 Speaker 1: nearly made his temples explode. Fred suffered once stroke in 153 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: his old age, and he lived on the brink of 154 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,160 Speaker 1: a second one. While Fred feared for the future of 155 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:45,080 Speaker 1: his country, Lucy feared for her daddy's life. He was 156 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:47,439 Speaker 1: so gung ho for the cause that he often signed 157 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 1: up Lucy freddie in deedy for political organizations without their 158 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:53,840 Speaker 1: knowledge or consent. He wanted the current administration to be 159 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: swallowed up in big red flames, even if it meant 160 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 1: throwing his family into the fire. No one would tell 161 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:32,840 Speaker 1: Walter Winchell who the file was from. That part was confidential, confidential, 162 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,480 Speaker 1: like the bold red ink stamped across the Manila envelope 163 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:41,319 Speaker 1: on his desk. That's what all the good shit said, confidential, classify, 164 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: top secret, translation, juicy, scandalous, something that would make Winchell's 165 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:50,600 Speaker 1: listeners squeal as they sat around their radios. He rubbed 166 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:54,960 Speaker 1: his palms together. Walter Winchell wasn't just a radio news commentator. 167 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 1: He was an investigator or a meddling snoop, depending on 168 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 1: who you asked. People relied on him to hear stuff 169 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:04,400 Speaker 1: that was off the record and on the QT very 170 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: hush hush. Winchell tossed journalistic scruples aside. Confidentiality didn't apply 171 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: to him, especially when he had a red hot scoop 172 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: that rock America hotter than Bill Haley. In his comments, 173 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 1: Winchell slit his thumb under the envelope's seal and slid 174 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: out a fat stack of papers. A dirty word stared 175 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:29,560 Speaker 1: up at him from the first page communist. Winchell raised 176 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:33,560 Speaker 1: his eyebrows. Another one his listeners knew where he stood 177 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 1: on commis. He stood right next to Senator Joseph McCarthy 178 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 1: when he came to erasing what he saw as the 179 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:43,160 Speaker 1: greatest threat to America. Winchell's eyes drifted down the first page, 180 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:46,760 Speaker 1: a photocopy of some voter registration paperwork from nineteen thirty 181 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 1: six Party Communist Occupation Actress address one three four to 182 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:57,680 Speaker 1: four North Ogden Drive, Hollywood. A dainty signature completed the 183 00:11:57,720 --> 00:11:59,640 Speaker 1: form Miss Lucille D. 184 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 2: Ball. 185 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 1: The cigarette propped between Winchell's lips nearly fell to the floor. 186 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:09,000 Speaker 1: Primetime Silly Sweetheart was having a gas with the enemy. 187 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,680 Speaker 1: The voter registration wasn't even the most damning discovery in 188 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:16,480 Speaker 1: the folder. In nineteen thirty six, Lucille Ball practiced her 189 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 1: autograph on all kinds of paperwork for the Commis. She 190 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:22,920 Speaker 1: signed a petition to repeal the California Criminal Syndicalism Act, 191 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 1: a piece of legislation that made it illegal to establish 192 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:29,560 Speaker 1: worker based organizations and used strikes to advance workers' rights 193 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 1: and demands. She signed a sponsorship certificate for a communist 194 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:36,320 Speaker 1: politician named Emil Freed, who planned to run for office 195 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:40,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty six. Apparently, Emil's campaign went off without 196 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:41,439 Speaker 1: a snag. 197 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:42,839 Speaker 2: According to the file. 198 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:45,160 Speaker 1: He became a member of the state's Central Committee of 199 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 1: the Communist Party in nineteen thirty six, and then he 200 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:51,280 Speaker 1: appointed one of his beloved sponsors to join him. Lucille 201 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 1: Ball wasn't just a communist. She was a delegate on 202 00:12:54,559 --> 00:12:59,760 Speaker 1: the state's Central Committee of the Communist Party. Winchell leaned 203 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 1: back in his chair as he thumbed through the mountain 204 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:06,400 Speaker 1: of evidence. Lucy's name in The Daily Worker, Lucy's name 205 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: in a booklet titled Republican Democrats, Socialist Prohibitionists, Progressive Commonwealth 206 