The Long, Long Trailer

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The Long, Long Trailer
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Produced by Pandro S. Berman
Written by Clinton Twiss (novel)
Albert Hackett &
Frances Goodrich (screenplay)
Starring Lucille Ball
Desi Arnaz
Marjorie Main
Keenan Wynn
Music by Adolph Deutsch
Cinematography Robert Surtees
Editing by Ferris Webster
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s) February 18, 1954
Running time 96 min
Language English

The Long, Long Trailer is a novel by Clinton Twiss from the 1950s. It is about a couple who buy a new travel trailer home and spend a year traveling across the United States.

The novel was made into a movie in 1954 starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Marjorie Main, Keenan Wynn, Bert Freed, Moroni Olsen, Gladys Hurlbut, Madge Blake, and Walter Baldwin. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli working from a screenplay by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Nicky Collini and his fiancé Tacy, buy (despite Nicky's extreme reluctance and dire predictions), a large trailer home (a 32-foot (9.8m) 1953 New Moon, which cost $5,345 at the time), so that they can save money that would otherwise be spent on a house, and also be able to travel around the USA to civil engineering projects that Nicky is employed on.

They have to buy a more powerful car to tow the trailer, a 1953 Mercury Monterey convertible with a 125 HP flathead V8 engine, and the money spent starts to mount up. The honeymoon trip to the Sierra Nevada mountains rapidly becomes a catalogue of disasters. These include Tacy's attempts to cook dinner in a moving trailer, and a cliffhanging ride on a narrow road through the mountains.

Relations deteriorate between the couple and finally Tacy storms off in a huff. But by the film's end, they are tearfully reunited.

[edit] Production notes

The dangerous mountain road featured in the movie is Whitney Portal Road, which leads up to Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. The hairpin turn featured in the film offers scenic views of the Owens Valley.

The film's closing credits thank the National Park Service for permission to film in Yosemite National Park. There is one memorable scene where the car and trailer emerge from a tunnel to a view of Yosemite Valley, complete with a panorama of El Capitan, Half Dome, and the Yosemite Falls.

[edit] Reception

According to Turner Classic Movies' host, Robert Osborne, the studio was not sure if this film would be a success because they thought that people would not pay money to see Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in a movie when they could watch the couple on television for free (I Love Lucy). Arnaz made a $25,000 bet with the studio that the movie would make more money than the current highest grossing comedy at that time (Father of the Bride starring Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor and also directed by Vincente Minnelli). Arnaz won the bet.

[edit] Principal cast

[edit] DVD release

The Long, Long Trailer was released on DVD on May 2, 2006 by Warner Home Video in Region 1 coding for the U.S. and Canada. It was released as a single disc and as a part of a 3-DVD set featuring two other Ball/Arnaz movies, Forever, Darling and Too Many Girls.

[edit] Cultural References

The lyrics of "Everything Right is Wrong Again" by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants make direct reference to the title and events portrayed in the film. The song is the first track on the band's self-titled debut album.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long,_Long_Trailer"
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