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,040 Speaker 1: and Communist States Central Committees. She fell right under the 207 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:20,040 Speaker 1: Communist column. Naturally, whin She'll imagine the outrage, the horror, 208 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 1: the sheer amount of red puns. This could be the 209 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 1: biggest bus since the Hollywood Ten. In nineteen fifty three, 210 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:30,599 Speaker 1: America was knee deep in the Red Scare, a supposedly 211 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 1: patriotic witch hunt spearheaded by Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy in 212 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: the House on American Activities Committee, Hughack for short. Mcarthy's 213 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: cut throat efforts to sniff out the commedy supposedly infiltrating 214 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:45,280 Speaker 1: the United States sparked hysteria across the nation. But even 215 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:50,119 Speaker 1: before McCarthy began his crusade, red Scare hysteria overtook Hollywood. 216 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:55,920 Speaker 1: In October nineteen forty seven, huaxippoated forty one producers, directors, 217 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 1: and screenwriters to investigate their potential ties to the Communist Party. 218 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 1: Ten of those artists, who actually were former party members, 219 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:07,079 Speaker 1: rebuked the investigation. They referenced their First Amendment rights of 220 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:11,320 Speaker 1: free speech and assembly. For citing their constitutional rights, Huack 221 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: ruled that the ten men were in contempt of Congress. 222 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:17,840 Speaker 1: Each so called trader did a year in federal prison 223 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: for their crime, and their careers went down the drain, 224 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: but their names Dalton Trumbo, Ring Lardner Junior would go 225 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: down in history. These were the first entries on the 226 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:34,360 Speaker 1: infamous Hollywood Blacklist. The Hollywood Blacklist pitted politics against popular culture. 227 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:37,760 Speaker 1: Being labeled a communist in the mid twentieth century was 228 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: like being canceled in the twenty first century. Didn't matter 229 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: who you were, how much money you had within reason, 230 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:46,280 Speaker 1: or what you'd achieved. If you were caught commingling with 231 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 1: the Commis, your career would never recover. 232 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:50,840 Speaker 2: Neither would your reputation. 233 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 1: The paranoia escalated in nineteen fifty when a pamphlet called 234 00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:00,600 Speaker 1: Red Channels started appearing on the deaths of broadcast networks officials. 235 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,080 Speaker 1: The booklet included a list of performers and directors who 236 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 1: had Leftists associations. Some of the people listed were or 237 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:12,680 Speaker 1: had been, actual bonafide Communists. Others had merely attended a 238 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: meeting or assigned a petition from a questionable organization. No 239 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: creative field was safe from the scrutiny. Actors, musicians, screenwriters, 240 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 1: even burlesque dancers found their names in the Red Channels. 241 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: Arthur Miller, Leonard Bernstein, Dorothy Parker, Artie Shaw, Each and 242 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 1: every one was charged with subversion. And the paranoia was 243 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:35,240 Speaker 1: so prevalent in Hollywood that networks hired blacklisting organizations to 244 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:38,440 Speaker 1: see if their stars were high with suspicious pass five 245 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:40,840 Speaker 1: bucks for a quick name check and another two dollars 246 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:42,000 Speaker 1: for additional research. 247 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:45,680 Speaker 2: Whoever that was. The cheap labor only fueled the fire. 248 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 1: More background checks, more digging, more watching what you said 249 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:53,920 Speaker 1: and who you said it to. Some artists hadn't been 250 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:58,400 Speaker 1: careful enough, artists like Larry Parks. Larry made a name 251 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 1: for himself as an actor in the nineteen forties by 252 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: mimicking Al Jolson in the Jolson Story and Jolson Sings Again. 253 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 2: Then he turnished his name forever. When he appeared before. 254 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 1: Hwack in nineteen fifty one, through tears, he admitted his 255 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:13,920 Speaker 1: former status as a member of the Communist Party. 256 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,800 Speaker 2: Larry knew it was over. No more screen time, no 257 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 2: more celebrity status. 258 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 1: As his career crumbled, he took down his comrades with him, 259 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:28,120 Speaker 1: Joe Bromberg, Sam Rosen, and Revere Lee Kaw Gail Saundergard. 260 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 1: The Hollywood Blacklist was only growing bigger, but Walter Winchell 261 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:39,280 Speaker 1: saw room for one more name. September sixth, nineteen fifty three, 262 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:42,560 Speaker 1: Winchell cleared his throat before he dropped his latest bomb 263 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: on America. He leaned into the microphone. What top redhead 264 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 1: Television comedianne has been confronted with her membership in the 265 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 1: Communist Party. Lucille Ball fumbled with the radio dial. Another 266 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 1: Sunday alone, another high with the news on paper. Working 267 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,639 Speaker 1: alongside her husband Desi Arnez on their smashed TV show 268 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:12,480 Speaker 1: I Love Lucy Sounded like a dream. Their lives aligned perfectly. 269 00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:15,679 Speaker 1: They shared the same set The same goals, even the 270 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:19,879 Speaker 1: same schedule, and their charming on screen relationship guaranteed comic 271 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 1: relief for millions of Americans every Monday Night on CBS. 272 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:27,600 Speaker 1: But that was Lucy and Ricky, the television characters. Lucy 273 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: and Desi, the real people, acted out plenty of scenes 274 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:34,880 Speaker 1: that never made it to the small screen, like, for instance, 275 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:38,320 Speaker 1: Desi peeling away from the couple's ranch in Chatsworth, California 276 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:42,280 Speaker 1: so we could pursue wild parties in gambling sprees. Lucy's 277 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:44,960 Speaker 1: lonely scene tonight in the ball Arnez household was a 278 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: common one. She and Desi may have owned Desilu Productions together, 279 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,400 Speaker 1: but Lucy kept her bank account separate from her husband's 280 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,480 Speaker 1: for a reason. She propped her feet up on the 281 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,600 Speaker 1: ottoman and sighed she was so proved she almost missed 282 00:17:57,640 --> 00:17:58,880 Speaker 1: Walter Winchell's. 283 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 2: Broadcast What top Redhead? 284 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:04,199 Speaker 1: Television comedianne has been confronted with her membership in the 285 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:11,400 Speaker 1: Communist Party? Sitting on the sofa, Lucy Froze imaging Coca 286 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:14,480 Speaker 1: thereafter poor image and Coca the dame from your show 287 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: of shows, First Larry Parks now imaging another victim of 288 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: the senseless paranoia, Lucy shook her head with disgust. Of 289 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,200 Speaker 1: all the gossip mongering reporters out there, Winchell was among 290 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:30,040 Speaker 1: the worst. Just a few years earlier, he greased the 291 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,399 Speaker 1: palms of the right doctor to confirm that Lucy was 292 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,879 Speaker 1: pregnant before Lucy even found out herself. She heard the 293 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:38,680 Speaker 1: happiness at the same moment that thousands, if not millions, 294 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 1: of strangers did. Winchell was ruthless, but his reporting was 295 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: usually on the money. A telephone call shattered Lucy's alone time. 296 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,120 Speaker 1: Desi was on the other line, calling from their beach 297 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:54,040 Speaker 1: house in del mar He was supposed to be hosting 298 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:57,239 Speaker 1: a party with his poker chumps. His tone suggested he 299 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:01,199 Speaker 1: was at a funeral Lucy, he said gently, will be 300 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:05,120 Speaker 1: listening to Winchell tonight, and the rest of their conversation 301 00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 1: read like and I love Lucy's script. Desi played mister sirious. 302 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:12,080 Speaker 1: Lucy was as hapless as ever. Do you believe that 303 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:16,000 Speaker 1: about Imogen, Lucy said Lucy as he paused in frustration. 304 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:21,879 Speaker 1: He's not talking about coca. He means you. Lucy's face 305 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:26,359 Speaker 1: twisted into one of her overblown expressions. Me, how Kenny 306 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:29,680 Speaker 1: that sneaky rap Winchill somehow get his hands on top 307 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:33,879 Speaker 1: secret information from the United States government. Lucy didn't know 308 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:36,160 Speaker 1: if that was legal, but she bet he get away 309 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 1: with him. Whether or not Lucy would get away with 310 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:41,960 Speaker 1: it was another story entirely. Desi promised Lucy he was 311 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:46,240 Speaker 1: rushing home. His cavalier attitude disappeared. He gave her calm, 312 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:49,760 Speaker 1: clear instructions. People were coming to the house. They might 313 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: beat him there, expect company at one am. Lucy snorted, 314 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:57,920 Speaker 1: what are you having a party? No, honey, you're in trouble. 315 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:04,600 Speaker 2: We'll be right back after this. We're were were. 316 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: The dotted lines hypnotized Desi Ernez. The white pain on 317 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:16,960 Speaker 1: the highway was all he could see in the twilight 318 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 1: between del Mar and the Ranch and Chatsworth. His foot 319 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:24,480 Speaker 1: quivered on the gas pedal, thirty miles down, one hundred 320 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:29,120 Speaker 1: to go. Darkness behind him and darkness ahead, the greatest 321 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 1: darkness of all waiting at home. Desi Arnez drove like 322 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 1: a man on the run, and if he didn't get 323 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:36,440 Speaker 1: home fast. 324 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:39,879 Speaker 2: Enough, he'd be an actual man on the run. Coming 325 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:40,679 Speaker 2: from Cuba. 326 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:44,440 Speaker 1: Des He knew about political pressure, his and Lucy's social 327 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 1: standing meant nothing not right now in this political climate, 328 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:50,719 Speaker 1: you're either with the cause or doomed to be crushed 329 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,960 Speaker 1: by it. Does He stared down at the white lines. 330 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,680 Speaker 1: Something moved in his periphery. He could swear his eyes 331 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,440 Speaker 1: or playing tricks on him. He only saw one man 332 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:04,360 Speaker 1: at first, a lone ranger mounted on a horse, galloping 333 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: beside the car. A rifle obscured his face, and the 334 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:11,840 Speaker 1: stranger aimed right for the driver's seat as he sank 335 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 1: his foot into the gas pedal. More men on horses 336 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 1: charged towards the car, guns and their holsters, bullets in 337 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,920 Speaker 1: their pockets, suspicion in their eyes. There were others now 338 00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:25,639 Speaker 1: men on foot, marching on either side of the highway. 339 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: Their boots clicked and lockstep, they thrust their rifles in 340 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:31,880 Speaker 1: the air. A rowdy battle cry united. 341 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:33,280 Speaker 2: The crowd, Viva la Revolution. 342 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:37,560 Speaker 1: Desi's heart leaped into his throat. He knew that chant, 343 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 1: he was forced to recite it decades earlier, when his 344 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:41,240 Speaker 1: life depended on it. 345 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:47,440 Speaker 2: Their rumble grew louder, Viva la Revolution. Head Lights flashed 346 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:48,120 Speaker 2: in the rear view. 347 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:51,760 Speaker 1: A battered nineteen thirties pickup truck emerged from the stampede, 348 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 1: and it was screaming. Fear pricked Asie's fingertips, and that 349 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 1: truck had a dozen armed men in the back. 350 00:21:57,560 --> 00:21:58,800 Speaker 2: No doubt they'd be in. 351 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 1: Close range soon, locked and loaded, aimed right at Desi, 352 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 1: the truck veered onto the other side of the highway. 353 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,400 Speaker 1: It gained on Dessi from one hundred feet away fifty 354 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:12,919 Speaker 1: feet twenty ten. Desi held his breath, embraced. 355 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:13,960 Speaker 2: For gunshots and broken glass. 356 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:16,439 Speaker 1: The truck whipped ahead of him and passed him on 357 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:18,280 Speaker 1: the left, and there were no men in the back. 358 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 1: As the truck sit by, the marching men beside the 359 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:25,080 Speaker 1: highway dissolved into the dirt. The horses and their masters 360 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:28,440 Speaker 1: collapsed in the clouds of sand, back to the darkness, 361 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:36,159 Speaker 1: back to the dotted white lines. Desi Arnez carried the 362 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:38,560 Speaker 1: ghost of the Cuban Revolution with him wherever he went. 363 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:41,879 Speaker 1: As a young teenager, Desi once enjoyed a life of 364 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:46,200 Speaker 1: upper class ease. His grandmother co founded mccardi the rum company. 365 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 1: His father governed Santiago as mayor. The Arnez family spread 366 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:54,480 Speaker 1: across three ranches, each with its own housekeeping staff. As 367 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:57,800 Speaker 1: the only son of Desi Derrio Alberta Arnez Steaca, the 368 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:01,080 Speaker 1: second Little Dessi was expected to become a doctor or 369 00:23:01,119 --> 00:23:05,800 Speaker 1: a lawyer. That is until Communism seized Cuba in nineteen 370 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:10,320 Speaker 1: thirty three in with Fuloncio Battista out with El President 371 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: de Piado Machado, and that went for anyone connected to 372 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:17,440 Speaker 1: the president too. Opposing politicians faced one of two fates, 373 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:22,880 Speaker 1: arrest or execution. Their homes were ransacked, property was confiscated. 374 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,520 Speaker 1: Desi's family was no exception. The rebels wrangled his father 375 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:29,680 Speaker 1: to jail, and they came for the Arnez family next. 376 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:32,400 Speaker 1: Desi was in the middle of a poker game when 377 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:35,440 Speaker 1: his uncle made the call that changed his life. Bolsheviks 378 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:37,880 Speaker 1: were marching towards his family's home to tear their lush 379 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,400 Speaker 1: life limb from limb. He said, take nothing, read now, 380 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: move as fast as he fucking can. That's what Desi 381 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,520 Speaker 1: Arnez did twenty years ago, and that's exactly what he 382 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 1: did tonight as he hurried home to his wife. Communism 383 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:54,600 Speaker 1: made him a refugee once before, and Desi wasn't about 384 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 1: to let it happen again. Three sullen faces greeted Desi 385 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 1: as he walked in the door at two am. The 386 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:05,280 Speaker 1: color drained from Lucy's face. Even her fire red hair 387 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 1: looked dull tonight. Beside her was Howard Strickling, MGM's head 388 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,800 Speaker 1: of publicity, and Ken Morgan Desi Lewis Pierre Chief. She 389 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,480 Speaker 1: fumbled to explain herself to the two gentlemen, while Desi 390 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:18,400 Speaker 1: shook his coat off. 391 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 2: Who was all a misunderstanding? She said? 392 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:24,879 Speaker 1: Walter Winchell's scoop was incomplete. Even the United States government 393 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:31,280 Speaker 1: knew that. By nineteen fifty three, copies of Red channels 394 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:34,320 Speaker 1: were starting to gather dust where Hua was still searching 395 00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:36,679 Speaker 1: for a trader and playing view of the American people. 396 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,440 Speaker 1: Ronald Reagan, Walt Disney, MGM's own Louis B. 397 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:40,840 Speaker 2: Mayer. 398 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,879 Speaker 1: They all had to answer the same question, are you 399 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 1: now or have you ever been a member of the 400 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:47,760 Speaker 1: Communist Party? 401 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:48,880 Speaker 2: Now? 402 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:51,119 Speaker 1: Lucy was in the hot seat, even though she had 403 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:55,080 Speaker 1: nothing to hide. The seat still burned like hell. September fourth, 404 00:24:55,359 --> 00:25:00,440 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty three, days before Winchell's damning broadcast, she stood 405 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,200 Speaker 1: before two California Congressmen at the Delmar Hotel in Santa Monica. 406 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:07,400 Speaker 1: The House on American Activities Committee summoned her to share 407 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:10,840 Speaker 1: her testimony regarding the mounting evidence that she was a communist. 408 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,880 Speaker 1: Lucy told the Congressman and the committee the sappy truth. Yes, 409 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:17,639 Speaker 1: she did register to vote as a communist in nineteen 410 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 1: thirty six. Her grandfather was so impassionate about the cause 411 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: she feared he'd suffer another stroke. 412 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:23,320 Speaker 2: She didn't. 413 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 1: She blindly signed some paperwork for the same reason. Apparently 414 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:30,920 Speaker 1: that included a petition to repeal the California Criminal Cynicalism Act, 415 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:33,080 Speaker 1: and Lucy admitted she didn't even know what all that 416 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:37,080 Speaker 1: mobile jumble meant. The paperwork Huq had was all real, 417 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:39,919 Speaker 1: but Lucy never actually cast a vote, nor does she 418 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:43,119 Speaker 1: attend any meetings for the party, and she certainly didn't 419 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,399 Speaker 1: serve as their delegate. If someone appointed Lucille Ball to 420 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:49,199 Speaker 1: the state's Central Committee of the Communist Party, then nobody 421 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 1: cared to mention that tidbit of information to her. After 422 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,879 Speaker 1: she professed her hearty allegiance to the United States, Huyck 423 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:58,440 Speaker 1: assured Lucy that she was cleared and that her hearing 424 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:03,040 Speaker 1: would remain top secret. Then Walter Winchell made his fraction 425 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 1: of the story. National News Desi and Lucy paced around 426 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:13,240 Speaker 1: the kitchen. The headlines would come soon, the jabs, the condemnations. 427 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:18,080 Speaker 1: Lucy's sweet demeanor deflated. She recognized this feeling. She first 428 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:20,159 Speaker 1: felt it when the court found Daddy guilty in the 429 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,200 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties. The nod of dread in her stomach. That 430 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:26,760 Speaker 1: meant she was about to lose everything, and Lucille Ball 431 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:32,679 Speaker 1: had a lot to lose. By nineteen fifty three, no 432 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,439 Speaker 1: one remembered that Lucille Ball was once a queen of 433 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:38,919 Speaker 1: the bees. When I Love Lucy debuted in nineteen fifty one, 434 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:42,400 Speaker 1: she rocketed from low budget movie star to entertainment icon. 435 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:46,159 Speaker 1: In mogul and on a bashed boundary pusher too. Millions 436 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 1: of Americans saw TV filming concepts take shape for the 437 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,760 Speaker 1: first time through the lens of Lucy and Ricky live 438 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:55,720 Speaker 1: studio audiences. Three distinct camera angles reruns not to be 439 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,280 Speaker 1: confused with retakes, which Desi didn't allow. Retakes were far 440 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 1: too costly, three cameras running, and the show's cultural first 441 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,639 Speaker 1: were just as significant. At a time when segregation was 442 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:09,080 Speaker 1: still the law of the land. Lucy and Ricky were 443 00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:12,560 Speaker 1: the first interracial couple to appear on television. Lucy was 444 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: the first woman to truly own the spotlight as a 445 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:15,600 Speaker 1: lead character. 446 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:16,080 Speaker 2: Too. 447 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,720 Speaker 1: She wasn't just relegated to the background, standing over the 448 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:21,280 Speaker 1: stove or a sink, smiling at her husband. She was 449 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:24,399 Speaker 1: a fully developed character with a fully developed life and 450 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:29,040 Speaker 1: fully developed personality. Lucy refused to be overshadowed by her husband. 451 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:31,320 Speaker 1: The Ladies and Leave At de Beaver and The Andy 452 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 1: Griffith Show could not say the same. The couple's wrists 453 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:39,280 Speaker 1: earned them an unprecedented audience. Every Monday night, roughly one 454 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:42,440 Speaker 1: in five Americans gathered around the television set to watch 455 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: I Love Lucy one in five. The show was so 456 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:49,560 Speaker 1: popular that water usage went down nationwide between nine and 457 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:52,600 Speaker 1: nine thirty PM. Viewers were hesitant to miss a gag 458 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:55,359 Speaker 1: while they went off to use the bathroom. The show's 459 00:27:55,400 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 1: viewership was its own historical event. It dwarfed actual historical events. 460 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:04,760 Speaker 1: On January twentieth, nineteen fifty three, twenty nine million Americans 461 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:08,920 Speaker 1: watched the inauguration of President Eisenhower, an impressive turnout, certainly. 462 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 1: Just one day earlier, forty four million Americans witnessed Lucy 463 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:15,479 Speaker 1: and Ricky welcome home a baby boy. In episode fifty 464 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,679 Speaker 1: one of I Love Lucy entitled Lucy Goes to the Hospital. 465 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:23,639 Speaker 1: America didn't just love Lucy, they adored her. But if 466 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:26,600 Speaker 1: you loved Lucy and Lucy was a Communist, could you 467 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:31,000 Speaker 1: love America too? Desilu Productions was on track to become 468 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:34,480 Speaker 1: an empire. One misleading news report could topple that fortress 469 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:37,160 Speaker 1: to the ground. DESI would be damned if you'd let 470 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:41,040 Speaker 1: that happen. His wife would not become another Larry Parks. 471 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:44,760 Speaker 1: DESI had a special call to make an old chum 472 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:49,400 Speaker 1: from the Delmar racetrack, someone who had an inn, someone 473 00:28:49,560 --> 00:29:16,640 Speaker 1: who had answers and power. Desi Arnez grew impatient with 474 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:21,600 Speaker 1: every ring he tapped his finger on the receiver. The 475 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:25,760 Speaker 1: outcome of this conversation could change everything. It could spare 476 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:29,120 Speaker 1: his wife from a career catastrophe, or it could sink 477 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:31,840 Speaker 1: her like a stone. It all came down to a 478 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,400 Speaker 1: few pieces of paper in this one phone call, assuming 479 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 1: someone answered it does. He needed some intel on Lucille 480 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,240 Speaker 1: Ball's FBI folder. He wanted to make sure Huac wasn't 481 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:47,040 Speaker 1: hiding any curveballs. It could push Lucy's scandal over the 482 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:50,280 Speaker 1: edge and onto the Hollywood Blacklist. It was a hell 483 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:52,320 Speaker 1: of a favorite ask, but this was a hell of 484 00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:54,760 Speaker 1: an emergency, and he was calling the man at the 485 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 1: tippity top of the FBI for help. DESI believed his 486 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:01,520 Speaker 1: wife's testimony about appeasing her gri grandfather, of course, and 487 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:06,080 Speaker 1: he wasn't confident that America would be his understanding. DOESI 488 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 1: twirled the phone cord around his fingers so tight he 489 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:10,680 Speaker 1: nearly lost circulation, but. 490 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 2: He didn't hang out. 491 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:16,720 Speaker 1: He knew his pal would come through eventually. Hello, Doi 492 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:19,240 Speaker 1: recognized the flat composed voice on the other end of 493 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:25,400 Speaker 1: the phone. When Duty called Jay Ed Hoover answered. In 494 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:28,840 Speaker 1: normal circumstances, Dessie and Hoover bonded over Betts at the 495 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 1: Delmar Racetrack today. DOESI had a different gamble to make. 496 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:35,640 Speaker 1: He risked Hoover chewing him out for meddling in confidential 497 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:39,680 Speaker 1: government affairs, or worse, telling the newspapers about this little call. 498 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:43,200 Speaker 1: Does He got right to the point. He recapped Winchell's 499 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:45,400 Speaker 1: white lie and asked if there were any surprises lurking 500 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 1: in Lucy's files. 501 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:48,840 Speaker 2: Hoover admitted he'd already looked into the matter. 502 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:52,680 Speaker 1: Absolutely nothing he said, She's one hundred percent clear as 503 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:56,200 Speaker 1: far as we're concerned. Desi started making a plan before 504 00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:58,719 Speaker 1: he placed the phone in the receiver. He finally had 505 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 1: the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, and 506 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:08,640 Speaker 1: nothing was more American than that. Lucy and Desi gripped 507 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:10,920 Speaker 1: each other's hands. The hands of the clock in their 508 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:13,440 Speaker 1: living room hovered over the stroke of midnight, and they'd 509 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:17,680 Speaker 1: learned their fade. Any second now, the couple needed more 510 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 1: good news. In the past few days, many major newspapers 511 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:24,120 Speaker 1: published Lucy's full testimony in front of Huack, and that 512 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:26,800 Speaker 1: was the beginning of the damage control. Lucy had Dezi 513 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:29,240 Speaker 1: to think for the pr turnaround, which he helped itsure 514 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:32,160 Speaker 1: with a press luncheon at the couple's ranch. Larry Parks 515 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:34,440 Speaker 1: even showed up to get together with flowers for Lucy. 516 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,960 Speaker 1: Desi graciously accepted the bouquet and ushered Larry back to 517 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,160 Speaker 1: his car before anyone of note could see a real 518 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:43,600 Speaker 1: former communist banging on the front door. The majority of 519 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:46,400 Speaker 1: the press had pardoned Lucille Ball, but the jury was 520 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 1: still out and I Love Lucy. Episode fifty seven, titled 521 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: Ricky's Life Story, was their first episode since Walter Winchell's 522 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:57,880 Speaker 1: read Hot broadcast. The episode kicked off the show's third season. 523 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 1: No one was sure wouldn't be kicked out out of 524 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:02,840 Speaker 1: its usual number one position on the Nielsen in Trendex 525 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:06,640 Speaker 1: polls from Mondays nine to nine thirty PM timeslot. Tonight's 526 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 1: call FROUCBS for the results would either secure their TV 527 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:12,040 Speaker 1: series as a staple of American television or. 528 00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:13,160 Speaker 2: Squash it forever. 529 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:16,720 Speaker 1: Lucy's eyes followed the second hand as it crept toward 530 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:17,600 Speaker 1: the face of the clock. 531 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:19,360 Speaker 2: She could lose it all again. 532 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,280 Speaker 1: Teenage Lucy lost her home in New York, and now 533 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:24,840 Speaker 1: adult Lucy could lose her home in Desilu Productions. 534 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:25,640 Speaker 2: If I Love. 535 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:30,640 Speaker 1: Lucy tanked, Lucy snapped up the phone the second it rang. 536 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:33,040 Speaker 1: She held the receiver an inch from her face so 537 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:36,280 Speaker 1: Dessie could listen to. The couple heard the CBS exec 538 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:40,560 Speaker 1: beaming over the phone. I Love Lucy reigned supreme. The 539 00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:46,640 Speaker 1: show remained at number one. The results were a declaration 540 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:50,840 Speaker 1: America did love Lucy despite it all, and America didn't 541 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:53,920 Speaker 1: stop loving Lucy for another four years until the show 542 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:58,920 Speaker 1: ended on May seventh, nineteen fifty seven. Eventually, Desi Arnez 543 00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:02,520 Speaker 1: stopped loving Lucy, though the couple divorced in nineteen sixty, 544 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:04,760 Speaker 1: although they always remained amicable. 545 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:04,960 Speaker 2: Towards each other. 546 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:08,959 Speaker 1: As Desi and Lucy moved on from their romance, Americans 547 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,480 Speaker 1: moved on to Lucy's newest TV ventures, the CBS sitcoms 548 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:16,520 Speaker 1: The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy. But one entity in 549 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:21,400 Speaker 1: particular couldn't move on. Despite Jay Edgar Hoover's contention, the 550 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:24,360 Speaker 1: United States government never let its attention stray from the 551 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:28,720 Speaker 1: personal life of Lucille Ball. The Nixon administration requested another 552 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:32,320 Speaker 1: name check on Lucy in nineteen seventy one, nearly fifteen 553 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:35,720 Speaker 1: years after her Red Scare scandal. Many letters in her 554 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:39,120 Speaker 1: FBI files share the same greeting to Hoover himself. Pursue 555 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:43,080 Speaker 1: into your request, Interpret that as you will. When Lucy 556 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:46,480 Speaker 1: bought out DESI for complete control of Desilu productions, the 557 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:50,680 Speaker 1: FBI was watching. When Desi was arrested for driving while intoxicated, 558 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,960 Speaker 1: the FBI was watching, And they even watched as Lucy 559 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:57,800 Speaker 1: found a new romance and married comedian Gary Morton. Newspaper 560 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:01,360 Speaker 1: clippings from every major life event phil her fat FBI file. 561 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:04,760 Speaker 1: The grand total goes to one hundred and fifty six pages. 562 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:08,800 Speaker 1: It's a file rife with rumors and real proof of 563 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:12,279 Speaker 1: her small but verified connections to the Communist Party. A 564 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 1: file that almost took down America's favorite redhead with the 565 00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:19,040 Speaker 1: Red Scare. A file so powerful it ought to be 566 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:29,960 Speaker 1: in pictures. I'm Jake Brennan in This is hollywood Land. 567 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:41,800 Speaker 1: Hollywood Land was created by Years Truly and is produced 568 00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:43,160 Speaker 1: in partnership. 569 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 2: With Double Elvis. 570 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,960 Speaker 1: Follow like, rate and review hollywood Land wherever you get 571 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:49,200 Speaker 1: your podcasts, and get in touch with us on social. 572 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:50,600 Speaker 2: Media at double Elvis. 573 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:53,120 Speaker 1: If you like hollywood Land, check out my other show, 574 00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:55,920 Speaker 1: the award winning Disgraceland, which looks at the world of 575 00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:57,000 Speaker 1: music through the lens. 576 00:34:56,880 --> 00:34:57,479 Speaker 2: Of true crime. 577 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:06,399 Speaker 1: Just search for Disgraceland or wherever you get your pot Cass's. 578 00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:07,439 Speaker 2: There's a wive 579 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:09,360 Speaker 1: Mhm